We didn’t in that particular budget cycle, for whatever reason. The budget was planned every year based on expected expenditures. Some expenses are more volatile than others.

You know what? I’ve never really thought about that angle. It still drives me nuts, but you’re right.

Every. Damn. Year. But if I tried to “overspend” on something necessary—knowing full well that the budget wasn’t going to be compromised in any way—I’d be scolded.

I worked for the US government my entire career, and this always drove me batshit. My budget was a “mandatory spend”, whether useful or not. We’d buy promotional giveaways just to spend the money. Think about that…a federal agency buying can cozies because if we didn’t spend the money allocated to us, we’d get a smaller budget the following year. It just seems to encourage fraud, waste, and abuse.

I like zippos, but I grew up in a family of cigarette smokers. Dad used to say that disposable lighters are for amateur smokers, zippos are for professionals. Dad meant well, I think, but he had some strange ideas.