CENTER TWP — Being an adult and running a household on a limited budget can be challenging.

This is one of the lessons learned by a group of teenagers Tuesday night at a program held by the Butler County Youth Leadership Initiative at St. Andrew Church.

About 25 teenagers learned about nutrition, cooking and budgeting, through presentations from experts and an exercise where they had to plan their own hypothetical household budget.

The Youth Leadership Initiative is a joint effort among four programs in the county: Connecting to Tomorrow, 4-H, Stand Tall and Justice Works Family of Services.

The group holds three events a year and the budgeting and cooking theme this time was suggested by participants who filled out surveys at the end of the last program, said Mike Liebler, executive director of Connecting2Tomorrow.

The teens heard a presentation on nutrition from Esther Voelker, nutrition education adviser from Penn State Extension of Butler County, who advised them about having a balanced diet and limiting portion sizes.

To make their household budget, each person was given a card listing a weekly salary based on whether they had a job as a professional, a skilled worker or a service industry worker.

The budget for each salary type highlighted needs — such as food, clothing, housing and transportation — and wants — such as a cellphone, Internet and entertainment. They were also advised to try and have some money leftover in their budget to put in a savings account.

One of the main life lessons was that you have to live within your means to be self-sufficient, Liebler said.

“The idea is, if you get a $2,000-a-week salary, what can you afford?” he said.

Using their food budget, which was different for different salaries, they “shopped” for groceries in a makeshift grocery store and got to prepare their own dinner.

In the exercise, the service worker employees only had $69 a week left over to apply to various “wants.”

Andrew Duncan, 18, of Kittanning said he drew a service worker salary and had to make tough choices, such as whether to get a smartphone or Internet. He had no money leftover for wants such as entertainment or travel.

Duncan said the program helped him gain appreciation for the struggles that many adults can go through on a daily basis.

“I learned that nothing is cheap in life and you want to be able to save some money, but it's not easy,” he said.

Josh Smith, 15, of Butler said he also was tasked with making a budget on the smallest salary.

“I cut out some stuff I think that I need, but really only want,” he said. “There are tough decisions to make.”