Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1893-09-20
CASH OR A PASS BOOK.
Only Two WAYS in Which to Buy for
Kitchen.

ONLY Two WAYS in Which to Buy for
the Kitchen.
In spite of the expense and bother OF
doing business on the credit system,
there are few tradesmen but welcome
customer who allows his bills to run,
well knowing that the patronage will be
larger in that way than on cash basis.
Most people order many things that
they do not need when they have cred
it. There is curious attractivenesS in
not paying to-day what may be paid to-
morrow. There is an airy, alluring I'M
reality about the cost of things bought
on credit and an Elusive quality about
money that is to be our tomorrow, or
next week, or next month. One hun
dred dollars to come is apt to have an
apparent power 20 per cent. greater
than 500 already possessed; but, alas
when the money materializes into hard
cash, it has but its face value. There is
no better cure for the impulsive habit
of jumping at bargains buying when
Judgment and common sense are Oft
guard, or yielding to a taste that is
more capricious than the purse is deep
than the practice of paying leash
down.
In nc set of domestic bills is this slip
ping into buying more and more, little
bv little, here % cents and there 10 cents
and there 81, SO general as in bills for
clothing and for food. Of the two bills
the grocer's is the worst. When money
is not paid down for table supplies it al
most inevitably follows that while adopt
ing the credit system you at the same
time grow into the custom of buying by
ORDER and the purse suffers a double
leak. GrOcers are but human, and,
hard pressed by competition, they can
not be expected to select supplies with
the single eve and prudent care for the
total of the bill and the quality of the
articles which the buyer will exercise.
While a housekeeper, from lack of
time or strength, may keep book at the
grocer's and butchers, she should never
let them run longer than week, for the
sake of both her temper and her money.
1t is the easiest thing in the world to
forget what has been bought, especially
when it has been eaten up. The first
impulse when reading the total of bill
is to declare it Impossible" Outrage
Gus" Then follow q weary jogging of
memory, nagging of the cook and an
irritating dispute, from which the house
keeper comes out beaten and has to ac-
knowledge under her breath that the
butcher was right.
Charging and ordering are largely re-
sponsible for the pernicious habit of
paying last months bills with this
months money. Hardly any self-de-
NAL is too great to be practiced to get
out of this tightening chain of debt
Every worker is entitled to enjoy the
fruits of his toll; but when, added to
wasteful purchases, poorer goods, and
annoying disputes over items, person
is harrassed over bills too big to be paid,
when the dreary plan of robbing' Peter
to pay Paul begins, and the strain of all
sorts of contrivings to tighten the load
pulls ones temper, then indeed are the
bitter results of the credit system felt
to their fullest.
There are many legitimate opportu-
mites to take advantage of special sales,
or chances to buy articles in bulk which
are help in managing an income. But
if future earnings are all mOrtgaged to
meet past bills there can be no help
from such sources. The man who runs
up bill pays interest on his account
after three months. Viewed in selfish
light, leaving out of account those peo-
pie made to suffer innocently from the
practice of paying some other day,
there is everything to gain and nothing
to lose, except a bit of pride over de-
malls Of tastes or appetites, by forsaking
the pass book. Why not try it?-Hdr-
Der's B0-Gr