Prepare an annual (fiscal year from July to June) budget for an imaginary student. The student will work full time (160 hours per month) during July, August & September. The student can work half time (80 hours per month) during the other 9 months of the school year.

The student will have $1,000 in cash in the bank on July 1 and earns interest on the cash balance at 5% per year. Interest income should be calculated each month by taking the monthly interest rate and multiplying it by the beginning of month cash balance.

The student has a credit card with a $5,000 line of credit. Interest expense on the unpaid balance is 20% per year and must be paid monthly. I recommend NOT using your credit card to smooth out the cash flowsthe interest rate is too expensive. (Just like real life.) The cash balance cannot go negative so increase your hourly wage rate if you start to run out of money.

Plot in the expenses that will be incurred during the year. Include all expenses you can imagine including payroll taxes, income taxes, tuition and books, food, rent, travel, transportation, insurance, fun, clothes, phone, utilities, etc. Calculate the hourly rate that must be earned to live for the year. Calculate annual totals and the final cash balance on June 30. This worksheet should be built so that you can easily change the hourly wage rate...and then the whole worksheet will recalculate.

CAUTION: A few numbers are fixed and everyone needs to use them. For instance the beginning cash balance of $1,000 and the cash balance interest rate of 5% per year (0.42% per month) should be used by everyone. However, other numbers should be your own creation. For instance the monthly salary earned and all the expenses should be unique to your imaginary student. DO NOT use the same numbers I used in the video tutorials. DO NOT copy the numbers from another student or group.