building your budget
In this exploration activity, you are going to construct a budget... with a catch! Three major categories of your budget will be selected at random: Salary, Housing, and Student Loan Balance. Your main task will be to budget the remaining items and make any necessary compromises in order to have a net-zero budget. Grab a pen & paper to jot down your major budget categories as we go because you will need them for your budget spreadsheet!
occupation and income
use the wheel of occupations to find out your occupation, then estimate your incoMe by entering your job title and state on indeed.com salaries.
Depending on the job, it may be an hourly rate or a yearly salary. Hourly: multiply by 160 to find your estimated monthly income (40 hours x 4 weeks = 160 hours/month) Salary: divide by 12 months to get an estimated monthly salary
wheel of occupations
indeed.com/salaries
income tax & take-home pay
enter your annual salary (make sure it is your annual/yearly salary) to find your total income tax, including FICA and state taxes. Record your taxes due and total take-home pay after taxes.
Once you click the link, you will enter your salary (per year) and scroll down to the pie chart to see your taxes due and take home salary.
PAYCHECK CALCULATOR
housing
WHEEL OF HOUSING
Spin the the wheel of housing by clicking the button below to determine your housing situation
WHAT'S THE COST?
If you are going to own, find the average monthly mortgage for your state by clicking the button below. Use the value given for a 2 bedroom house and add $250 per month for a 3 bedroom house
If you are RENTING - click the button below, then enter your zip code to find the Fair Market Rent in your area
student loan payments
1st SPIN THE WHEEL OF STUDENT LOAN DEBTS
click the button below to find your randomly assigned student loan debt amount
then FIND YOUR MONTHLY PAYMENT
click the button below and change ONLY the loan amount based on what you spun on the wheel, then record your monthly student loan payment
pay yourself
health insurance
- The 50/30/20 Rule allocates 20% of your take-home pay to debt reduction and savings.
- Calculate 20% of your take-home pay by multiplying your take-home pay by 0.20
- This will be your total savings goal
- Remember that savings/debt repayment are grouped together in this rule, so your Student Loan Payment will come out of this amount
- Is your savings goal more than your student loan payment? Record any excess amount which will go towards your emergency fund
- You need health insurance! Here are the average costs:
- Health Insurance - $440 per month
- Dental Insurance (optional) - $30 per month
- Vision Insurance (optional) - $18 per month
- Record your total monthly health insurance costs
food
You only need to add yourself to your household by describing your age and how many meals you plan to eat away from homeper week (those costs won't be included here, so you will need to remember to add eating out costs to your budget later).
Estimate your monthly grocery bill by clicking the button below.
Once you've entered your information, click CALCULATE and record your monthly food budget.
transportation
Choose one option below for your transportation
option 1: own a car
The average monthly payment for a car is:- $563 for a new car - $397 for a used car - $450 for a leased car Additional costs for owning a car: - Insurance $100 per month - Gasoline $154 per month - Maintenance/Repairs $113 for cars over 5 years old (used)
option 2: public transportation
Monthly public transportation costs vary significantly based on your location. For simplicity, use the average for all cities of $67 per month.
Record your total monthly transportation costs based on your choice
utilities
choose the utilities you need & add up their average costs according to this infographic. *You must have electricity, water, and natural gas*
RECORD YOUR TOTAL UTILITIES COST FOR THE MONTH.
4.11 Building Your Budget
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Transcript
building your budget
In this exploration activity, you are going to construct a budget... with a catch! Three major categories of your budget will be selected at random: Salary, Housing, and Student Loan Balance. Your main task will be to budget the remaining items and make any necessary compromises in order to have a net-zero budget. Grab a pen & paper to jot down your major budget categories as we go because you will need them for your budget spreadsheet!
occupation and income
use the wheel of occupations to find out your occupation, then estimate your incoMe by entering your job title and state on indeed.com salaries.
Depending on the job, it may be an hourly rate or a yearly salary. Hourly: multiply by 160 to find your estimated monthly income (40 hours x 4 weeks = 160 hours/month) Salary: divide by 12 months to get an estimated monthly salary
wheel of occupations
indeed.com/salaries
income tax & take-home pay
enter your annual salary (make sure it is your annual/yearly salary) to find your total income tax, including FICA and state taxes. Record your taxes due and total take-home pay after taxes.
Once you click the link, you will enter your salary (per year) and scroll down to the pie chart to see your taxes due and take home salary.
PAYCHECK CALCULATOR
housing
WHEEL OF HOUSING
Spin the the wheel of housing by clicking the button below to determine your housing situation
WHAT'S THE COST?
If you are going to own, find the average monthly mortgage for your state by clicking the button below. Use the value given for a 2 bedroom house and add $250 per month for a 3 bedroom house
If you are RENTING - click the button below, then enter your zip code to find the Fair Market Rent in your area
student loan payments
1st SPIN THE WHEEL OF STUDENT LOAN DEBTS
click the button below to find your randomly assigned student loan debt amount
then FIND YOUR MONTHLY PAYMENT
click the button below and change ONLY the loan amount based on what you spun on the wheel, then record your monthly student loan payment
pay yourself
health insurance
food
You only need to add yourself to your household by describing your age and how many meals you plan to eat away from homeper week (those costs won't be included here, so you will need to remember to add eating out costs to your budget later).
Estimate your monthly grocery bill by clicking the button below.
Once you've entered your information, click CALCULATE and record your monthly food budget.
transportation
Choose one option below for your transportation
option 1: own a car
The average monthly payment for a car is:- $563 for a new car - $397 for a used car - $450 for a leased car Additional costs for owning a car: - Insurance $100 per month - Gasoline $154 per month - Maintenance/Repairs $113 for cars over 5 years old (used)
option 2: public transportation
Monthly public transportation costs vary significantly based on your location. For simplicity, use the average for all cities of $67 per month.
Record your total monthly transportation costs based on your choice
utilities
choose the utilities you need & add up their average costs according to this infographic. *You must have electricity, water, and natural gas*
RECORD YOUR TOTAL UTILITIES COST FOR THE MONTH.