Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-02-17
KEEPING ACCOUNTS.
EVERY HOUSEWIFE SHOULD KEEP
TRACK OF EXPENSES.

Value of a s, stem of Household Book
keeping-How a Little Attention to
Bills and Purchases May Save Consid-
cradle Unnecessary Outlay.
"Why should l keep accounts!' says
the young and inexperienced housekeeper.
when want money my husband gives
it to me, and W hen that is gone ask him
for more. All the bookkeeping in the
world can't bring money back when once
it is spent" True, my dear madam, but
If you try the experiment of comparing
your expenditu res for a given period under
your present system-or rather want of
system-with your disbursements for the.
same length OF time during which you
have kept an account of them, you will
see, in all probability, very clearly that
during the latter period you have spent
less and got more for your money. OF
course in making such comparison you
must take into consideration any unusual
payments such as do not occur regularly.
The principal purposes of keeping house
hold accounts are two. Firstly, TO enable
You to see how much has been spent for
each specific purpose, and if such eNpendl-
ture seems exec Ssive, TO ascertain the rea-
son, and If posi- ole eliminate ii. Secondly,
to prevent the possibility If paying for
what you have not got. OF Of paying twice
for what you have purchased.
The machinery required FOR keeping
housekeeping accounts j very simple, and
is as follows: \ clshbcCk. showing all
money received and paid. suitable files
for receipts AMI unpaid bills. \ book for
each Of the trs.despeop.e with whom &C
counts are kept.
SIMPLE SYSTEM
The cashbook Is kept in the following
manner: On the left hand side Of the page
are entered all amounts received, and the
dates ON which ley were received. On the
right hand side are entered all amounts
paid. with the date and the purpose for
which they were paid, and 10 whom. 1t is
Of the greatest Importance that the cash
book should he written up At least once a
day. a If a Ion ger interval Is allowed to
elaPse items become forgotten and omitted
For every amount paid a receipt should
be obtained. and it Is from these receipts
that the cashboCk should be written up.
The receipts should then be put away on a
file 50 constructed that any receipt can be
readily found and referred 10 without dis
tUrbing the Others.
Accounts shou be opened with baker,
butcher. grocer, yreengrocer, milkman and
butterman, and with any other trades
people with whom it may be desirable TO
do so, and these accounts should be paid
every week. If accounts are allowed to
run longer than :. week difficulties are very
likely to arise, owing to the impossibility
of remembering necessary details.
TradeSmen with whom accounts are kept
must deliver with the goods each day Il bill
stating distinctly the quantities supplied
and the price.
PAY EVERY WEEK.
Having satisfied herself of the accuracy
of the bills, the housewife places them on a
file "a common spike" viii answer the
purpose until the end of the week.
On Monday morning each tradesmar
having written up the book which he pro
yides till the Saturday night inclusive, de-
livers ii to his CT stomer. At the earliest
possible momen5 the housewife should
compare each book with the daily bills
which are ON her file. Should there be any
discrepancy she should Immediately call
the tradesman's attention to it and have
the error rectifieo. BY Tuesday afternoon
all the accounts should be checked off and
paid; the daily bills can then be destroyed,
and it is advisable to do so at once to avoid
being numbered with useless papers.
Receipts for the weekly accounts should
be taken on separate paper, and not in
the book, as this s constantly in the hands
of the tradesmal, who may, accidentally
or purpOsely, mislay it in case of any dis
pute.
BALANCING THE CASH
The cash account should be balanced
every day, so as II insure that every item
expended has been duly entered, as any
very small amount for which it may not
lie worth while to take receipts, and also
small sums paid for cabs, buses, postage,
| etc, will be RENE nbered when making up
! the account if this is not left too long. The
| system too frequently in vogue of habitu-
| ally Jumping" items as ''sundries' is
much to be depre Gated.
| A friend of mine once complained to me
very bitterly of his wife's carelessness in
| entering her accounts, and cited the follow
| ing entries as an example of her book
| keeping, STAMPS Is, omnibus 3D., sun
| dries Il 9s. 3lzd." Perhaps this might
have been u slight exaggeration, but the
moral it points is very obyious.-London
| Tit-Bits