Budget Project Essay

This project gave me a lot of insight into what adult-hood would look like. I was
given the chance to know where my money was going, how it was being used, and
was being used for a want or a need. Scarcity impacted me a lot during this project
because I had a lot of desire, but the funds weren’t there because my monthly
income was $2,740, and I had to think about what I REALLY needed because
honestly… $2,740 isn’t a lot.
As a teenager, with no bills and parents that provides mostly everything,
having bills and still having wants in this scenario were kinda hard to balance, still
having to think about items that really mattered: groceries, bills, rent, etc. For
example, with my groceries I wanted food items close to what I eat now but they
were all on the more expensive side, compared to the off brand kinda different
tasting items that I wouldn’t normally choose when grocery shopping. I want to give
up some of my desired food items, and save money. At the end of the day, I saved
money even though it wasn’t a lot… I still saved, and it goes towards other things
within my budget. I still had roughly $368 left, and I splitted to help save for
upcoming bills or my desire to take a vacation.
If I had $200 less than my starting amount, My new monthly income would be
$2,540. I would find a cheaper car or put down a bigger down payment on my
selected car… causing my car payments to go down a little bit. Also I would try meal
prepping, creating and freezing meals to help save money … this would allow me to
stop deciding to eat out and cut back on it .
If I had $200 more than my starting amount, My new monthly income would be
$2,940. This is also a tight budget not very different than my original salary, but it
allow me to have more options to choose from: Better and more food items, Adding
on another streaming service like Netflix ( since I chose to have no cable), more
money to go towards my short term saving goal, and leaving some just to have on
my card when needed.
Opportunity cost and trade offs, second big thing that affected me the most. I
wanted to live in a more luxurious apartment, but I and my budget had to settle for
The Abbey on Enclave… I had to choose between, 1) higher rent, out of my budget,
and great community and 2) less and in my budget rent, and a good community. I
chose option 2 because I couldn't JUST think about shelter. This project was a great
example on how and how not to use your money. It taught me that you’ll have to
compromise but it’ll benefit you in the long run.