Follow the steps below.
1. You need to prepare a 12-month Cash Budget for yourself. Use the excel template attached. Personal budget Spring 2023 (1) (1).xlsx
2. To do this, you need to find the starting salary for your academic major upon graduation. Use the average starting salary for a job that requires an undergraduate degree in your major in Maryland. You can obtain both the average starting salary and the job title with zero to two years’ experience from the US Department of Labor Occupational Outlook Medical and Health Services Managers : Occupational Outlook Handbook: : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics or any other source with proper citation. Use the occupation Medical and Health Service Manager
3. Consider your take-home pay to be about 77% of your starting salary. Divide the take-home pay by 12 to arrive at your monthly take-home pay (the formula has been done for you in Excel).
4. Budget Analysis: This is the second part of the Personal Budget Project. Use a Microsoft Word document for this section. In this section, you will analyze and explain your personal cash budget using the subtitles underlined below:
- Explain the importance of budgeting and how proper financial planning and budgeting can help you grow wealth.
- What does it mean when you hear the phrase “don’t live above your means”?
- Analysis of Expenses:
- Transportation: add the expenses for car loan payments, insurance, fuel, parking, etc. for the year. What percentage of your take-home pay goes to transportation?
- Home: Explain the expenses related to the home, such as mortgage payments/rent, homeowners/rental insurance, property tax if any, house maintenance, parking, HOA fees, etc. What percentage of your income goes towards home-related expenses?
5. If you have a deficit, explain how the gap will be covered. If you have a surplus, what do you plan to do with it?
6. Explain what surprised you about your budget. What have you learned?
7. Explain how life events such as marriage, a new child, divorce, sickness, loss of job, etc., can affect your finances.
