Budget

Preston Triggs was back again to speak with my class about learning to decipher company budgets. When I initially heard the word budget, I wanted to run screaming. As Triggs put it, "I'm a writer, numbers aren't my thing."

I imagined learning to read a budget would be one of the most difficult things to accomplish in my journalistic career because numbers are like a foreign language to me. Surprisingly deciphering a budget is fairly easy if you know what to look for. Throughout this semester all I've been hearing is follow the money. But what's the point for following the money if I don't understand how to read what I find? Triggs gave advice for that, if you don't know what it means...ASK. According to Triggs, budget officials are usually a great source since they understand the budget but aren't involved with the decisions regarding it.

I also learned that when writing a story off of a budget, its important to locate the information that stands out. Trigg advised us to look for the areas in the budget that have increased and decreased. Government budget in Florida are public record. Budgets are usually divided into parts: revenue, expenses, and sometimes debts. Revenues cover the money coming in, expenses explain the money going out, and debts are usually in the form of bonds. I'm a professional photographer. I own all my equipment and when I take jobs I have to figure out my budget. How much am I going to charge for my services (revenue) and then the cost of supplies (expenses) for items such as printer ink, photo paper. Because I own all of my equipment I have no debt. But as a small business owner I've never sat down to create a budget. I have a regular full time job so I don't rely on my small business to support me financially. I realized today though, if I want to be a serious business owner and grow my business to a point of true financial relief I need to create a budget.  

Triggs presentation was very helpful to me for a few reasons. First, the person I am doing a profile on is the Supervisor of Elections. So when being told to followed the money, not only can I follow it but I'm also able to dig a little deeper by inquiring why certain things in the county's budget may have increased or decreased. Second, not only did his presentation empower me to create a personal business budget for myself but also gained knowledge in deciphering following the money.