Cost of living exercise Budgeting

Job or Career? Ask yourself questions. Have you thought about where you want to be 5 or 10 years from now? What kind of lifestyle do you want? Where do you want to work? Small office? International corporation? Where do you want to live? Big city, small town or rural area? Do you want to travel? You will make one choice that will determine all of these things for you – your job.

Job or Career? What is the difference between a job and a career? A job is one place of employment and can be found anywhere. A career is a chosen occupation that typically requires advanced education.

Job or Career What are some examples of jobs? Careers? What is the difference between a job and a career? What are some examples of jobs? Careers? Are there differences in the amount of education? Do you have to go to college to have a career? Is there a difference in salary?

Job or Career? Examples Which of these is a job and which is the beginning of a career? You graduate from high school and begin to work full-time at a fast-food restaurant. You go to college and discover you love business and graduate with a degree in accounting. You begin working at a medium-sized accounting firm and study for the CPA exam.

Cost of Living/Budgeting Exercise

Cost of living/budgeting Let’s talk about money. You now know the difference between a job and a career. Which one do you think is likely to pay more? Why do you think this is important?

Cost of living/budgeting Let’s pretend. For an example, let’s pretend you have graduated high school and went to work full-time in a fast food restaurant. You want to live on your own. Let’s figure out if you make enough money.

Cost of living/budgeting How much do you need? What is the minimum wage? $7.25/hour How many hours is full-time? 40 hours per week Multiply $7.25 by 40 hours per week to see what you would earn in one week from the fast- food job. $290.00/week Now multiply that amount by four weeks in the month. $1,160.00/monthly The answers appear when you click the mouse.

Cost of living/budgeting How much do you need? Not bad, but do you get to keep all that money? Taxes have to be paid on our earnings. We will be generous today and only take out $100 for taxes. How much does that leave? $1060.00.00/monthly Now that you have made your money, let’s figure out how to spend it. $836.00/monthly appears with mouse click

Cost of living/budgeting Expenses Where will you need to spend your money every month? Place to live Car Gasoline Electricity Food Telephone Insurance Clothes Entertainment

Cost of living/budgeting Housing What kind of home will you live in? Apartment, a regular house or a mansion? Let’s look at homes first.

Cost of living/budgeting Houses How much do you think a three bedroom home in a safe neighborhood costs per month? The average cost for a three-bedroom home in Texas is $1,250/month. Do you make enough? Click for the answer and last question.

Cost of living/budgeting Apartments How much is the rent for an average two-bedroom apartment in a big city like Dallas? You can easily pay $800-$1000 per month. Do you make enough? Click for answer and last question.

Cost of living/budgeting Car What type of car would you like to drive? Talk about the cost of each car and let them know the reality is that they would get the bottom car, if they could afford one at all.

Cost of living/budgeting How much is left? You don’t have much left over from your fast-food salary, do you? We haven’t even begun to talk about electricity, telephone, insurance, clothes, much less your entertainment expenses. It is expensive to live on your own, isn’t it? It is hard to buy everything you want when you’re working on minimum wage.

Cost of living/budgeting College Going to college will give you a chance at a career that will provide you with a good salary and security. A possible career option is accounting. A career in accounting offers you things a job cannot give you – like a good salary, opportunities for advancement, respect, and the ability to make a difference in your community. At this point, you can show the Takin’ Care of Business video, or you can tell them about yourself and talk to them about becoming a CPA. Leave time for Q&As.