An automatic bill payment is a money transfer scheduled on a predetermined date to pay a recurring bill, such as a mortgage or credit card bill.

An automatic bill payment is a money transfer scheduled on a predetermined date to pay a recurring bill. Automatic payments are usually set up with the company receiving the payment, though it’s also possible to schedule automatic payments through a checking account’s online bill pay service. Instead of logging into your online account with the auto loan company to schedule the same payment each month, you could set up automatic payments one time and agree to have $300 automatically transferred from your checking account to the auto loan company on the fifth day of each month. Advantages of automatic bill payments include the ease of automated payment, the ability to avoid late payments, and the potential to maintain or improve your credit score. Disadvantages of automatic bill payments include the difficulty in canceling them, the need to keep adequate funds in your checking account, and the potential of incurring a returned payment or late fee.

Automatic Bill Payment

Autonomous consumption is the minimum level of consumption that exists for basic necessities, such as food and shelter, even if a consumer has zero income.

Autonomous consumption is defined as the expenditures that consumers must make even when they have no disposable income. Autonomous consumption can be contrasted with discretionary consumption, a term given to goods and services that are considered non-essential by consumers, but desirable if their available income is sufficient to purchase them. The level of autonomous consumption can shift in response to events that limit or eliminate sources of income, or when available savings and financing options are low. If the autonomous spending within a community or population exceeds the cumulative income of the included individuals, the economy has negative savings (and it is likely taking on debt to finance its expenses). The difference between autonomous consumption and induced consumption is that the latter should fluctuate depending on income.

Autonomous Consumption

Available seat miles is the measure of an airplane's carrying capacity available to generate revenues.

Table of Contents
Expand There are other metrics used to calculate the cash generated by airlines, including revenue passenger miles and revenue per available seat miles.
ASM is simply a measure of a flight's revenue-generating abilities based upon traffic. While the metric does represent the capacity and occupancy of aircraft, revenue passenger miles and revenue per available seat miles are other ways to calculate the money generated by flights. Seat miles are calculated by multiplying the available seats for a given plane by the number of miles that plane will be flying for a given flight. Seat miles are calculated by multiplying the number of miles that a given airplane will be flying by the number of seats available for a given flight.

Available Seat Miles (ASM)

Bills payable is a synonym of accounts payable, or short-term borrowing by banks from other banks.

Bills payable can be a synonym of accounts payable, or it can refer specifically to short-term borrowing by banks from other banks, often the country's central bank. Bills payable can be a synonym of accounts payable, or it can refer specifically to short-term borrowing by banks from other banks, often the country's central bank. In other words, bills payable is the money a bank borrows, mainly on a short-term basis, and owes to other banks. In the context of banking, bills payable refers to a bank's indebtedness to other banks, usually a Federal Reserve Bank (in the U.S.). In the context of personal finance and small business accounting, bills payable are liabilities such as utility bills.

Bills Payable

A budget is an estimation of revenue and expenses over a specified future period of time and is usually compiled and re-evaluated on a periodic basis.

7 Things You Need Before Filling Out the 2020-21 FAFSA Form

Table of Contents
What Is a Budget? In terms of the bottom line—or the end result of this trade-off—a surplus budget means profits are anticipated, a balanced budget means revenues are expected to equal expenses, and a deficit budget means expenses will exceed revenues.
A budget is an estimation of revenue and expenses over a specified future period of time and is utilized by governments, businesses, and individuals. The budget is published in a packet that outlines the standards and procedures used to develop it, including the assumptions about the markets, key relationships with vendors that provide discounts, and explanations of how certain calculations were made.
The sales budget is often the first to be developed, as subsequent expense budgets cannot be established without knowing future cash flows. You would save money if you used your emergency fund to eliminate credit card debt, but the purpose of the fund is to prevent you from having to use your credit card for paying for unexpected expenses. The more you learn about handling money wisely and its rewards, the more concrete the reasons for budgeting will be, and the better you will be at not only creating a budget that works for you, but also sticking to it.
Budgeting strategies sound fine, but if you're in dire straits financially or suffering from mounting bills and a lack of funds, there are some other possible steps to take.

