Today we will begin discussing banking to prepare for our banking/checking simulation.  During the simulation you will be using "checks", credit cards, debit cards, etc. to pay for services and merchandise.  We will be applying for a job, filling out the necessary paperwork to start working, look at our pay stubs, pay our bills, balance our checkbook, etc.

Let's begin by looking at banks and credit unions:

• A bank is a for-profit company owned by investors in its stock.  These stockholders elect a paid board of directors to manage the bank for them.  Anyone can walk up to a bank and open an account.
• A credit union is owned by their customers, who are also called members.  These members elect a volunteer board of directors (who are also members) to manage the credit union for them.  Credit unions have membership qualifications.  By law, each credit union must serve a defined segment of the population.  To join a credit union, you have to work for or have a family member who works for an employer in that segment.

Although both institutions have definite differences, both can meet your needs.  Both provide a variety of basic financial services including savings and checking accounts, issuing credit and debit cards, and providing loans for cars, homes, and other purposes.

Check out the the following local banks and make a list of what services they offer:

• Umpqua Bank
• West America Bank
• Savings Bank of Mendocino County

Print your paper and turn in to the basket on top of the printer.  (If your computer will not print, email your finished list to askgriff@gmail.com).  

Next we will discuss the anatomy of a check:

1. Spend 10 minutes practicing your typing.  Work on the Measurement Writing exercises so you can be ready for the Typing Test at the end of the quarter.
2. Complete your Personal Budget Research Project (House, Car, and Career).  Print your assignment and turn into the basket on my desk.  If you aren't able to print from your computer, email your assignment to me at askgriff@gmail.com or rgriffith@kusd.lake.k12.ca.us.

Today we will be looking at careers that can support your lifestyle (in this case, your house and car).  First, look at the recommended income level from both your car and house.  Choose the higher of the two to use as a baseline for what you should earn.

Use the Occupational Outlook Handbook to find a career that you are interested in and that will give you the needed income to afford the lifestyle you want.

Include:

• One paragraph explaining why this career appeals to you.
• Significant points about the job (See the OOH)
• Training / Education Needed
• Job Outlook
• Earnings (For the Year)
• Related Occupations

Today we will continue our Personal Budget Research and start shopping for a car.  Look over a site such as AutoTrader.com (see link below) to find the car of your dreams -- but try to stay reasonable and keep the price of the car below $35,001.

• www.autotrader.com

Open your Microsoft Word document from yesterday and make a section called "My Car".  Include the following information on your page:

• What is the year, make and model of your car?  (i.e. 1994 Chevy Silverado, 1989 Toyota Celica, etc.)
• How much does the car cost?
• Copy & Paste a picture of your car.
• Use the Car Loan Payment Calculator to figure your monthly payment.  Use 8% as the rate and 3 years (36 months) as the term.  Calculate 5% as a down payment.
• Monthly Payment: $ ________
• Yearly Cost: $ ________ (Monthly Payment x 12)
• What income would you need to afford this car?  (Yearly Cost divided by 12%)
• Look up the Kelley Blue Book value of your car to see if you're getting a good deal.  (http://www.kbb.com/) 
• Approximately what gas mileage (mpg = miles per gallon) does your car get?

Again, save your document in a safe location -- perhaps emailing a copy to yourself as a backup.  You will be adding to this document on Monday when we begin looking at possible careers to support your lifestyle.

Today we are going to begin looking at your future budget.  We will begin looking at buying a house, continue with buying a car, and then we will begin looking at careers.

For todays piece of the assignment I want you to focus your efforts on finding a house.  Almost everyone has an idea of where they would like to live and what type of house they would like to own.  It's your job to use the links below to find your dream house -- although we need to keep it realistic, so don't spend over $400,000 on the house.

• www.century21.com 
• www.realtor.com
• www.remax.com

When you have found the house you want, open Microsoft Word and put a title at the top of the page that says, "PERSONAL BUDGET RESEARCH PROJECT".  Next, make a section called "My House" and enter the following information:

• Where is the house? 
• How much does it cost?
• Use the Real Estate Loan Payment Calculator to figure your monthly payment for a 30 year mortgage.
• Monthly Payment (from above)
• Yearly Cost (Monthly Payment x 12)
• Income Needed (Yearly Cost divided by 28%)
• Paste a picture of the house on the page.
• URL (web address) of the site you used

Save this document to your Thawspace, but you might also want to email a copy to yourself in case the Thawspace gets wiped out again.  If you need to borrow a USB drive, please let me know.  We will be adding to this document tomorrow.

Today we are going to use the spreadsheets.xls file.

Today we did our 10 minutes of typing, then moved on to putting together a "Hard Times Budget".  In our hard times budget we came u with the bare minimum cost of living on your own.  We came up with expenses of $500 for rent, $75 for utilities, $25 for cell phone, etc.  We also created a tab on our budget spreadsheets for the hard times numbers.

After a class discussion of what living expenses can include for people living on their own, we built a spreadsheet to keep track of income and expenses.  We then used formatting tools to add color, borders, text alignments, etc.  Tomorrow we will continue working on our personal budgets creating a "Regular Budget" and a "Hard Times" tab.  There will be some budget research homework this week, but I think we made a great start today.

Today we begin using Microsoft Excel.  I am including a "Quick Reference Guide" if you should need another copy or would like to share one with someone else.  Just click the picture of the guide to download it.

I am also posting a few video tutorials below which should help you through some of the tough pieces of Microsoft Excel.  I am uploading them to Viddler.com in hopes that we can view them inside the school firewall. 

During the next two weeks we will be working through the NEFE High School Financial Planning Program workbook.  This is a good, rounded introduction to personal finance for young people.  It covers topics such as financial planning, budgeting, investing, credit, insurance, and your career.  We will be working through the book, doing some basic homework (mostly involving keeping track of spending, researching prices of items, interviewing friends or family, etc.), and then working on some financial simulations.

We will also continue working on typing during this time.  I expect everybody to spend 10 minutes at the beginning of the period working on "Measurement Writing" exercises in the MicroType Pro program.  I will begin administering typing tests very soon.