Reality Check Quiz
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. A job offer lists gross monthly pay of $3,500. Which figure is most useful as the starting point for a monthly spending budget?
The $3,500 gross-pay figure
Expected take-home pay after deductions
Gross pay plus available credit
Annual gross pay divided by the number of workdays
2. A necessary annual fee is $600. How much should you set aside each month to have the full amount after 12 months?
$40
$50
$60
$72
3. Which expense is most clearly a fixed monthly cost for a renter during the term of a standard lease?
Public transportation fares
The electricity bill
Grocery spending
The stated monthly rent
4. Three roommates split $1,800 in rent and $300 in shared monthly utilities equally. What is each person's share?
$600
$650
$900
$700
5. An apartment costs $1,800 per month and offers one free month on a 12-month lease. Ignoring other fees, what is the effective average monthly rent over the full lease?
$1,800
$1,700
$1,725
$1,650
6. Package A contains 12 ounces for $3.00. Package B contains 20 ounces for $4.60. Which is the better price per ounce?
Package A, because its total price is lower
They have the same unit price
Package B, because it costs about $0.23 per ounce
Package A, because it costs about $0.20 per ounce
7. A car payment fits within your budget, but you are checking whether the car itself is affordable. Which additional group of costs is most important to include?
Only the vehicle's original sticker price
Insurance, fuel or charging, registration, and maintenance
Only optional accessories and car washes
The owner's gross income before deductions
8. Your monthly take-home pay is $2,400. Planned expenses total $1,950, and you set aside $200 for savings. How much remains?
$250
$350
$450
$650
9. Why is it useful to review several months of utility bills instead of budgeting from just one bill?
Usage and seasonal conditions can make costs fluctuate
Only the most recent utility bill must be paid
Utility providers always charge the same total over a year
Past bills automatically include future price discounts
10. When listing required monthly commitments, how should minimum debt payments be handled?
Include the required minimums as monthly obligations
Include them only in months when extra money is available
Exclude them because debt is not a household expense
Replace them with the total outstanding debt balance
11. If money is tight, which expense is most clearly discretionary and therefore a direct candidate for review?
A prescribed medication refill
An entertainment streaming subscription
Basic household electricity
The minimum rent payment
12. Which habit most directly reduces the chance of accidentally overdrawing a checking account?
Tracking pending transactions and keeping a small account buffer
Paying every expense with credit instead
Checking the account only when a payment is declined
Treating the displayed balance as spendable without reviewing transactions
13. What does renters insurance generally help a tenant protect?
The tenant's future income if rent rises
The landlord's ownership interest in the entire building
Personal belongings and certain liability costs, subject to the policy
All belongings against every possible type of loss
14. If income stays unchanged while the prices of regular living expenses rise, what generally happens to purchasing power?
It rises because the income amount has not changed
It remains identical because only prices changed
It falls because the same income buys fewer goods and services
It becomes unrelated to the household budget
15. When estimating the upfront cash needed to rent an apartment, which item is typically a one-time move-in cost rather than a recurring monthly expense?
Internet service
Electricity usage
Rent
A security deposit
16. What is the main budget purpose of an emergency fund?
To make routine purchases without tracking them
To replace all forms of insurance
To cover unexpected necessary costs or income disruptions
To increase the amount available for monthly subscriptions