Course Description

Learning to maintain a proper budget is one of the most important household skills you can master.

A reasonably accurate budget enables you to determine whether you are living within your means. Many couples or heads of households think they’re living within their means, and are surprised when a budgeting exercise reveals the opposite.

How sure are you that your household budget is accurate?

Finance Professor and Founder of Pillars of Wealth Initiative

Dr. Yuval Bar-Or

Course curriculum

  • 1

    Budget to Live Within Your Means

    • Budgeting Introduction (Video)

    • Welcome to the Budgeting Module (Text)

    • Lesson 1: What is a Budget? (Text)

    • The Household Budget (Audio)

    • Examples (Text)

    • Exercise: Create a Household Budget

    • Exercise: Classify Expenses as Optional or Non-discretionary

    • Lesson 2: Generic Career-Stage Priorities (Text)

    • Generic Career Stages (Audio)

    • Generic Career-Stage Priorities (Video)

    • Lesson 3: Periodic Financial Reviews and Implications for Net Worth (Text)

    • Periodic Financial Reviews (Audio)

    • End of Module Questions

    • Budgeting Quiz
  • 2

    Managing Debt

    • Debt Management

    • Student Loans

    • Living Within Your Means Example

    • Your Credit Score

    • Link to Medscape Physician Debt and Net Worth Report (Medscape.com)

    • Link to AAMC Debt Fact Card 2016

    • Link to Bankrate's Buy vs. Lease Car Calculator (Bankrate.com)

    • Links to StudentAid.gov and StudentLoans.gov

    • Link to Association of American Medical Colleges - Financial Aid Resources

    • Link to Consumer Reports Article on Buying vs. Leasing a Car (ConsumerReports.org)

    • What Happens to Student Loans When You Die?