SLO: Costs/Benefits of Budget (23)

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You might hear people say that they "need to learn to live within a budget." The funny thing is that most people who say this haven't actually prepared a personal budget, nor do they intend to. Instead, what they are referring to is a vaguely defined, poorly specified collection of rough ideas of how much they should spend on various aspects of their lives. However, you can't live within or even outside of something that doesn't exist. With that in mind, let's take a look at one aspect of personal-budget completion.

Many personal-budget worksheet templates that are provided for college students treat student loans as an income source. See, for example, the template included in the "Steps to Creating a Household Budget" article available on The Balance's website

https://www.thebalance.com/Links to an external site.

https://www.thebalance.com/creating-a-household-budget-960839Links to an external site.

(google it).

Based on your knowledge of accounting, is this correct?

YES: Student loans provide a source of cash, which can be used to pay costs. As the saying goes, "It all spends the same." Therefore, student loans are income.

NO: Student loans must eventually be repaid; therefore, they are not income. As the name indicates, they are loans.

Required:

Write a response indicating your position regarding this situation. Provide support for your view.

Please write your response first (2 to 3 paragraphs, 300 words). Then respond to at least 2 of your classmates (peers).

To receive full credit, make sure to deliver a college-level answer. Please provide a thought-provoking response to your class peers other than, "I agree," "Good job," or "Great idea." Your response to your classmate should be at least 100 words.