Using a budget

• You and a friend want to share an apartment. Find each of you a job in the “help wanted” section of the newspaper’s classifieds. List the name of a job and its monthly salary.
  Job 1:     $ monthly
  Job 2:     $ monthly
  Total income for two roommates $
  Subtract 35% for deductions (taxes, etc.) $
  Final income: $
• Using the total monthly income above as a guide, find an apartment you can afford. Look in the “real estate” or “apartments for rent” section. List the monthly rent. $
• Water, electricity and cable TV cost money. Estimate their cost as 10 per cent of the rent money. $ monthly
• You will probably also want a telephone. $ monthly
• How much do you have left over for food and entertainment? $ monthly
• Write a list of the things you will need for the apartment (e.g., furniture, dishes).

Other themes

Only one example is shown for each of the following “themes,” but of course, there are many, many activities that can be built around each.

• Grocery shopping – Use newspaper flyers from various grocery stores and have students prepare a list of 5 to 10 items that are available in each flyer, noting the price at each store. Calculate the total cost for each store and prepare a chart that compares the savings.
• Restaurants – Use menus from local restaurants to order meals for several people. Total the bill and calculate the taxes and tip. Divide the total among the number of people who ate.
• Catalogue shopping – Use mail-order catalogues and select several items to order. Fill out the order form and calculate the total cost of the items, the taxes and the shipping costs. Compare the costs of the items to buying them in a local store.
• Cooking – Write out recipes for favourite dishes. Double or triple the ingredients to increase the number of servings. Reduce quantities to decrease the number of servings. Use hands-on activities to measure and compare quantities (for example, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4). Convert Imperial to metric quantities and vice versa.
• Buying gasoline – Determine the distance from your city to other cities using a road map. List this information on a chart. Estimate the kilometres per litre of gas for your car. Calculate the cost of gas to drive between various cities. Prepare a chart to record speedometer readings and litres of gas purchased to confirm the estimated kilometre per litre gasoline use for your car over a period of time.

Adapted from Herod, L. (2000). Numeracy for adult literacy learners. Winnipeg, Manitoba: Adult Literacy and Continuing Education, Manitoba Education and Training. For this publication www.edu.gov.mb.ca/ael/all/publications/numeracy_revised_oct00.pdf, for a list of all publications www.edu.gov.mb.ca/ael/all/publications.html. Used with permission.

Handout 9.10