Posts Tagged ‘budget’

In need of a hero?

Monday, July 25th, 2011

Holy blazes, Batman, the budget’s gonna bust! We’re zooming toward the debt ceiling, but nobody seems to know what to do..

We need a hero. A Budget Hero!

Luckily, American Public Media put together this awesome widget that you can use to play around with the U.S. government budget, a little bit like our elected officials in Congress do. Cut spending, increase taxes, watch your deficit move around, and learn about what all these cuts and increases mean.

Think you can do better than Congress is now? You just might be… a BUDGET HERO!

In need of a hero?

Monday, July 25th, 2011

Holy blazes, Batman, the budget’s gonna bust! We’re zooming toward the debt ceiling, but nobody seems to know what to do..

We need a hero. A Budget Hero!

Luckily, American Public Media put together this awesome widget that you can use to play around with the U.S. government budget, a little bit like our elected officials in Congress do. Cut spending, increase taxes, watch your deficit move around, and learn about what all these cuts and increases mean.

Think you can do better than Congress is now? You just might be… a BUDGET HERO!

The President’s Own Budget

Thursday, June 16th, 2011

obamas-dinner-in-moscow.jpeg
(Official White House photo)

President Obama was recently caught off guard when a personal finance reporter asked him a question about his budget. No, not that budget. His family budget. A U.S. president earns about $400,000 a year, not counting outside income. And while he probably pays someone smart to help him make major financial decisions, he’s still got to have some basic money management lessons to teach his kids.

So what kind of advice does our nation’s leader have for financially illiterate citizens?

Save part of your paycheck and believe in the power of compound interest.

His answer was so simple… it was kind of disappointing, really. Isn’t there some secret to achieving financial control? A magic formula? Hot stock tips? No. Well, at least, not according to the president.

Interesting. How far could compound interest take you? Find out using the Compound Interest Calculator!

If you want your dog to wear designer sunglasses and a track suit,* it’s going to cost you.

Thursday, April 14th, 2011

Most people realize this too late, but some things you buy will end up costing you a lot more than the purchase price. Cars need gas, insurance, and fuzzy dice; clothes need cleaning and bedazzling, and pets need everything from pet insurance to grooming to a collection of bad-ass spiked collars.

And let’s face it: some of those things are really impulse buys that wouldn’t be an issue if you didn’t buy the thing in the first place.

Here’s a chart that shows how much money different pets will cost you over a lifetime. Click through to see which pet is the most expensive – it’s pretty surprising.

pet-costs.png

(click to see the whole thing)

That’s why it’s so important to have some kind of budget. Without a plan, there’s no telling where your money might end up.

Do you know where your money goes every month? Take our budget challenge to see how your predictions stack up with your actual spending!

*Dressing your dog up might also cost you friends.

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What You Should Know Before You Budget

Monday, January 3rd, 2011

evil-marketing-rays.jpg
Credit: apium

Sticking to a budget is more or less like sticking to a diet: It sucks, and you’re almost guaranteed to fail.

BUT! There’s another way. With a few simple tricks, you can take control of your spending and avoid feeling guilty all the time. Here’s what Tara Siegel Bernard from the New York Times has to say:

  • Let the robots take control. Set up automatic transfers to your savings and investment accounts. It only takes a few minutes. If your savings is being automatically transferred out of your spending account every month, you don’t have to worry about spending it!
  • Start at the finish line. What are you saving for? Saving is easier when you have a goal in mind (a vacation, a new car, an obscenely expensive pair of shoes). Figure out how much money you need and you’ll know how much money to have automatically transferred each month.
  • Separate the fun money from the serious money. If you have a phone bill or rent to pay, keep that money separate from the money you plan to squander irresponsibly at the mall. Obviously.
  • Brace yourself for big surprises. One of the easiest ways to muck up your budget is to suddenly spend a lot of money you hadn’t planned for. This one’s easy, though. Put a little extra away somewhere each month. You can use that to cover your surprise expenses without feeling like a total budgeting loser.

Best Quote:
“Ultimately, what we want our money to be is an energy source. It should help us get somewhere or do something.”  – Amanda Clayman, Financial Therapist (only in New York!)

Obama Disappointed By Funding For Poverty Project

Monday, August 9th, 2010

Obama needs a hefty sum to implement his project, Promise Neighborhoods, and the senate and the house are reluctant to pay up.

  • It seems unlikely that President Obama will receive the full amount of funding he requested from next year’s budget for Promise Neighborhoods – a program that helps nonprofits set up anti poverty projects.
  • This year, only $10 million was delegated to the cause, however because the program was largely in the planning stages, it was sufficient to cover costs.
  • In order to implement the program over the next five years, a large increase in funds is required, an increase that the Senate and House appropriations committees will not dole out.

Facts & Figures

  • The Obama administration requested $210 million for the project.
  • The Senate allocated only $20 million to the cause.

Best Quote:

“Every significant policy decision made by the Department on Promise Neighborhoods has been made behind closed doors, with little or no public knowledge or input,” – Paul Lester, Senior Vice President for Public Policy, Promise Neighborhoods.

Putting A Price On Immigration

Thursday, July 1st, 2010

Economists consider if the best way to control entry into a country is a fee…

  • Economist Gary Becker advocates an economic solution for the global immigration problem. He proposes attaching a price to immigration, either by selling the right to migrate or auctioning immigrant visas.
  • Becker argues that only the most determined or resourceful migrants would be successful, greatly simplifying the process and allowing governments more immigration control. In addition, the receiving country would benefit financially, potentially helping to reduce budget deficits.
  • For those who were committed to immigrating, but unable to pay the fee, Becker advises a loaning system in which migrants could borrow from the government and pay them back over time.

Facts & Figures

  • Charging 50,000 dollars for the right to immigrate into America would yield the country $50 billion if it let in 1 million immigrants a year.

A Budget is…

Monday, November 16th, 2009

A budget is an estimate of income and spending over a certain period of time.  In other words, a budget is a way for you to figure out how much you can spend each month, or for however long you want, without running out of money.

An I.O.U. From The Government?

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

Everyone is cutting back now that we’re in a recession, even the government. You might want to know what this means for you, but also how it is going to affect your community and neighbors – it isn’t that great.

  • States are experiencing huge budget deficits because the recession has slashed their tax revenues by billions of dollars. To close these budget gaps, states are proposing and approving policy measures that would never otherwise be considered.
  • Many state governors and legislatures are not able to come to a consensus and so several states are still struggling to approve a budget for next year.
  • Even if the recession were to quickly end, states would continue to experience budget shortfalls for many years because of high unemployment, lower tax collections, and increased demand for government safety net programs.

Facts & Figures

  • In the 2010 fiscal year, states will have a $121 billion budget gap.
  • Budget schemes include taxing candy and cellphone ring tones, releasing prisoners early, increasing sales taxes, selling state parks, and having state workers work for free three days a month.
  • Governors have proposed increasing taxes by roughly $24 billion dollars for the 2010 fiscal year.

Best Quote

“We still don’t know how bad it will be. The story is yet to be told, because in the next couple of weeks we will see some of the states with the biggest gaps have to wrestle this thing to the ground and make the tough decisions they’ve all been dreading.” – Susan K. Urahn, Managing Director of the Pew Center on the States