You have recently become a divorced, single parent and moved to Kalamazoo, MI. You have 3 children (10, 6, 3). You were recently hired at Target- located on West Main working 11am-7pm Monday through Thursday at $10.00/hr., which is above minimum wage. This brings your monthly income to roughly $1280.00 before taxes. Your former spouse does not have a stable job to pay all of the court mandated child support so you can only budget an additional $150 in guaranteed child support each month. Kalamazoo is 300+ miles away from any family members or friends. You have a car but it is in major need of repair if you want to drive it for transportation. A total of $450 for repairs is needed in the next two months. 

Answer the following questions in order and identify your stress level after each heading. This assignment will take a while to complete which is why there is no quiz associated with this module.

You must identify how you will cover the following with your income:

Housing (must include costs for: electricity (average $30 month) and heat ($100 month)

Transportation

Childcare (the 10 and 6 year old can attend public school from 8:25-3:30, the 3 year old will need childcare)

Food

You need to watch the video "Poor Kids" to answer the last question.

Housing:

1. Where do you live with your three children? (You can use craigslist or similar to help you figure this out.)

a. How much does this cost a month?

b. Is anything included in your rent (heat, electricity, etc.)? If heat and/or electricity are not included in rent you must add them to your total of housing

c. Are there any community resources that can help with housing cost (be specific and provide website)?

2. After housing how much do you have left for monthly income?

Transportation: Choose "Car" or "No Car" and respond to the appropriate questions

Car: You will be spending $200 in gas every month

a. Car: how will you budget for the $450 repairs in addition to gas?

b. No Car: what is another source of transportation and how much does it cost a month?

c. Are there any community resources that can help with transportation cost (be specific with website)?

3. After housing and transportation how much do you have left for monthly income?

4. What is your current stress level on a scale 0-5 (0= not at all stressed, 3= stressed but manageable, 5= this is extremely stressful). Explain your answer

Child Care:

a. Where will your 3 year old go for childcare while you are at work?

b. How much will this cost per month? (You can find tuition rates of some local childcare centers and you can also look on craigslist or similar)

c. Where will your 6 & 10 year old go for childcare while you are at work after school (4:00-7pm)?

d. How much will this cost per month?

5. How much is your total childcare per month?

6. After housing, transportation, and childcare how much do you have left for monthly income?

7. What is your current stress level on a scale 0-5 (0= not at all, 3= stressed but manageable, 5= this is extremely stressful). Explain your answer

Food:

a. How much money do you have left for food for the month?

b. Where will you shop for groceries?

c. Are there any community resources that can help with food cost (be specific and provide website link)?

What is your current stress level after meeting your basic needs? On a scale 0-5 (0= not at all, 3= stressed but manageable, 5= this is extremely stressful). Explain your answer.

Final Question: How did this assignment relate to the video "Poor Kids" posted in this week's module? Answer should be at least 2 strong paragraphs with specific references to the video. View the 2012 video for the purposes of this assignment. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/poor-kids/#video-2