Meaning & use
budget
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountablebusinessfinance
A plan showing how much money will be earned and how it will be spent over a particular period.
Grammar: Countable; commonly 'draw up or make a budget', and budgets are 'tight' or 'balanced'.
Patterns
- make a budget
- draw up a budget
- an annual budget
They drew up a budget for the wedding and stuck to it.
The school increased its budget for books this year.
nouncountable
The amount of money available for something, or a person's financial situation.
Grammar: Common frames: 'on a budget', 'within budget', 'over budget'.
Patterns
- on a tight budget
- within budget
- over budget
We're on a tight budget this month, so we'll cook at home.
The renovation finished $2,000 over budget.
adjectivebefore a noun
Low in price, designed for people who do not want to spend much money.
Grammar: Always before the noun: 'a budget hotel'; it does not mean 'financial' here.
Patterns
- a budget hotel
- budget airlines
- budget prices
We stayed in a budget hotel a short walk from the station.
Budget airlines made flying abroad affordable for students.
verbtransitive or intransitive
To plan carefully how much money to spend, or to set aside a certain amount for a purpose.
Grammar: Transitive with an amount: 'budget $500 for repairs'; intransitive with 'for': 'remember to budget for tax'.
Patterns
- budget for something
- budget something for something
We budgeted $500 for car repairs this year.
When you plan a trip, remember to budget for food and transport, not just the hotel.
Word forms
| third person singular | budgets |
|---|---|
| past tense | budgeted |
| past participle | budgeted |
| -ing form | budgeting |
Common combinations
- a tight budget
- The charity runs its programs on a very tight budget.
- budget deficit
- The government announced plans to reduce the budget deficit.
- on a budget
- You can eat well in this city even on a budget.
- budget for something
- Don't forget to budget for parking fees when you rent the van.
Synonyms and how they differ
- financial plan
- A neutral, more formal phrase; budget is the everyday word and also means the money itself.
- allowance
- A fixed amount of money given for a purpose; smaller and personal, while a budget is a whole plan.
- cheap
- The right equivalent for the adjective sense; 'budget hotel' and 'cheap hotel' mean almost the same.
Opposites
Word family
- budgeting noun
- The activity of planning spending, often taught as a personal-finance skill.
- budgetary adjective
- Relating to a budget; a formal word used in finance and government.
Commonly confused: budget or budge?
budget vs budge
Budge means to move slightly or to change someone's opinion ('won't budge'); it is one letter shorter and unrelated to money planning.
Practice
We're on a tight ___, so we'll cook at home instead of eating out this month.
Choose one answer.
'On a tight budget' means having little money to spend. A bout is a short period of something, and 'brand' and 'bullet' never combine with 'on a tight'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “budget”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.