Personal Budget Assignment (Links are all in ulearn)
1. Watch Budgeting 101 Video on 360 Financial Literacy
2. In a document or Excel (you will also use this file for 4c and 5), make a list of your expenses and
classify them as needs versus wants.
a. You do not need to include any amounts, just think about ALL of the outflows of cash.
b. If someone else pays for things for you, you still should have a list of items they are
paying on your behalf. It is always good to know how much you are “spending”.
3. Read 50-30-20 Rule of Budgeting.
4. Research what the starting salary for someone with your degree would be (e.g. I would look up
the starting salary of a staff accountant in RI or New England). Try to include the location
because this could make a significant difference for some jobs.
a. Enter the job title and starting salary in the “Table applying 50-30-20 Rule”.
b. This will factor in taxes taken out using the US average.
i. If you want to adjust for your specific state, you can use the article attached in
ulearn “Average percentage of salary take home by state” and change the
percentage in the spreadsheet.
c. Answer the following questions:
i. Knowing all of the items that are classified as needs, are you surprised by this at
all? What do you find surprising? Do you think you would need to make any
adjustments to make sure you do not spend more than you make (or will
make)? If you are not surprised at all, what has previously prepared you to
know this?
5. Identify one savings goal.
a. After looking over some of the information in the sites provided, note one thing you can
do to work towards reaching your goal.
6. Feel free to explore the numerous other sites or links available.
What to submit to ulearn:
1. One file (Word, Excel, pdf) with the answers for number 1, needs versus wants, 4c, thoughts on
50-30-20 rule applied to your future income, and 5, savings goal, from above.
2. Excel file with the 50-30-20 calculation.