In English class, I created a future life chart to imagine life after high school and wrote the following essay in reflection:
Throughout the course of this project, it has become increasingly apparent to me that living is expensive. I would honestly rather live in a self-sustaining cabin in the woods and farm my own vegetables like Thoreau. But even then, I would be unable to escape property taxes. The solution, I suppose, is to understand how to budget earnings and manage expenses efficiently. That is the main takeaway that stuck with me.
When I started this project, I thought I wanted to be a barista by day and a freelance graphic designer by night. I have since changed my mind. However, the activity is still meaningful even if I choose not to pursue that path. Calculating the amount of my income that goes to all the different aspects of living put some things into perspective. A lot of expenses were what I expected, like the cost of vegan groceries for a week. Other things, like electricity and water, made me realize the importance of finding housing with such amenities included. Car insurance and gas were also a bit surprising. I had already intended on investing in a bicycle and an RTA pass for sustainability purposes, but now I have some economic motivations behind that decision, too.
One thousand, six hundred, and seventy-two dollars. This number includes rent, healthcare, electricity, cable, internet, food, water, transportation, entertainment, and all sorts of taxes. It is equivalent to 40% of my gross income. At the end of the month, I have $2,477.59 left in the budget. The average price of a home in the state of Ohio is $213,000. If my ultimate goal is to own my own home, it would take 85 months of only using my income to pay taxes and buy necessities. Even that is contingent on me working the same two jobs for seven years and never getting tired of it.
In this hypothetical situation, the combination of jobs that I work are entry-level or based on skills that I already possess. What if my job required a college degree? That would likely mean that I am paying student loans in addition to all of the bills and expenses already calculated. What if I worked a different job entirely? The amount of money going to social security, federal taxes, medicare, etc. would change. I might need to live in a different location where the housing was not as affordable for my budget. If I find better health insurance, a better internet plan, or do something like adopting a cat, expenses would go up as well.
Future life is a balancing act. Spending the right amount of money in the right places and saving wherever possible is key to staying out of the negative. Time management, budgeting, and a good work ethic are essential skills for survival as an adult. This project is only one of the millions of ways that my life could go, and I cannot be certain that I will always “make it” through the month.