Budgeting Career Guide and Counseling

Question: Budgeting? I am really tight on money right now and it seems as if EVERY MONTH something comes up-a kids fundraiser-birthday party-etc.etc. and I dont want my kids to miss out on the fun of the birthday party just because mom cant afford to buy an extravagant birthday gift. Any ideas on low priced gifts but are not cheap as in falling apart ? I feel bad being the cheap one at the birthday party but you kind of have to look out foryour kids first. FOOD ON THE TABLE.

Answer: It helps to shop for gifts a few times a year & stock up a bit in advance instead of waiting right before a party. Use your experience from previous years to estimate your needs and keep a schedule of events. Keep a list of gift ideas & an inventory of items you have. 1) Shop after Christmas sales & other after season sales to stock up on toys & other gifts. 2) Shop at scheduled sale events. Get on the mailing list & e-mail list of your favorite shops for notices & coupons. For ex) Bath & Bodyworks has a twice yearly sale on lotions, shower gels, lip balms, etc. so you can stock up on gifts for girls. This store sometimes sends out e-mail coupons too. The Body Shop has frequent promotions too. Old Navy has clearance sales about every 3 months. Check the racks for purses, totes, jewelry, tee shirts, etc. 3) Check out local discounters like Tuesday Morning, Ross, etc. for toys. I've seen some great Lego sets, Barbie dolls & accessories @ really low prices @ Tuesday Morning. Check the book sales racks @ Borders, Barnes & Noble, etc. I've seen some great craft kits, journals, and cute story books on those tables & racks. 4) Stick w/ more traditional toys like board games, Etch-A-Sketch, Play Doh sets, etc. These tend to be lower priced because they are classics and have to compete w/ more modern items like video games. 5) Try to think of gift sets you can create w/ items from discount retailers like Target. For example, girls would like embellished hair pins, headbands & pony tail holders in a plastic case. You could include a styling brush, a compact mirror & some mini beauty products. A boy might like a tee shirt w/ his favorite super hero & a few comic books. As for fund raisers, find other ways to contribute or participate. (e.g. by volunteering to help w/ organization or help publicize the event) Set a strict limit for the year & track what you spend. Don't feel bad about sticking to your limit either. Just politely decline if you must or if you cannot use anything being offered. Try to limit your purchase to 1 item per fund raiser & make it a multi-purpose item. For example, buy a roll of gift wrap you can use for b-days and other special occasions. Selling cookie dough is another typical fund raiser. You can buy 1 tub and then use it to bake cookies for a pot luck or school bake sale. You can make them special by adding sprinkles or drizzling some melted chocolate over them. You can decide what you want to do for the year and set a policy for yourself. If you think money is going to be very tight - then do not buy anything from fund raisers & to be fair, do not sell anything for fund raisers @ the office. You don't have to explain yourself - just politely decline & know that you won't be imposing on anyone either. Or you can stick to the 1 item per fund raiser & only make a purchase if it's something you can use. Not every fund raiser is a good one.

Question: To complete during the budgeting process is to develop a contingency plan for their organization..? One of the tasks that managers at Greensboro Company have to complete during the budgeting process is to develop a contingency plan for their organization in case a downturn occurs in their business. This budgeting requirement is an example of: A) budget coordination. B) performance measurement. C) planning. D) taking corrective action.

Answer: C. Develop a contingency plan is to plan.

Question: How can someone learn the budgeting process? At a local university, many of the office jobs require someone to have a strong knowledge of the budgeting process. Any suggestions on how to learn budgeting? What is involved in budgeting?

Answer: Take an intro sequence of accounting, then take an intro course in finance which will cover capital budgeting.

Question: What are operating budget and performance budgeting? Where I can find info and definition? I want to know about the operating budget and performance budgeting in hospital or Emergency Department setting, including definition, examples, and explanations. Could you recommend some Web sites? Thanks a lot.

Answer: "A Guidebook on the Preparation of a Hospital Strategic Business Plan" http://www.doh.gov.ph/hsra/tsk/link%20si… "The Business Plan is a critical document to the transition of the hospital from a purely government subsidized health facility to its desired autonomous status." "Does Performance Budgeting Work?" http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2… "Performance budgeting refers to procedures or mechanisms intended to strengthen links between the funds provided to public sector entities and their outcomes and/or outputs through the use of formal performance information in resource allocation decision making."

Question: What are the differences and the similarities between forecasting and budgeting? What are the differences and the similarities between forecasting and budgeting? I need an actual reference for a paper I'm writing.

Answer: Both are estimates or plans for the future. Forecasting is a bit more general, while budgeting a bit more specific to financial terms. In practice, budgets tend to be more set for a specific time, while forecasts more flexible, changing more often.

Question: What are some good and easy budgeting plans that can help me keep track of my finances? I need an easy budgeting plan to help me keep track of my earnings and spendings. I think I have pictured it being time-consuming and difficult to keep track of finances so I've had such a hard time wanting to get started in the past. Is there an easy (or relatively easy) way to keep track of finances and budget out spending?

Answer: For budgeting, get a sheet of paper and a pen. Write your income for THIS month at the top. List EVERYTHING you will do with money below and keep a running balance. At the bottom of the page, the balance should be $0.00. (You included savings in the list.) For tracking, use the envelope system. Put your food budget in an envelope labeled 'food'. ALL food is purchased using CASH from this envelope. ONLY food is purchased from this envelope. When the envelope is empty, you eat leftovers for the rest of the month. Repeat for every category of spending.

Question: How to do I exclude accounts in Quicken budgeting? I'm using Quicken 2007 to manage 3 bank accounts and a credit card. I use the budgeting tool, but I only want to include one of the accounts in the budget but I can't figure out how to exclude the other three. Does anyone know how to do this? Thanks!

Answer: By design, the budget feature is based on categories, NOT accounts. If you don't want to see certain accounts included when you do budget reporting, just de-select, or un-check them in the report customization. If you don't want certain accounts to be relevant to your budget, make sure you don't use budgeted categories in any of those accounts' transactions.

Question: What are some good books on saving money, budgeting and living frugally? Not interested in investing in stocks - just saving, budgeting, living modestly. Also advice on impulsive spending and paying off debts. Thanks!

Answer: The book Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin changed my life. It is a very interesting approach to thinking about money and how every thing you spend money on is a tradeoff of your life. I also like the blog/website called the simple dollar. He has an excellent list of financial planning/frugality books.

Question: Post your response to the following questions: How are budgeting systems used to weigh the efficiency and effe? Post your response to the following questions: How are budgeting systems used to weigh the efficiency and effectiveness of a health and human service agency? Why is this important

Answer: You figure out the efficiency by looking at a program's total budget and then dividing it by the number of people who will participate in the program. (Unit cost). The effectiveness is determined by designing program outcomes. Initially you measure your outcomes against other similar programs, then you develop a baseline and begin to measure against yourself. For example, if your program provides tutoring, you would want to measure how many students achieved a passing grade, how many were promoted, how many had completed homework, etc. You convert this to a % and try to achieve at least a 50% success rate. The next year try for 60% and so on. Then determine what the program costs per student and try to lower your unit cost each year.

Question: Which of the following statements about budgeting is NOT ture? Which of the following statements about budgeting is NOT ture? A. Budgeting is an aid to planning and control B. Budgets create standards for performance evaluation C. Budgets help coordinate the activities of the entire organization D. Budgeting forces managers to think ahead and formalize long-range objectives. E. Budgeting eliminates the need for day-to-day monitoring of operation

Answer: E. Budgeting eliminates the need for day-to-day monitoring of operation