Budget : Corporate & Personal Budgets

The Car Allowance Rebate System was a U.S. government program that allowed people to trade in used vehicles that did not meet fuel economy standards.

The following criteria was put in place to qualify for the Car Allowance Rebate System program:
Vehicle must be less than 25 years old on the trade-in date.
Only the purchase or five-year minimum lease of new vehicles qualify.
Generally, trade-in vehicles must get a weighted combined average rating of 18 or fewer miles per gallon (some very large pickup trucks and cargo vans have different requirements).
Trade-in vehicles must be registered and insured continuously for the full year preceding the trade-in.
Trade-in vehicles must be in drivable condition.
The program requires the scrapping of the eligible trade-in vehicle and that the dealer disclose to the customer an estimate of the scrap value of the trade-in. The Car Allowance Rebate System was a U.S. government program that allowed people to trade in used vehicles that did not meet government-specified fuel economy standards. In response to the U.S. Department of Transportation estimate that the $1 billion appropriated for the system was almost exhausted by July 30, 2009, due to very high demand, Congress approved an additional $2 billion for the program with the explicit support of the Obama Administration. Blinder argued that a cash-for-clunkers program would have a tripartite purpose of helping the environment, stimulating the economy, and reducing economic inequality.

Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS)

Commuting expenses that are incurred as a result of the taxpayer's regular means of getting back and forth to his or her place of employment and is not tax-deductible.

Commuting expenses are costs that are incurred as a result of the taxpayer's regular means of getting back and forth to his or her place of employment. If you travel often for work, your commuting expenses end once you have reached work, and travel between then and when you leave work for home may qualify as business travel, not a commuting expense. Business travel expenses are deductible, and those deductions follow the following rule of thumb: once you have started working at your place of work, the travel you do to other workplaces is business travel and is a deductible expense. This means that once you have started work at the coffee shop, if you travel to meet a client at a different coffee shop, that travel may be considered business travel and may be eligible for a tax deduction. Commuting expense is different from business travel; commuting happens before you start working, and business travel happens while you are working.

Commuting Expenses

Cyber Monday is the Monday following American Thanksgiving, representing the day online retailers offer deep discounts.

What is Cyber Monday? History and Statistics.

Thanksgiving weekend draws nearly 190 million shoppers, spending up 16 percent.

Black Friday & Cyber Monday: A Global Opportunity For Retailers.

Internet Sales Show Big Gains Over Holidays.

Black Friday vs. Cyber Monday: The Rivalry Is Over, Consumers Won.

Share of Christmas shoppers who plan to change how they shop due to coronavirus in the United States in 2020.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday Report: Nordstrom and Walmart see Strong YoY Growth, but Amazon Still Rules the Roost in 2019.

Canadian retailers fight back against Black Friday deals.

Le 24 novembre, le Cybermonday débarque en France.

Google logs out of its flagship Online Shopping Festival GOSF.

For Alibaba, Singles Day Is About More Than Huge Sales.

The story of the Shop Small® Movement.

The Black Friday/Cyber Monday movement has inspired other special days including Small Business Saturday and even a day dedicated to charity, Giving Tuesday.
Cyber Monday falls four days after Thanksgiving. Cyber Monday sales in 2019 reached $7.8 billion partly due to Black Friday sale items selling out then offered again on Cyber Monday, giving consumers a second chance at some of the best deals. By 2016, most major retailers had moved from Cyber Monday to Cyber Monday Week, offering a revolving menu of deals over several days. For 2020, the year of the economic crisis and lockdown, 65% of consumers said they planned to change how they shop during the holiday season with most retailers expecting a significant shift to online shopping including more sales on Cyber Monday.

Cyber Monday

A discretionary expense is a cost that is not essential for the operation of a home or a business.

