The Washington bee., 1908-06-20
ON BUSINESS BASIS.
WISDOM OF KEEPING KITCHEN
ACCOUNT BOOK.
With Absolute knowledge of Running
Expenses Economy is Made Easy
Hired Help Always Prone
to Extravaganza.

The head of the household some
times concludes that it costs too much
TO live, and when he makes this deci-
sion nothing commands his respect
like an account book wherein bal
ances are made without accommodating
"sundries. In fact going to market
and keeping household accounts are
the housekeeper's weapons of selfde-
tense against the charge of extraYa-
gance, writes Alice E. Whitaker.
It is comparatively easy to account
for rent fuel, light and wages, and
even the larger bills for clothing can
be fairly we'll itemized from receipted
bills and memory. Therefore the
most common point of attack is the
food supply. The mistress Of the
household may insist that nothing is
wasted and that the family would not
be satisfied with cheaper food but IN
less she can keep an account book she
has nothing to prove that she could
not have spent less for food material.
A hOusekeeper frequently says to
herself: 1t seems to me that we are
buying butter every other day" or
I'm sure that we are using a dozen
eggs q day" II she has an account
book she can prove the truth OF her
surmises or otherwise. One house
keeper annoyed a. the recurring calls
for coffee and butter for her family
Oh three sat down TO her account book
and in iVe minutes found that six
pounds of coffee and ten pounds OF
butter had been used during the pre-
viOus month. She Immediately cut
two pounds from the future coffee sup
ply and cautioned against eItraVa-
gance in butter.
Another way of saving is buying in
small amounts. Our grandmOthers
eItollod the plan Of buying in whole
sale way because Wholesale prices are
less than retail, but our grandmOthers
had 4 constant oversight over the use
of both groceries and provisions, and
this is now frequently impossible. III
most kitchens to-day everything that
is brought In will be cooked by the
servants At one time and the surplus
of 30-cent steak Is enough II is waste
ful to buy Il. pound, or = quart Of
oysters when = pint will be Bufncient,
under the delusion that the left overs
will be used to advantage.
1t is wise to dispense with the order
clerk At the door, and especially with
liberty given to servants to order as
they please Often from ignorance,
and as often from mere lack of in
tsrSst, they order needless things. Go
to the grocery stores and markets,
see what you can buy, and how much
it costs. This means 8 little effort,
but 1T soon becomes a habit and
pleasure Many hOuseksepers will
testify that it is not so hard to think
what to buy when in the presence Of
the various good things, some of which
on that particular morning can be
bought at an advantage
1t is not unlikely that there will be
a premeditated block to this system
of looking closely after the table sup
plies, and in the middle OF the after
noon the cook may announce that she
has no baking powder or that she
must have some more eggs. Then is
| the time TO be firm and to change the
menu, or. if anything be imperative,
/ to go for it yourself. After A time il
will be understood that there is to be
no more reckless and indiscriminate
| ordering.