Ian and Paula Dolan live in Sligo and pay €1,200 to rent their house. They have two children. Ian is a plumber and Paula works in childcare. They prepare their household budget on a regular basis.
(i) After completing their analysed cash book for the month of May, the Dolan family had the following actual income and actual expenditure:
Actual Income: Wages € 3,700 Child benefit € 280
Actual Expenditure: Household Bills € 1,000 Rent € 1,200 Groceries € 650 Other € 400
Using this information, complete the Budget Comparison Statement below, by entering the figures into the Actual column.
Complete the Difference column by calculating the difference between the Actual and Budgeted figures. Note: Use a plus sign (+) if actual is GREATER than the budgeted figure. Use a minus sign (-) if actual is LESS than the budgeted figure. WAGES has already been done for you.
Dolan Household
Income Wages
Child Benefit Total Income (A)
Expenditure Household bills Rent
Groceries Other
Total Expenditure (B) Net Cash
Budgeted €
3,500 250
3,750
Actual €
3,700 280
3,980 800
1,200 500 500
3,000 750
1,000 1,200 650 400
3,250 730
Difference €
+200 +30
+230
+200 0
+150 -100 +250 -20
(ii) Actual wages were € 200 more than budgeted. Suggest one possible reason for this.
Ian or Paula may have worked additional hours and been paid overtime, so ended up earning a higher income than they planned to.