A discretionary expense is a cost that a business or household can survive without, if necessary. While non-discretionary expenses are considered mandatory—housing, taxes, debt, and groceries—discretionary expenses are any costs incurred above and beyond what is deemed necessary. Some common discretionary items include:
Vacations and travel expenses
Automobiles
Alcohol and tobacco
Restaurants and other entertainment-related expenses
Coffee and specialty beverages
Hobby and sports-related expenses, such as crafting, sewing, and gym memberships Some expenses, such as vacation costs and luxury items, are not necessary to maintain a household and, thus, are classified as discretionary expenses. Businesses and individuals pay for discretionary expenses with discretionary income—the amount of money left over after paying for housing, food, taxes, and other necessities.

Discretionary Expense

Disposable income is the amount of money that a person or household has to spend or save after income taxes are deducted. 

The Decline in the U.S. Personal Saving Rate: Is It Real and Is It a Puzzle?

Fact Sheet #30: The Federal Wage Garnishment Law, Consumer Credit Protection Act's Title III (CCPA)

Disposable income, also known as disposable personal income (DPI), is the amount of money that an individual or household has to spend or save after income taxes have been deducted. Disposable income, also known as disposable personal income (DPI), is the amount of money that an individual or household has to spend or save after income taxes have been deducted. For example, economists use disposable income as a starting point to calculate metrics such as discretionary income, personal savings rates, marginal propensity to consume (MPC), and marginal propensity to save (MPS). The amount garnished may not exceed 25% of a person's disposable income or the amount by which a person's weekly income exceeds 30 times the federal minimum wage, whichever is less. Discretionary income is disposable income minus all payments for necessities, including a mortgage or rent payment, health insurance, food, and transportation.

Disposable Income

Duty-free is an arrangement that exempts international travelers from paying tax on luxury goods bought in travels abroad.

Duty-free refers to the act of being able to purchase an item in particular circumstances without paying import, sales, value-added, or other taxes. Due to requirements to use the product outside of the host country, the duty-free shop will package your purchase and deliver it to you as you board for departure.
Merchandise that is duty-free in the host country may be taxed as you return to your home country. Duty-free regulations vary depending on your country of residence, travel destination, and length of stay. Duty-free shops often sell premium branded high markup goods that evoke luxury or vice (cigars and cigarettes can be found in duty-free shops) or sell upscale tourist items from the host country. In the EU, products purchased in-between countries are taxable, but items you buy while traveling to, or away from, an EU country are duty-refund, and travelers can apply for a refund of the taxes they paid on such products. Products you buy while traveling to, or away from, an EU country is duty-refund, meaning the traveler must apply for a refund of EU's value-added tax.

Duty-Free

Electronic Bill Payment & Presentment (EBPP) is a process, which companies use to collect payments via the Internet or other electronic methods.

Electronic bill payment and presentment (EBPP) is a process that companies use to collect payments electronically through systems like the Internet, direct-dial access, and Automated Teller Machines (ATMs). Specifically, an online bank offers customers the ability to make deposits, withdrawals, transfers between accounts, and other traditional services, as well as online bill payments, such as EBPP. For example, a healthcare insurance company looking to streamline its customer billing system may decide to switch to EBPP and allow customers to pay directly on their website or to have premiums automatically deducted each month. Electronic bill payment and presentment (EBPP) is a process that companies use to collect payments electronically through systems like the Internet, direct-dial access, and Automated Teller Machines (ATMs). In the bank-aggregator model, a banking customer can pay several different bills from their bank accounts.

Electronic Bill Payment & Presentment (EBPP)

Elite status is a type of classification that denotes a preferred customer. It is most commonly used within an airline or hotel rewards program.

Elite status is a classification made by a company or organization for their clientele as a preferred customer. Some reward programs divide elite status into tiers, such as silver elite and gold elite, with gold elite customers receiving greater perks than silver elite customers. For air travel, elite status benefits might include early boarding or seat upgrades on flights, access to faster check-in or security lines at the airport, complimentary access to the airline’s airport lounge, higher frequent-flier mile earning rates, priority re-booking for changed or canceled flights, and free checked luggage. For hotel stays, elite benefits might include elite-only reservations and customer service phone numbers, late checkout, weekend stay discounts, room upgrades, free breakfast, guaranteed room types, executive lounge access, and free phone service. In recent years, however, elite status has become less exclusive, not only because it is easier to obtain elite status through a credit card, but also because some travel companies now sell to the general public on an a-la-carte basis.

