The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1921-12-09
.asv to clean and care for.

easy to clean and care for.
"The house itself must provide
comfort, enjoyment, and some privacy
for everyone. 1t must be sanitary,
convenient, and pleasant. ..
"a certain amount of money must
be spent for operating expenses, for
fuel and light, for keeping the home
and its furnishings in good condition,
perhaps for paid help.
"The family must have some recre-
alton. There must be books and
magazines, children must go to school;
there must be some allowance for
pleasure, gifts, and charity.
A family is not safe without an
emergency fund to draw on in sick
ness or unexpected need, so especial
provision for saving should be made
in the budget. In addition to these,
there are miscellaneous expenses, TOO
numerous to list, which one has TO
meet. Saving money by going with
/ out necessities is bad economy, but
to waste anything lessons our wealth,
| the wealth of our country, and the
wealth of the world. In other words,
when we waste everybody loses and
when we save everybody gains.
after deciding on the divisions
into which the income should be
made one must decide how much
shall be allotted to each purpose. One
must know what kinds of food are on
the market and what they should
cost, what clothing to buy and what
to pay for it, how much to pay for
;, house or apartment and how much
it should cost to run it. This knowl-
edge comes only through study OF
. markets and prevailing prices. Vari-
GUS people who have studied budget
ing have worked out arbitrary dlvl'
sions for various incomes.
Each family should make a bud
get that fits its own needs and then
keep account of expenditures accord
ingiv, but whatever way of keeping
accounts be used we should adopt one
that is simple and suitable to our
needs and keep the record consclen-
tiously. Comparing totals from time
to time with the budget shows one
how to avoid mistakes in the future
and gives one an idea often as to how
they can cut down some expenses in
order to have more for others, in
addition to being an available record
from year to year as to prevailing
prices. -,
'The children should have a gradu-
ally increasing share in the manage
ment Of the home, so they may learn
from experience what constitutes
good business methods in the home
The first step in teaching children
thrift is TO make thrift attractive by
showing them that it will mean more
money to invest, more things to en-
iov. more comforts, and more pleas
ures. A child must be taught four
things in the use of money, how to
earn and receive IL, how to spend IT
how to save. and how to give IL. The
home is the best place to teach these
as il offers an opportunity for daily
practice.
Thrift should mean choice, not
niprardliness. Getting what one
wants most. rather than doing with
out. II children are to spend wise
w they must have something TO spend
They should have a small allowance
as soon as they are old enough "a
handle the money out of which they
are required to buy certain things
for themselves: perhaps the smaller
articles Of clothing and school SUD-
plies. They can never learn through
our experience but must make their
own blunders and learn by their own
experience. They should be allowed
to help choose and decide what shall
be done with their part Of the fam
ilv money. They should choose q
thing because they want IL more
themselves. not because some one
else wants 81 more. Each child