The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-12-26
SIXTY THOUSAND A YEAR
HOW THE SAN Is SPENT BY ONE OF
NEW YORK's "sWELL SET.y
Some of the Items That Go to Consume
This Liberal Income i'm n Fam
lily with Daughters.

set of New York even if you are good
manager What il costs if you are not
might dazzle arithmeticians. Sixty thousand
is set as the price by one of the SWEETEST"
of Gotham's 400. and to support her state
ment she kindly furnished the following
summary OF a years expenses incident TO
being within the charmed circle.
From the standpoint of $4,000 a year in
come, life in New York. If one wants to be
In the social SWIM is almost as much Of a
puzzle in the way of making two ends meet
as trying TO live on 81, 500 year in some
much smaller city where social ambition is
not so necessary for ones well being. The
cares and anxieties of mother with two or
three manageable daughters in New York
at the present day are manifold and varied,
for the cost of living has increased fourfold
within the last four years, and since the war
has again taken jump upward.
The first thing to be considered in begin
ming serious social campaign in New York
is the matter of rent. Personally speaking
L do not own, but rent, town house, bat
We have, of course. to have the Newport
cottage, the Adirondack camp, little box
at the Hot Springs for the autumn and
house at Aiken for the winter-that is. after
Christmas, so that it is not worth while for
three months. But then we have to pay for
being in town at least $500 a month, so you
can easily see what rent amounts TO in the
course of the year. For the set / am identi-
fed with I am considered extraordinarily
economical, but, as l have said before, the
rent TO begin with makes big hole in the
money my husband and / have to live on.
Fortunately, ] have an income as well as he,
so the $4,000 year that we have between
us sees us through fairly welI--though it's
none too much. But, then, I am what is
called a good manager, so we don't have
many worries.
The next large expenditure for the house
hold is the question of the money paid to
the servants. 1t is simply maddening the
amount that they demand, and things have
got to such a pass that it is necessary to
pay fabulous wages in order to get good
service. Then the servants have combined
TO have as many helpers as possible. so that
it takes two to do the work of one. Our
household is run economically, am
sure of that. for / keep fewer servants than
any of my friends and yet cannot run my
household with less than fourteen, and that
includes the men servants.
The stable l have very little TO do with,
for leave that for my husband to, look
after, except that I engage the coachman
and footman, as / am very particular as to
their appearance. / will not be driven about
by men Of different sizes and who are ut
terly lacking in style
HOUSEHOLD SERVANTS.
AS you know. I do not keep chef. and
will not pay over $50 a month for my cook,
but 1 must pay SIS to my butler or have
wretched service. My daughters must have
a maid, and OF course the woman who waits
on them has all she can do without looking
after me, and at my age it is most inn
perative that should have woman to look
after my gowns, arrange my hair and keep
my personal belongings in order.
have to pay the woman I want $S5 a
month; to the girls maid pay $25, and
they are cheap at that money. There are
lots Of little things that they do that other
~ M % Ton naye 70 &c seat oHd OF e T3ese
/ suppose in personal expenses / might
count telephone The bill for that came in
yesterday and the excess charges were $100,
which seemed to me, a swindle, but after
ward found were all right.
| cut off one expense this year that of
it off, but / found when looked into the
matter that she saved her wages, $50 a
month, out Of the bills, and although had
to have another woman to wait on her,
even then she was an economy
Entertaining costs US lot, and yet don't
see how 1t can be done for less money. /
am not counting the cost of house parties
or what we spend when we are out of town,
but simply what it costs me in New York
the short time we are here. | gave an en-
tertainment the other day for my youngest
daughter, who is only fifteen; she invited
only $50 of her friends and $500 had to be
spent on that entertainment alone, and 1t
amounted to very little after all--nothing in
the least of a show about it. a simple COLA
ton, a cotillon, of course, and the favors
ran away with a lot of money.
i. have been giving series of little dim
ners for the older girls and have really sue
ceeded in getting the expenses for these
dinners down to a hundred dollars each.
The dinners don't amount to much, you
know compared to those ] have to give for
my husband occasionally: s / cannot moi give one
have good wines and spend good deal on
SHORT ON MANNERS
do grudge the money spent in enter
tanning the young men, who have no man
ners at all and act as if they were confer
ring favor upon me by accepting my invi-
tatien, and were it not that l look upon the
money spent upon them simply an invest
ment there are not half dozen among the
lot should ever have in the house again.
But when you do entertain them and give
them the sort of food and wine they like,
they will have bestowed the pleasure Of
their company upon your girls for perhaps
two or three dances in the course of an
evening, and they are very useful at dances:
We have to keep the horses in town, of
course; no woman of any self-respect would
think of going out in society IL she did not
have her own horses. This going about IN
hired cabs is, to my mind, essentially nad
FORM Then one needs a second man to be
on hand to call the carriage and to hold
ones wraps. and you can't have a man for
this purpose who is not good looking ana
has some effect about him. OF course that
counts.
Theater and opera tickets are never in
Guided in the list of expenses that must be
met, but nowadays girls must go and see
every play that comes out, and after all,
nothing tells better than theater party
with a supper afterward. l am not count
ing In the cost of an opera box at all.
am fortunate enough to own a box. as you
know, and, although my husband says that
the pleasure of owning 1T costs a pretty
penny, il is one of the expenses / never
bother my head about
Pew rent l have to face, but my pew Is
also a family inheritance, and I've never
allowed more than $500 for my church ex-
penses. and l should have a very uncom-
Portable feeling If / did not give that much
to the church; besides, 1t would be very pad
form if ] didn't.
At dinner the other night lot of people
were discussing the question OF how much
it costs to live in New York. All sorts OF
sums were mentioned but we all arrived at
the conclusion that nobody could present
any sort of an appearance in society on an
income of less than 100000 a year; that Is.
to go out. keep horses and live as one must
in these times, even If one did not IN the
least intend entering the list with the AS
tors or Nanderbiits.
CLOTHES BILLS MOUNTAINOUS.
What paralyzes me this winter is the fear
full cost of clothes. used TO think l could
dress the girls and myself on $4,000 year,
but no matter how economical | try TO be
this year. the thing cannot be done.
l took the girls the other day to get their
winter hats. l want them TO look we'll this
wear. IL is necessary they should look we'll