Warm-UP: Family Budget

Developing a Personal of Family Budget

You’re Making Money! 

Today we’re going to travel ahead in time about six years. Are you ready? Let’s go… 


Congratulations! You’ve graduated from high school, and you’re ready to make it on your own in the real world. Of course, your first step is to get a job. The good news is, you don’t even have to interview. I’m going to give you a job you could get right out of high school. Every job includes a monthly salary. How much do you think you need to make to pay for all of your expenses? 

In this lesson, we’re going to find out just how far that salary goes. In this unit you’re going to create a budget, or a plan for spending money. 

The first step is to figure out your income, or the money coming in. But, for this warm-up we are going to figure out what we need to spend money on. These items are your expenses, or the things you spend your money on. What are some things you’ll spend money on when you’re on your own? 

What You Need to Do:

1. Use Google Sheets.
2. Make a list of all the expenses that you think that you will have when on your own. Remember, you'll need: shelter, food, safety. But, those are our basic needs--what else goes on the list?
3. On the column next to your list, use Google or other research tool, and find out what the average cost of that item might be if living in Boise, Idaho.

The items on this list are expenses, or things you spend your money on. Figuring out your expenses is the next step in setting up a budget. The challenge is to make sure your income, or the money you bring in, can cover the things you need, or your expenses.