Molly Cannon Cannon, 1

Dr. Carole Thomas

HNR 211
10/23/23

Description

The budget for the 2023-2024 year for Sisters in Shelter is included below. The expenses part of

the budget is divided up into 4 different categories. I think this helps examine what the budget

tells us. The two sections with the most expenses are the payroll section and the safe house and

program expenses section. This tells me that Sisters in Shelter is devoting most of their money to

providing a safe house for women that is kept in good condition and hiring people to run the

organization. Paying more for people to run the organization makes sense because, without

someone to run the organization, there can’t be a safe house. The other two smaller sections are

accounting and office expenses. These expenses are necessities to run an organization and to pay

the people working for the organization. All of the income comes from grants, corporate

sponsors, and individual donors. This makes sense for a non-profit organization.

Analysis

Based on the reading, I think there are many reasons why Sisters in Shelter has this budget. It

helps them create realistic goals for the organization such as what different services they can

offer to the women they’re providing shelter to. It can help them make decisions about what they

can afford to pay new people who just got hired, or how much they can spend on small things

like office supplies. It can also provide a historical reference to be used for future planning. This

was especially important a few years ago during the COVID-19 outbreak. Unfortunately,

because of the outbreak and poor budget planning, Sisters in Shelter had to shut down and stop

offering services to women. Now that the organization is under new management, they take the

budgeting very seriously to make sure they do not shut down again. They can look at the budgets
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made around 2020 and see what the past managers did wrong, and how they can revise the

budget to fit the needs of the organization now.

Application

I think budgeting skills are a great overall life skill to have. Budgeting can help you in your

personal life. I currently use budgeting because I am planning on graduating in the Spring. I have

money saved up, but I need to know how much I’m spending on tuition and other necessary

expenses, how much I plan to spend on a graduation party, how much I will spend on moving

into a new place after graduation, etc. I plan on continuing to budget because it makes my

expectations for things I can afford much more realistic. Another reason is expenses become

much more complicated when you get a steady job, a house, a car, and other big-ticket items.

Income becomes more complicated too. Keeping a budget will help me keep track of all of these

things. Going into a science field requires good budgeting skills as well. Usually, for a lab

project, you will get a certain amount of funding. Using this funding you have to buy your

materials and other equipment you will need. You also need to provide the people giving you the

funding with a timeline of when they should expect to see your research. This process not only

requires good budgeting skills but also good planning skills.

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