A111: Survey of Computers and Computing

Spring 2006

Project 2: A comparison Budget

Your Task

• Please note that Project 2 is due on the 9th of February, at 9:00 AM
• This project will be based around the idea that you are creating a budget comparison between 5 different jobs in 5 different US cities. You will need to pick jobs for which you can obtain a salary figure, and cities for which you can obtain information on cost of living.
• Compile the following information:
  • The salary for each job
  • The cost of renting a similar apartment in each city
  • Commute time from apartment to job, in minutes
  • The cost of a gallon of gas in each city
  • The average, high, and low temperatures for each city
  • The amount of money remaining each month given the following assumptions:
    • You use 5 gallons of gas a day
    • You pay rent once a month
    • You are paid 1/12th of your salary each month
    • This remaining amount is how much you have for food, entertainment, and other expenses
• In addition to having 1 sheet that contains all of this information for each job, you should have additional sheets, in which you have the following:
  • Point graph comparison of commute time to cost of gas, for each city
  • Bar graph comparison of salary to rent, for each city
  • Pie chart indicating percentage of salary left over, for each city
  • At least 5 other comparisons
  • A brief statement indicating your preferred job out of the 5, and why
• You should use the skills you have learned to complete your budget spreadsheet. The more polished your assignment is, and the more elements from lab you use, the better. Using as few as possible will result in a comparable grade. For exact details of what you should include, ask your AI.
• You will be graded primarily on form, but content is also relevant. Try to keep your content relevant, as if you were creating a real budget. Spelling and grammar mistakes will result in penalties.
• Turn Project 2 in no later than 9:00 AM, February 9th