Last night Erika needed help on a homework assignment from a class called Skills for Living. After looking up various starting salaries for 18-year olds, she had to choose an occupation and prepare a monthly budget. The catch was that they had to assume they had a baby and that parents could not help.
She decided to model the budget of a librarian’s assistant, making about $1,900 a month. She asked me to help her do a quick budget and answer the question “How much per month will you have left over?” I knew the answer without doing the spreadsheet but for her sake we did a little mock budget. I used a modest rent and car payment, and we made estimates for things like utilities, groceries, and fuel. She groaned when I brought up things like insurance or payroll taxes but she was fine with an assumption of $10 per week on fast food and $30 a month on a cell phone.
As expected, expenses exceeded income. I asked, “What would you do? Where could you possibly cut back?”
She scanned the list and offered, “No fast food and I wouldn’t need a cell phone.” A tear escaped my eye.
What class is this?
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