Recently the Administration for Children and Families’ Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network reported the following:
A number of states have created free Reality Check Calculators to help youth, students, and adults understand how salary, wages, careers, education, training, and budgets all interrelate. Reality Check Calculators can be used to estimate the cost of living in a particular state or community. There are several examples of these in California, Minnesota, and Texas. These tools help the users think about what the cost of living is, and how education and training correlate to salary and careers. The Calculators allow users to think about:
* Type of housing they would like (apartment, condo, house);
* Utility Costs (phone, electricity, cable, etc.);
* Food (eating out, cooking at home, combination);
* Transportation needs (public transportation, used or new car);
* Entertainment and other miscellaneous charges; and
These free tools are available online by agencies in California, Minnesota, Texas and by the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy.