News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1886-06-10
PAY AS YOU GO.
Good Advice to Men and Women, but Espe-
eiaIIy Valuable to Housewives.

FROM the PhllaOtlPAi@ AtSCOIu.l
One of the most serious and insidious
obstacles in the way of thrift, of ease of
mind, and of true household comfort, is
the running account" Doubtless the
credit system originated in benevolent
intention to do good, and, in its wider
application, it is necessary to carry on
the great commercial, social and fnan-
cial undertakings of the world, but it is
a great enemy to home economy. 1t is
the foundation for debt and all the dis
tressing formula for Indebtedness, duns,
notes of hand, liens, mortgages, and a
thousand and one of the mlser1es and
membranes known to legal phraseol-
ogy and practice which are the bane OF
life.
Jack Falstaff, who got all the good
out of the credit system there was in it,
declared: eff | had a thousand sons
the first human principle would teach
them should be to forswear their pota-
tions and addict themselves to sack"
But Jack was the prince of scapegraces
and only remembered one-halt OF the
meuDa ct tutna division of property. HIS
debts never bothered him except he had
difficulty in making them. If the writer
had thousand sons and daughters the
first human principle taught them would
be never to establish running account.
No one can live within his or her income
who spends money in advance of earning
it. Persons who live in this way, in
fact, never have any income; they have
an outgo that eats up income before it
gets inside the door.
The running account" however, is
more dangerous for the housewife, be-
cause she is not usually either the wage
Garner or the paymaster in the house
hold. She gets what she wants on
credit, because there is no particular
trouble in getting it and without the ap-
probation of the trouble Of paying for
it which grows out of the necessity of
scraping the dollars together in what
ever way the husband comes by his
money, whether it be in swinging a
blacksmith's hammer, in throwing a
weaver's shuttle, in measuring tape and
molasses or IN guiding the handles of
his pillow. She does the multifarious
and never-ending work of her house
hold, keeps the table Widespread, the
house tidy, the beds aired, and the
bread we'll baked and nutritious, and it
is not at all to be wondered at that she
thinks this enough.
The mistake is in the beginning. in
having things that are not paid for.
The houseBe eper who spends only what
money she has to spend, is not only re-
lieved of the worry of debtor what
worries the husband will worry the
good wife-but she is made a conscious
power in the pay and provender depart
ment of her establishment. Instead of
being a drag upon her husbands ener-
gies, she is made to understand for her
self the limitations of the fund which
she draws upon, and how much may be
paid out and how much laid up for
emergencies.
Young couples who start out by run
ming in debt, should remember that
they cannot, in the long run, get an
inch the start of the world in that way.
They can only live up to their earnings
after all is said and done. BY running
an account with the butcher, the baker
and candlestick maker, they give these
several dealers an opportunity to charge
them high prices for their purchases.
The storekeeper VINO sells his wares
on credit is always obliged to make good
the accounts of his bad customers by
taking larger profits from those who get
credit and pay. Beside, it is rule,
which acute business men thoroughly
understand, that money is worth and
will usually fetch some rate of interest
or an equivalent sum being frequently
Cd 80 Co. -
that the shopkeeper looks to his credit
customer to make good the deficit in his
bank account brought about by the sys-
TEN of running accounts ~ On the
contrary, the buyer who buys for cash
can choose where she will buy, which is
a great advantage, and she can buy for
lower prices. The cash price is always
the lowest and the cash customer is al
ways the preferred customer.
1t too often happens that no check is
kept upon the running account. Set
thing day is always day of surprise for
the debtor, and big store bills are a per-
petual source of broiis and discomfort.
People who pay "some other day. nine
times out of ten carry the lmprovidence
of their getting into an improvidence of
use. Those who are accustomed to get
without care use without stint.
There is no rule in the world for large
affairs or small ones like the rule of
'Pay as you 60" 1t is the foundation
not only of good finance, but of good
temper and of good fortune as well. And
the housewife who is wise
enough to give the matter little serious
thought and determination enough to
stand by her convictions will need no
monitor to warn her of the folly and
danger of running accounts"