The next big ticket item on our budget is definitely our transportation expense. This will include this like your car payment and how much gas you put in your car every month. This is an important part of our budget Jeff Heuerman Jersey , because your car is a vital part of your lifestyle. It helps get you to work, so you can make money to support your lifestyle and it helps you get out to do things you enjoy, because work and money are not everything.
The first thing you need to list when you are making out the budget for your transportation expenses is your car payment. If you don?t have a car payment, congrats! But, this is often the second biggest monthly payment people make next to their mortgage. Most likely you have a set amount you pay the bank every month and like your mortgage, this payment doesn?t fluctuate. So, its pretty safe to just list the amount you pay monthly on your budget.
After you get your car payment down, then you need to list how much you spend on car insurance. Whether you pay it monthly, quarterly, or twice a year, it is still important to include on your monthly budget, because if you set aside money every month, you?ll be amazed how easy it is to write that car insurance check every six months! Depending on your car insurance company, sometimes you will save money every time it renews and you haven?t had any accidents. You may also save money on your car insurance when you turn 25 or when you get married, but your overall savings really depends on your insurance company, so if you feel like your company isn?t doing all it could for you, then maybe its time to start price shopping and see if its time to switch insurance company?s.
Your fuel expense is the next item on this part of your budget. Because of rising gas prices, this may be another portion of your budget where you should figure a little higher, and this maybe an area you would want to transfer the savings from other areas of your budget. You can also conserve gas by making a list before you go out and doing everything on your list, instead of coming home several times and having to make several trips. Need to pick your kids up from school at 3:00? Maybe you could save that trip to the grocery store until right before you have to pick them up. If you live close enough to bike or walk to where you need to go, give yourself extra time and do that instead wasting gas to go a mile up the road. Conserving fuel is hard, but it is possible.
Another part of your transportation budget that you may not think about is the amount of money you spend on repairs and car services. This amount should include the amount of money you spend on oil changes, check ups, and inspections. Its also a good idea since you probably don?t do those things every month, to put money away every month for those expenses, plus bigger car expenses like new tires, a new transmission, or fuel pump because you never know when the worst will happen, but it helps to be prepared for it.
It?s harder to cut cost in this transportation area of your budget to save money, but this may be an area you want to put your savings from other areas of your budget, to give yourself some wiggle room. This is definitely one of the places most of your finances might go, but that is why you are writing your budget down on paper, so you can evaluate each part of your expenses and see where all your money is going.
BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- As this year's "Gaokao," China's highly competitive college entrance exam, looms, educationalists are weighing up reforms to the system.
The exam is of vital importance to millions of students and their families and multiple other stakeholders, said Tan Songhua, of the Ministry of Education educational development research center.
It is of the utmost importance that changes to the system are practiced in a prudent and steady manner and balance numerous conflicting interests, Tan added.
In an article published Tuesday, Tan said reform needs to bring a greater degree of professionalism to the student enrollment system, with staff trained in proper enrollment procedures and dispute resolution.
Coordination among the government, schools and society is necessary with the interests of people from different regions and ethnic groups satisfied.
The annual test takes place over two or three days and the scores are a major determinant of students' academic futures.
The exam has been criticized for overemphasis on grades and a forced division between science and liberal arts, with students obliged to choose one path or the other at an early stage.
In 2017, however, things will be different. Changes first proposed in September 2014 are due to be fully implemented by 2020, overhauling not only the exam itself, but also college enrollment.
Pilot regions Shanghai and Zhejiang will be the first areas to feel the effects of the new measures. Students that started senior high school in 2014, the year the reforms began, will sit their exams this year. The new process was officially defined by Shanghai government in March.
The reform balances the weighting assigned to schools and students in terms of preferred college placements. Before the change, students' choice of university was given top priority while their ideal majors were the secondary consideration.
Now, students have more choice in their applications and their preference of major is given equal consideration.
"It means students have more of a say in their future," said Zhou Hong, head of enrollment at NYU Shanghai. "Students have a better chance of securing a place on their preferred course and this puts them on track toward their academic dreams."
"It also means students must think more about their career path," he said.