BUDGETING
TRACKING INCOME and EXPENSES
Dave Feeney is a recent college graduate. He’s interested in becoming a graphic artist, and
he has an unpaid internship at a well-known company where he'd love to work someday.
The internship is in downtown Los Angeles, and his schedule there is half days Monday
through Friday. Dave is living alone in a studio apartment in his hometown of Van Nuys—a
suburb of LA. He likes it because his parents live 10 minutes away, but it takes over an hour
for him to get to work on the bus. Dave loves live music, and whenever he can he goes to
shows in LA during the evenings. He loves the internship and the apartment, but he isn’t
making enough money to cover his expenses. He took a part-time job painting houses on
the weekends to earn more money, but he’s still not breaking even, especially with monthly
school loan payments equaling $300 per month. His older brother has been loaning him
the money to cover his rent for the past three months, but that extra help is coming to an
end. He has money from a graduation gift, and half is going toward his living expenses
while with the other half, he’s saving up for a new computer. He wants the computer so he
can work on his graphic design skills at home.
QUESTIONS
Refer to Dave’s budget on the following page to answer the questions below.
What are some ways Dave can increase his monthly income?
What are ways Dave can decrease his monthly expenses?
Implement the ideas you came up with for increasing Dave’s income and
decreasing his expenses. Now how much money per month can Dave save?
Dave wants to purchase a new computer ($1,200) plus a three-year warranty
($300) so that he can work on his own projects at home. For how many
months will he need to save before he can make these purchases?
1
BUDGETING
Dave’s budget per month
MONTHLY INCOME
INCOME
per MONTH
Gift money from graduation ($600/year)
$ 50
Weekend gig painting houses ($15/hr x 80hrs)
$ 1,200
Money borrowed from brother
$ 200
TOTAL INCOME
$ 1,450
MONTHLY EXPENSES
EXPENSES
per MONTH
Loans
$ 300
Groceries
$ 120
Rent
$ 650
Utilities
$ 50
Transportation
$ 100
Dining out, entertainment
$ 160
Personal Savings
$ 25
TOTAL MONTHLY EXPENSES
$ 1,405
TOTAL MONTHLY SAVINGS
$ 45
2
BUDGETING
TRACK YOUR SAVINGS
Now complete the worksheet for yourself. Remember to include all of your
expenses each month. Do you have savings at the end of the month? If not,
what could you cut down on so that you would?
MONTHLY INCOME
EARNINGS
per MONTH
TOTAL INCOME
MONTHLY EXPENSES
EXPENSES
per MONTH
TOTAL MONTHLY EXPENSES
TOTAL MONTHLY SAVINGS
3