Personal Budget Project

The objective of this project is for you to set up a budget that would allow you to live the type of life you would like, as well as to understand what skills and/or education you need to get there. First, go to the website . Once there, scroll through the various careers until you find the career you are interested in (if you don’t know what you want to do, simply choose a career).

Once you choose a career, click on it, and then click on the heading, “How much does this job pay?” Take the lowest of the projected earnings that are given. Divide that number by 12 to give you your monthly gross income. Take that number and use it in your budget.

Now, try to create a budget that imagines that you are living on your own and are currently working in this career. What would it cost to live on your own? This budget won’t be complete, but here are some sample categories, along with choices you could make (note that these costs will be higher or lower, depending on where you live and what choices you make):

  • Possible Expenses (Monthly)
  • Rent and utilities: $800 Alternative, rent a room in a house: $350
  • Furniture (Payments on): $100 Could be higher or lower – can you borrow furniture?
  • Food: $200 Assumes you spend $50/week on groceries
  • Medical insurance: $150 Could be higher or lower depending on what your

employer offers

  • Car payments, insurance: $350 Alternative: can you take the bus? $ 50
  • Clothing: $ 50 Could be higher or lower depending on your habits
  • Phone: $ 35 Could be higher or lower depending on your plan
  • Computer, Internet: $ 50 Could be higher or lower – do you need a computer?
  • Cable TV: $ 50 Do you need cable TV?
  • Eating out, going out: $100 How much do you spend on fun?
  • Retirement savings: ? Experts recommend saving 10% of your income
  • Charitable contributions: ? How much should you donate from your income?

Whatever your decisions, keep these recommended percentages in mind when deciding:

  • Rent (Housing) (20-33% of income)
  • Food/Groceries (15-25% of income)
  • Transportation (10-15% of income)
  • Medical and Health Insurance (5-10% of income)
  • Utilities (5-10% of income)
  • Clothing (5-10% of income)
  • Savings (0-10% of income)
  • Recreation/Entertainment (0-5% of income)
  • Personal Care Products (or is this included in groceries) (0-5% of income)
  • Miscellaneous Purchases (0-5% of income)
  • Also consider things like a vacation fund, gifts, loan repayment, furniture, magazine/newspaper subscriptions, pets, gifts, professional dues, charity/church and hobbies.

Taxes (Income, Social Security):Up to approximately 30% of your income

Now go ahead and fill out the following spreadsheet:

Personal Budget for:
Type your name in here
INCOME / Type your career in this space
Monthly Gross Income / Type your income from bls.gov
Monthly Net Income
Take Gross x .70 (70%) and then divide by twelve. / Type here / This is how much money you have to work with.
EXPENSES
Categorize your expenses and the amount of money that you are allocating to each one. Remember not to exceed net income.
If you need to add rows to include more expenses, go ahead and do so.
TOTAL EXPENSES
Make sure that your expenses do not exceed your income!
When you are done, print this off and hand in. Also, write a short explanation of what you did at the bottom of this page.