Mina makes a planMina earned ten coins every Saturday. Four Saturdays brought forty coins, her coins in for the month. But plenty of things wanted them: pencils, bus rides, comics, treats and presents. Without a plan, forty coins can melt away by the second week, so Mina made a budget, a plan for coins in and coins out. She made four groups, for needs, fun, saving and gifts. Needs like pencils and bus rides came first, but fun and gifts were okay too. Needs got ten coins, fun twelve, saving ten and gifts eight. Ten, twelve, ten and eight made forty, so every coin had a job. A budget balances when the coins planned match the coins coming in. In week two the bus cost two coins more, so Mina's needs grew to twelve coins, and she moved two across from fun. That left ten for fun, and the plan still added up to forty. At the end of the month Mina checked her plan against what really happened. A budget is not a cage. It is a plan that changes when life does, and the only rule is that it adds up.