Slide 1- Managing My FinancesThis presentation is about how I displayed poor management skills with my finances.

Slide 2- SettingIt was Black Friday, 2010. I went to a few different car part stores, electronics stores, and also the Premium Outlets in Orlando. I was on a shopping trip that was not supposed to be about me, but it did not turn out as I planned.

Slide 3- SituationI had saved some money throughout the year that I decided was going to be spent on Christmas gifts for my family. Well, I saw a few things that I liked and started to buy things for myself. Before I knew it, I was left with no money at all and still had not purchased any gifts for my family. The majority of the places I had purchased items from did not accept returns. So, I was faced with the problem of having no money and still needing to purchase my family's gifts.

Slide 4- ActionI had no choice but to call my mother and tell her what had happened. Because I could not return most of the items I had bought, I simply had no money and no way to get it. So, because of my selfishness, my family suffered and no one would receive a gift from me. When I called my mother, I could hear the disappointment in her voice and it crushed me. I knew I had to make sure this never happened again.

Slide 5- ResultAs Christmas Day rolled around, I dreaded the looks on my family members' faces. I did not have a job at the time, so I was unable to get anything, not even cards! As my family sat around the Christmas tree passing out gifts, my turn came up. I had to tell my family that I had spent all of the shopping money and they would not be receiving gifts or cards from me. Everyone was disappointed, especially my mother. That day, I saved all of the money I received as gifts and continued to save for months. It is October now, and I have already bought the majority of the Christmas gifts for my family.

Slide 6- This is a blank slide simply to avoid confusion. It separates my point of view from my mother's.

Slide 7- SettingIt was Black Friday- November 26, 2010. I was at my home in Miami, FL and my daughter gave me a call. We were talking about what we would be doing that day. She told me she would be going to various stores in Orlando to do some shopping, since the prices were so low on Black Friday.

Slide 8- SituationI knew my daughter had been saving her money for quite some time and it made me so proud when she told me that she was spending her money on Christmas gifts for her family. Some time went by without her calling, so I figured she was finding some pretty good deals on gifts for her sisters. That is, until she called.

Slide 9- The Phone CallAs I answered the phone, I could tell something was wrong; she sounded a bit distraught and nervous. "What's wrong, Krys?" I asked her. "Well, I saw some cute stuff that I wanted and the spending got out of control. Now I have no money, I can't return the items, and I haven't bought anything for any of you guys." The feeling of disappointment just grew within me. I knew she had been saving up for so long and it really disappointed me to know she had spent it all on herself.

Slide 10- ActionAs my daughter and I talked about what had happened, I knew she felt bad for what she had done, but there was nothing she could do about it. I told her that she should be more careful with her finances and not spend so much money on impulse. She agreed and assured me it wouldn't happen again. However, I was still uneasy about her financial management skills.

Slide 11- ResultAs time went on, I seemed to forget about the conversation... Until Christmas morning. While everyone was handing out there gifts, Krystal's was the one I looked forward to most. However, the gift never came and I was reminded of the disappointment I felt when she first called. Once again, I pulled her aside and talked to her about her finances. She showed me that she had already put the money she received for Christmas in a special place and would be saving it for next year's gifts. I'm just waiting to see what happens this year. I really hope she learned from her mistake!

Slide 12- Management Concept: PlanningOne of the managing concepts that applies to my scenario is planning. The text, Management, 3rd edition describes planning as “a process to determine and implement actions to achieve organizational objectives.” (Hitt, Black and Porter, 3rd ed., 113) Planning is arguably one of the most important components of management. Without planning first taking place, nothing else within the organization can move forward. Of course, with importance comes difficulty. Because planning is one of the most important components, it is very difficult to execute perfectly. An organization must set reasonable objectives and targets in order for the company to grow and become successful. This is also true in our ever-day lives. While there are many components of planning, I feel that the two components which fit my scenario best are implementing plans and budgets.

Slide 13- Components of Planning: Implementing Plans and BudgetsWith planning, you must first come up with an action plan, determine how to implement that plan, and how to monitor the outcome. For the purpose of this slide, we will focus on the implementation of the plan. According to Management, 3rd edition, “In addition to the quality of the [action] plan, the effectiveness of the plan’s implementation influences the results achieved.” (Hitt, Black and Porter, 3rd ed., 122) The implementation phase of planning is the phase in which most plans fail. That is why it is incredibly important to properly assess your resources and delegate responsibility to each person involved.Budgets are described in Management, 3rd edition as “a tool used to quantify and allocate resources to specific activities”. (Hitt, Black and Porter, 3rd ed., 124) There are numerous types of budgets, such as capital expenditure budgets and expense budgets that businesses use to properly allocate their resources. Budgets are also extremely useful in personal lives. By effectively implementing budgets, both businesses and individuals can assure that financial situations are profitable.

