Page 392 - qrps

Quantitative Reasoning & Problem Solving
392 © 2014 Pacific Crest
Troubleshooting Find the error and correct it!
Jason and Veronica have an after-tax annual
income of $48,000. They live together with
their twin teenage sons, Kyle and Kevin,
and the Jason’s grandmother, Erline. Here is
the monthly family budget that they created
together.
Note as many issues with this budget as
you can find and make suggestions for
improvements.
Category $ Amount
Housing 1025
Utilities 200
Food 800
Savings 200
Insurance 780
Charity 200
Entertainment/Recreation 520
Miscellaneous/Personal 400
Making it Matter Solving problems in your life
Budgets are important, not only for families to gain control of their financial situations, but also
for organizations to operate efficiently and spend within their means. As an example, download the
organization budget form for the Dyson Foundation, which provides grants to successful applicants.
●Discuss the similarities and differences between an organization budget such as this one and a family
budget such as the one you created. Why would grant applications require a budget form as part of
the application?
Learning to Learn Mathematics Reflecting on and appreciating your learning
1. What did you learn about the mathematical issues of creating a family budget?
2. What did you learn about how to translate percentages to dollar amounts in your budget?
3. What did you learn about the importance of including a “savings” category in your budget and what
would this do to the budget percentages?
Assessing Your Performance Assessing your performance as a learner
Review the description of A Successful Performance and assess your own performance against the
standard offered there.
●How and why was your performance SUCCESSFUL?
●How can you IMPROVE your performance, making it more successful? What concrete steps do you
need to take to make each improvement?