Budgets: The Cost of Living on Your Own

Last week I asked you to interview someone who lived in a house and someone who lived in an apartment to get an idea of how much it will cost living on your own.  Clearly there will be differences based how nice the apartment/house is, whether you are renting or buying, how large it is, and where it's located... but you should have a general idea at this point.  The biggest variations will probably include how people spend their "extra income" -- although quite often answers about these questions are not completely honest.

Collaboration: Today I would like you to sit for a few minutes with another person [who actually did the interview] and compare figures.  Make sure you note the other person's information on your paper.  Discuss the information with them; including why the amounts are different, difficulties you had in getting the information, etc.  After you finish comparing notes, sit with another classmate and compare notes with them.

Discussion: Next we will have a brief discussion to compare overall notes.

Hands-On: Next we will work on our "Hard Times" budget and set some actual numbers down that you learned from your interviews.

Video: Finally we will finish up Dave Ramsey's Savings (Part III).