The Twin Falls times. [volume] (Twin Falls, Idaho) 1905-1916, 1913-12-12


mess without day book or ledger?
Every household should keep re-
gular account of all earnings and ex-
penditures. Only in this way can you
be able to make up a domestic budget
intelligently and know just where your
money is going and how much you
can afford to spend in any given di-
rection. Thus an orderly person will
know beforehand what is required and
will be provided with the necessary
means of obtaining it.
But it must be on more detailed
plan than that Of the wife whose ac-
counting consisted of these two en-
tries: On one side-"Received from
John, $5O.OO," and on the other side
Spent it ALL
The work of the home consists Of
several distinct occupations. The
housewife, in conducting the affairs of
the home, performs the duties Of a
hotel keeper in providing bed and
shelter, the work of caterer in pro-
viding food, the work of the laundry
in the various cleansing processes, the
work of the nursery in caring for the
children, and many other duties that
are considered separate occupations
outside the home, but which in house,
Keeping are classed as one occupation
for one person, and are supposed to be
conducted with economy. Great as
this task is in itself, it is usually made
more difficult through the absence of
any regular method of handling the
various items of income and expense.
The very best way to reduce ex-
penses is to itemize everything and
set it down in black and white, and
then cut out each item. This means
limiting ones outgo in practical way.
1T may be unpleasant but, after all,
one can be economical and yet respect
able and comfortable If it is done with
a cheerful spirit and in a dignified
way.
There are specially prepared books
for household accounts which may be
procured cheaply, or you can make
one to suit your own requirements
from blank book such as can be OBJ
tanned at any stationery store. Here
is plan which you will find entirely
feasible:
Get book with pages about 10x12
inches. Then rule each two facing
pages vertically SO that there are, say,
eighteen columns. The first space at
the left is for the names of the various
items of receipt and expenditure from
day to day. The second column is for
the amounts of the items of income
received, the third column is for the
figures of expenditure, and the fifteen
remaining columns across the two
pages are for the classification of the
various items carried out from Col.
umnn Z. For example, some such divi-
sion niG-.t be made as this: Column
l, receipts 2, expenditures; 3, food;
4, clothing; 5, help; 6, savings bank
or real estate; z, insurance; 8, car
fare; 8, recreation; 10, gifts; II, fuel
and light; II, water and sewer; IS,
furniture; IA, ice; Is, doctors and me-
dicine; 16, lawn and garden; II, mis-
cellaneous expenses.
Foot up each column at the bottom
OF each page and carry it forward to
the top OF the next, checking the cor
rectness. of your bookkeeping by see
ing that the grand total of the totals
of the last fifteen columns equals the
total of column g. Start anew eacn
month and then you can easily COM
pare the figures of one month with
those of another in the same year, or
you can make a comparison of cores
ponding months in different years. At
the end of the year you can add up
the monthly totals to get the totals for
year.
The experience of one thrifty woman
along this line was described in Wo-
mans magazine, as follows:
At the beginning of the year we
make our apportionment for gro
ceries, meat, clothes, house furn-
ishings, ETC., on the basis of past
experience and anticipated needs.
This is one of the most important
features of our system 1t is
where the finances of many fam
lily go on the rocks. Suppose our
income is 500 a month, we must
not spend as much as that, nor
nearly as much, for we must pro-
vide for the inevitable "rainy day."