1. My Future Life Jessica Lopez

2. What I Value Family Spirituality Justice Security Environment

3. My Family Jessica – Age 35 Graphic Designer Hobbies and Interests Art / Painting and sculpting Gardening Cooking Thomas – Age 35 Computer Support Speicalist Hobbies and Interests Hunting Four Wheeling Camping Gardening Noah – Age 8 Soccer Painting Video Games Becca – Age 6 Soccer Ballet Piano Video Games Grand Junction, Colorado

4. Graphic Designer Bachelor’s Degree $44,150 Job Outlook – 7% Opportunities for Advancement With experience, Graphic Designers can move into positions such as Executive Designer or Creative Director. Occupational Outlook Handbook: www.bls.gov/ocowww.bls.gov/oco Create a Career.org: http://createacareer.org/art-design/graphic-designer-careers/http://createacareer.org/art-design/graphic-designer-careers/ My Career

5. IT Specialist Varies. Some employers seek degrees. Others look for training and experience. $48,900 Job Outlook – 17% Opportunities for Advancement May advance to network and system administrator or programmer. Occupational Outlook Handbook: www.bls.gov/ocowww.bls.gov/oco Tom’s Career

6. Located on the Western Slope of Grand Junction, GJ is an ideal place to raise a family. It has a population of about 60,000, but it is at the center of the Grand Valley which has a population of closer to 150,000. The proximity to the Grand Mesa and Colorado National Monument make it a great place for families like ours who enjoy the outdoors. The median household income is 46,842. The overall Cost of Living Index is 101. Grand Junction, CO

7. Our Gross and Net Income

8. Protecting Our Family From Risk

9. Health Insurance We chose Rocky Mountain Health Silver Level HSA ½ of the premium is covered by Jessica’s employer – leaving 491.07 out of our pocket. Deductible is $2500 per person and $5000 for the family. Deductible must be met before coverage. The maximum out of pocket is $12,700 per year. Most event require no payment after the deductible. The plan covers dental and vision for the children, but not parents.

10. Additional Plans Dental Anthem Dental Family Premiums – 82.00 Deductible - $50.00 per person Out-of-Pocket Max. - $350.00/ $700.00 Co-Pay – 40% to 50% after deductible. Many services have 6 month to 1 year waiting period. Vision Because we are both young and do not wear glasses, we are not getting vision coverage at this time.

11. Additional Plans Life Insurance Coverage – 750,000.00 Premium – 48.91 Disability Coverage – 2500.00 per month Premium – 75.00

12. Major Expenditures

13. Housing Purchasing Information Down Payment Available – 57,442.66 Interest Rate – 3.73 Desired Payment - $995.66 Maximum Price – 257,500.00 Length of Loan – 30 years Actual Price – 239,000 Monthly Payment – 838.85 Lifetime Cost of House – 301,987.00 Other Costs Utilities – 377.14 Operations - $140.80 Furnishing & Equipment - $150.86

14. Schools Tope East Grand Junction 1846 Square Feet 3 bedrooms 2 baths Solar Built 1979

15. Transportation Money available for purchase – 19,051.00 Trade In Value – 2,500.00 Total Down Payment – 19,301.00 Desired Payments – 271.00 Maximum TMV – 28,800 Actual Price – 23,644 Loan Amount – 4593.00 Interest Rate – 4.9 Payments – 137.45 Total Cost of Car – 23,999.00 Make and Model 2016 Subaru Forester

16. This allows us to eat on the thrifty plan of the USDA chart. My monthly food budget is $660.00. At home – 575.00 Eating Out – 50.00 Snacks - 25.00 Supplies – 25.00

17. Other Expenses Child Care – After School and School Breaks: $275.00 $10.00 per day after school for both children (180 days per year) $150.00 per week for 10 weeks a year. Allowances – $45.00 per month $5.00 a week per child Communication and Computers – 200.00 Covers cell phones, Internet, Cable and a little for computer costs. Medical Costs not Covered by Insurance – 220.00 We are saving $200.00 a month to cover our deductible costs. This is less than half of our deductible. Clothing and Personal Care – $160.00 per month Educational Expenses - $233.00 Piano Lessons for 1 child $30.00 a year for 1 season of soccer for each child Pet Care – 52.25 for 1 dog Entertainment – 42.00 Allows for Netflix and an occasional outing $25.00 a month will allow for one $300.00 a year for vacation- this would cover 1 or 2 camping trips. Gifts -$25.00 This allows $500.00 a year for birthdays and Christmas. Just a little over 100.00 per person Student loans – These will be paid off soon.

18. Bottom Line I have a net loss of 346.24 a month. To adjust, I would consider the following: Buy a cheaper used car and not a new car. Sell some of our assets – furniture, etc. See if we could arrange our hours to work from home. I might be able to free lance as a graphic designer or work more flexible hours to avoid daycare. We might not be able to afford the dog. Look at a cheaper insurance policy and risk the out of pocket expenses. Look at a smaller house.

19. Reflection When I started this project, I thought I would have plenty of money to live the life of my dreams. I was surprised to find out that I could not have as nice of a house as I had expected, and we barely had enough to eat. When I first did the spending plan, I was spending over $1000.00 a month more than we made. I had to make changes to take smaller vacations and not give my children allowances. I realized that we would not have enough money for hobbies and fun things. This was a real surprise to me. I cut back a lot on savings, but I know that means I will not have as good of retirement. It makes me understand why people struggle so much. The pie chart with expenditures is good, but the amount left for everything after the major expenses is really small. You said that normally, health insurance would come out as a deduction, so the net income would be less. That might help to calculate smaller amounts to begin with, but it would not make a big difference either way. It makes me realize how important it is to get a good education and make a decent income. I can’t imagine trying to live on much less than this.