INTRODUCTION 

CONGRATULATIONS!  You have just graduated from an ivy league college, and have been offered a job in Philadelphia.  You will be teaching at Central High School just north of downtown Philly.  You will have a starting salary of $30,000 a year.  This is a deal you can't possibly pass up, considering you only make about $2,000 a year at McDonald's flipping burgers.  So, you are packed and ready to go, will you be able to make it on your own?  PHILLY, HERE YOU COME! 

 

With your newly acquired position, you are being paid $30,000 a year. There are some necessities for daily living that you must account for in your budget:

• Open a bank account
• Find living accommodations
• Pay your utilities (electric, phone, water, gas, cable, etc.) if they are not included in your rent
• Transportation (Will you use public transportation or buy a car of your own?)
• Buy groceries 
• Extras (shopping, eating out, movies, etc.)

Note:  Remember, you might not want to spend all of your money every week just in case an unexpected expense comes up.

1.  Print out the worksheet for this activity using the link below.  Be sure to write down everything you find and use. 
  Webquest Worksheet
2.  Look into opening a bank account.  You don't want to hide your earned money under the mattress!  Click on the area banks below to help you.
 First Union Bank  PNC Bank  Commerce Bank
3.  Find living accommodations.  Be sure to take into account whether certain utilities are included in the rent.  (Note:  if you are not buying a car, be sure to locate yourself near the school where you will be working)  Use the links below to find your dream home.

4.  If all of the utilities you want are covered in your apartment's rent, skip this step.  Otherwise, you can check the cost of the necessary utilities by using the links below.
     Electric  Gas   Phone  Cable   Water

5.  Now  you must get to work.  If you are going to use public transportation use part A, otherwise use part B.
      A)  To find out about public transportation, use this link.
Public Transportation
      B)  To look into purchasing a car use the following links:
 Yahoo Cars  AutoTrader.com  Car Buying  Avis Rent-A-Car  Cars.com

6.  Hungry?...try these links:
 Lowes Foods  Kroger

7.  Considering the information you have gathered, calculate how much you will spend in one month.  Subtract this from your monthly salary.  Is there anything left for entertainment?  (Note:  You must not spend more than you will earn in one month.) 

 

Your performance on this webquest will be graded according to the rubric below.  Since this is an individual project, each student must fully complete all objectives in order to be graded accordingly.  Listed below are the different elements you will be graded on, as well as the point value given to each level of the specified objective.  Your work will be graded on a 20 point scale.

Describe to the learners how their performance will be evaluated. Specify whether there will be a common grade for group work vs. individual grades.

	Beginning 1	Developing 2	Accomplished 3	Exemplary 4	Score
Found an appropriate place to live	Living accomodations are not appropriate for the situation (ex. cannot afford rent)	Living quarters are not in a realistically appropriate area considering the new job.	The living accomodations were carefully chosen in regard to location and price.	The living accomodations are chosen with careful placement of location and price, but offer the best looking deal in the area.
Utility Bills are reasonable and appropriate	Utility information was found, but not reasonable.	Each utility used has an appropriate price and need for the living accomodations.	THe utilties are found according to the need for the apartment.  The prices are reasonable for the income level of the job.	The utilities were found after considering the needs of the living quarters.  The cost of the utilities is the best deal you can find.
Transportation Expenditures are Calculated	Public transporation was used regardless of the location of your home, or your transportation expenses are unreasonable.	The type of transportation used was selected according to your home location, but the costs were not feasible or realistic.	The type of transportation was carefully chosen according to your budget and location of your home.	The type of transportation was carefully chosen according to your budget and location of your home, but you also found the best prices.
Food/Entertainment and Other Expenses	Expenses were calculated without consideration of your budget.	Expenses were calculated in order to fit your budget, but are unreasonable amounts of money (ex. you do spend any extra money in a month).	Expenses were calculated according to fit your budget, and they are reasonable amounts.	Expenses were calculated according to fit your budget, and they are actually planned out to show exactly how much money is spent in different areas.
Overall Presentation and Calculation of your Budget (Including a descriptive completed webquest worksheet)	Only partial objectives were completed and filled in.	All objectives were completed and written down, but you did not fully complete the questions asked.	All objectives were completed and written down, and you completed all questions asked without much description.	All objectives were completed and written down, and you completed all questions asked fully and descriptively.

        By completing this webquest, you should have a better understanding of budgeting personal finances.  Finding a place to live, opening a bank account, and calculating your budget will help you be prepared for your future.  Are you ready to do this on your own? 
        If you have extra money, you might want to check out investments.  For example, check out the following link.   www.vanguard.com
        Now that it is over....do you have enough money for that Philly steak?

All animated images were taken from: www.animationfactory.com
The skyline can be found at:  www.usip.edu/philadelphia/
The Pennsylvania flag came from:  www.aoa.dhhs.gov/regionsI-II/stpa.htm

All other web pages used in the webquest are linked to the original sites.