Elite Status

A flexible expense is a cost that may be adjustable or eliminated. It is exactly as the name describes, flexible.

A flexible expense is a discretionary purchase that can be altered or eliminated without a significant downside. They can break the categories down into flexible and inflexible expenses and start noting what the flexible expenses are. Flexible expenses stand in contrast to fixed expenses, also known as inflexible expenses. To note your flexible expenses, review your credit card and checking account statements every month to see what non-essential items you are spending money on. When financial advisors counsel individuals, they routinely ask them to estimate their expenses, separating those that are necessary and non-negotiable, like mortgage and car payments, and those that are flexible, like entertainment costs.

Flexible Expense

Frugalista is a a modern term for somone who keeps up with fashion and style trends without spending a lot of money.

Oxford Word of the Year 2008: Hypermiling

The Frugalista Files: How One Woman Got Out of Debt Without Giving Up the Fabulous Life

Frugalista is a neologism defined in 2008 by the Oxford New American Dictionary as "a person who lives a frugal lifestyle but stays fashionable and healthy by swapping clothes, buying secondhand, growing own produce, etc." The rise of lifestyle blogging around the same time as the financial crisis created the ground for minimalist lifestyle bloggers who put an aesthetic spin on living cheaply. Over a decade later, frugalista has not retained its popular currency, but its ethos has spawned several broad cultural movements centered around good living on a budget. Award-winning journalist and blogger Natalie McNeal wrote extensively on living a fashionable yet frugal lifestyle in 2008 when she launched the Frugalista Files. Her popular blog became a book and launched a series of similar blogs and books around living a glamorous lifestyle on a shoestring budget.

Frugalista

A fund is a pool of money that is allocated for a specific purpose.

A fund is a pool of money that is allocated for a specific purpose. In the realm of investments, some types of funds include:
**Mutual funds** are investment funds managed by professional managers who allocate the funds received from individual investors into stocks, bonds, and/or other assets.
**Money-market funds** Examples include mutual funds, which gather money from numerous investors and invest it in a diversified portfolio of assets, and hedge funds, which invest the assets of high-net-worth individuals (HNWI) and institutions in a way that is designed to earn above-market returns. A fund can be established for many different purposes: a city government setting aside money to build a new civic center, a college setting aside money to award a scholarship, or an insurance company that setts aside money to pay its customers’ claims.
A fund is a pool of money set aside for a specific purpose. Some common types of funds include pension funds, insurance funds, foundations, and endowments.

Fund

Groupon is a coupon website that offers group deals with discounts to consumers.

Groupon is a website and mobile app that offers coupons, cashback on purchases and group deals to consumers. Groupon Goods offers discounts on merchandise, Groupon Live is for ticketed events like concerts and sports events, and Groupon Getaways is for vacation packages and travel deals. In recent years, Groupon has changed the daily deal function, and now it is more of a coupon and cashback site offering deals on a wider range of products and services, including vacations. The merchant can profit from the discount if Groupon customers come back after redeeming the voucher, promote the business to their friends, or spend more than the value of the groupon. Groupon collects a percentage of the daily deal profit in exchange for providing merchants with a broad customer base through the company's extensive email list and social media presence.

Groupon

For tax purposes, household expenses are a per-person breakdown of general living expenses.

Household expenses represent a per-person breakdown of general living expenses. Transportation fees, such as the cost of leasing or buying a car through installment payments, commuting costs to work, and other services used by members of the household to get around, such as taxis or buses, can be counted as expenses to the household. In addition to the cost of the housing, whether it is rent, a mortgage payment, or real estate taxes, fees for utilities such as electricity and gas as well as insurance for the property are also part of household expenses. Expenditures for education such as tutoring services, the purchase, and maintenance of school uniforms, textbooks, personal computers, stationery, and pens are all included as household expenses. Tuition, whether for private schools or universities, may be included as expenses carried by the household because the student typically relies on a parent or guardian to pay such fees.

