The Washington times., 1915-07-13
Mis-spending of Family
Money Avoided by Syste-
matte Methods in Keeping
Track of Expenses.
Intelligent Study of Home
Finance Will Help Con-
duct of Most Important
Business in the World.
By MRS. CHRISTINE FREDERICK

BY MRS. CHRISTINE FREDERICK
Copyright. 1915, by Mrs. Christine Frederick
N all the considerable talk about low
ering the cost OF living, | have not
i heard a single voice suggest more
systematic recording OF family ex-
penditures. or what we generally call
keeping accounts And vet, to my
mind, business-like handling OF the home
finances will cut the cost Of living quite
as much as using meat substitutes or
buying more inteligently.
1t seems that perhaps not one woman
in ten keeps record Of the income and
outgo Of money. Sometimes the wife
receives a stiplated weekly allowance
on which to run the house" Again,
she is allowed to run up bills which
her husband pays monthly. Frequently
she is very careful in the small ex-
penditues, but does not have a grasp Of
the proportion OF income that should
be spent for each item. as food COM
pared to clothes. rent compared to
amusements. and so on.
| say emphatically that before a
woman, or the entire family. can expect
to solve the cost OF living problem,
stricter accounts must be kept and the
problem Of home finances stuffed more
intelligently. The family is the most
important business in the world. On
the successful administration OF this
business depends the health OF the
family. its pleasures. the amount OF
property they can acquire, and their en-
tire standards of living.
Mis-spending of Income.
1t is not so much a question of lack
OF income. as mis-spending of income.
What are the divisions for which
| money must be spent. no matter what
the size OF the family, or its income
After studying what families spend
everywhere. there have been developed
] the following typical divisions in which
, the income must be distributed. that Is
| shelter. food. clothes, operating eX-
pcnses and the higher life.
| Operating expense means those con-
| nected with lighting. heating. cleaning
! the home. which includes service. laun-
| dry. etc. Under higher life can be
| grouped savings. amusements. books
church. and charity.
! Now. keeping accounts will permit tho
! woman to see how she Is allotting her
| income in these divisions. II will show
her If she Is spending more than she
| should on clothes and less on food. II
will teach her to keep track OF dealers.
| check mp accounts. and be more care
| full to keep receIpted bills and be sure
| that she IS not losing track of fairly
large sums of money
| Account keeping Is not difficult. and
| there are various metho DDS. Even n
simple. ruled blank book can be used
with separate columns for each item OF
/ expense. As bills are paid. the sum can
| he entered in it's proper column and the
hook balanced every week or monthly.
| Special account books also come, ready
| ruled. costing about cents. These can
| be secured at stationery stores. Some
| women like 20 keep accounts on cards
| especially II thev have some other form
| of card system in use.
Interest In Sales Slips.
Most women are very good buyers and
intelligent In their handling of money
| 1t Is only another step forward II they
will be business-like in recording theil
| expenditures. Not until We see facts ir
! black and white do we realize our ex'
! travagances. the unexpected sum we
| spent for this and that item, or where
we can economic. Each sales sliI
| from grocer or butcher takes on new in
! terest when we have to enter II. and we
| are more likely to notice whether the
| roast weighed five or seven pounds.
| Nor are we SO likely to let bills "rur
| up" or mistakes occur when we have