Welcome to the Real World: Creating a Personal Budget

TIPC Ratings

Ideal – 7

Students assemble, organize, and synthesize information on a variety of financial topics (fixed expenses, variable expenses, debt, taxes, income, and savings) to create a realistic budget template. The students use a variety of tools to complete this research, including online research and direct contact with possible employers through email and/or phone calls. The task for this assignment is authentic because it puts students in contact with individuals outside of the school setting (possible future employers) and prepares the students to make realistic financial choices in the future. The final student product (the Excel Spreadsheet) also has a variety of applications outside of the school setting. The spreadsheets allow the students to interact with financial information by generating formulas and visualize and display this information through graphs and charts. These features help to create a product that is practical and improves organization and efficiency. The budget template can be shared with parents/family and/or adapted for the students’ future use.

Ideal – 6

Each student creates an individual product, but communication and collaboration are still evident within this lesson. In order to research the starting salary for their particular profession, students use digital tools to communicate with experts. Students use websites to locate contact information of potential employers, and contact those individuals using email and phone calls. The students complete peer-evaluations, in order to collaboratively improve upon the final presentations. In these presentations, the students share and communicate the findings of their research with their classmates. These presentations help classmates and the teacher prepare questions and comments for the presenters, and allow the students to collaboratively gain a better understanding of finances and future career choices.

Ideal – 7

Critical thinking and problem solving are a main focus of this activity. This “problem” embedded within this lesson is that students must create a realistic budget based on the starting salary for a possible future profession. In order to complete this task, the students must generate and respond to personal questions, such as “What do I want to do in the future,” and “What will my future lifestyle look like?” The students use their research to justify the choices that they make within their personal budget. Students use the Excel spreadsheet to solve this task. Although students all use the same tool (Excel) they do select the most appropriate tools and functions within Excel to increase the organization and efficiency of the document. Additionally, the students must select the most appropriate strategies to save and spend money. At the end of the lesson, the students reflect on their problem solving strategies, and discuss how the content and skills embedded within this project relate to the students’ futures.

Ideal – 7

The students are creating a product as a result of this assignment, in which they are analyzing their income and making informed predictions and decisions about possible ways to spend their income. There are many Excel budget templates that already exist, but the students must take risks within the spreadsheet; the students cannot copy a template that already exists, but instead they must decide on the features of Excel that will help to improve the organization and efficiency of their document. Additionally, the students create presentations, using a tool of their choice, that they use to present their budget information to their classmates. Students reflect on their creative choices not only at the end of the project, but also at various checkpoints within the lesson. The students complete and reference a design cycle checklist at multiple points during the project to reflect on their creative choices and help them stay on track.