We are well into 2022. How is your New Year's budget resolution going?

We are well into 2022. How is your New Year's budget resolution going?

　　Transcript¹

　　Life Kit² podcast tackles budgeting and explains how to keep budgeting from becoming a dreaded³ task. (This story originally aired on All Things Considered on Jan. 1, 2020)

　　STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

　　Saving more and spending less - may not sound like a lot of fun, but some of our listeners are really excited about it.

　　UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: I'm actually super jazzed about it (laughter). It's, like, all I want to talk about.

　　UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: And I am a budgeting wizard.

　　INSKEEP: NPR's Chris Arnold has an encore presentation, which means we are revisiting a great story from our Life Kit podcast.

　　(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)

　　CHRIS ARNOLD: OK. Let's start with this - don't start a budget just because you think it's something that you should do. Like, oh, geez, I'm a grown-up; I need to do this tedious thing now.

　　KRISTIN WONG: I think most of us, when we start budgeting or start wanting to get our finances in order, that's the goal, the best goal that we come up with.

　　ARNOLD: That's Kristin Wong. She's written a book called "Get Money." And she says, instead, think of a specific goal to motivate you to budget - a trip, paying off a debt, working towards a down payment on a house.

　　WONG: I mean, also, like, who wants to be a responsible adult (laughter), you know? That just doesn't sound fun.

　　ARNOLD: (Laughter) Deep down, that's not really what we want.

　　So if you've got your goal, now it's time to break out the pencils. And Wong says it's a good rule of thumb here that a lot of experts refer to - it's called 50/30/20. And Elizabeth Warren actually used to talk about this back when she was a Harvard professor, and she was looking into the pressures that middle-class families face - 50/30/20.

　　WONG: It goes like this. Fifty percent of your after-tax take-home income should go toward basic living necessities like your rent, like your groceries, like your utility bill.

　　ARNOLD: Your car payment, too. So that's easy - half your income for the big fixed⁴ costs in life.

　　WONG: And then 30% should go toward discretionary expenses - things that you don't necessarily need but you want, like your Netflix subscription⁵, restaurant spending, you know, clothing, makeup⁶ - stuff like that.

　　ARNOLD: And then that last part, the 20% that's left over...

　　WONG: Should go toward savings⁷ and debt goals.

　　ARNOLD: The saving, of course, can be really hard. But making automatic deposits into an account for savings can help a lot. And with this 50/30/20 thing, what you're doing is you're starting to organize and place limits on your spending.

　　JESSE MECHAM: The budget - it's a tool to manufacture scarcity⁸ regularly.

　　ARNOLD: That's Jesse Mecham. He started the budgeting program You Need A Budget, or YNAB for short. And we should say the company's been a sponsor of NPR before. Mecham says, however you budget, you want to harness the power of scarcity.

　　MECHAM: We've eliminated the scarcity because banks have introduced very profitable mechanisms⁹ to have you just walk past zero and overdraft¹⁰ a little bit and pay them a fee. Or you can just - if you run out of money in your checking account, you just swipe your credit card, and you've walked past zero again. We've gotten really used to the idea that we never really run out of money.

　　ARNOLD: So Mecham says you get specific - I'm only going to spend this much on groceries or eating out, and you stick to it. And he says people associate budgeting with imprisonments. But actually, he says, it's the opposite.

　　MECHAM: It's really about being liberated¹¹ to start to decide what you want to do instead of just reacting to everything that comes your way. And so it's not about saying, hey, don't spend here. Don't spend there. Cut back on this. Never eat out. None of that. It's just about saying, what do you really want?

　　ARNOLD: And this is why some people get really into budgeting - actually enjoy it - because it puts you in the driver's seat, making better decisions. And that trip to the Yucatan or buying a house can actually happen.

　　Chris Arnold, NPR News.

　　(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 kit   

n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物

参考例句：

• The kit consisted of about twenty cosmetic items.整套工具包括大约20种化妆用品。
• The captain wants to inspect your kit.船长想检查你的行装。

3 dreaded   

adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The dreaded moment had finally arrived. 可怕的时刻终于来到了。
• He dreaded having to spend Christmas in hospital. 他害怕非得在医院过圣诞节不可。 来自《用法词典》

4 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

5 subscription   

n.预订，预订费，亲笔签名，调配法，下标（处方）

参考例句：

• We paid a subscription of 5 pounds yearly.我们按年度缴纳5英镑的订阅费。
• Subscription selling bloomed splendidly.订阅销售量激增。

6 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

7 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

8 scarcity   

n.缺乏，不足，萧条

参考例句：

• The scarcity of skilled workers is worrying the government.熟练工人的缺乏困扰着政府。
• The scarcity of fruit was caused by the drought.水果供不应求是由于干旱造成的。

9 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 overdraft   

n.透支，透支额

参考例句：

• Her bank warned that unless she repaid the overdraft she could face legal action.银行警告她如果不偿还透支钱款，她将面临诉讼。
• An overdraft results when a note discounted at a bank is not met when due.银行贴现的支票到期而未能支付就成为透支。

11 liberated   

a.无拘束的，放纵的

参考例句：

• The city was liberated by the advancing army. 军队向前挺进，解放了那座城市。
• The heat brings about a chemical reaction, and oxygen is liberated. 热量引起化学反应，释放出氧气。