The Office - Preparing a Budget (C0173)

A:  Welcome Mr and Mrs Carnwell, please take a seat.
B:  Thank you.
A:  So I understand that your family spending has sky rocketed and you want to start budgeting.
C:  Yes thats correct. Frankly speaking our household income is relatively high and we have never had any money problems, but I think this isthe main reason as to why our spending has gone out of control.
B:  We have two kids and with allowances, paying their credit cards, ours and not to mention our mortgage and car payments. With the recent economic downturn, my husband's business has suffered and now we need some advice as to how we can prepare a family budget.
A:  I see. Well you have come tothe right place. First what we need to do, is determine your cash flow. Knowing how much money is coming in will help us allocate spending to different categories such as mortgage, education, groceries, etc.
B:  Yes that makes sense.
A:  Secondly, I need you to bring all of your receipts forthe last two to three months. That way, we can determine what your average expenditures are and see which category you are spending money onthe most. Usually, your fixed costs are higher and we cant do much about that, but we can usually trim your variable costs such as entertainment or clothing.
C:  Great! We will do that then! Now how about we treat you to a nice dinner?
A:  That's another thing. If you really want to stop spending so much money, throw away at least half of your credit cards!

Key Vocabulary

skyrocketrise rapidly, as in price
out of controlbeyond the ability to direct the actions of something
budgetplan the way to spend money in order to save more
allocateassign
frankly speakingto be honest, to say it directly

Supplementary Vocabulary

capitalthe wealth in money or property one owns
financesone's monetary resources
to bring in the doughto make money
breadwinnerone whose earnings are the primary source of support for one's dependents
to itemizeto place or include on a list of items

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