Poofywinkle & Penny!
Poofywinkle points to a chalkboard: we got $5, spent $7, and borrowed $2. Penny asks, “Oh! We spent more than we got?”

Lesson 1: The U.S. Home Budget

Small numbers. A big idea.

We got $5.
We spent $7.
So we borrowed $2.

Penny: “Oh! We spent more than we got?”

Yes. When we spend more than we get, the gap is called a deficit. Here, the gap is $2.

Poofywinkle note

We made the numbers small. The real numbers are in trillions.

  • $5 = $5,000,000,000,000
  • $7 = $7,000,000,000,000
  • $2 = $2,000,000,000,000

These are rounded teaching numbers, not a current budget report. A country's budget also works differently from a family's budget.

For actual U.S. revenue, spending, and deficit figures, see the U.S. Treasury's deficit guide.