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2nd Quarter Worksheet – April through June

Name ______________ Due: ____________

April

Tax month! Yikes! We’ll actually cover paying your taxes later, so you don’t have to worry about this stressful part of family finances… yet. However, being as it’s also the month of Earth Day, you will be presented with an interesting financial choice. But first…

Instructions for this month. You guessed it. Start by paying your regular expenses and logging your regular salary. After you’ve done that, choose an April event card. Pay/deposit as necessary, and answer the following questions about the card:

Is this an extra credit or debit? ________________

How much is this credit/debit for? ______________

Is there any way you could have foreseen this and budgeted for it earlier? __________

(If you don’t think so… you might think about it again! One of the most important parts of budgeting is leaving room for “wear and tear” and “discretionary” expenses.)

Now, you have one more thing to decide:

Because it’s earth day, a local car dealership is running a special on hybrid cars. Unbeknownst to you, there are hybrid cars in almost every make and model (this isn’t actually true – we’re just pretending for the sake of the game). He is offering the following deal: anyone can trade in their current car and pay $700 cash to “upgrade” their car to a hybrid. The car will look exactly the same, only its gasoline costs will be cut in half. The catch is, he only takes cash. If you are already in debt, you can’t participate. If you aren’t in debt, you can decide whether or not you choose to participate. (Important note: this “upgrade” will only be for the rest of the game of Real Life – you won’t use it for the rest of this unit.) If you decide to participate, you need to write the dealer a check for $700. Starting next month, you only have to pay half as much in gasoline costs (write the new amount beside your original gas budget – DO NOT cross out the old one!). Regardless of what you decide, answer the following questions:

Did you have the money to participate in this sale? ___________________

Did you decide to accept the offer? _____________________

How did you decide if it was “worth it” to accept this offer or not?_________________

(Regardless of whether or not you can afford to participate, answer these questions.)

How much do you (or would you) save in gasoline each month?_______________

Given those savings, how many months would it take for you to “break even” with the $700 upgrade costs?_________________________

How did you figure that out?_______________________________________________

May

Ahhhhh, May… Flowers bloom, birds sing, and kids get expensive. This month, you’re going to need to make some decisions regarding your children!

Instructions for this month. Start by (you guessed it) doing your regular monthly expenses. After that, draw a May card and make a decision regarding the choice it presents. For some of these cards, you may have to add a new monthly item to your budget. Don’t write it on your monthly budget worksheet! Instead, write it in the place provided below. Just make sure you pay that expense every month from now on! For other decisions, there will be a one-time cost, which you will need to pay this month.

Remember, you can always tell your kids, “No.” Just remember how much you hate it when your parents/guardians tell you “No”!

Answer the following questions once you’ve taken care of all your financial obligations:

What was the decision you had to make regarding your child?_________________________

What did you decide to do?______________________________________________________

How much did your decision cost you? ____________________________________________

Was it worth it?_______________________________________________________________

What is one thing you ask your parents/guardians for that costs them extra money?_______________________________________________________________________

Have you said, “Thank you!” recently?_________________

June

Summertime is here, thank goodness! School winds down, and the kids get wound up. Summer seems like such a great thing for kids, but for parents, what do you do with them? Almost anything a pre-teen wants to do, from go to the movies to go to the pool, costs money. You’ve got choices to make – lots of them! You could let your kids veg in front of the TV all summer, but is that really good for them? You could put them in camp every week of the summer, but can you afford it? You’ve got to think of all the options and make some decisions…

Instructions for this month. Nothing new – take care of your regular responsibilities first. After you’ve finished that, you have to think about summer activities. The following table provides a list of some common summer activities and their costs. You can decide which (if any) of them you want your kids to participate in:

|Activity |Cost |

|County Parks/Rec day camp for the whole summer (5 days a week, in the |$300/child for the whole |

|mornings) |summer |

|Pool membership |$70/month for the whole |

| |family |

|Gym membership |$120/month for the whole |

| |family. |

|Season passes to a local amusement park |$325/person |

|Library |FREE |

|County park entrance fees |$100/summer for the whole|

| |family |

|Children’s museum memberships |$75/person for the whole |

| |summer |

|Municipal concerts in the evenings |FREE (weekly) |

|Municipal movies “on the green” |FREE (weekly) |

|Hiking in the state and national parks |$50/year for the whole |

| |family |

Don’t worry that there are no camps listed on the above list, they’ll be offered in July! For this month, you need to decide if you are going to participate in any of these activities. (If your activity has a monthly cost, you need to pay it for June, July, and August!)

What activity(ies) did you decide to have your kids participate in? ____________________________________________________________________

What will the total cost for that be for the summer (remember, there are 3 months in the summer)?________________________________

What will your kids be doing when they are NOT participating in these activities?_____________________________________________________________

Is that a healthy alternative?______________________________

What kind of activities do YOU (the real you) do over the summertime?________________________________________________________________

Once you’re done with these three months of decisions and cards, show what you’ve done to your teacher and have them sign here:

________________________________________________

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