The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1930-09-19
TAPPING
THE HOUSE
BUDGET
BOX
By ETA WEBB
&c by D. ]. Walsh.p

Ellen REID stared into the
- box, surprise and dismay de-
lineated on her charming
young blond countenance
Yesterday h little compartment la.
beled "Incidentals" had contained
money. This morning it was empty.
And the man was waiting for his pay
Tor the cute bridge lamp she had or
dered sent home from Kent's. Joe
mad simply rifled every cent out of
"lncldentalS." No, she could not say
rl1ed, for when they agreed to run
their finance according to the budget
system they had placed no restrictions
on each other. Economy was their
Watchword. Helen felt she had prac-
tlced economy faithfully. But she
Just had 70 have that bridge lamp.
1t was a bargain at $3.50.
Just one thing to do under the cir.
cumstances, and with a sigh she did
it. She took $3.50 out of the house
payment till. That was the only till
that still was left untouched. She
could replace the money later.
Connected up with the floor socket
nearest the library table, the lamp
was warranted to throw just the right
light on the pages of Joe's book as
he sat hunched up in his ~favorite chair
reading. Other times it would serve
TO illuminate the cunning new bridge
table. which had been another of her
recent purchases. Julie and May and.
Peggy were coming in for a game that
afternoon and she would for once have
her lighting just right. That was an
other thing; she'd have to get some
candy; you can't play bridge all aft
ernoon without something to chew on.
That meant another 60 cents. Helen
took 60 cents out of the fuel till. In
place of the money used she wrote a
couple of 1. o. US. All the tills con.
tanned l. o. US. And pay day was
not yet. The budget box seemed to
be in : muddle.
Helen put on her hat and coat and
went out TO do a bit of marketing.
AS the food till was practically empty
and the contents of her purse low, she
took a bill for the meat and vege-
tables. She paid for the candy, Sc
lecting it with a view to what the
girls liked-chocoIates for Peg, minis
for Julie, jordan almonds for May.
On the way home she ran in to see
Aunt Alice for a moment.
swell, how's the budget behaving?"
asked her aunt
Helen colored. Rather unruly some
times, I'm afraid" she confessed.
You'll need a firm hand and a
steady head" Aunt Alice, stout. gray
and calm, looked at the girl while her
capable hands continued to keep her
crochet hook flying. 81 never tried the
budget system myself. I just take
whatever your uncle Ed sees fit to
hand out to me when Saturday night
comes. And l make it do. You've had
a fine business education, Helen, and
two years cf practical experience in
an office. Figures shouldn't bother
you any. Or Joe, either. While we're
talking of money, l wonder if you
want to give something toward Mr..
and Mrs. Warren's anniversary pres
emf. They're going to celebrate their
golden wedding. The friends are go
ing to put together and get them a
radio set"
"How much shall / give, Aunt
Alice?"
That's just as you feel. Most ev-
erybOdy gives q dollar al least. But
less will do"
Helen opened her purse. She had
known the old couple all her life. She
did not want to seem stingy. Her
purse contained just two %one-dollar
bills. She took them both out and
laid them ON. the table. Zone is from
Joe and one from me-" she said.
She returned home very thoughtful.
When pay day came and they again
replenished the budget box. she would
put her foot down hard on such cas-
ual expenditures as she had been
making. And she'd see that Joe did
likewise.
By the way, what had Joe wanted
extra money for this morning? He
had already taken out a sum suffi-
cient to cover the expense of down.
town lunches and a haircut. Her
brows knotted as she pondered this
question.
The little cankering doubt stayed
with Helen all afternoon. She played
bridge badly. And afterward. when
the girls had gone home and she was
cooking dinner, she scorched the meat.
Her mind was on that budget box ev-
cry minute. Where did the money go?
Joe earned a comfortable salary ; they
were keeping up the payments on their
home and insurance, but still some
thing was wrong. The money appor-
toned TO the tills of the box van