I had an interesting conversation with a  friend who is an accountant. He said he is actually an auditor and not an accountant….but since he has a Bachelor’s in Accounting and a Masters in Accounting I say he is an accountant.

My friend mentioned that he is trying to balance his budget because his outflows are more than his inflows and he has already started dipping into his savings.

Now this struck me as a bit strange since I thought that someone who was trained in accounting would be able to balance a budget. He claims that he is not able to balance because things are expensive and he is not getting a raise.

My thoughts are that 

1. I am sure he is making more as an accountant than I am making as a teacher

2. He should know how to balance his budget because he was specifically trained in such things.

3. He needs to manage his cash flow better

I already know of one area that he can back on but I did not mention it to him because I felt he was getting a bit defensive. You can make a little bit of money and have high expenses but still find a way to manage your cash flow.

If your expenses are consistently higher than your income then you MUST find a way to change that. Does he 

have cable

drive a lot

not use coupons

use a lot of electricity

I know he drives out of town a lot on weekends to spend time with friends and based on the drive I am estimating about $60 in gas that he could save if he did not make so many trips.

He claimed his electricity bill is high saying ‘it is winter time’. Well I am sure he can cut the high electricity bill down a bit by 

using a space heater instead of the whole house heater (he lives alone in an apartment)

wearing layers to sleep

turning off the computer (he is always online)

looking for another electricity provider

However he chose not to do those things and yet complains about the high bill. I think he needs to stop looking at what he makes and start looking at what he can cut from expenses or find another way to make money. I guess he could start a blog!

What advice would you give my friend as to his situation?