Evening star., 1926-08-21
REAL ESTATE
BY CHASE G. WOODHOUSE.

BY CHASE G.. WOODHOUSE.
Home Economist. United States Bureau of
Home Economies.
The homemakers of the United
States. as group. manage one of our
largest business undertakings and d.
rect the spending Of many billions of
dollars annually. What can they
aearn from the business world? How
ran they improve their business meth
DDS? First. and ba SIC TO all other i'm
provements. they can maze plan for
spending the family income 10 fht best
advantage. This would mean not on.N
better household management D':t
also. perhaps. "A marGi'l for "Npondi-
lures on The worthwhile things of
life and money for Iator-saving de-
vices which would give the home
maker more time for the children. for
reading ANA for community activities.
Any budget IS q plan for future
spending. The f&mlT budget. the
budget of the notwithstanding plant.
the budget ot The I'nitej States COY
ernment. each dealing With very df
ferent amounts Of money, are All the
same in princin,".
No authoritv ,+.n supply Il budget
ready made Tharo is no such thing
as STANDARD iud@et. a 'one best
plan" fer s;eot.:;:-; = given income
Of family VIA certain number
Of children It ri2v help 20 know
what other people do ard to com
pare one spending p,aN with others.
but each family mus make lis oWn
budget. for each famiy has it's own
peculiar needs is own aims and
hopes. its own difficulties and re-
sponsbflites. 4 coed plan of spend
ing for one family with three chill
dren and an incnre .; s. 500 a year
might be n Vcry poo" plan for an
other amiy living In the same townA
with the same number of children
and the same income.
live Up to Your Plan.
First, ir Won can. get the whole
family Interested IT, as p group.
YOU make n plan ana try to live by
II YOU viii lie very likely 10 succeed.
However. if some members OF the
famil. are not Interested. start with
budget for YOUR own clothing and
for AL the household expenses over
which YOU have control. Later the
other members Of the family will. no
doubt. have to admit tina YOU are
doing hotter with a plan than with
ont one. and then VIII want to join
In and make budget for all of the
family expenditures.
In order to spend wisely you must
know what YOU have to spend. The
FIRST step in making a budget is TO
estimate YOUR income. Write down
all the sums of money YOU are fair
" sure nf receiving during the next
II months. from earnings. sales. in
terest on investments. and all other
sources DO not include here the
value of farm products used in the
household. The method of handling
them will he considered later on. In
making this list do not be too
optomistic. 1t is always easy to
change your spending plan TO ac-
commodate a larger income. but diff
f1cult to adjust it 10 smaller one
than YOU had expected to receive.
The next step IS more difficult.
List all the articles and services that
your family IS likely to need during
the coming year. DO This III IL Sys-
tematir WaE. covering one class OF
expenditure at time. start with
food. II YOU have no Very definite
idea OF what You have been spending
for this item, keep a record for
week or two. Examine the cost and
the type of article which you buy.
If you SOC places whore y"u think
YOU a~e cXtravagant. improvo yo,r
basis of this record plan what YOU
think YOU should spend for food.
On the farm much of the food will
be home grown. You will he az
careful in Your use of this as Of Your
bought food. but IN your budget.
your plan for spending. YOU are con
siderinS only the food which YOU ex-
pnCt TO buy.
Must Provide for Housing.
The burGet must provide for hous-
Ing. ON the farm II Il farm account
IS being kept, the household budget
need include under this head only the
one Item, repairs and improvements
on the house. OF course. taxes. water
costs. fire Insurance. interest on "A
mortgage and payments on principal!
all ente" Into the cost OF the amily
living. However. unless there Is
Clear-clit distinction between the
amount of each of these expenditures
that is incurred because Of the house
and Of the farm. respectively. the
simplest method is "a care for all
these items in the farm account
In the city. the one item. rent. may
cover ail expenses for housing. But
If you own yoNr house y"u viii have
to list taxes on the property. wafer
rates. fire insurance. repairs and per
ma pS Improvements, Iltt. y Nfill are
Still paving for the house. interest on
mortgage and payments on the
principal
In planning IA" expenditure for
clothiiic. make a separate i:e' for each
individual noting those 'iC'cS that
he or she has. those that WIZ ha need
cd In the course Of tha year. about
when they will i,e purchased. and the
amount that win probably 10 paid f"r
each article Remembers mat besides
new clothes old ones VII h2Ne TO he
repaired ard th>t tAer" "a. he cA-
pense fnr cleaning ""d t':- --.:.rg.
Next llSi the "Npt!si, it"- .or fHcl,
light. ,eleI hone. laundry. paid seIN-
Ice. household >uppi!-~ and al the
many lit" things Nor WA need Ia
run the hnHNe. New ite>uS % fUrn-
tmre ur furnishings aN.! equipment
may have - lac purchased or old
ones repajre.l You VIII tni i ea sier
20 get an accurate ~'i9lH'c il Won
make this llsf an1 I'll the n'hers In
considerable detail. orI""lyiee many
little things wi, I've forcntter ard no
provision made for them in your
plan.
There Will he expenditures f"r
health dentist doctor. Eyeglasses and
medicine Tn: is Il dfTru'' ;iom
80 foreca st bur yn1! caU make : rough