Evening star., 1928-04-08
GENERAL ECONOMY
BY BARBARA BROWN.

During the World War, when the lay
men in their thousands became officers,
with handle to their names. one of
the favorite jokes among the women
was the following:
mo, my dear, / can't lunch with you
today, / am having the general" Then
In answer to the ready, General who?"
why, general housecleaning, OF course"
Well, we are still having 1t. but only
at stated intervals Of time. so general
housekeeping in the ranks of house.
keeping must give way to one far might
Ter than he, for ever present in many
homes, and at all seasons of the year,
general economy rules the household.
Schools and colleges deal with this
| subject, but, Of necessity, in the ah-
stract, because for every family the
problem of economy becomes an indi-
vidual one, and must In consequence
be solved by each family, individually.
| In spite of the fabulous wealth Of this
| country, for the majority OF the people
| living in 1t, the question Of economy
| must be considered in their daily living.
| Where there is but little money avail
| able to care for the yearly growing
needs Of family. there must be prac-
ticed what we call rigid economy for
that family to exist.
| Where money is more plentiful. 1t Is
only the part of wisdom to be careful
about the spending of it. And always.
| to repeat, there arises, in both cases,
the need for doing this.
| We know, too that the family which
has $4,000 year is prone to envy the
| family which has S5 900 land SO on up
the scale), but the fact too often Is true
that the family with the smaller
amount Is getting as much for its
money as the one with more. For 1t
really isn't so much q question Of what
| you have, or have not. but rather Of
how you use your money. whether you
waste it, or spend it wisely TO care for
| your needs; a question of whether gen.
eral extravaganza rules in your home, or
general economy.
It Is funny how so many men and
women viii admit that In order to make
a success of business it must be run
| on well worked out, well ordered sys-
tenn, and then when questioned about
the running of their homes will con-
| fess they live in a helter- -skelter fashion.
with no plan at all Of managing.
1t is true that the people who scof
at budgeting or boast that they cannot
be bored counting and accounting for
the dollars that they spend are the
4
| with debts, while the families which
from the very first. have recognized
the need of studying and applying a
| system to their housekeeping problem
are eventually the successful ones.
The first year that a young couple
start out, indeed as soon as the honey
moon is over, they should sit down
and plan and apportion their finances
to their needs. The wife should be
given a certain per cent Of her hus-
bands salary every month TO be used
to cover the definite. steady. items she
is to take care of
Generally her big job is to look after
all the household supplies and ex-
| penses and to buy her clothes She
should recognize that she is the trusted
agent of her husband. and when she
does. and is. she begins to be worthy
Of her trust Immediately. for in nine
cases out of ten she proceeds to build
up a safe financial structure that goes
far to account for the subsequent sue
cess that they achieve.
Educated women. the majority Of
them, anyhow, are willing to shoulder
responsibility; they take pride in man
| aging. and they have capabilities in
domestic matters that cannot be
fathomed by mere man.
To begin with they must be made
partners in the business of living. The
assets and liabilities that are going
| to be the particular layout Of an in
dividual couple must be studied and
comprehended by both parties. and gen.
eral economy put on guard at the door
II they want 70 climb the financial
ladder. Granted too. that 1t Is a
ladder which many a man viii be un-
able 70 climb high on. because only
| certain few possess what is called
| "the money-making instinct" still for
| the majority. who viii live or die on q
| salary. TO know how to spend that
| salary will mean for them a life of
freedom and happiness.
Unfortunately, there are many rest
less, impatient people. young and old.
who in a feverish desire 70 arrive
overlook the fact that they must train
and run the course required. and who.
| therefore, when the victors come
happily down the final lap. ind them