Household Expenses

Lemon laws are a form of consumer protection; they provide legal ways to address grievances when faulty products or services are sold.

Lemon laws are regulations that attempt to protect consumers in the event that they purchase a defective vehicle or other consumer products or services, referred to as lemons, that do not meet their purported quality or usefulness. Lemon laws are regulations that attempt to protect consumers in the event that they purchase a defective vehicle or other consumer products or services, referred to as lemons, that do not meet their purported quality or usefulness. Lemon laws have been enacted in every U.S. state and the District of Columbia as well as at the federal level to protect consumers from manufacturers who intentionally sell defective or poor quality products. Sometimes these laws are labeled lemon laws by legislators, particularly when they are designed to provide a process by which consumers can rectify recurring problems they experienced after purchasing a car, boat, or other large-ticket item. The federal government and state governments enacted laws designed to reduce lemons problems, which means a situation where a manufacturer sells a defective and potentially dangerous product.

Lemon Laws

A lemon is an investment that does not produce an anticipated return or has no value.

A lemon is a very disappointing investment in which your expected return is not even close to being achieved, and more than likely ends up costing you some or all of the capital committed. For example, a car might be sold with mechanical issues that are so costly to repair, the price to fix the vehicle eclipses the sale price and value of the car. The most common and well-known example of a lemon is in the used car industry, where defective or poorly conditioned vehicles are bought and sold by the purchaser without prior knowledge of the true state of the vehicle. Regulations in the United States, for example, offer some protections to consumers in the event they purchase a defective vehicle, known as lemon laws. For example, many entities lost substantial sums of money in the wake of the 2008 U.S. financial crisis, after purchasing mortgage-backed securities derived from mortgages that were rated low risk when the risks were actually substantial.

Lemon

Luxury Automobile Limitations is the annual limit on the amount of depreciation that can be taken on a luxury car used for business purposes. 

New Rules and Limitations for Depreciation and Expensing Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

Tax Reform Changes Depreciation Limits On Luxury Automobiles

26 CFR 601.105: Examination of Returns and Claims for Refund, Credit, or Abatement; Determination of Correct Tax Liability

Publication 463: Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses 2019

Publication 946: How to Depreciate Property

How Small Business Owners Can Take Advantage of the New Tax Law Before It’s Too Late

Publication 463: Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses 2019 Returns

The Luxury Automobile Limitation is the annual limit on the amount of depreciation that can be taken on a luxury car used for business purposes. If the taxpayer doesn't claim bonus depreciation, the greatest allowable depreciation deduction is:
$10,000 for the first year,
$16,000 for the second year,
$9,600 for the third year, and
$5,760 for each taxable year later in the recovery period.
If the taxpayer does claim bonus depreciation, this is the schedule:
$18,000 for the first year,
$16,000 for the second year,
$9,600 for the third year, and
$5,760 for each taxable year later in the recovery period. If you decide your business needs a town car to shuttle important clients to and from the local airport, and you decide to spend $70,000 on something a little upscale because that's how your clients like to feel, the annual deductions will be as follows, if you claim the first-year bonus deduction:
$18,000 in the first year, if you claim the bonus deduction
$16,000 in year two
$9,600 in year three
$5,760 for the rest of the depreciable period allowed
The new depreciation rules adopted in the TCJA also extend deductions to used vehicles that were purchased and put into use after Sept. 27, 2017, though they have to meet certain requirements to qualify. In both cases, depreciation depends on how much the vehicle was used for business, typically 100% and at least 50%.
For luxury passenger vehicles used 100% for business and placed in service between Dec. 31, 2017, and Dec. 31, 2026, the TCJA allows 100% first-year bonus depreciation for qualifying new and used property.﻿﻿ One important change is that the TCJA increased the amount of depreciation business owners could take on certain assets by $8,000 in the first year.﻿﻿ It also extended and modified bonus depreciation for qualified property purchased after Sept. 27, 2017, and before Jan. 1, 2023, including business vehicles.

