Assignment 4: Practical Use of Spreadsheets

Image your life some time after high school, perhaps after college. You're living on your own or with your parents, you have a job. From the job you have more money than you are used to, but you also have more bills to pay than ever before. Use the information on this page to determine a reasonable income for yourself and monthly expenses based on your imaginary life as a twenty-something. Create a checkbook where you track a month of spending money from, and depositing it to, your bank account.

Start your bank account with a balance of $0.00.

Split your monthlyincome (after taxes) in half. Show a deposit on the 1st of the month and the 15th of the month from your employer.

For each of the expenses listed on the linked page (at the mint.org), create an entry in your check book where you pay a fictional company for the expense. For example, one of the first expenses listed is for a phone. A reasonable amount to spend on a cell phone per month might be $60 - $120. In the checkbook, add a line (on any date you choose) where you pay "AG Bell Phone Co" the amount you believe you'd be paying per month. In the category section, indicate "phone" or "cell phone."

On the last day of the month, add a line that indicates the amount of bank interest you might get paid by the bank. Look online to find how much banks are paying in interest these days, divide that by 12 (the figure you get will be annual interest rate) and multiply the amount you have on the last day OR the average amount in the account during the month times this new interest rate figure and add it as a deposit into your account.

The beginning of your checkbook might look like this:

Format the header, the headings (date, check #, etc.), and the columns by what type of information it is (monetary amounts should be formatted as such, dates should be formatted as dates, etc.).

You should create your own formula for the balance column so that the spreadsheet does the work of balancing your checkbook.

Extra:
Using the same bank interest rate, determine how much you would have in the account if, after this month, you left the account alone for 20 years, with no withdrawals or deposits except for monthly interest.

 

"I believe that we are solely responsible for our choices,
and we have to accept the consequences of every deed,
word, and thought throughout our lifetime."
- Elisabeth Kübler Ross