Date: ________________________ Name: ________________________________

Developing Independence Essential Living Skills

You have just graduated from high school and plan to attend post-secondary education starting in September.
You have landed a summer job for two months of full-time employment. Your parents have offered to pay your
tuition fee and text book costs for the first year, however all other costs will be yours to pay monthly.

Some things you should know:

Your final budget will be based on the following considerations:

o You got a summer job as a Call Center Representative making $15.00 per hour for 37 hours
per week or $1887.00 a month (after 15% taxes, etc. are taken out of your cheque).
o During high school you have managed to save $2,000 in your savings account from other
sources birthdays, graduation, odd jobs, etc.
o You MUST put 5% of your starting deposit (paycheques + savings x .05) into a savings
account; this cannot be used it is investment for your future.
o You and three other individuals will be sharing the rent on a 3-bedroom house for 8 months
of the upcoming school year, but the four of you must pay for the entire year rent is
$1,199.00 a month which includes heat only.
o When completed for the 8 months, your budget should NOT be negative (debt).

Task: Complete the following activities to demonstrate your ability to make decisions, negotiate with others,
problem-solve, manage resources and utilize some practical skills.

Part 1: Planning for Daily Living

Wow, you have finally made it, you are living semi-independently in a house with three roommates. Together,
you are responsible for the basic daily living maintenance of the house, your meals, school, homework,
personal health activities and budget. It seems a little overwhelming, but you are prepared to utilize a variety
of skills and knowledge learned in the high school family studies class to be successful.

A. Who are your roommates? (clearly identify name, gender, age and special considerations)

Name
Gender
Age
Food Preferences /
Allergies
Hobbies /Sports/
Lifestyle
Extra Insights
B. Create a chart that identifies the chores you feel need to be done regularly to maintain a sense of
order and cleanliness. Identify how and who will get them done. Remember to be very thorough
what specific activities keep your home organized, clean and functioning?
Maintenance Need Explanation of Task Daily Weekly
What needs to be Name of person Name of Person
done?

C. Oh no! One member of the household refuses to do their share; in 1-2 paragraphs explain in detail how
you will handle this situation in a positive manner BUT ensure that work is done?

Part 2: Eating for Health & Wellbeing

After chatting with your roommates, you have decided to share grocery costs. This means you must
take responsibility for planning the meals, creating a grocery list for the meals and costing the
required food.
A. To simplify the food plan process, construct a two-day meal plan that includes breakfast, lunch,
dinner and two snacks daily.

Day 1 Day 2
Breakfast Breakfast
Orange juice
2 English muffins

Snack Snack
Lunch Lunch

Snack Snack
Dinner Dinner

B. Prepare your grocery list based on the foods you have in your meal plan

Step 1: Create a list of all the foods you will need to purchase in order to prepare your meal-plan
Step 2: Use flyers or online grocery stores to locate food items and price them accordingly

Food Item Cost of product ( with How much was Total Cost of Item
unit of cost if purchased
indicated) eg. 1.99/kg
Orange Juice $7.69 / 2L 1L $7.69
English Muffins $3.49 / pkg of 6 2 pkg $6.98
Total
NOTE: To include this cost in final budget multiply your 2 day meal plan total by 15 to equal one month (30
days) cost for groceries then multiply by 8 months of living away at school and finally divide that
total by 4 (you + roommates) to get your share of groceries
ie. $24.25 (2 day cost) x 15 (days to equal a month) = $363.75 x 8 months = ? 4 (people) = ?
C. Ensure that you are meeting Canadas Food Guide by including all foods groups and using proper
servings.
For one of your meal plan days, identify the food group, the amount eaten and total serving.

Food Item Fruits & Grain Products Dairy Products Meat &
Vegetables Alternative
Orange juice cup
English Muffin 2 muffins

Total Servings 1 4

Part 3: Keeping It Clean

A. There are a lot of products that we use to keep our environment looking and smelling good
these are cleaning products, paper products, cleaning tools, etc.
Think of all the items and services you use daily/weekly/monthly to keep your home looking clean
and healthy (10 or more)

Item Where in house used Approximate monthly cost

Kleenex Bathroom $4.97

Total
NOTE: To include this cost in final budget, it is a shared amount, add up your costs and divide by roommates

B. There are a lot of products we use daily, but often give little thought to these are a variety of
personal hygiene products that keep us looking and smelling good!
Think of all the items and services you use daily/weekly/monthly to keep you looking healthy

Item Product or Service Approximate monthly cost

Toothpaste product 1 tube = $3.57
Toothbrush product 1 every 3 months = $3.33 3 = $1.11
Total
NOTE: To include this cost in final budget it is a personal cost, you are responsible for the total amount

Part 4: Leisure and Recreation for a Balanced Life Style

A. All work and no play makes for a heavy stress load and possible health problems. It is important to keep a
balance between work and leisure for relaxation.

Identify all the activities or items that you use daily, weekly, monthly to meet your personal wants or enjoy the
company of others cell phones, movies, satellite television, sports teams/events, eating out to name a few.

