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Money Sense for Teens Newsletter
Volume 3, Issue 3

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That's the Job for Me! • Do the Math! • Did You Know? • Conserve and Save • Taxes! • Where's the Money?

That's the Job for Me!

If jobs are few and far between where you live, how about beginning your own business? Look around. Are there businesses in your area just waiting for you to begin? How can you get started? First, think about things you like to do and can do well. This can range from babysitting to developing web pages. Think about the following:

• Who else offers this product or service?
• Is there a need for this product or service in my area?
• What types of equipment or materials will I need?
• Will it be easy for me to get equipment or materials?
• How much money will it take to get my business started?
• Do I have the time and energy to get my business off the ground?
• How will I advertise my product/business?
• How will I determine how much to charge for my product/service?

An easy way to compare possible products/services you may be interested in is to complete the following:

Do the Math!

Get a pencil and take a few minutes to use your math skills in real world financial situations. Answers will follow in the next newsletter.

• Buffy works 32 hours each week and makes $6.00 per hour. How much does she make a week? A month?
• Carlos works the following number of hours each day. What is his pay for one week if he earns $6.25 per hour?

7 1/2 hours Monday
5 1/2 hours Tuesday
8 hours Wednesday
8 hours Thursday
4 1/2 hours Friday
8 hours Saturday

How much would Carlos make if he worked full time?

• Heather purchased a new dress for $28.99. The sales tax rate is 8 1/2 percent. How much did Heather pay for her dress?
• Last week James worked 48 hours (40 hours regular pay, 8 hours overtime). If he makes $6.50 per hour and time and a half for overtime, how much will he get paid for working last week?
• Sue worked from 9:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. five days each week. She got an hour off for lunch. If she earns $6.00 an hour and time and a half for overtime, how much does she get paid each month? (40 hours a week regular pay.)
• Since Mike works at the Fine Threads Store, he gets a 20 percent discount on his purchases. How much will he pay for an $83.50 jacket? The sales tax rate is 7 percent.
• Betty has saved $200 for a set of dishes for her new apartment. Can she buy a $189.00 set if the sales tax rate is 9.4%?

Did You Know?

According to the United States Census Bureau, America's population grew more between 1990 and 2000 than during any other 10-year period in our history – 32.7 million Americans were born this past decade! 

Conserve and Save

Gas prices are high.  Ask the adults in your life about the price of utilities and the prices of other items that may be going up. What can you do to save? Define the words below and decide how they can help you save money. Then find the words in the puzzle below.

Taxes!

Taxes are sources of income used by governments (local, state, national) to provide goods and services for people. The money these governments collect is called revenue. There are several types of taxes. The most common types fall into the categories of sales taxes, income taxes and property taxes. Sales taxes are taxes that are paid directly on the value of items you buy. State or local governments may charge a percentage of the cost, which is then added to the cost of the item purchased. The merchant then pays that revenue to the government. A 5% tax will add an additional five cents for every dollar of the price of the item. The tax may go to both the local and state government.

 Income taxes are required by federal, state and local governments on a worker's earnings. It is a direct tax paid to the United States government through the Internal Revenue Service (I-R-S). People who work must fill out a form that helps an employer know how much of the salary he/she must withhold and send to the government. Persons must file a tax return or report with the government each year. This balances the amount of money withheld from your paycheck with the amount due.

Property taxes are direct taxes paid to the city or county tax assessor's office. The amount is based on the value of the property owned.

Where's the Money?

Salaries differ according to location. Of 313 locations, the Little Rock metropolitan statistical area (M-S-A) ranked 138 of 313 locations with an average annual pay of $28,620 in 1999. That compares with San Jose, California, which had the highest average annual pay among United States M-S-As, $61,110. New York, New York, was second with $52,351 and San Francisco, California, came in third with $50,169. The national average is $34,858.

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