Vocations · Career Exploration

A gap year that still
leaves money for college.

Lay out the year in stretches: working at home, a program, travel, getting ready for college. Put in what each pays and costs. The calculator runs your savings month by month, finds the lowest point and tells you what is left when college starts.

Plan my yearWhat you get

The gap year budget

The worked example is made up: $3,000 saved, five months of work, a volunteer program abroad, two months of travel and four months of work before college. Every figure is a placeholder for your own. Nothing you enter leaves this browser.

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What you get

Vocations · Career ExplorationFree

What you finish with
Your savings at the end of every month of the gap year, the lowest point and when it comes, what is left when college starts against the amount you want, the months below your emergency cushion, the total the year costs and earns, and how much more pay or how much less spending would close a gap. A one-page plan prints, and the months download as a spreadsheet.
Who it is for
High school seniors and graduates planning a gap year, the parents and guardians helping them, and school counselors who talk families through one.
Format
Browser tool. Works on a phone, tablet or computer; the balance moves as you type. Up to eight stretches and 36 months. Prints a one-page plan; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); export and import a file.
Access
Free. No account, no sign-in and nothing to install. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Career Exploration space in Caveat Vocations.
Support
Questions, a correction or a request: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Set the month the gap year starts, your savings, the least you ever want in the bank, and what you want left for college.
  2. Add each stretch of the year in order with its length in months.
  3. For each stretch, enter take-home pay, the monthly costs and the one-time costs that land at its start, such as a program fee or flights.
  4. Read the end balance and the lowest point. If there is a gap, the page says how much more pay or how much less spending closes it.
  5. Change the order or length of the stretches until it works, then print the plan to go over with your family.

Plan my year

How the budget is worked out

Month-by-month arithmetic on your own estimates, and the outside facts that affect them.

1 Each month: balance + pay − costsNovember balance$8,575after 5 months of workDecember−$4,205fees, flights, gear + $275New balance$4,370$8,575 − $4,2052 Find the lowest point and the endLowest balance$350end of April, after travelEnd of August$4,210against a $1,500 college fund3 Totals for the yearCosts$14,84014 monthsTake-home pay$16,0509 working monthsNet$1,210pay − costs1 Balance + pay − costsNovember$8,575after 5 monthsDecember−$4,205fees + flights + gearNew balance$4,370$8,575 − $4,2052 Low point and endLowest$350end of AprilEnd of August$4,210goal $1,5003 The yearCosts$14,84014 monthsPay$16,0509 working months
The worked example: $3,000 of savings, five months of work, a volunteer program, two months of travel and four more months of work. The balance bottoms out at $350 in April and ends at $4,210.

The arithmetic

Each month the balance is last month’s balance plus that month’s take-home pay minus that month’s costs. One-time costs land in the first month of their stretch. The lowest point is the smallest month-end balance. To close a gap, the page divides it among the months that have pay, or shows the same amount as a cut in costs.

Things to check outside the page

Health coverage: under the Affordable Care Act a young adult can usually stay on a parent’s health plan until age 26, but many plans pay little or nothing abroad, so look at travel medical insurance for time out of the country. College: many colleges let admitted students defer for a year, but the rules differ, deposits may be due and some do not allow taking classes elsewhere during the deferral; get the terms in writing. Aid: each FAFSA covers one school year and uses tax information from two years before it, so file the one for the year you will start, and money in your name counts as your asset on it.

Sources

  1. HealthCare.gov. Health insurance coverage for young adults under 26: staying on a parent’s plan.
  2. U.S. Department of State, travel.state.gov. Your health abroad: checking whether your insurance covers care overseas.
  3. Federal Student Aid, studentaid.gov. FAFSA deadlines and What information will I need: the award year and the tax year it uses.
  4. Gap Year Association (gapyearassociation.org). Standards for gap year programs and questions to ask a program before paying.

The worked example is made up and is not a price list; program fees, pay and costs differ widely. The page adds up the figures you enter; it is not financial advice. Your plan stays in this browser. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.