Activity / Item How often Approximate monthly cost

Movies 1 per month cheap Tuesday $7.50
Snacks with friends 1 per week $5.00 x 4 = $20.00
Total
NOTE: To include this cost in final budget it is a personal cost, you are responsible for the total amount
Part 5: Other Miscellaneous Concerns
A. What other items you know you that you use/do regularly, but may not be specifically listed
elsewhere?
ie. Protein powders, car with gas and insurance, gifts for family & friends at Christmas or
birthday, mani-pedi, etc. (be realistic about your lifestyle)
NOTE: To include this cost in final budget it is a personal cost, you are responsible for the total amount

Part 6: Making a Savings Plan

A. Investing in yourself is one of the most important financial decisions you can make; the sooner
you start the more you will have in the end.
Identify the progress of your money if you invest 5% of your starting deposit with compounding
monthly interest rate of 1.5%.
Month Starting Amount Interest Calculation @2% Monthly Total
(Summer Paycheque + Savings) x .05 Total x 1.5% ?
?
Final Total

Part 7: Create a budget sheet to help track the costs of living semi-independent for the eight (8)
months that you are at school (plus rent requirements). Your budget sheet should resemble
something similar to this:
Transaction Item Deposit Withdrawal Balance
Paycheque from summer $ $ $
Savings from high school
Rent (this will include electricity &
water)
Food (grocery)
Household Cleaning Products
*Personal Hygiene Products
*Independent Living items/activities
*Miscellaneous Other
Required Savings @2% per month
Total
item costs that will be shared with your roommates
* items that are personal for your use; you will not be sharing with your roommates
Highlight in red if the expense is fixed and green if variable
Ask you parents/relatives how much is reasonable for any monthly expenses that you list and may
not be familiar with. (remember you are splitting some of these expenses with your roommates!)
Part 8: Summative Reflection
B. Throughout any planning and problem-solving task, it is always wise to review, re-evaluate and often
change some of our decisions.

Having completed the technical aspects of budgeting, identify and explain the areas of this assignment that
you were comfortable with, those that challenged you and those concepts that were new to you.
Independent Living Rubric
Category
Knowledge and Understanding
Demonstrates practical knowledge
in the preparation of meals and
healthy choices that ensure a well-
balanced life style
(CFG & Hygiene & Personal)
5 each
Thinking
Identifies practical skills and use of
resources that contribute to the
functioning of families and that are
transferable to independent living
(Maintenance & products/services)
5 each
Communication
Effectively communicates the results
of their research
5 assignments
Application
Demonstrates practical skills
required for meeting their own food,
clothing, health and housing needs
(Groceries/Cleaning/Hygiene/Health)
5 * Reflects on decisions/choices
Applies appropriate decision making
models, grounded in research, to
choices related to individual and
family well-being and quality of life
and suggest strategies for making
difficult choices.
(Reflection - 10)
Comments/Next Steps
Criteria
*Makes healthy choices in
relation to food choices
considering Canadas Food
Guide for servings & variety
*consider a variety of products
and services for personal
health and hygiene
*Identifies daily living
expectations and products
that are necessary for
ensuring healthy self-care
* Researches costs of specified
items included in healthy
independent living
* Completes all aspects of
various budgets and
independent living
* Creates a variety of budgets
and plans to meet their daily
living needs
based on the information they
gathered about food/care
products, prior experience and
challenges they may face
Level One
Applies practical knowledge in
creation of 2-day meal plan with
consideration to CFG with limited
effectiveness
Applies practical knowledge in
identifying a variety of personal
health and hygiene
products/services with limited
effectiveness
Identifies daily living skills that
contribute to the functioning of
families and that are transferable
to independent living with limited
effectiveness
Creates final budget to meet daily
living needs using available
resources with limited
effectiveness
Three or more aspects of various
budgets or assignments
incomplete/ very few
Creates budgets or plans with
limited effectiveness identifying
few considerations
Reflects on decision /choices
related to individual well-being
and quality of life and suggests
strategies for making difficult
choices with limited effectiveness
Name: _______________________________
Level Two
Applies practical knowledge in
creation of 2-day meal plan with
consideration to CFG with some
effectiveness
Applies practical knowledge in
identifying a variety of personal
health and hygiene
products/services with some
effectiveness
Identifies practical skills that
contribute to the functioning of
families and that are
transferable to independent
living with some effectiveness
Creates final budget to meet
daily living needs using available
resources with some
effectiveness
Two aspects of various budgets
or assignments incomplete /
insights are minimal
Creates budgets or plans with
some effectiveness identifying
some considerations
Reflects on decision/choices
related to individual wellbeing
and quality of life and suggests
strategies for making difficult
choices with some effectiveness
Level Three
Applies practical knowledge in
creation of 2-day meal plan with
consideration to CFG with
effectiveness
Applies practical knowledge in
identifying a variety of personal
health and hygiene
products/services with
effectiveness
Identifies practical skills that
contribute to the functioning of
families and that are transferable
to independent living with
effectiveness
Creates final budget to meet daily
living needs using available
resources with effectiveness
One budget or assignment
incomplete / insights are strong
Creates budgets or plans with
effectiveness identifying several
considerations
Reflects on decision/choices
related to individual well-being
and quality of life and suggests
strategies for making difficult
choices with effectiveness
Level Four
Applies practical knowledge in
creation of 2-day meal plan with
consideration to CFG with
considerable effectiveness
Applies practical knowledge in
identifying a variety of personal
health and hygiene
products/services with
considerable effectiveness
Identifies practical skills that
contribute to the functioning of
families and that are transferable
to independent living with
considerable effectiveness
Creates final budget to meet daily
living needs using available
resources with considerable
effectiveness
All budgets and assignment
concerns are complete and well-
supported
Creates budgets and plans with
considerable effectiveness
identifying numerous
considerations
Reflects on decision /choices
related to individual well-being
and quality of life and suggests
strategies for making difficult
choices with considerable
effectiveness