Luxury Automobile Limitations Defined

Moving expenses as tax-deductible costs have been abolished for most of us but members of the U.S. military and their families may still qualify.

IRS issues standard mileage rates for 202

Moving expenses, to the Internal Revenue Service, are costs that are incurred by a taxpayer related to relocating for a new job or being transferred to a new location. Basic categories of qualifying costs include moving expenses, storage expenses, and travel expenses. If you use your car to take yourself, household members, or your household goods to your new home, you can calculate your expenses by deducting either of the following:
Your actual expenses—such as the amount you pay for gas and oil for your car—as long as you keep accurate documentation of each expense. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) eliminated the deduction of moving expenses for tax years 2018 through 2025, except for members of the military on active duty who move as the result of a military order. In any case, active-duty members of the U.S. Armed Forces are still able to deduct moving expenses if they are incurred in response to a military order that requires a permanent change of station.

Moving Expenses

An open-end lease is an agreement that requires the lessee to make a payment at the end of the term to purchase the asset.

An open-end lease is a type of rental agreement that obliges the lessee (the person making periodic lease payments) to make a balloon payment at the end of the lease agreement amounting to the difference between the residual and fair market value of the asset. An open-end lease is a type of rental agreement that obliges the lessee (the person making periodic lease payments) to make a balloon payment at the end of the lease agreement amounting to the difference between the residual and fair market value of the asset. In terms of flexibility, the open-end lease is typically less rigid than a closed-end lease. For example, suppose your lease payments for a car are based on the assumption that a $20,000 new car will be worth only $10,000 at the end of your lease agreement. Since the lessee must purchase the leased asset upon lease expiration, that person bears the risk that the asset depreciates more than was expected by the end of the lease.

Open-End Lease

Paycheck to paycheck refers to an individual living with little to no savings in the event of an emergency, depending on each paycheck to cover the bulk of their regular expenses.

Report: 56% of American Consumers Are Living Paycheck to Paycheck

Long-Term Unemployment Has Risen Sharply in the U.S. Amid the Pandemic, Especially Among Asian Americans

Survey Reveals Spending Habits During COVID-19

Paycheck-To-Paycheck Nation: Why Even Americans With Higher Income Struggle With Bills

For Most U.S. Workers Real Wages Have Barely Budgeted for Decades

Average U.S. Consumer Debt Reaches New Record in 2020

Get Ready for a Higher Grocery Bills for the Rest of the Year.

A Year After the Pandemic Struck, the U.S. Economy is Still Struggling but Coming Around Quickly

Rental Burdens: Rethinking Affordability Measures

Table of Contents
What Is Paycheck to Paycheck?
Understanding Paycheck to Paycheck
Paycheck to Paycheck and the Pandemic
Paycheck to Paycheck Trend Escalates
Special Considerations
Paycheck to Paycheck FAQs
Paycheck to paycheck is an expression describing an individual who would be unable to meet financial obligations if unemployed. People living paycheck to paycheck are sometimes referred to as the working poor.
Living paycheck to paycheck can occur at all different income levels. Table of Contents
What Is Paycheck to Paycheck?
Understanding Paycheck to Paycheck
Paycheck to Paycheck and the Pandemic
Paycheck to Paycheck Trend Escalates
Special Considerations
Paycheck to Paycheck FAQs
Paycheck to paycheck is an expression describing an individual who would be unable to meet financial obligations if unemployed. The pandemic threw light on the economic struggles and inequities in the U.S. that forced millions of Americans, including middle and upper-middle-class workers, to live paycheck to paycheck without adequate savings. Living paycheck to paycheck may also mean living with limited or no savings and refer to people at greater financial risk if suddenly unemployed than individuals who have amassed a cushion of savings.

Paycheck to Paycheck

A performance budget reflects the input of resources and the output of services for each department of an organization.

