Glossary Terms:

A spending-and-savings plan, based on estimated income and expenses for an individual or an organization, covering a specific time period.

Decision made or course of action taken when faced with a set of alternatives.

People who use goods and services to satisfy their personal needs and not for resale or in the production of other goods and services.

A conclusion reached after considering alternatives and their results.

Reaching a conclusion after considering alternatives and their results.

Setting short-, medium- and long-range goals; then collecting and analyzing income and expenditure information to determine how to meet one's goals.

Something a person or organization plans to achieve in the future; an aim or desired result.

Payments earned by households for selling or renting their productive resources. May include salaries, wages, interest and dividends.

Anything that is generally accepted as final payment for goods and services; serves as a medium of exchange, a store of value and a standard of value. Characteristics of money are portability, stability in value, uniformity, durability and acceptance.

A system for income and spending that allows for the achievement of financial and consumer goals.

The second-best alternative (or the value of that alternative) that must be given up when scarce resources are used for one purpose instead of another.

Earnings from an investment, usually expressed as an annual percentage.

Activities performed by people, firms or government agencies to satisfy economic wants.

Use money now to buy goods and services.