Family Budget

A WebQuest for Topics in Business & Personal Finance

Designed by:
Mrs. Cuva

lrlroducl|or j Tas| j Process j Eva|ual|or j Corc|us|or j Cred|ls


Introduction
The average American household is in debt 8 - 10,000 dollars.
Do you know what it takes to balance a household budget? There has never
been a bigger need than there is today for families and individuals to establish
personal budgets.
There is such a temptation to become rapt in a trap of easily accessible credit
card debt. People have reached a point in our society where they buy on
impulse with no thoughts to the consequences. The best way to avoid this is
through the establishment of an effective personal budget.
For this lesson, the class will be divided up into individual families. You will
need to evaluate information and decide whether or not to include certain
items into your budget.


The Task
n this unit, you will complete a presentation to the class showing the
information you found for your families budget. The steps you are to complete
are as follows.
#esearch what is included in a budget, some advantages of a budget,
and know some money saving strategies.
#esearch the information needed to run a household for one month.
Create a PowerPoint presentation that will document everything that
you have found.
Create a spreadsheet following the format on page 135 of your
textbooks.


The Process
Part I - What is a budget?
You will begin this unit by learning about budgets. What they are, what the
advantages to using a budget are, and some money saving strategies to avoid
debt.
Use the following links to learn about budgeting:
What is a budget?
http://www.personal-budget-planning-saving-money.com/whyabudget.html
What are some advantages to using a budget?
http://www.personal-budget-planning-saving-
money.com/budgetingadvantages.html
What are some money saving strategies that everyone should follow?
http://www.personal-budget-planning-saving-
money.com/moneysavingtips.html

Part II - Research the information
You are responsible for creating a monthly budget for your family for the
month of __________________. Your budget must be realistic and you must
live within your means. You will be assigned group members. You must
decide which city your family will currently live (a major city). You also must
decide the roles of your family members; for example, mom, dad, sister,
brother, age, etc.
#esearch the following:
Your occupation is:
(Please find and save the annual income for this occupation in the city
where you live, then divide that amount by 12, the number of months in
a year, to determine your monthly income.)
Your spouse's occupation:
(Please find and save the annual income for this occupation in the city
where you live, then divide that amount by 12 to determine your
monthly income)

Possible links:
http://hotjobs.yahoo.com
http://www.monster.com
http://www.jobs.com


You live in a ____ bedroom apartment with your family.
(Please find and save the cost of the apartment per month)

Possible links:
http://www.rent.com
http://www.apartments.com


f your apartment doesn't include garbage pickup, water, parking fees,
gas, heating, and electric, please determine your monthly costs for
these expenses.
(Please save the documentation that supports your figures.)
#enter's insurance is usually $100 a month. Please figure this into your
budget.
Please determine your monthly telephone expenses. (Save any
information that supports your findings.)

Possible links:
http://www.connectmyphone.com/p/
Please determine your monthly cable expenses. (Save any information
that supports your findings.)

Possible links:
http://www.tracetools.com/cable/cable_top50.html
Please determine your automobile expenses - as in previous lesson,
expenses must include - monthly payment including interest, insurance,
routine maintenance and oil changes, car washes, and gas.
(Please print all information that supports your findings.)

Possible links:
http://www.edmunds.com
http://www.cars.com
http://www.autobytel.com
Calculate your monthly entertainment expenses. Please find and save
at least two family entertainment venues in your city (ex. movies,
games, theme parks, etc.) Calculate the monthly cost for your family to
attend those events.

Possible links:
Go to yahoo.com and type in your cities name Activities, in the search
engine. For example, Tampa Activities.
Clothing expenses: Determine the monthly clothing expense for your
family.
Food expenses: Determine the monthly food expenses for your family.
ousehold items - ex. toilet paper, shampoo, cleaner, newspaper,
etc. Please determine your monthly expenses for household items.
Personal Care: haircuts, manicure, etc. Please breakdown these
expenses and calculate your family's total monthly expenses.
oliday's: f any of you or your friends have birthdays in the month, or
any holiday's going on, you must figure for gifts.
Savings: The remainder of your income after all expenses are paid will
go into a savings account. Please indicate the amount you will put in
your savings account, monthly.
Part III - Create a PowerPoint presentation
You are to gather all of the information collected in Part and put it into a
PowerPoint presentation to share with the class.
nclude the following:
Title slide (name of city, month of budget, family members names,
ages)
Budgeting slide (summary on Part )
nformation found in Part (ex. jobs, cars, entertainment, etc.)
Summary slide including whether or not your family had money left to
save!
Part IV - Create a spreadsheet in Excel
Take the information that your family has gathered in Part and put the
information in a spreadsheet using Microsoft Excel. Open a new book, save the
book as budget.xls. Enter all of the titles in column A, then the monthly
expenses in Column B, and yearly in Column C. Enter the figures
underneath. Use formulas to calculate the figures. Use the example on page
135 of your books.


Evaluation
Your grade on this project will be based on the following rubric:


Beginning
1
Developing
2
Accomplished
3
Exemplary
4
Score

Budget
Background

Description
includes
what a
budget is.
Description
includes
what a
budget is
and two
advantages
to budgets.
Description
includes what
a budget is,
two
advantages to
budgets, and
two money
saving
strategies.
Description
includes what
a budget is,
three
advantages,
and three
money saving
strategies.



Title Slide

Description oI
city.
Description oI
city, group
members.
Description oI city,
group members, &
month.
Description oI
city, group
members, ages,
and month.


nformation
Slides


Description
of jobs.
Description
of jobs,
apartment.
Description of
jobs,
apartments,
cars,
entertainment.
Description of
everything in
Part .


Summary
Slide

Description
of savings.
Description
of savings
and
allocation of
savings.
Description of
savings,
allocation,
extra comment
on savings.
Description of
savings,
allocation, two
extra final
summary
comments.


Excel
Spreadsheet
Spreadsheet
follows the
format of p.
135.
Spreadsheet
follows the
format of p.
135 and is
calculated
correctly.
Spreadsheet
follows the
format of p.
135 and is
calculated
correctly,
including all
the necessary
titles.
Spreadsheet
follows the
format of p.
135 and is
calculated
correctly,
including all
the necessary
titles. Savings
is allocated.



Conclusion
Budgeting can be a very important skill that will help you throughout your
life. Many people will succeed and have financial success, but others will fall
into the trap of bankruptcy. Don't let that be you! Start now by tracking your
spending, setting goals for yourself, and saving for those goals.
Now that you know about budgets:
1. What are some advantages to living on a budget?
2. What are some practical money saving tips?


Credits & References
The WebQuest Page for the template.
http://www.google.com
http://www.personal-budget-planning-saving-money.com



Last updated on June 30, 2004. Based on a template from The WebQuest Page