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

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

   • Fixed lines are the biggest part of the budget, since they stay put while the other lines move
   • 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
4. 3.

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

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

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

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 A, at $40 for the month against $45 for Plan B
   • Plan B, because it has no price for each GB of data
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
   • Plan A: it has the lower starting price of $25
   • They cost the same, because both are $45 at 4 GB
9. 7.

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

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

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.

    Esme reads card A. Did the buying power of Year 2 pay rise or fall from Year 1?

    • It rose: pay went up from $400 to $410, so a month's pay buys more than before
    • It rose: the $410 pay is above the Year 1 basket of $400
    • It stayed the same: both pay and the basket rose
    • It fell: pay rose 2.5 percent but the basket's cost rose 5 percent
12. 9.

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

    • $400, because pay should stay the same as before
    • $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
13. 10.

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

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