OKLAHOMA – Plagued with remorse, Grace Hale, 31, of Oklahoma attempted to turn herself into the police for misappropriating funds…from her own personal budget. Funds Misappropriation is an unauthorized, improper, or unlawful use of allocated funds outside of the intended purpose.
“I was doing really good with my personal finances,” Hale revealed to police in making a statement. “I created a monthly budget, paid down a bunch of debt, and was saving for a house. My money was working for me and each envelope had its purpose. But then I started to develop an addiction."
Like many instances of internal crime, Hale started committing "fraud" to support a habit. Whether or not one can defraud one's self or one's budget remains up for debate. Most would say not. In Hale's case, she was convinced she had crossed the line.
“In my budget, I had line items for gas, for food, rent…all that. But I hadn’t budgeted for coffee. At first, I just added a coffee to my gas trips and called it a day. A dollar here, a dollar there. I started to develop a habit. A $.99 medium roast once a week turned into something I went for daily. Then I found that the gourmet shops were even better. I started pulling from other envelopes. I was lying to myself big time. When I contemplated diverting my house savings fund to buy a $5,500 espresso machine, I knew I had a problem and needed to turn myself in.”
“Ms. Hale accurately described funds misappropriation,” states responding police officer Don Utley. “However, with this being her money, there isn’t any crime. She may have developed a caffeine addiction and messed up her budget; beyond that there isn’t any harm done. I think Grace Hale needs to have a little grace with herself and her finances.”
Relieved at coming clean and happy to not be put in prison, Grace has resolved to make a new budget envelope for coffee. She also has a new goal to decrease her caffeine intake in the future.