The Price of Life

by Monique Mendez

Period 2
Mona Kiani
HTH 10th Grade Math

Part I: Dream
After graduation, I plan on moving out and staying in San Diego. I thought about moving
up North, but realising how much more Id be paying, I knew itd financially safer to stay here.
Doing research, I was able to find a two bedroom and two bath apartment located in Little Italy. I
would have a roommate and so the pay for rent would be cheaper as we would split the rent. My
income would come from my part-time job at the university I plan on going to, UCSD. I planned
on working in the gift shop or something alike because I had this idea that Id get discounts on
books and other supplies that most would pay a lot for.
The reasoning behind me wanting to attend UCSD is because during the beginning of this
project, I initially had wanted to become a Pharmacist. I had already known that they have a
Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences which is what I would aim to attend so
I could accomplish my career goal. Over the course of this project and other personal
consideration, Ive come to realize that its just not my passion and its not the career I strive on
having.

Part II: Brainstorm

This one was a bit frustrating because it felt as though it was a list of expenses that kept
adding on and on. What I firstly think of when it comes to expenses was rent. I need a place, a
home to keep me safe and to keep a roof over my head. With the price of rent, however, I plan on
having a roommate and therefore the cost would be cheaper.
Continuing on, there would the water bill which is an average of $100 per month,
electricity bill which averages to $140 per month, I put groceries and food together at a monthly
cost of $450, I would have the AT&T bundle which would cover for my television, internet, and
cellphone costs at around $280. For the bundle idea, I just asked one of my parents since I know

that currently its what we have and they dont complain about the costs so I think itd be safe to
use.
Theres also insurance costs like medical, home, life, and auto. I also thought about the
smaller costs like going out to the movies and clothing expenses. I wanted to try and calculate
how much Id spend if going out with friends and/or family, but it got tricky as I realized it
would vary each time so I wasnt sure how to calculate.

Part III: Expenses

I was able to narrow down the fact that Id be living in San Diego still and in the
Downtown area. I was trying to think financially What would be the cheaper route? and I most
definitely think that having a roommate would be beneficial as youd both split the pay for rent
and also can go for halves on other payments. I left our rent at a cost of $2,500 but its actually
$2,450 per month. Though the apartment would already have much of the utilities already
needed, its better to be safe than sorry. For utilities that we would need, however, theres the
water, electricity and gas bill that Id have to pay monthly. What was nice about the place I had
found was that it already had come furnished, wifi throughout the first floor of the building and
theres even a gym so I think the place I found is pretty stellar.
For my mode of transportation, I think that Id buy a used car before I start school. Its
most important because its a long drive from Downtown to La Jolla and Id need to get my
classes. I wasnt sure how Id pay it off at first, but I think that little by little would help. I would
need to save more somehow to be able to pay the car payments off.
Initially, I thought the price of food and groceries would be cheap. It still boggles me as
to how its so pricey. On my spreadsheet, I had just put the two, food and groceries, together
because its the food category afterall. For one person, I think that the price would be $450

monthly. I had also thought that because I do have a roommate, why dont we just also split the
price of groceries/food too? I didnt put it on my spreadsheet but it would change my personal
price to $225 and while it may not seem like much, its definitely a lot of savings we could do
instead of one person wasting $450 in one month alone.
For extra-curricular activities, I started with saying that Id 100% give all of my focus to
my studies and homework if I did move out just for the sake of never falling behind. After doing
some thinking and giving extra thought into it, I would do activities like volunteering if anything.
I liked volunteering whenever I could and I would want to continue that if possible. The price to
be part of this activity is free and thered be no fee, hopefully, so thats nice.
For the price of entertainment, I dont consider myself a very needy person. On my
spreadsheet, I had put the price of one adult movie ticket and its not like Id be out to the movies
always. Another form of entertainment would be most notably cable, my cellphone, and internet
access. My parents have the AT&T bundle so I thought what other smarter and cheaper way
because all three important things were in one bill for the price of $280.
For other necessary shopping expenses, I came up with clothing, groceries, toiletries,
cleaning supplies, shower/bath items and hair products.
I do plan on going to a university and most particularly UCSD. The tuition would cost
$13,557. It does make me rethink whether Id live my first year on campus or still in the
apartment I had wanted at first. For now, I still want to say that I can afford the place in
Downtown but who knows. I think now and I just want to keep going to more safer route which
would help me to remain stable.

Part IV: Income

Since I plan on focusing very much so on my first year of university and all studies, I
plan on having an on-campus part-time job. I think its a smart way to manage my time and
instead of going and driving all around town, everything is in one place. Since Im doing parttime, that's 40 hours per every two weeks. Though minimum wage is now at $9.50 and theyre
currently planning on raising it, I talked about it with my parents and we agreed on adding two
dollars which is an $11.50 by 2018. Anyhow, Id do a total of 80 hours per month and after
youve multiplied it I would have gained a $920 in one month. Yet, because of extra, personal
costs, we can take out $40 from my check and I will have ended up with $880. Now, in a year,
Id make only $10,570.56 which really isnt much. Its not the most stable plan in the end, but it
was the best I couldve done.
For scholarships, I definitely do think that theyre most beneficial for one and I plan on
applying for as many as I can once the time comes. The several ones I said I would apply for
through UCSD are the Hispanic Scholarship Council Scholarship which offers $5,000 per year,
the Regents Scholar (merit-based) which offers $2,000 per year, the Ellen and Roger Revelle
Scholarship which offers $2,500 per year, the Chancellors Freshman Scholarship (merit-based)
which offers $5,000 per year, the Charmaine and Maurice Kaplan Scholarship which varies up to
$5,000 per year, the Gerald and Inez Grant Parker Foundation Scholarship which offers up to
four years of $3,000, and lastly the Ray and Betty Ramseyer Scholarship which offers $5,000 per
year. I had planned to keep them in my spreadsheet, but after talking about it others, they said to
focus on scholarships for later and to also not leave it in my income as my income would be
monthly, not yearly.
When it comes to taking out loans for school, I dont plan on it but of course if one must.
Im not sure how they work however and up to much you can take out. I think a reasonable

amount to take out however would be $700 just because of cost of supplies and books and
whatever emergency needs for school.