Budget estimate

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "Budget estimate" is correct and usable in written English. You can use it when referring to an approximate calculation of costs for a project or expense. For example, "The budget estimate for the new marketing campaign is $50,000." Alternative expressions include "cost projection" and "financial estimate."

✓ Grammatically correct

News & Media

Science

Formal & Business

Academia

Wiki

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

50 human-written examples

'That wasn't a budget estimate,' he said.

The New Yorker

But he would not confirm the $50 million budget estimate.

The New York Times

The $28 billion proposed 2019 budget estimate was provided by the agency.

The Washington Post

The original budget estimate of $2.8 billion was submitted before Rio won the Games in 2009.

The New York Times - Sports

Concern about ambulance response times has plagued the government, with budget estimate papers revealing "code-one" response times for emergencies worsening during the Coalition's four years in office.

The Guardian

A project budget estimate is a financial plan to design and build a particular project and setting out the estimated costs to complete the project.

Green Construction Project Management and Cost Oversight

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

10 human-written examples

Budget estimates for the year 1947.

Cornell University

Very preliminary budget estimates and drafts, including handwritten calculations.

Cornell University

Budget estimates for Contracting Parties : 16 August , 1948 through 31 December , 1948

Stanford University

Rogelj, J. et al. Differences between carbon budget estimates unravelled.

Nature

— and the campaign has an initial budget estimated at $2 million to $3 million.

The New York Times

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

Pair the phrase with modifiers like "preliminary", "initial" or "revised" to clarify the current stage of the financial planning process.

Common error

Do not use "Budget estimate" when referring to a firm, legally binding price provided by a contractor. In those cases, use "quote" or "fixed bid" to avoid misleading stakeholders about potential cost fluctuations.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "Budget estimate" functions as a compound noun where "budget" acts as an attributive noun modifying the head noun "estimate". According to Ludwig, it is primarily used to identify a specific type of financial calculation. It frequently appears in the singular form to describe a single project plan or in the plural "budget estimates" when discussing departmental or national forecasts.

Expression frequency: Common

Frequent in

News & Media

45%

Science

25%

Formal & Business

20%

Less common in

Academia

5%

Wiki

3%

Social Media

2%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In conclusion, "Budget estimate" is a highly versatile and correct term used across journalism, science, and business. As highlighted by Ludwig, the phrase is essential for describing financial or resource-based projections that are not yet final. It is characterized by its high frequency in authoritative sources like The New York Times and Nature. Writers should prefer this term over more informal alternatives in professional contexts to maintain a tone of calculated precision. While often used interchangeably with "cost estimate", it specifically implies a relationship to a structured financial plan or 'budget'.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

Cost projection

Focuses on the forecasting of future expenses rather than a fixed budgetary limit.

Financial estimate

Broader term that could refer to any monetary valuation beyond just a project budget.

Preliminary budget

Emphasizes that the figures are at an early stage and subject to significant change.

Expenditure forecast

Technical term often used in corporate or governmental accounting to predict spending trends.

Budgetary appraisal

Implies a more formal evaluation or review of the planned budget.

Fiscal projection

Typically used in government or macroeconomic contexts regarding tax and spend cycles.

Estimated costs

Shifts the focus from the 'budget' as a container to the specific 'costs' within it.

Tentative budget

Highlights the provisional nature of the numbers even more than 'estimate' does.

Projected spend

More informal or internal business jargon for estimated outgoing funds.

Price quote

Specifically refers to a fixed offer from a vendor rather than an internal calculation.

FAQs

How to use "Budget estimate" in a sentence?

You can use it as a subject or object in professional contexts, for example: "The initial "Budget estimate" for the infrastructure project was surpassed within the first year."

What can I say instead of "Budget estimate"?

Depending on the context, you can use alternatives like "cost projection", "financial forecast" or "preliminary budget".

Which is more formal, "Budget estimate" or "cost guess"?

"Budget estimate" is the standard professional term. Avoid informal phrasing like "cost guess" or "ballpark figure" in formal reports or academic papers.

Is it "Budget estimate" or "budgeted estimate"?

Usually, "Budget estimate" is used to describe the calculation itself, while "budgeted" refers to money that has already been allocated or set aside.