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Week 5: Making It Count — Personal Budgeting with H&L Lifestyle Snapshot

5th Six Weeks | Architecture & Construction Cluster (Skills Focus) | 5 class periods (50 min each)

Lesson Objective

Students complete the Hats & Ladders "Lifestyle Snapshot" budgeting activity (Ch 16), build a personal budget based on a real DFW salary from a career they explored this year, compare the cost of living across cities, supplement with NGPF or EverFi financial literacy content, and update their Career Plan with A&C cluster favorites.

Demonstration of Learning

"I can create a personal budget based on a realistic DFW salary, explain the difference between needs and wants, and compare cost of living across at least two cities to understand how location affects financial planning."

TEKS Alignment

  • d(5)(D): Prepare a personal budget reflecting the student's desired lifestyle.
  • d(5)(E): Use resources to compare salaries of at least three careers in the student's interest area.
  • d(5)(A): Analyze labor market information such as job availability and economic conditions.
  • d(3)(C): Identify methods available to pay for postsecondary education and training (FAFSA, scholarships, grants, work-study).

Materials Needed

  • Chromebooks with internet access (1 per student)
  • Hats & Ladders student accounts + H&L Workbook (Ch 16: My Next Steps, pp. 268-269, "Lifestyle Snapshot" activity)
  • NGPF (Next Gen Personal Finance): ngpf.org
  • EverFi Financial Literacy: everfi.com
  • Practical Money Skills (Visa): practicalmoneyskills.com
  • CareerOneStop Cost of Living Comparison: careeronestop.org/Toolkit/Wages/compare-cost-of-living.aspx
  • Printed Personal Budget Template (locally authored; 6–10 expense categories)
  • Printed DFW Cost Reference Sheet (locally authored; 1-page handout of DFW averages for rent, utilities, car, insurance, groceries, phone)
  • Printed Cost of Living Comparison worksheet
  • Printed Lifestyle Snapshot reflection page (H&L workbook Ch 16)

Career Connection

Financial literacy is one of the most practical skills students will ever learn. Understanding how to budget, save, and plan financially is essential regardless of career path. This week connects directly to career exploration. Students choose a career they explored this year, use its REAL DFW salary from H&L, and build a budget showing whether that salary can support the lifestyle they want.

The H&L workbook's "Lifestyle Snapshot" activity (Ch 16) is the anchor: "As you work on a career plan, you'll also need to think about your future lifestyle and budget. Understanding your personal budget is an important step in long-term goal planning." The workbook prompts students to ask: What type of lifestyle do I want as an adult? Where do I want to live? What will I want to buy? What savings goals will I have?

What is Happening at Irving ISD? This week applies to ALL Irving ISD pathways. Financial literacy is a universal career skill. Students use salary data from careers across all clusters to build their budget.

Vocabulary

  • Personal Budget: A plan for how you will spend and save your money over a specific time period, usually monthly.
  • Net Income: Your take-home pay after taxes and deductions. Typically 70-75% of gross salary for young earners in Texas.
  • Fixed Expenses: Costs that stay the same each month (rent, car payment, insurance).
  • Variable Expenses: Costs that change from month to month (groceries, gas, entertainment).
  • Cost of Living: The amount of money needed to cover basic expenses in a specific location. Varies significantly between cities.
  • FAFSA: Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The first step for ANY college student to access grants, scholarships, and work-study.

Bridge to Theory (Hats & Ladders)

The H&L Lifestyle Snapshot activity (Ch 16, pp. 268-269) is the primary H&L connection this week. The workbook provides a reflection template with key questions about future lifestyle, and instructs students: "Now, you'll practice creating a budget that reflects both your future plans and the career you chose in your Career Plan. Use the template provided by your teacher to plan and track your future finances."

Students pull salary data from their favorited careers in the Hat Finder across all clusters they explored this year. The DFW-localized salary data is what makes this activity realistic, the budget is based on actual DFW earnings, not national averages.

The optional Extension in the workbook is a vision board using a digital tool to visualize the career, salary, savings, location, and top expenses. This is a great extension activity for students who finish early.

IISD Instructional Strategies

  • Modeling: Teacher models a complete personal budget on the projector using a real DFW salary (e.g., Electrician at $52,000/year). Walk through monthly net income calculation, then allocate to rent, utilities, food, transportation, insurance, savings, and discretionary spending.
  • Think-Pair-Share: After completing budgets, students compare results with a partner who chose a DIFFERENT career salary. They discuss: Who has more money left over? Why? What trade-offs did each person make?

Week at a Glance

Day Focus Key Activities Deliverable
1 H&L Lifestyle Snapshot Intro Lifestyle reflection prompts (Ch 16) + choose career for budget Lifestyle Snapshot reflection + career choice
2 Build My Personal Budget Teacher modeling + student budget creation with real DFW data Completed Personal Budget Template
3 Cost of Living Comparison Compare DFW to 2 other cities using CareerOneStop Cost of Living Comparison worksheet
4 NGPF/EverFi + Paying for College Financial literacy module + FAFSA overview NGPF/EverFi module completion + paying-for-college notes
5 Budget Presentations + A&C Wrap-Up Budget comparison + A&C cluster wrap-up + salary comparison Final budget + updated Career Plan

Formative Assessment

  • H&L Lifestyle Snapshot reflection quality (Day 1): d(5)(D)
  • Personal Budget Template completeness and accuracy (Day 2): d(5)(D)
  • Cost of Living Comparison data accuracy (Day 3): d(5)(A), d(5)(E)
  • NGPF/EverFi module completion (Day 4): d(5)(D), d(3)(C)

Summative Assessment

Personal Budget + Cost of Living Comparison + Salary Analysis (Day 5): Students submit, as a single Day 5 portfolio, their completed personal budget (Day 2), cost of living comparison worksheet (Day 3), and 3-career salary analysis chart (Day 5). Scored on: budget accuracy and completeness (d(5)(D)), salary comparison across 3+ careers (d(5)(E)), and cost of living analysis quality (d(5)(A)). Day 2 and Day 3 deliverables are formative carry-forward artifacts. Students should keep them in a folder across the week so the Day 5 submission is complete.

Differentiation

Scaffolded Learning

  • Pre-filled budget example for one career (Electrician) so students see the format before building their own
  • Simplified budget template with fewer expense categories for students who need support
  • DFW cost reference sheets with average rent, utility, and food costs so students do not need to research every number
  • Pair students for budget work, one reads the career salary data, the other does the math

Extensions

  • Build a Lifestyle Snapshot vision board (H&L workbook extension) using Canva or a presentation tool. Include career, salary, location, top expenses, and savings goals.
  • Calculate how long it would take to save for a down payment on a DFW house on their career salary
  • Compare budgets for the same career at three experience levels (entry, mid, senior) to show salary growth impact
  • Research the 50/30/20 budgeting rule and test whether their budget matches it

ELL Language Support

  • Pre-teach: Budget = Presupuesto, Net Income = Ingreso neto, Fixed Expenses = Gastos fijos, Variable Expenses = Gastos variables, Cost of Living = Costo de vida, FAFSA = Solicitud gratuita de ayuda federal para estudiantes
  • Bilingual budget template with Spanish category labels
  • Teacher modeling on the projector provides visual scaffolding before independent work
  • Pair ELL students with bilingual peers during Think-Pair-Share comparison