Week Ten

This Week

This week students continued working on their budgets. I explained to them the project, which will take approximately three weeks. Part of the project is the actual creation of the budget itself, but the other part is an essay explaining how well they have accomplished certain aspects of "good budgeting," which I have identified as accuracy, specificity, and thriftiness. I defined/explained these components to students as follows:

Accuracy - A good budget will accurately reflect current market prices for the goods/services you are researching, which means you will need to do your homework to figure out how much everything costs. For example, if you choose to purchase a 3000 sq. ft. home, your heating bill will be much more expensive than an 800 sq. ft. apartment.

Specificity - Good budgeting tries to get a realistic estimate down to the last penny, so if you simply say "movies - $14 per month" as opposed to "1 movie per month at $12.50 plus Netflix account subscription at $8.99" you will receive a 3/4 instead of a 4/4.

Thriftiness - Good budgeting helps you avoid spending too much (never pay more than you have to for something). This category is not the same as being "cheap," instead this looks at whether or not you have compared prices. You can buy a Mercedes from different dealerships, and one may cost more than the other. In this way, comparison-shopping helps you get the best deal possible, and you are still being "thrifty."

Students were also given a link to the Bureau of Labor Statistics so they could understand how much they could realistically expect to earn coming out of college. I advised that they look at the state data and take the low end of the salary range, as they will most likely earn at the low end (or below) when starting out.

Going into chemistry? This is the kind of information you can find on the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational and Employment Wage Statistics

Mr. Federinko also came today to discuss how to research which college students wish to attend so they can get an idea of how much they will owe in student debt (if any) after graduation. If you plan to help your son or daughter by paying for any of their education expenses or if they have a College Savings Plan, now is a great time to talk with them about this so that they can be as realistic as possible in how much money they will need to plan to set aside for student loan repayment.

Upcoming Week 

Next week is parent-teacher conferences. If you would like to meet and talk about your son or daughter or are concerned about your student's performance and would like to schedule a meeting, please use the pick-a-time website that the school is using for scheduling conferences. I'm always happy to meet with you if you'd like to discuss your son or daughter's performance or learn more about what goes on in the class, or would just like to walk through their grades in more depth. I also like having the students be a part of the conference as well, so please know that they are welcome to join us if you would like.

We will be continuing to budget for the next couple of weeks, and students continue to work on their stock market simulations.

Have a great weekend!

~Mr. Grieve