173 Preparing a Budget

A: Welcome Mr and Mrs Carnwell, please take a  seat.                                                                                                                            
 B: Thank you.                                                                                                                                                                   
 A: So I understand that your family spending has skyrocketed 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 is the  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 for the last two to three months. That way, we can determine what your average expenditures are  and see which category   
 you are spending money on the most. Usually, your fixed costs are higher and we can't 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!                                                      
                                                                                                                                                                                 
  household income 家庭收入                                                                                                                                                      
  relatively    US: [ˈrelətɪvli]    adv.相当程度上；相当地                                                                                                                       
 allowances /əˈlaʊ.əns/ 津贴 ; 补贴 ; 补助 ; 免                                                                                                                                  
 economic downturn 经济衰退 ; 经济低迷  the opposite would be an economic boom                                                                                                   
 determine /dɪˈtɝː.mɪn/ 确定 ; 测定 ; 决定 ; 决定                                                                                                                                
 allocate 分配 ; 拨… ; 划… /ˈæl.ə.keɪt/                                                                                                                                          
 category    US: [ˈkætəɡəri]    n.类别；类目                                                                                                                                     
 expenditures 开支 ; 费用 ; 消费 ; /ɪkˈspen.də.tʃɚ/                                                                                                                              
 trim     US: [trɪm]     adj.苗条的；修长的  削减                                                                                                                                
 variable    US: [ˈveriəb(ə)l]    n.变量；可变因素；可变情况      adj.多变的；易变的                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                                                                 
 combined 联合的 ; 共同的 ; 总共的 /kəmˈbaɪnd/                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                                                                 
 brag    US: [bræɡ] 吹牛   v.吹嘘；自吹自擂     adj.第一流的                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                                                                 
 phrases in this dialogue related to budgeting        


  household income 家庭收入                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
  relatively    US: [ˈrelətɪvli]    adv.相当程度上；相当地                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
 allowances /əˈlaʊ.əns/ 津贴 ; 补贴 ; 补助 ; 免                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
 economic downturn 经济衰退 ; 经济低迷  the opposite would be an economic boom                                                                                                                                                                                                   
 determine /dɪˈtɝː.mɪn/ 确定 ; 测定 ; 决定 ; 决定                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
 allocate 分配 ; 拨… ; 划… /ˈæl.ə.keɪt/                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
 category    US: [ˈkætəɡəri]    n.类别；类目                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
 expenditures 开支 ; 费用 ; 消费 ; /ɪkˈspen.də.tʃɚ/                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
 trim     US: [trɪm]     adj.苗条的；修长的  削减                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
 variable    US: [ˈveriəb(ə)l]    n.变量；可变因素；可变情况      adj.多变的；易变的                                                                                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
 combined 联合的 ; 共同的 ; 总共的 /kəmˈbaɪnd/                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
 brag    US: [bræɡ] 吹牛   v.吹嘘；自吹自擂     adj.第一流的                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
 phrases in this dialogue related to budgeting 

spending has sky rocketed

fixed costs 固定成本 (想起固定格式)


So we have many expenditures at my house.
Among them, we have the car, the rent, healthcare, things like that.\\

Now $10 doesn't even buy you a ticket to the movie.