PERSONAL PROJECT EXPENDITURE

You will need to make a record each time you spend money. Some examples may include: groceries, rent, child care, books, car repairs, entertainment (movie/concert tickets, lunch/dinner out), gas, doctor’s visit, etc. There are endless ways you may spend money throughout the day. The idea is to keep a journal each time you spend so you become aware of where you are spending your hard-earned money.  The last day to record entries will be Saturday, July 3rd.

. You will be tracking daily spending for two weeks. Transfer your daily expenditures into an Excel spreadsheet on a regular basis. 

EXCEL (50%)

:  Use a new sheet in the workbook for  each week starting on Sundays and  ending on Saturdays. (Hint: Your Excel workbook should contain 2 sheets/tabs at the bottom). 

Be sure to include the (1) date, the (2) amount, and for (3) what or where the money was spent. 

In the  personal finance appendix of your BUSN textbook, there is a discussion of discretionary and nondiscretionary payments. 

Next to each daily expenditure in your Excel workbook, be sure to (4) distinguish whether the payment was discretionary or nondiscretionary.

There are a variety of ways you can organize each sheet as far as rows/columns. Feel free to be creative. Let this project be a discovery process that will benefit you in your personal finances. 

Be sure to include the four items described above.

PAPER (50%)

: You will need to write a paper (2 pages) regarding the observations you made about your daily spending habits. Be sure to discuss the following:



Where your money comes from



Where you spent the most of your money



At least three areas where you can reduce spending AND steps/strategies you can take to implement those changes



What type of  traditional investments you have or will work towards establishing and why you chose this type of investment(s). 

See your textbook for ideas and different types of traditional investments.

Use the REPORT format from class (from the first two writing assignments) for your paper. 

This report should be about 2 pages