Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1921-09-09
Keeping House
With the HOOpers


I'm glad we are to tackle the question
of budgets this afternoon" said Mrs.
Chaplin, as she took her sewing from her
workbag and settled herself comfortably
with the other club women for their
afternoon conference with Mrs. Hooper
because I've come to the conclusion
that I'm really only the clearing house
for the family bills in my household,
and that the fact that l have the en-
tire management Of my husbands salary
gets me nowhere at all. 1 run up bills
one month and pay them the next, and
If l have a cent of balance it is mere
luck, and it is more likely than not
that l find the sum total of my bills
more than my current income and I have
to economic the next month to make up
the deficit"
81 have the same trouble" Mrs. Camp
bell added my husband gives me an
allowance of SS5 a week to run the
house, and he pays certain bills and his
own personal expenses out of the SIS
week that he keeps himself. l keep
track of every cent 1 spend; my hus-
band is just as careful as l am and yet
we never know where we are from one
months end to another. Once in a while
we have a balance left over at the end
Of the month, and then something hap
pens and we pay it ell out in one lump
sum. We never get ahead, and know it
is on account of these unexpected de-
mands, and not because either of US Is
deliberately careless or wasteful. I'm
very anxious to give the budget system
a trial in hopes that it will be as sue
cessful as my experiment of scheduling
my time has been"
81 always have kept accounts, too"
said Mrs. Owen, "and I've been as
economical as possible, without being
able to save anything to put in the bank
out Of my husbands salary, but / have
kept out OF debt. 1 know perfectly we'll,
however, that there is no system about
my spending, and that the percent of our
income which goes for food is never the
same for any two months"
We'll" ventured the Bride. my hus
band pays all the bills. I just hand them
over to him, and he sends check from
his office, and outside of fling the re
.ceipts I don't have any housekeeping
accounts He gives me an allowance for
my clothes and my own personal needs
and l spend 1t as 1 please. The record
OF that In my account book, IL I kept
one, might read, Received $50 from Bob,
and then in the other column, Spent
1t an"
4nSN All lduSntu at hAio oNNCNAe ~
the Brides bookkeeping which Mrs
Hoover said was still a very prevalent
fashion of keeping household accounts.
''The main differences between just
keeping track OF your finances. the way
most OF you are doing" continued Mrs
Hooper. "and the new fashioned budget
system, is that in the old way you
simply record what you have paid out
after you have spent it and with q budget
you plan in advance, what is TO be spent
in the future. This plan also necessi-
tates that the husband and wife cooper
ate equally in carrying out the plan and
1t eliminates the allowance idea, where
the wife pays for two or three items. and
the husband manages the remainder OF
the income"
well. now suppose we begin on re-
organizing my way of living" suggested
Mrs Wright, land work out a budget
from the haphazzard system I've always
followed. get every cent of Mr..
Wright's two hundred dollars a month.
Some months l spend ninety dollars for
food. and then the next month the whole
family needs winter clothes, and If
don't want to go in debt I have TO cut
way down on the food until we all seem
to be starving. If I squeeze out even
at the end of the month, it is only
because I have run way down on my
food Observation-Disclosures to fifty dol
lars. I know it's wrong, but I've never
been able TO avoid it."
well, the first thing to do 10 straight
en- you out" said Mrs Hooper, sis to
appOrtion in advance the amount Of your
income that you ought to spend for
food clothing and your other needs,
for the entire year, because the idea of
budget is not to skimp or even to
save. Tut to establish a balanced system
of spending. The family expenditures
falls naturally into five divisions-food
shelter, clothing, operating expenses and
advancement. sixth division may be
made foF Injuries where the income per
mits Of it and a seventh for savings"
well then how can 1 tell what per
cent Of my two hundred dollars should
be spent on each of these items" asked
Mrs. Wright, dolefully.
Those percentages have all been fg-
ured out by experts" answered Mrs.
Hooper" and in applying them to your
own budget you have to take into con-
sideration not only your income but the
conditions that prevail in your own fam
ily''
Then each one Of us will really have to
work out an individual budget the way
we did our time schedules that the
idea?' inquired Mrs Owen.
Yes" replied Mrs. Hooper, "but If you
begin with typical budget, you can use
it as guide or pattern in outlining your
own. For instance, we can take the one
use for Sample. 1t Is as If you were
making a dress from a pattern which
only fits you perfectly after you have
taken In seams and darts to make it
right for your own particular figure"
L see what you mean," said Mrs Owen.
land for the next meeting we can take up
your budget as a type and outline our
own from that"
I'VE will begin then, with the item of
shelter concluded Mrs. Hooper-which
includes rent or its equivalent in interest
on investment if your property is owned !;
taxes, insurance, repairs and the upkeep
Of that property
The menu for the three meals on Sat
urday are:
BREAKFAST
Sliced Peaches