Sue and Jim Hansen are preparing their household financial budget for December. They have started with their November budget and are adjusting it to reflect the difference between November and December in planned activities.
The Johnsons are expecting out-of-town guests for two weeks over the holiday season.
The following list describes the budgetary changes from November to December that are contemplated by the Hansen family:
a. Increase the grocery budget by $165.
b. Decrease the commuter transportation budget by $70 to reflect the days off from work.
c. Change food budget to reflect serving pizza rather than steak and lobster each weekend.
d. Budget an extra $80 for utilities.
e. Reduce household maintenance budget by $90 to reflect the fact that outside maid services will not be used over the holiday period.
f. Buy generic breakfast cereal rather than name brand due to the quantity the guests will consume.
g. Use paper plates to avoid using the dishwasher as often.
h. Buy the institutional-size packages of paper plates rather than smaller-size packages.
i. Budget the long-distance phone bill at $40 less because there will be no need to call the relatives who will be visiting.
j. Budget movie costs at $2 per DVD rather than $12 per person to go to the movies.
k. Postpone purchasing of needed work clothes until the January sales.
l. Budget funds to repair the car. Sue plans to use part of her vacation time to make the repairs herself rather than take the car to a garage in January.
Indicate whether each of these items indicates cost understanding (CU), cost containment (CC), cost avoidance (CA), or cost reduction (CR). Some items may have more than one answer.