Can you answer these six questions?
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1. What is my credit card rate?
2. What is the worst investment most of us make?
3. Am I being paid a fair salary?
4. What is my credit score?
5. How long will my savings last if there is an emergency?
6. How much am I paying in bank fees?

Alexa von Tobel saw students graduating from college with absolutely no sense of financial literacy. They were destined for ever-growing life-long debt unless they made some important choices.  Based on this guiding "why" (not the "what" or the "how"), she started a financial planning service called LearnVest.  Take a look at this TED Talk where she explains the why and then the how and the what...

New To Budgeting? Why You Should Try The 50-20-30 Rule

Choose one of these scenarios and see if you can create a workable budget for one of these two individuals. If you need help about what to budget, look at one of the templates linked below.  Remember to look for real apartments in Madison that can be found on the web, account for transportation, food (do employees get to eat a meal at McDonald's?), etc. Get creative in how to reduce expenses.

Individual A:

You are a 22-year-old employee at McDonald’s. You are single and live alone in Madison, Wisconsin. You make $7.50 an hour (gross). Create a monthly budget taking into account all expenses (rent, etc)

Individual B:

You are a 22-year-old recent graduate from university. You have moved to Madison, Wisconsin to take a salaried position at $35,000 per year (gross).  You have $25,000 in student-loan debt at 3% per year. You have up to 20 years to pay it off but you can pay it off earlier, if you want.  During your college years, you accumulated $4,000 in credit card bills. Create a monthly budget taking into account all expenses (rent, etc)

Here are some links to Templates for Budgeting:
On GoogleDocs
On Microsoft

Apps:
Best Budget Apps for 2017
Best Budgeting Apps

Prefer Turkish models? Try one of these.

Scenario A:

You live in any of Ankara, Izmir, or Istanbul. You are a 35 year-old male security guard. You have a wife and two children in primary school. You do not own a home. Your wife may or may not work cleaning homes. Research how much money you make as a family and create a monthly budget taking into account all expenses (rent,etc)

Scenario B:

You live in any of Ankara, Izmir, or Istanbul. You are a male doorman or concierge (“kapıcı”) in a 15 unit building. You have a wife and two children in primary school. You have an apartment in the basement of the building. Your wife may or may not work cleaning apartments in the building. Research how much money you make and create a monthly budget taking into account all expenses.

Scenario C:

You are a male construction worker in Istanbul. You have a wife but no children. Your wife does not work. Research how much money you make and create a monthly budget taking into account all expenses.

Scenario D:

You are a 30 year-old woman with a 10 year old daughter. You live alone in Istanbul as you felt the need to leave your husband and as a result your family has disowned you. You clean apartments and rent a small flat in a poor part of Istanbul.

McDonald's Couldn't Figure Out How Its Workers Survived on Minimum Wage. Click here to find out their faux pas.