Try to survive as a member of the working poor

Basic Information

You must create a monthly budget As a single parent making minimum wage Your Task

Completed Excel spreadsheet budget Apartment advertisement (printed out) Babysitting advertisement (printed out) To successfully complete this project, you must turn in all of the following:

Evaluation You will be graded on a 100 point scale according to the rubric below: Criteria Explanation (how to receive full credit) Possible Points Budget spreadsheet The budget spreadsheet is: Printed out (10pts) All of the math is correct and works out (10pts) Is completely filled out; nothing is missing (20pts) 40 Apartment advertisement Print the online ad for the apartment that you chose. (5pts) Be sure to circle the rent per month, any utilities that are included, and write in the distance from work or the bus stop (it can be handwritten somewhere on the ad) (5pts) 5 Babysitting advertisement Print the online ad for the babysitter that you chose (5pts) Somewhere on the ad, make sure that you write down whether you have to transport your child to the sitter or if the sitter is coming to you, &the sitters hourly rate. (5pts) 5 Unit 6 Synthesis Paper Write a 2-3 page typed synthesis paper that meets all of the following requirements: Respond to the statement: Social inequalities are not the fault of individuals alone, nor are they the fault of systems alone. They exist because of systems and individuals. Describe the challenges that you encountered in trying to plan your budget. What would happen if you were living in this situation and you came down with a serious case of pneumonia, for example. What would you say to someone who believes that working people who require public assistance programs (like food stamps) to make ends meet are lazy or taking advantage of taxpayers? Is minimum wage enough without public assistance? Connect your experience creating this budget to at least 2 articles that you read in Unit 6 50

Students should know The challenges of living as a member of the poor. The values, norms, and lifestyle of someone living on minimum wage The social structures that recreate inequality in our society What is the purpose of this activity? What are the end goals? Students should be able to Interpret the world from the perspective of a person making minimum wage. Create a monthly budget Read text & use technology for information/research

You are a 28-year-old person. With a 3-year-old child. Working at a supermarket, making minimum wage. Lets get started

When you download the spreadsheet, click SAVE AS

Make sure you save the file to My Documents (NOT downloads)

Click Open in the yellow bar at the bottom of the screen

When you open the excel file, click enable editing in the yellow bar at the top of the document

Write your name in the top left green box.

Go to this website: Find out what minimum wage is in New York state and plug that amount in step 1 Step 1: Hourly wage

Full time is 40 hours per week. Plug that number in Step 2: # hours worked/week

You will need to know your yearly income before taxes, which you can figure out with this formula: Multiply your hourly wage (7.25) times 40 hours per week times 52 weeks per year. (you should get a number with 5 digits) Now go to this website: income-tax-brackets-irs-tax-rates/ Find out how much you will be taxed. REMEMBER YOU ARE SINGLE!!! Plug that percentage in Step 3: Taxes

You work at the Nichols Supermarket in Liverpool. You probably want to find an apartment nearby. (Click here to see the location in Google Maps)Click here to see the location in Google Maps Try the following website to look for rentals Apartments Apartments You MUST print the ad for the rental that you choose. Be sure to circle the rent per month, any utilities that are included, and write in the distance to work (just get the distance by getting directions from Nichols to your apartment in Google Maps) Step 4: Rent

Your apartment might include utilities in the monthly price, but most wont include all of them. There is no way to estimate your utility bills so assume these amounts: Heat: $100/month Water: $5/month If your advertisement says nothing about utilities, assume that you have to pay them all separately Step 5: Utilities

Find a child care provider and plug in the cost per hour You can search here: You might want to refine your search as follows: Make sure that you babysitter is close to your apartment. Some sitters will only travel a certain distance. If the sitter gives a range for his/her cost (ex. $5-10) you can go with the smaller number. You MUST print the ad for the provider that you choose. Circle the sitters cost per hour and whether or not they have their own transportation Find a child care provider and plug in the cost per hour You can search here: You might want to refine your search as follows: Make sure that you babysitter is close to your apartment. Some sitters will only travel a certain distance. If the sitter gives a range for his/her cost (ex. $5-10) you can go with the smaller number. You MUST print the ad for the provider that you choose. Circle the sitters cost per hour and whether or not they have their own transportation Step 6: Child care

To estimate your monthly grocery cost use this website: n/foodspendingplan/ n/foodspendingplan/ Remember that in this scenario, you are 28 years old AND you have a 3-year-old child The number of meals eaten away from home should be 5-7 for each of you (Sometimes you will eat at work and your child will eat at the babysitters) Step 7: Groceries

If you want to have a car, then you need to complete steps 8 & 9 to calculate insurance and fuel costs. You will skip step 10. (We will assume that you own your car and arent still making car payments) If you want to save money and take the bus, then you need to make sure that your apartment and babysitter are close to a bus stop and skip to step 10. TRANSPORTATION

Use this website to estimate your monthly car insurance cost: insurance-quotes.aspx insurance-quotes.aspx You can decide the make/model car that you own in this pretend world, but dont forget it. Youll need it for the next step. Divide the yearly quote by 12 and enter that number in step 8. Step 8: Car Insurance

Use the Fuel Cost Calculator on the right side of the excel budget document. First input the cost per gallon of gas. You can find the average cost here: Step 9: Fuel

Then google mpg and the make and model of the car you chose to find the miles that your car gets per gallon of gas (mpg). I put in 20 as an average, but you can replace that number with the exact number when you find it. Still step 9

You need to find directions from work to your apartment. (Click here to see the location in Google Maps)Click here to see the location in Google Maps Click to get directions and input the address of your apartment (it should be on your advertisement) Do the same with directions to the babysitter (if your babysitter is going to drive herself, then enter 0 for the miles in that box. Last part of step 9!

