Log inSign up for FREE
Library

7th Math Budget Your Career Project

Last updated over 2 years ago
14 questions
1

Do Now
If you had to pick any job to do once you graduate from high school or college, what would it be?
Why?

Today we will start a project where you will look through jobs that seem interesting to you, learn to budget for an apartment, and find a car in your price range.
  1. To start, click this link and complete the survey where it says “GET STARTED”.
  2. After 10 or so pages of the survey, you should get some career clusters. Click on these and click “Careers in this cluster” to find individual jobs that might interest you.
  3. Click into these jobs and type notes for each one in the table below.
Here are some screenshots of pages you want to click into after you finish all survey questions:


1. Career Clusters (think of this as groups or genres of jobs). The ones at the top are best matched to you.



2. Click into "Careers in this cluster"




3. You can read through some different specific careers and learn about them. Here is an example:

1

Take notes on your potential careers here.
Choose 2 or 3 potential careers that you are interested in.

1

Final Answer?--Choose one of the careers (this will be the one you use for the rest of the week). Why are you most interested in this career? (Pay, responsiblities, sounds fun, etc.)

What are some of your strengths that would make you good at this job?

"The career I am choosing is..."
"I'm most interested in this career because..."
"Some of my strengths that would make me good at this job are..."

CFS:
#1: Names career choice
#2: Explains reasoning for choosing the career

Good work. Please DO NOT move onto the next day's work.
1

Do Now
We are going to learn about adult life this week. Take a guess--what do you think the average monthly rent is for a 1-Bedroom apartment in San Jose?

1

Your Budget--How much money will you have for rent, bills, and your car each month?

In many jobs, you get a paycheck every two weeks.

1. Go to this link: https://smartasset.com/taxes/california-paycheck-calculator#OohZixXprm

2. Take your hourly salary and input 80 hours on the calculator, then press enter. (This assumes you work 40 hours per week)

3. Your "estimated semi-monthly take home pay" is how much you will get paid every two weeks, after taxes are taken.
4. Multiply this by 2 to get your budget for each month.

"My monthly budget is..."

1

New Space--Now for your apartment!
1. Go to Zillow using this link: https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_rent/
(Note: Do not click anything like "request to apply" or "request a tour" because these are real apartments for rent. Don't login or leave any of your contact information either.

2. Find an apartment in your budget. Remember that you need money left over for car payments, groceries, and other expenses. Try to spend less than 1/3 or 1/2 of your monthly budget on your rent.

3. Write the name of your apartment complex in the answer box. How much will you spend per month? You can also put pictures of your apartment in the SYW section.

"My new apartment is at..."
"It costs..."

CFS:
#1: Names apartment choice
#2: Includes monthly rent of apartment

1

Budgeting--Now that you have your apartment chosen, how much money do you have left over?

a) Take your monthly budget (from Q5), subtract your monthly rent (from Q6), and subtract $180 for bills like PG&E and internet.
Show your work so I can see your calculations.

b) Why did you choose your apartment? Explain (price, location, amenities, etc.)

CFS:
#1: Accurately calculates leftover monthly budget after rent and bills
#2: Explains reasons for apartment choice

Good work. Please DO NOT move onto the next day's work.
1

Do Now
What is your dream car? How much do you think it costs?

1

Research--Look through some cars that you are interested in.
1. Go to cars.com Do not check availability, contact sellers, or anything like that. Do not input any of your personal infromation. Just look at prices and pictures.

2. Write down the brand, model and year, and total price for each car. You will calculate the estimated monthly payment in Q10.

You can add more cars underneath the table if you want.

1

More Bills--Most people get loans to buy a car. This means they don't pay the total price all at once. Instead, they pay a smaller amount every month until they have paid for the whole thing.

1. Go to this link for a loan calculator.
2. Enter the total price of each of your cars in "Price of the car you want"
3. Leave Down Payment and Trade-in Value as $0.
4. Leave Length of Loan as 48 months (4 years).
5. Type 5% for APR (this is the interest rate)
6. Put 9% for Sales tax.

Go back to Q9. Now you know how much you will have to pay each month for the cars you are interested in.
a) Which car do you want to buy? How much does it cost each month?

b) Sign a check for it! Mr. Hwung will show you how.

"I want to buy..."
"It costs... each month"

1

Nice Ride--Now that you know which car you want to buy, you have to see how much money is leftover in your monthly budget.

a) Take your answer from Q7 and subtract your monthly car payment (from Q10). How much do you have leftover? Do you have money for groceries, gas, or your hobbies? Show your calculations below.

b) Explain why you chose your car.

c) You may also put a picture of your car in the space below.

CFS:
#1: Accurately calculates leftover monthly budget after car payment

Good work. Please DO NOT move onto the next day's work.
1

Do Now
Would you rather drive the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile or a Hamburger Car?

1

Present--During our project we learned a lot about careers, salaries, apartments, and cars.

a) What is your favorite thing about the career you chose?

b) What is your favorite thing about the house/apartment you chose?

c) What is your favorite thing about the car you chose?

Be prepared to make slides and share!

1

1. Take this survey.

2. Type in the answer box--what are some takeaways from this project? What is something new you learned? What surprised you? Write at least 3 sentences.

"Something I learned is..."
"One takeaway I have is..."
"I was surprised to find out that..."