Build and check a monthly budget

Grade 12 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Card A. Compare chart "A first-job budget, one month" (made up for practice), columns Line | Kind | Amount: Take-home pay | income | $480; Phone plan | fixed | $30; Bus pass | fixed | $40; Food out | variable | $90; Clothes | variable | $60; Fun | variable | $80; Saving goal | saving | $100. Note: invented budget, made up for practice. Fixed lines cannot change this month; variable lines can.

2. 1.

   Milo wants to add $30 of monthly saving to card A. Which statement about the budget is correct?

   • The $80 left over covers the $30, and $50 would still be left
   • The budget breaks by $30, because each line on the card is already spent
   • The fixed lines must be cut by $30, because saving comes before the other lines
   • It fits if Fun drops from $80 to $50, which is the sole way to find $30
3. 2.

   Noah reads card A. Which claim do its fixed and variable lines support best?

   • Variable lines (food out, clothes, fun) total $230, far more than the $70 of fixed lines
   • Fun is the largest variable line, because it is the one most easily cut
   • Most of the $480 goes to wants, because food out is a choice too
   • Fixed lines are the biggest part of the budget, since they stay put while the other lines move
4. 3.

   Pia wonders if the budget will hold next month. Which missing fact would help most?

   • How much the variable lines changed in earlier months
   • The size of the $100 saving goal, which sets what is left each month
   • The brand of the phone in the plan, which sets what the plan costs each month
   • Whether the take-home pay is the same as gross pay
5. 4.

   Ren can work one more 4-hour shift for $60, but the bus fare to get there is $6. What does the shift add to the budget?

   • About $10, since the fare and the 4 hours both count against the shift
   • $54, the pay left after the $6 fare
   • $60, the pay for the shift
   • $6, the amount the shift costs to reach

6. Use this

   Card A. Compare chart "Two invented phone plans" (made up for practice), columns Plan | Monthly price | Price of each GB of data used: Plan A | $25 | $5; Plan B | $45 | $0. Note: made up for practice. Plan A charges $25 plus $5 for each GB used. Plan B is one flat price for any amount of data.

7. 5.

   Tala uses 3 GB of data a month. Using card A, which plan costs less?

   • They cost the same, because 3 GB at $5 is $15
   • Plan A, because it starts at $25 a month
   • Plan B, because it has no price for each GB of data
   • Plan A, at $40 for the month against $45 for Plan B
8. 6.

   Zee now uses 6 GB a month. Which plan costs less, and why?

   • Plan A: each GB costs just $5, so the plan stays cheaper than a flat $45
   • Plan B: Plan A would cost $55, which is more than Plan B's $45
   • They cost the same, because both are $45 at 4 GB
   • Plan A: it has the lower starting price of $25
9. 7.

   Bo must pick one plan. Which missing fact would most change the choice?

   • How many GB of data the user expects to use in a month
   • What Plan A's starting price is
   • Whether the plan can be paid by card or must be paid at a shop
   • What Plan B costs for each GB of data, since the card leaves that out

10. Use this

    Card A. Compare chart "The same basket of goods, two years" (made up for practice), columns Year | Cost of the basket | Pay for the month: Year 1 | $400 | $400; Year 2 | $420 | $410. Note: invented numbers. The basket holds the same goods both years.

11. 8.

    Jun asks what Year 2 pay would keep Year 1 buying power. Which pay does card A point to?

    • $420, because the same basket now costs $420
    • $410, because that is the pay in Year 2
    • $405, because the pay and the basket are halfway apart
    • $400, because pay should stay the same as before
12. 9.

    Kira writes one claim from card A. Which claim is best supported?

    • Prices rose because pay rose by $10, and the pay rise pushed up the basket
    • Pay can rise in dollars and still buy less if prices rise faster
    • Pay buys less whenever prices rise, even if pay rises by more than prices
    • Pay buys more because it rose by $10, and the basket rise does not count
13. 10.

    Luz wants to know if this basket matches the household's own spending. Which missing fact helps most?

    • How much the pay was in Year 3, which would show the next trend
    • Whether the basket cost is a price or a pay
    • What goods the household actually buys, and how much of each
    • The total of the two years' costs, which gives the size of the basket