Budget Project

Part 1: Career & Budget

Use the Job Salaries button on the Salary Expert website to respond to the questions below.

1. Find the annual median salary for the type of job you will seek when you complete your degree.

Job You Will Seek: _________________

Median annual salary: _________________

2. Summarize the following information about your chosen job.

Job description including median salary information as well as typical work environment and responsibilities.

What interests, past experiences, and aptitude makes you a good match for this field?

Is a job in this field a long-term career goal? Explain.

How do you predict this evolving technology and cultural trends will impact this career?

3. Break down your future salary to a monthly income. Approximately of your income will be deducted for various taxes. Calculate your monthly income after taxes. Include this information in your summary in question #2.

Monthly income: ___________ Monthly income after taxes: ___________

4. The table below outlines how the average U.S. consumer spends their paycheck.

a. Fill in the table of expenses below using your monthly income after taxes, which you calculated in question 3.

Category	Percentage of Paycheck	Dollar Amount per Month
Housing	34.1%
Food	12.4%
Insurance/Pension	10.8%
Healthcare	5.7%
Transportation	17.6%
Entertainment	5.4%
Cash Contributions	3.7%
Reading	0.2%
Education	1.9%
Apparel/Services	3.8%
Personal Care	1.2%
Tobacco	0.7%
Alcoholic Beverages	0.9%
Miscellaneous	1.6%
Total	100%

b. Hypothetically, assume you are short funds each month. What areas/categories would you cut back on and why? Be specific. Write a minimum of two complete sentences.

c. Hypothetically, assume you have a surplus of money each month. What would you do with that money and why? Be specific. Write a minimum of two complete sentences.

d. Which areas/categories cannot be adjusted in any way, regardless of the funds available? Explain. Write a minimum of two complete sentences.

Part 2: Finding and Purchasing a Home

What makes a house a home? What is important to you and your family when selecting a home? In this section of the project, you will be finding a home to fit your needs. Find a home using a suggested website below (or another one) or a listing in a newspaper.

Zillow.com

Truila.com

Realtor.com

1. Attach the home listing.

a. The location: _____________________________

b. The home price: ___________________________

c. The square footage: ________________________

d. Year built: _______________________________

2. Summarize the following:

Explain why you chose this location.

Explain why you chose this house and its features.

Is this house a good deal for the asking price? Explain why or why not.

Do you see you and your family living in this house short term or long term? Explain.

Are there any upgrades/additions you would make to this house? Why or why not.

3. Using the home price, calculate the cost per square footage of the house. Show your work.

4. Go to the Zillow Home Values website to explore the trend in home prices for the area in which you would like to purchase your home. To do this, enter the zip code for the address of the home you would like to purchase.

a. In the Market Overview section, study the graph of the Zillow Home Value Index. Describe the trend presented in this graph. (Include a copy of this graph.)

b. Label two points on your graph that is exactly one year apart. Connect the line between these points. (Include a copy of this graph.) What is the slope of this line? Describe what this slope tells you about the change in the Zillow Home Value Index over this period of time.

c. Is the linear model (line) a good fit for this data? Why or why not?