A performance budget is one that reflects both the input of resources and the output of services for each unit of an organization. Some disadvantages of a performance budget include:
The potential for disagreement on where spending priorities should lie, in the case of a government with multiple agencies
Lack of unified cost standards across multiple agencies
The potential for a department to manipulate data in order to reach a target, which could lead to a need to spend funds on an independent party to verify results
A lack of flexibility once the inputs/outputs have been set
One prominent disadvantage of performance budgets is that by assigning target scores or numbers that an organization uses as its benchmark for achievement, the numbers can be gamed or become the sole focus of one's task. A few examples of outcomes that a performance budget could address include:
Improvement in average test scores of a school district
Decreases in mortality or morbidity rates of a health program
Improvement of water quality of a county's drinking supply
Non-violent crime reduction in a city
Reduction in road pothole complaints
All of these would have numerical targets attached to them. A performance budget would be developed accordingly to identify those target numbers and a method of evaluating performance. For instance, teachers looking to earn a certain score may only focus on the factors that comprise that score and overlook or ignore other factors that may be important to teaching but not for the performance budget. A performance budget is one that reflects both the input of resources and the output of services for each unit of an organization.

Performance Budget

A personal spending plan, similar to a budget, helps outline where income is earned and expenses are incurred.

A spending plan is an informal document used to determine the cash flow of an individual or household. Adopting a personal spending plan as part of an overall financial plan is a good way to take control of your spending, live within your means, and, ultimately, reach your financial goals. A personal spending plan is a modification of a personal budget, indicating sources of income along with outflows, identifying patterns of spending, and highlighting needs vs. wants. When paired with a financial goals worksheet, the personal spending plan can be used to create a roadmap for monitoring spending, as well as helping determine the most appropriate methods for saving. A personal spending plan, similar to one's budget, helps outline where income is earned and where expenses are incurred.

Personal Spending Plan

 "Shoestring" is a slang term most often connected to budgeting or to describe a small amount of money, which is inadequate for its intended purpose.

New Data on Hardship Underscore Continued Need for Substantial COVID Relief." Accessed July 8, 2021

The slang term "shoestring" often describes a small amount of money which may be an inadequate amount to fund the intended purpose of its use in full. Other ways to save money on a shoestring budget include picking up side gigs to earn (and then save) more money, pay down high-interest credit cards first, and then move the former payments into a savings receptacle like a certificate of deposit or money market account. A shoestring approach may mean starting a business with limited funds or capital investments, or it may mean living a slim budget to save money. It is possible to start your own business on a shoestring budget, but like investing and saving on a shoestring, it takes organization and ingenuity. Take any money you can trim from areas of your budget and deposit the money into a high-yield savings account.

Shoestring

'Total cost of ownership' is the purchase price of an asset plus the costs of operation, representing the complete cost through its entire lifecycle.

The total cost of ownership looks at the cost of owning an asset long-term by assessing both its purchase price and the costs of operation. When choosing among alternatives in a purchasing decision, buyers should look not just at an item's short-term price, known as its purchase price, but also at its long-term price, which is its total cost of ownership. Corporations use the total cost of ownership as a means of analyzing business deals, while individuals look at the total cost as a way of assessing potential purchases. A used car that appears to be a great bargain actually might have a total cost of ownership that is higher than that of a new car if the used car requires numerous repairs while the new car has a three-year warranty that could cover repair charges.

Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

Voluntary simplicity is a lifestyle that minimizes the needless consumption of material goods and the pursuit of wealth for its own sake.

Voluntary simplicity is a lifestyle choice that minimizes the needless consumption of material goods and the pursuit of wealth for its own sake. A century after Thoreau, the hippie counterculture brought a voluntary simplicity vibe to the 1960s and early '70s, with its rejection of material goods and its embrace of communal living and a back-to-the-land movement. Advocates of voluntary simplicity believe that today's consumer culture too often encourages people to think that they can buy happiness or boost their social status with expensive goods, luxury cars, and ever-larger homes. People embrace voluntary simplicity to create less complicated and more meaningful lives for themselves and their families, and to reduce the negative impact that unnecessary consumption can have on the environment. Toward the end of the 20th century, voluntary simplicity became a key principle of the Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) movement, advanced by authors Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez, among others.

Budgeting

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