Your mission, since you have decided
to accept the Budget Bonanza challenge, is to actually practice
what you are studying. Can you stay ahead of the bill collector?
Can you squeeze enough out of your budget to afford a movie?
Or, will you end up wrecked on the rocks of financial disaster?
To survive, youll have to learn the economic necessities
everyone should know - how to: balance a budget, finance and
insure your automobile, figure your taxes, rent or buy a house,
establish credit and avoid its risks, invest in the stock market,
and plan for retirement.
Wow! This sounds like a lot of work,
but its not really as bad as it seems. Because many people
never take the time to learn to do these things well, they think
it's difficult. Not necessarily so! If you learn a few basic
fundamentals and, above all, learn to locate and analyze the
information that is out there for you to use, you can do consumer
economics with the best of them.
And - in addition to taking control
of your financial life, youll have an opportunity to win
Bonanza Bucks! Several of our community merchants
are going to provide prizes of U.S. Savings Bonds to those of
you who best meet the objectives of this project. So, with the
incentives of earning Bonanza Bucks and acquiring
some useful knowledge, lets take a quick tour of the program.
Students
will...
- Plan monthly budgets
and balance check books
- Learn to establish
credit and use credit cards responsibly
- Compare cost-of-living
in different U.S. and global areas
- Compare mortgage
to rent payments
- Pay state and federal
taxes
- Research and compare
types of insurance
- Research projected
savings and retirement needs
- Plan investments
and read stock 'results'
- Learn to use the
Internet, E-mail, PowerPoint, PageMill, and budget software(Quicken)
Week 1
First, after a brief
look at the course, the projects, and Internet requirements,
youll take some time to put your economic team
together and decide on individual team members roles and
responsibilities. And best of all, youll learn more about
how to win that prize money. |
Week 2,3,4
Next, as you begin to
learn about personal budgets and how to track them using budget
software, youll also look into the financial world of automobile
ownership. Your team will complete work on your first personal
budget project and PowerPoint presentation. (And have a chance
for the first of 4 'Budget Bonanza' awards.) |
Week 5,6
Then, on to taxes; state
and federal. How best to file? What about deductions? Why do
we have to pay them? Again, your team will complete your personal
budget info and your PowerPoint presentation. (Again, a chance for more 'bucks'.) |
Week 7,8,9
After taxes, whats
left? Not much! (Just kidding.)Next, you'll look into rent, mortgages,
and credit card use. (Again, a chance for more 'bucks'.) |
Week 10,11,12
What about your future?
Saving, investing, and retirement information
will help you plan for those expenses that will come later in
life. (Again, a chance for more 'bucks'.) |
Week 13,14,15
It's time to put to
use what you've learned so far. With the magic of technology
and the WWW, you are going to create a web site that will explain,
to those not lucky enough to have taken this course, how they
can plan a secure and rewarding financial future. |
Week 16,17
These two weeks are
for presenting your web sites to your classmates and the people
who will judge them. This is when you will submit all your hard
work to compete for 'Budget Bonanza" bucks. |
Week 18
The moment of truth.
Award day. Who do the judges award 'Budget Bonanza' bucks too? |