The Consumer Project
The consumer project that you will do for Economics is one of the most challenging things you will undertake during this course. However, it's also one of the most important things that you will do during the entirety of your high school career. Despite what you may have heard from previous Economics students, this assignment will not only help you figure out your role in the economy, but also how to make better decisions so that you don't one day have to live in a van down by the river.
Links and documents will be posted on this page, so check back frequently to get the information you need. |
Step 1: Consumer ID
The first part of the consumer project is to figure out what your identity will be as a consumer. Will you be a doctor? Or a mechanic? Or, perhaps, you'll be a humble teacher. This is your opportunity to explore things that might interest you. If you're not sure where to start, one thing that might be helpful is the Keirsey Temperament Sorter, which asks you a series of questions and then assesses some of the career paths that your personality fits into. It is by no means scientific, although when I took one a million years ago, it told me that I should be a high school social studies teacher. Funny, that. Note: In order to take the test, you will be required to provide an email address for your test results to be sent to.
Once you have figured out what you want your consumer identity to be, you've got some work to do. You should start by determining how much money someone in your chosen profession earns annually. Remember, you're starting out at the age of 28, and you should assume that you're making close to or at the entry-level salary for your chosen profession. Some websites that might help you determine these salaries include:
Once you have finished, fill out the Consumer Identity worksheet (worth 5 points) linked at the left and hand it in by Wednesday, September 13th, 2017. |
Step 2: Grocery Shopping
For this part of the assignment, you need to go grocery shopping to plan for one month's worth of meals. Use the menu planner to plan out your meals (remember, meals should be healthy and include a variety of foods if you're looking for full credit). Once you have your meals planned, make a list of all the food you will need to buy for a month. Then, go out and visit two different grocery stores (if you want to make one of your grocery stores an online purchase, that is okay), and record the prices of the different items that you need to purchase.
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Please remember that when you go out to visit grocery stores, you're representing not only yourself, but also McFarland High School. Please behave appropriately in all situations. And, if you see something awesome like what's going on in this video, please record it on your phone and upload it to YouTube.
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Step 3: House Hunting
For the purposes of this project, you can't live in a cardboard box. You will need to go out and compare the price of buying a house with the price of renting an apartment. The button below will open up the housing comparison sheet, which will provide the basis for the work that you will do on this section of the Economics consumer project.
It would probably be easiest t0 start with apartments. Several local property management companies have helpful websites that will show you the apartments that they have available and what the rent would be. Some of those companies are:
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Once you have an idea of what your apartment might cost, you can start to work that into your monthly budget. Next, you'll need to compare the cost of renting with the cost of ownership. Again, referring to the housing comparison sheet, you'll need to take a look at a property that suits your needs, and go from there.
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The video at left, although dry, provides a pretty good idea of the debate between renting versus owning. Watch it: it's only ten very informative minutes long.
For this part of the project, you will need to find a house that is for sale in the local area that you want to buy. A great website is Zillow, which allows you to search for properties for sale based on geographical location, price, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, etc. It's a really great tool to quickly narrow down your search parameters. After you've selected a property, you'll need to determine the particulars of a mortgage, interest rates, and property taxes, all of which you should be aware of before you buy a house. We're going to devote a full day in class to this important step, so make sure you're not absent! (See course schedule for details.) When you've finished doing your research, don't forget to write a one-page reflection about whether you've decided to rent or own and why. |
Step 4: Transportation
Since this isn't Europe or the Atlantic Seaboard in the United States, public transportation is not a viable option, and you're going to need a set of wheels to get around.
Buying a car, though, is often a bit of a trap. Take the commercial to the right. Sure, the BMW looks awesome (it is), but how often are you just going to be driving as fast as you possibly can in the middle of nowhere? Most people with cars use them to get to work, usually driving the speed limit (or a few miles over it if you're running late). A car is much more likely to be covered with chocolate milk stains and old french fries than it is to break the sound barrier. Cars are also a terrible investment. No matter what a new car costs, it's going to lose value the moment you drive it off the lot. This is known as depreciation. |
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A few years ago, there was a really popular show on MTV called Pimp My Ride. The whole premise of the show was that people brought their crappy cars to this guy named Xzibit, who, after he had thought for about it for two seconds, decided to deck out people's crappy cars with very expensive woofers. Like, twelve of them. And, at the end of every episode, some doofus had a very expensive stereo on wheels.
The show was rather innocuous, but it inspired a lot of people to invest thousands of dollars into expensive customizations of their vehicles. For a long-haul trucker, this makes more sense, because they're always in their vehicles. For a guy who drives twelve minutes to work each day, this is a terrible investment. But hey, MTV made a pile of money. That's economics.
The show was rather innocuous, but it inspired a lot of people to invest thousands of dollars into expensive customizations of their vehicles. For a long-haul trucker, this makes more sense, because they're always in their vehicles. For a guy who drives twelve minutes to work each day, this is a terrible investment. But hey, MTV made a pile of money. That's economics.
Step 5: Insurance
With this section, you won't be required to complete any personal visits (although it is allowed), and you can do all of your research online. If you find yourself getting stuck, trying talking to a parent or guardian about their insurance decisions. Far too many people don't learn about insurance (or their need for it) until their first car accident, health crisis, or impacted molar.
Also, although they're relatively pointless, I think GEICO's ads are hilarious. |
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Step 6: Investing
I am not a certified financial planner, nor do I play one on TV, so I'm not going to give the latest stock tips or anything like that. However, the concept of investing--that is, putting aside money for the future--is important to think about. When you retire, no one is going to pay you money to sit at home, and since people tend to live so much longer than they have before, they're spending more and more years as retired persons. It's something worth thinking about.
For the investment section, you don't need to talk to any professionals, but you do need to complete this Web Quest, at right. Props to you if you decide to type this part instead of handwriting it. For this section, there is no rubric; you get the points based on doing the WebQuest or not. |
Step 7: Student Loans & Taxes
This section is straightforward:
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Step 8: The Budget Pie Chart
Who doesn't love pie? My favorite is Key Lime. Or Pecan. It's tough to choose. Anyway, you need to make a pie chart out of your budget. Make sure your math is correct. If you're an Excel Wizard, you can use their charting tools, but Excel was built by evil gremlins and their charting tools require an advanced knowledge of Sanskrit and Klingon to make work properly. Thus, you may want to try this website, which is much easier to use.
THE FINAL STEP: The Final Reflection Paper
The last step in this whole thing is the Final Reflection paper, reflecting on what you've learned. It's contained in the document to the right.
Cheers... you made it. |