Produced by Idaho Public Television
for the Idaho Department of Health & Welfare

CHANCE OF LIFE

Objectives

• Students will be able to complete a budget.
• Students will determine a back-up plan for unexpected expenses.
• Students will be able to present and defend their budgets to the class.
• Students will be able to determine income levels necessary for living on their own.

Materials

• One Budget Worksheet for each student (Available in Adobe PDF Format).
• Two to three Sets of Chance of Life Cards. (Available in Adobe PDF Format) - will need to print on card stock and laminate.
• Classified Advertisements (two to three sets per group).

Procedures

• Divide students into groups of four or five. Give each group monthly incomes of between $1000 to $5000. If you have more than five groups, give income of $1500, $2500, etc.

• Have students figure how much they are earning per hour. Have a discussion about the kind of job/education you would need to earn that amount. For example, a $1000/month job would be $5.77/hour. Discuss what type work you could get at this pay scale (work at fast food restaurant).

• Have groups figure their budget. Give them 20-30 minutes. The $1000 group will find that they are almost out of money by the time they budget for food and rent.

• After students figure their budget, have each group tell how they spent their money and the barriers they encountered. Groups tend to not budget enough for food. You can check the food expenditure guideline and have students talk about what is realistic to spend on food.

• Let students choose Chance of Life cards. You can have each student choose one or, if time is limited, let each group choose two or three. Have the groups figure out how their Chance of Life will impact the budget. Now, have a spokesperson from each group read each card and tell what the group decided they would do to budget for Chance of Life.

• Another discussion is what kind of lifestyle would students like for their future. The $1000/month or the $4000-$5000/month life style. Ask them what kind of career and education they would need to earn that much money.

Have students go through the classified ads to determine what housing is available and its cost.

Have students examine classified ads for jobs available, salaries offered and skills/training necessary for positions. What kind of job do they want to have? What level of education is necessary?

Discuss with students the impact of having a baby would have on their budget. Could they afford it? What income level would they need to attain to feel comfortable having a child? (See Baby Budget).