You can check for Centro bus routes from your apartment to the mall and find out the cost of a bus pass here: But remember, your apartment has to be within walking distance of a bus stop and you babysitter has to drive herself/himself! Step 10: Bus

Do you want to have a cell phone? Check the cost of a plan for one person on the website for the phone company of your choice. Do you want cable TV? Internet? A landline phone? Check Time Warner Cable or Verizon for estimates (or look into Netflix, Hulu, Skype for other options) Time Warner Cable website Verizon Fios website Your apartment might include cable and/or internet. Check the ad. Step 11: Cable/internet/phone

How many times are you going to go out to a restaurant or order takeout in a month? Sometimes you might want a special treat for you or your child. Estimate your own budget and plug in the amount. Step 12: Restaurant/Take out

Think about how much will you spend on new (or used) clothing for you and your child IN AN ENTIRE YEAR Then divide that number by 12 to get your monthly clothing average. Keep in mind that your 3-year-old will grow out of his or her clothing and you will have to buy more clothes for your child at the very least. Your number in this box CANNOT BE ZERO Step 13: Clothing

You might want to go out to the movies, the zoo, take a small vacation, etc… Calculate the average monthly cost for these little splurges. Step 14: Entertainment

Your child will cost you some extra money sometimes Calculate how much you want to spend per month on things for your child, such as toys, books, etc… Step 15: Child

The federal government will require businesses to provide health insurance to all fulltime employees, but not until Employers are not legally obligated to provide health insurance, and yours does not. You ARE covered by the Family Medical Leave Act, which gives you up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave if you or someone in your family is sick and need care. During this time you cant be fired if you take up to 12 weeks of sick time, but dont earn any money. Emergency Fund

You need to budget for health emergencies on your own in case you or your children need medical care for any reason. How much do you want to set aside each month just in case you need to pay for a doctors visit, car repairs, serious medical injury, etc…? If youre not sure how much to save, this article has some helpful tips: fund-why-how-much-and-where/ Step 16: Emergency fund

Now you can consider ways to stretch your budget. Need more money?

Maybe you want to supplement your income by working overtime. You make 1.5x your regular wage by working more than 40 hours per week. Use the website below to see the minimum overtime wage in New York State wage.org/overtime/new_york wage.org/overtime/new_york Plug that amount under step 17 Steps 17: Overtime!

Choose the extra hours you want to work and plug them in step 18 Enter your tax rate under step 19 (its the same rate that you entered on the page before) KEEP IN MIND THAT EVERY HOUR EXTRA YOU WORK IS AN EXTRA HOUR THAT YOU NEED TO PAY A BABYSITTER. The extra cost of child care is automatically added in when you decide how much overtime to work. Steps 18 & 19: Overtime!

This is temporary aid (like money or food) given to people in need. You do not have to accept public assistance. You can try to make due with just your overtime. Its up to you! This is temporary aid (like money or food) given to people in need. You do not have to accept public assistance. You can try to make due with just your overtime. Its up to you! Public Assistance

Public assistance is paid for with tax dollars. Everyone pays into the system in case they fall on hard times and need to use it Public Assistance

Your 3-year-old might be eligible for free half-day pre- school through a program called Head Start. Head Start exists to make sure that children from low- income families get the early education they need to succeed in school. Check HERE to see if you qualify. If you do, you will save yourself 80 hours a month in childcare costs. Thats half of your babysitters time! If you qualify, look back at your total child care cost per month (in the yellow square). Enter HALF of that amount in the box for step 20. Step 20: Headstart

As a single parent with sole custody of your child, you are entitled to court mandated child support from the other parent. Even if your childs other parent does not want to pay, the court can force him/her to pay a minimum yearly amount. Use this website to calculate how much child support you should receive in 1 year. Assume that the other parents yearly salary is the same as yours: $15, ort_calculator.shtml ort_calculator.shtml Divide that number by 12 and enter it into Step 21. Step 21: Child Support!

Find out if you qualify for SNAP (food stamps) The form is a little confusing, so be sure to do the following: You can make up a name for you imaginary three-year-old! And remember, youre 28! Assets – you dont have any! Just skip to the next section. Use $15080 for your earned income (wages) annually. In the Unearned Income section, include the monthly child support Dependent Care – enter your babysitting costs per month (remember to SUBTRACT HALF if your child qualified for Head Start) The child support section should be left blank, because YOU dont pay Step 22: SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program)

If you do qualify, you can type the amount in the box for Step 22 You should also go back to Step 7 and change your grocery costs to zero if SNAP makes up for it. Step 22: SNAP (continued)

New York state does offer free/reduced cost healthcare for low-income families See if you and/or your child qualifies here: ibility/gettingstarted.jsp ibility/gettingstarted.jsp If you qualify, check to see what your monthly cost will be ($0-$60) us/what_does_it_cost.htm us/what_does_it_cost.htm Enter the cost in Step 23 You might want to look back at step 16 and adjust it. Step 23: Child Healthcare

Go back and look at your extra expenses. If you dont mind having less savings, you can increase the money that you devote to things like entertainment, your emergency fund, etc… You might want to work more or less overtime now as well. Have more money now?

Double check and make sure that you have done all of the following: Is your budget finalized? Completed Excel spreadsheet budget (printed out) All info filled out Math makes sense Name at the top Apartment advertisement (printed out) Name at the top Circle the monthly rent and the utilities included (if any) Wrote somewhere on it the distance to Nichols Supermarket Babysitting advertisement (printed out) Name at the top Circled cost per hour and whether or not transportation is needed Distance from home written on it

Budget Apartment ad Babysitting ad All paper-clipped or stapled together with your name on ALL pieces. Turn in the following:

Youre done!