Ian Nelson

Quantitative Literacy
Final Project
April 20, 2016

Setting a Pre and Post Graduate Budget

Going out into the world after living with your parents all of your young
adult life can be challenging at first. There are many roads to take and paths
to understand as you are growing but it doesnt have to be daunting.
One thing that confuses many people is how to form a logical budget. I
have to admit that this is one of my weak points. Growing up I was always
able to save money but when it came to a substantial amount (sometime
$20 for a 12 year old) I would spent it un wisely and without a plan.
In this paper I am going to tackle my weakness and create two monthly
budget plans for myself. One for the moment and one for the near future;
both are applicable to me in my current life so this will be beneficial to learn
from and use as a stencil for my own pocketbook adventure.

PRE GRADUATE:

INCOME

At the current moment I am working one job that pays a med-low wage
yet presents me with a scholarship that, so far, has helped me pay for all of
my schooling. I work 6 hours a week and make about $8.50 after tax and
withholdings. Over a one month period, this is what I would make. (Because I

will be attending two semesters over the period of a year I divide semesterly
expenses into the months of the year)

Income from work:

paycheck

Scholarship

$ 8.50 7 hr 4 wk $ 238
x
x
=
hr
wk
m
m

$ 2,000 sem $ 333

x
=
sem
6m
m

Pre Graduate: Expenses

While am going to school I will be lucky enough to live with my parents.
My parents are gracious will I live with them and provide me insurance,
housing, food, laundry expenses and phone. I am left to pay my tuition,
books, gas, savings and anything extra that I may need. Here is a chart of
my expenses.
I will fill up my 10 gallon tank on gas once a week at an estimated gas price
of $3.

Car (gas):

$ 3 10 gal 4 wk $ 120
x
x
=
gal
wk
m
m

Tuition will cost roughly $1,800 per semester and books will cost around
$200 per semester.

Tuition and books:

$ 200 sem $ 333

+
x
=
( $ 1,800
sem
sem ) 6 m
m

Income/month

Expenses/month

To date

Percentages

Car (gas) -$120

Tuition&books -$333
Savings-$100
Fun -$18
Total: $571

(monthly)
$238
$571
$451
$118
$18
$0
$571 + $571 -

42% +
58% +
21% 58% 18% 3% 100% +

Pay-$238
Scholarship -$333

Total: $571

100% -

Income

Expenses

Pay

Car (gas)

T&B

Scolarship

Saving

Fun

After receiving my income and distributing my needs $18 is not a lot of

money to be able to have some fun over the month but as a college student
some exceptions will have to be made in order to make sure Im still able to
pursue my education. However I am thankful that I can be building a savings
while I am pursuing an education. Over the 4 years that I am studying my

savings will grow linearly displayed by this graph.

Savings
6000
4000
2000
0

Savings

Over the four years that I will be studying I expect to save about 5,000
dollars! When I graduate this will help start me off in an apartment and
paying the first months expenses greatly!

Post Graduate: Income:

Upon graduating from UVU I hope to get a job as a pilot in the aviation
industry. If all goes according to plan my beginning wages should be about
$60,000 annually. This should help me live comfortably while paying off any
student loans I may have as well as build a decent linearly growing savings.
Here are the projections.

Income from work:

Salary

$ 60,000
1 year
$ 5,000
x
=
Year
12 months Month

Post Graduate: Expenses:

During the time I work as a pilot I will be living in an apartment. I plan
to live with other people since I both want to save money while I travel the
country for work as well as remain social at home. Living here will include the
need to pay rent, utilities and groceries. I wont need to pay laundry since I
plan to find an apartment with the amenity included. Considering my work I
will also need to take into account the food I will need to eat when I am away
from home. Here is an estimate for my home expenses

Rent+utilities+groceries+outfood:

$ 600 $ 100 $ 200 $ 100 $ 1,000

+
+
+
=
month Month month month month

When I am away from home my work will pay for my living in hotels
and such but I will still need to pay for my phone, my savings, extra fun, as
well as the premium on my insurance even though it is offered through work,
any time I would visit the doctor I would plan on my deductible coming out of
my savings. Living at home I will also need a way to get around the city. I
plan to live near to public transport to be able to get back and forth on my
bike from the airport easily as well as avoid an unnecessary car payment.
The public transport will require a monthly cost for membership. Here are the
estimates.

Phone+savings+transport+MISC+prem:

$ 100 $ 2600 $ 150 $ 800 $ 100 $ 3750

+
+
+
+
=
mon
mon
mon mon mon
mon

During the rest of my life I will pursue a further education. I plan to

take classes every fall and spring semester on line or in person but I will take
them averaging only two at a time. I will need to pay for tuition and books
every semester I take. I plan to take about 8 credits every semester in my
home state. I am using estimates from Salt Lake Community college but plan
to adjust colleges in the future as needed. Here are my estimates.

(Tuition + books) x 2:

[(

$ 1300 $ 200
2 SEM
1 YEAR
$ 250
+
X
X
=
SEM SEM
YEAR
12 MONTHS MONTH

After going through this budget a few times Ive worked out the
remaining balances of my plan and put the rest of my income into savings
for a house, my investments, or a rainy day. Here is a graph showing my full
post graduate budget:
Income/Month

Expenses/Month

Balance to date

Percentage of

Rent & Util. -

$5,000
$4,300

income
100%+
14%-

$700
Groc. & food -

$4,000

6%-

$300
Phone & misc -

$3,100

18%-

Pay - $5,000

Total : $5,000

$900
Savings - $2,600
Transport - $150
Premium -$100
School - $250
Total : $5,000

$500
$350
$250
$0
$5,000 + $5,000

52%3%2%5%100% + 100%-

Income
Airline
Pay

Expences
Rent &
Utilities

Groc & food

Phone & misc

Transport

Ins. Premium

S chool

Savings &
invest ment s

Reflecting on my planned expenses for the future I find that a job as a

pilot will give much saving to be able to first pay off any student loans I may
have and then to use that money for investments. Looking on my pie charts I
think that its risky to have only one source of income however I think this is
okay if I hold a steady job however from the money I will be able to set aside
for my savings I will be able to use that money for investments which
include, stocks, bonds, long term savings investments as well as my business
ventures. Overall Ive learned a lot planning this budget and I think that
getting a job as a pilot will help my plans for the future greatly.