Objectives

• Apply math to real-life situations
• Develop a realistic view of the cost of living
• Differentiate between necessities and luxuries.

Suggested Activities

• Decide on a career that would be suitable to you for your future and research it (what are the requirements of this job? Educational or other?). What skills will you need to have? What is the average annual salary or hourly wage? What does that equal on a monthly basis?
  • Suggest that students visit a Web site to look up different types of careers and occupations. Try America's Employers at http://www.americasemployers.com/Positions/.
  • Suggest that students gather information about average incomes by visiting a Web site. Try the Bureau of Labor Statistics at http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/ocwage.t01.htm. This site also has occupation information.
• Determine your future monthly expenses and how much you want to save every month.
  • Discuss the differences between necessities and luxuries
  • Using the classified section of a newspaper, determine the cost of buying or renting a home, paying for utilities, buying a car, buying furniture, etc.
• Take your monthly salary and subtract from it your expenses and the amount you want to save. Discuss the possibilities of what you might want to do with the extra cash.
• What are different types of unexpected expenses you might encounter? What is the best way to prepare for them?

Based on the careers, incomes, and expenses identified in the "Budgeting Your Money" activity, students can take all of their information and put it into a budget sheet that calculates total income, expenses and savings. The budget sheet would keep track of personal financial information and tell students how long it would take them to save enough money to purchase some of the luxuries they identified in the same activity.

Tips for using The Home Zone to discuss budgeting your money

Go to Cool Stories:
• Watch "Saving & Investing," which discusses why saving is important, what investing is, and ways to save and invest.

Go to Brain Food:
• Visit "MindBuilder, Saving & Investing" for a discussion about income, expense, and budgeting.
• Visit "MindBuilder, Money" for a discussion about money in the U.S. and other countries, currency, and the value of the dollar.
• Visit "Cool Facts" for facts about money.

Go to Glossary:
• Terms used in The Home Zone are defined here.

Go to Game Center:
• Play "HomeBuilder," which reinforces a variety of concepts addressed in The Home Zone.