The New York herald., 1921-05-01
Time Budget Makes
Housekeeping Easier

An Increasingly large number OF
housewives are managing their house
hold expenses according to the budget
system. 1t is not so much that they
want to cut down expenses, but to ap-
portion them so as to get the right bal
ance In living.
BY keeping an account OF the money
you spend on food. for instance, you can
then compare It with the amount that
experts have found to be the fair
amount for persons with your income.
If you find II is far below the figure al
lowed then you maya conclude that you
are not setting as good a table as you
should. If It Is far above then you
may be sure that you are depriving
yourself of other necessities and luxuries
to which you are entitled. II may be
that you are living In less pleasant
quarters or that you spend less on what
is known as ''the higher life"-books.
travel and amusement
So much for the money budget
great many women now have adopted
this system who did not even know
years ago. They know just what they
should spend on clothes. food, shelter.
sav1igs &C.. and they keep approximate
ly to this amount.
But how many OF US keep a time
budget2
Time Is money no less In the house
hold than in the business world.
II Is perhaps harder TO make up your
time budget because there is less help
TO be obtained from experts on the sub
Ject. But little thinking and observa-
tion ought to make it possible for you
to make your own budget in this
regard
For Instance, II you keep house with
only the aid of a woman one day n
week and a sewing woman who comes
perhaps on an average of twelve days
year. then there is a certain ideal
time that you should spend on house
Keeping, sowing, cooking, cleaning and
the other sorts OF work. This Will vary
according to the size of your family.
whether or not the man of the house
takes his midday meal at home. " ath-
er or not he contributes of his time 10
the house tasks.
For instance. IL you daily prepare
meals for four people you should know
Just about how much time you ought
meal. You should know how much
time you ought to spend on the clean
ing. on the washing or ironing. on the
mending &c. Just because you like 10
cook is no reason why you should feel
that you are entitled to spend two or
three hours in the preparation OF every
dinner. You should always bear In
mind that 1t is hardly worth while 10
spend an hour to save ten cents. for
this reason sometimes the preparation
OF cheaper cuts OF meat or cheaper
vegetables Is not an economy. IL You
have to hire woman by the day TO
do your weekly mending SO that YOU
win have time TO save possibly a dol
lar n week by using cheap materials
instead Of more expensive ones In meal
prepar ration. then you are not acting
wisely, because the mending woman
surely costs more than the dollar that
you have saved.
Another thing that you might bear IN
mind is that the larger the family and
the more help you have the longer you
may feel free to spend on any one sort
OF work I'm the house. For instance, ~
there are several women In the home,
and you daily prepare dinner for eight
or ten. then II is worth the while or one
of these women 10 spend MS much two
hours In the preparation of one meal.
A good way 60 work out this budget Is
to get TO work with a pencil and paper
| making a little chart to represent the
/ davs of the week and tho hour sof each
dav. The chart will look like the sort
\ of schedule OF classes that you used to
4 make out in school to show you Just
what lessons you had every day.