| A | B |
|---|
| Balance | This is the amount of money left in a person’s budget either as they go through the month or the amount left over at the end of the month that can be used as discretionary funds. |
| Benefits | Programs offered to employees at a lower cost and are deducted from their pay. For example, health insurance, retirement plans, 401K’s, pre-tax savings, etc |
| Budget | A plan for how you earn, spend, and save money over a period of time. |
| Credit | This type of transaction adds income to a person’s budget. |
| Debit | This type of transaction takes money away from a person’s budget. |
| Deduction | Money taken out of a person’s paycheck , by the employer, to pay for taxes and/or benefits. |
| Discretionary Funds | The amount of money left after expenses have been paid that is left over in the budget to either send to savings or to spend on wanted items. |
| Essential Expense | An expense that fulfils a true need. These areas cannot be eliminated when balancing a budget, however there may be other ways to cut back on their expense. |
| Expenses | Money spent on needs, wants, and financial obligations. |
| Fixed Expense | An expense that stays the same amount due each billing cycle. |
| Flexible Expense | An expense that changes in amount due each billing cycle. |
| Gift | Money from a gift or gift card that can be used to pay for expenses. |
| Gross Pay | A person’s paycheck before taxes and benefits are taken out. For example, if a person earns $8/hour and works 10 hours their Gross Pay is $80 |
| Income | Money that is earned or given as a gift. |
| Ledger | A spreadsheet used to organize and record transactions and to keep a running balance of transactions. |
| Need | Fulfils a basic need, food, shelter, clothing, and necessary materials for job or school. |
| Net Pay | A person’s “take home pay” after taxes and benefits are deducted. For example, if a person’s gross pay is $80, after taxes and benefits are deducted, their Net Pay might be $52. |
| Non-essential Expense | An expense that fulfils a desire for a product or service. These areas can be eliminated when balancing a budget, although they can be the hardest to give up. |
| Non-Variable Expense | Synonym for Fixed Expense. |
| Paycheck | Income earned from your job or occupation. |
| Taxes | Money collected by federal, state, and local governments as a person’s contribution to the expenses of the country, state, and/or town/city. |
| T-Chart | A two column chart used to compare total monthly income with total monthly expenditures. |
| Transaction | Any action that adds income to or takes income away from a person’s budget. |
| Variable Expense | Synonym for Flexible Expense. |
| Want | Something that is not necessary to survive, a wanted item, service, etc. When balancing a budget, this is the area to look at cutting back. |