Slide 14- Management Concept: Tactical ControlWhile Strategic Control focuses on control of an organization as a whole, tactical control has a bit more narrow scope. According to Management, 3rd edition, tactical control is the “assessment and regulation of the day-to-day functions of the organization and its major units in the implementation of its strategy.” (Hitt, Black and Porter, 3rd ed., 396) Within the scope of tactical control are the controls of other components, such as finances and budgets. Businesses must effectively implement the controls for each of these components in order for its tactical application to be successful. I feel that Financial Controls

and Budgetary Controls are the two that most apply to my scenario, so those are the two that I will focus on.

Slide 15- Components of Tactical Control: Financial Controls and Budgetary ControlsFinancial Controls basically consist of four ratios: profit, liquidity, leverage, and activity. These ratios are used to determine the company’s profit, current financial standing, debt, and inventory turnover (respectively). Using these ratios, monitoring the company’s finances is made a lot easier and gives the company the ability to stay current. Management, 3rd edition makes the point that “The important point regarding financial ratios is not the detailed steps that need to be taken to calculate them. Rather, it is that when the ratios are calculated, they can be used to compare one organization, or one unit to another.” (Hitt, Black and Porter, 3rd ed., 397) It is these ratios that allow managers to take the necessary actions in the control process. Budgetary controls, on the other hand, are described as “a type of tactical control based on responsibility for meeting financial targets and evaluating how well those targets have been met”. (Hitt, Black and Porter, 3rd ed., 398) Budgets are more specific to short time frames (for example, a few weeks or a few months), are exclusive to a financial objective, and cannot be used for comparative purposes with competitors. The basic purpose of a budget is to make sure that financial objectives are met. They are the core of a company’s (or individual’s) allocated capital expenditures.

Slide 16- How Planning and Tactical Control Play A Role in My ScenarioThe two components of planning that I chose to discuss, implementing plans and budgets, definitely played a role in my scenario. If I had properly implemented my action plan (saving money and then spending it on my family’s Christmas gifts) the problem would have never existed. While I did successfully create the action plan by saving the money, I did not properly implement that plan. Just as most business plans fail in the implementation phase, so did mine. As far as budgets, I don’t think I had a very effective one at all. I saved as much money as I could within a year and planned to spend it all on my family. The reason that budgets apply to my scenario is because of my lack of a budget. Had I focused on budgeting out my funds and coming up with specific amounts to spend on specific items, it would have been much easier to implement my action plan.The two components of tactical control that I chose to discuss, financial and budgetary controls, also played a role in my scenario. While I had saved a set amount of money, there was little financial control. I should have addressed my financial statistics to review my spending habits in the past in order to better control my finances. I also should have addressed those things in order to control my budget. Had I properly implemented financial and budgetary controls, I would know exactly how much money I had and exactly what I was spending it on. It definitely would have made my financial situation a lot more stable.

Slide 17- What Did I Learn About Myself?I learned that I am a very spontaneous, impulsive person. My sudden decision to spend all of my saved money on myself was not well thought out and was rather ridiculous. I also learned that I am a very organized person (I know this sounds strange, but let me explain). Without a very strictly documented spreadsheet of my finances, it was difficult for me to keep up with them. I’ve found that as a person, I function better in an organized environment. For that reason, I say that I am an organized person- I need organization to function at my best. My lack of organization at the time along with my impulsive decision-making are what ultimately led me to the situation I was in.

Slide 18- What Lessons Did I Learn From This Situation?

This situation really opened my eyes after seeing the disappointment in my mother’s face, realizing what I had done and my actions’ effects on others. It taught me that rather than being so impulsive in my decision-making, I need to develop more fine-tuned plans and better monitor my finances. Through this situation I have found that if I save my money and purchase a few things at a time rather than a lot of items at once, it is more effective. I also learned from this situation that if I have well-developed budgets with exact amounts and exact items that those amounts will be spent on, it is much easier for me to stick to it. Basically, organization is key! This situation will help me better handle situations like this in the future by being more organized and therefore more disciplined. While this situation was not a fun one to go through, it definitely has taught me a valuable lesson for the future.

Slide 19- How Did My Understanding of The Situation Change?During the first reflection, my understanding of the situation changed very little. Because I was simply reiterating what took place, I did not learn anything from it. The thing that impacted me the most was focusing on a different perspective and looking at the situation through someone else’s eyes. Also, in reflection 3, by stating management skills that affected this situation, it helped me realize exactly what the problems were and made it a lot easier for me to fix those problems. Basically, I gained a totally different perspective, both from a third-party and managerially. I definitely have a better understanding of the situation, the consequences of my actions on myself and others, and also how to develop methods to make sure this situation never occurs again.

Slide 20- How Will This Situation Help Me To Be A Better Me?I can honestly say that from this situation I have become a more detail-oriented individual and focus on budgets and organization rather than myself. I realize that what happened in this situation was very selfish on my part and aim to never make it happen again. When I think of personality traits that are not admirable, selfishness is definitely one of the first to come to mind. Therefore, I am grateful for this situation because it has taught me to focus more on others and also be more organized which benefits me as well. Ultimately, getting rid of the selfishness and gaining better financial management skills are the two main ways this situation will help me to become a better me in the future.