The down payment will be the largest immediate cost of buying a home. If you can pay for at least 20% of the total cost of your home up front, you will not have to pay private mortgage insurance (PMI), which protects the lender against you defaulting on your loan. If you must buy PMI, your monthly payments may be significantly higher. You'll also be able to get a better interest rate from mortgage companies, saving you money in the long run. You don't have to save up a 20% down payment in order to buy a house. Some loans will allow you to put 0% down, while others may require 3%, 3.5%, 5%, or 10%. Work with your lender to find the best option for you. However, paying this little will cause you to have to pay PMI. Some companies may allow you to skip PMI in return for paying a higher interest rate. This may or may not be a better option for you. Talk to a tax advisor to find out the best way to keep costs down. Closing costs include the inspection fees, property taxes, appraisal fees, escrow fees, lender insurance, recording fee, and the prepaid interest charged by your mortgage company. You may also need to pay extra fees directly to your lender, such as a charge to check your credit and a loan origination fee. All together, these will usually total between 2-5% of the total cost of the home. Moving expenses in the U.S. will generally run you between $400 and $2,000 USD. Although your inspection and appraisal fees are part of your closing costs, you will pay them when the services are rendered. In some cases, you'll need to pay for your first year of home insurance at closing, as well. Prepaid interest is the total interest that accrues between the day you close on your mortgage loan payment and your first official mortgage payment. Chances are that when you move in, you'll want to make some repairs. You may also want to fill up some empty rooms with new furniture! Since you should expect to invest about 1-3% of the total cost of your home each year in maintenance, plan to spend about that much right after you buy the house as well. It's never a good idea to get behind on mortgage payments, so make sure you're starting off your relationship with your lender on the right foot. If you've got enough saved to make at least a half-year of payments, you'll be prepared for any emergencies that could come up. Dedicate some of your savings to covering emergencies. You should always have enough money in savings to pay for 6 months of your total expenses (including food, utility bills, childcare, and everything in between). If buying a house would wipe out this emergency fund, you're not quite ready to take the plunge yet!
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One-sentence summary -- Shoot for a down payment of about 20%. Add in the closing costs and moving expenses. Have some cash ready for repairs and decor. Set aside enough to cover 6 months of mortgage payments. Do not plan to empty your savings account.

Your physical condition has an impact your mental state and emotional attitude. Take a long look at your day-to-day routine. Decide if adjusting your daily patterns of sleep, physical activity, or dietary habits could be beneficial for your improving your attitude. Daily exercise and physical activity, when carried out each morning, can help you expend excess energy. This will make you less edgy and more agreeable throughout the day. Exercise releases endorphins, which lead to feelings of happiness and overall well-being. Also, daily exercise can help you improve your body-image. This also leads to higher levels of self-esteem and self-worth. Walking, jogging or running in the morning are all great ways to engage in physical activities and lower your overall stress. Even minor or mundane social interactions have a positive impact on people's mental health. Try to engage with other people throughout the day. This will improve your attitude and mental outlook. Social interactions naturally impact the release of serotonin in the human brain. Serotonin will affect an improvement in your mood and overall happiness. Humans derive vitamin D from exposure to sunlight. A lack of vitamin D can cause fatigue, negativity and poor mental attitude in some people. Even 15 minutes a day in the sun or under a sun-lamp can have positive effects on your mental state. It is hard to stay positive and have a cheery disposition if you are not eating right. Studies show that people with better dietary habits tend to see improvements in their overall mental attitude. Conversely, individuals who have poor dietary habits tend to be quicker to anger, less approachable and more irritable. Try eating healthier to see if it has any impact on your mental or emotional attitude. Make sure you include a wide variety of foods from all the relevant food groups in your diet, including meats, fish, vegetables, fruits, dairy and wheats. B-12, which is in a variety of red meats and leafy green vegetables, has shown a positive relationship to overall happiness and mental health. Studies have affirmed that spending time around animals can lower your overall stress levels. This can improve your emotional and mental state. Even brief periods of interaction with animals can improve your attitude. Stress can build throughout the day, negatively impacting your mental attitude towards the world around you. As such, it can be helpful to engage in meditation or relaxation practices each evening to help you unwind. Too much sleep or a lack of sleep has the ability to negatively impact your mental state and emotional outlook. Set a daily sleep routine and try to stick to it. Most researchers agree that 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night is ideal for an average adult. You should see positive improvements in your attitude if you keep a stable and healthy sleeping routine each night.
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One-sentence summary -- Assess your current physical state. Exercise every morning. Increase your social interactions. Get more sunlight. Improve your eating habits. Spend more time around animals. Engage in meditation or relaxation techniques. Get the recommended amount of sleep.

Hold the spectrum up to a light, putting the viewing port (the paper tube) over your eye and aiming the viewing slit at a light. You should see the full light spectrum, from red to purple. Look at a candle flame, a flashlight, a street light, and so on by aiming the viewing slit at different lights. If you are having difficulty seeing the light spectrum, try adjusting the paper tube. Remember, it must be facing the disk inside the box. Use caution when examining sunlight: never look directly at the sun through the spectrum. If you want to observe the sun, look at the sunlight bouncing off of the clouds or a white wall. Record how different light sources look in the spectrum by writing down the light source (such as "candle flame") then using colored pencils to draw the colors you see. You can also use a camera to take a picture of the spectrum through the viewing port, although this can be a bit tricky. An incandescent light bulb produces a continuous spectrum of light with no bright lines because of the tungsten in it. A fluorescent bulb produces distinct, colored lines that come from mercury vapor. Hot gasses produce light that is made up of only a few colors, which the spectrum allows you to see individually. Some examples are: what colors were the individual bands of light reflecting? Was there an order to the colors? If so, name the order. Did different light sources look differently? How and why? Look for specific colors. Are all the colors of the rainbow present? Observe the spacing between the colored lines. Are they close or far apart? Spectrums make great science fair projects. Ask an adult for help finding out more information about your local science fair or other similar competition.
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One-sentence summary --
Examine different light sources. Record your observations. Ask scientific questions about the spectrum in class or with friends. Enter your spectrum and observations in a science fair.