Cents of Mission: A Cost Tutorial for Families and Individuals

Cents of Mission (Business Expert Press, 2015, New York, New York) was written as a novel to make it as easy as possible to explain cost management and control. It follows Luis as he struggles with the problems of many families and individuals today: the lack of fiscal resources.

In this book Luis seeks practical advice and learns how to attack his problems with military style command and control process. He applies learning, cost informed decision making, creativity, and continuous improvement to succeed in his missions: both personal and work related.

Cast of Characters

Conner: baby boy of Luis and Emily, grandson of Al and Jackie

Al: retired Army Colonel, father-in-law of Luis, father of Emily, husband of Jackie, grandfather of Conner

Luis: Director of Research and Development, father of Conner, husband of Emily, son-in-law of Al and Jackie

Jackie: wife of Al, mother—m-law of Luis, mother of Emily, grandmother of Conner

Emily: wife of Luis, daughter of Al and Jackie, mother of Conner

Melanie Nelson: President of the company

Marty Hodges: Luis’s Administrative Assistant

Mac McDonnell: Research and Development Division Manager reporting to Luis

Pete Peterson: Research and Development Division Manager reporting to Luis

Robert Stewart: Chairman of the Board of Director of the company, Major General in U.S. Army Reserves

Megan Streicher: Maintenance Division Manager of the company

Jack Floyd: Chief Financial Officer of the company

Jim Wilson: Marketing Department Manager of the company

Jim Huff: Union Representative

Cents of Mission Introduction (Al's comments highlighted)

Al and his son-in-law Luis watched baby Conner playing happily with his Thomas the Train set while grandma and mother were out of the house for a rare mother-daughter lunch. Conner didn't have a care in the world and it didn’t seem to matter that the engine he was pushing back and forth wasn’t even on the track.

"Conner sure seems to be growing fast. It’s hard to believe how much he has changed in the last year and a half. He will be grown in no time. How is your work going? I sure hope making a living doesn't keep you from the living part. Watching your son grow and helping him through life are two of the great joys and responsibilities of life.”

"His growth is amazing. It wasn’t that long ago that he could only cry and now he calls me DaDa. Unfortunately, the making a living seems to be getting more difficult. I'm feeling these days like I need to work harder and longer just to cover the bills. We never had to worry about money in the past but lately we just seem to be getting further behind on everything. Conner has certainly added to the pile of bills but it seems like everything is costing more. And then the car probably needs to be replaced but it’s worth less than the loan balance. On top of that we can't avoid paying student loans any longer so our credit card balances have been growing.”

"Hmm, seems like you have a lot of stress, but you and Emily are smart, hardworking people.”

"Evidently, that isn't enough these days. It was on the news last night that about a third of the families in the country don't have any savings and another third don't have six months income saved to cover some major problem.”

"Which category do you fall into?"

"I don't know what we would do if I lost my paycheck. Nobody starves in this country, but we should be saving for Conner's future and our retirement. Instead we are struggling to pay for what we already have, or worse, for what we bought in the past.”

"Sounds pretty bad. What are you going to do about it?"

"I’m not sure, but I guess we need more income. I've told Emily she should be thinking about a second job and I'm hoping my long hours pay off with a promotion. But these things seem to take away from that living a life goal you mentioned. How did you and Jackie manage to get through this maze?"

"Sounds like you’re just turning up the speed on the treadmill. Have you ever thought that Ben Franklin was wrong when he said ‘A penny saved is a penny earned?’”

The conversation was brought to a close by the arrival home of Jackie and Emily who were met at the door by a happily screeching Conner with his arms raised.

“Time to mix the margaritas Papa.”