68
Becoming Money $mart
Income
In planning a budget, an important step is to estimate what your income
will be. Income is money you receive. Pay from a job, a birthday gift, and an
allowance are examples of income. In the following examples, you will work
with a monthly budget and monthly income amounts.
Average Monthly Income
Pay from a job is a major source of income for many people. Your net pay
may not be the same every week or every month. If you have a part-time job,
you may work a different number of days or hours each week. If you have a
full-time job, you might sometimes be sick and not work a full week. To create
a monthly budget, you will need to calculate your average monthly net pay. To
fi nd average monthly net pay, divide the total net pay by the number of months.
Total Net Pay ÷ Number of Months = Average Monthly Net Pay
Example 3-2
You receive weekly paychecks from your job. Your paychecks for three months
were for the amounts shown below. What is your average monthly net pay for
this time period?
Month Net Pay Amounts Totals
May $98.00
75.50
125.50
145.50
$444.00
June 165.75
190.60
98.00
201.35
655.70
July 125.50
165.75
98.00
118.75
508.00
Total Net Pay $1,607.70
Number of Months ÷ 3
Average Monthly Net Pay $535.90