Evening star., 1931-12-27

shoulders over lfle DQCgeL DOOk, past,
present and future
Budget books have taken the place
Of the proverbial 10 resolutions in the recent
style trend of being practical. OF course, every
breaks the regulations of the budget book
just as he did tie resolutions, but not SO often;
Furthermore, you can't ignore it for another II
months, after the first week.
You have got to be budgct-conscious every
day CT every week-that is, if you are fortu-
nate enough to have an income to budget
Happy New Year seems a mockery as you try
in vain to balance last years accounts that
wave too many red figs of warning at YOU
from the red ink column so you turn wearily
to the nice, clean new ledger that looks
guileless and hopeful without the blinking red
signs.
But all the while, Old Father Time looks
over his shoulder and wags his head wisely over
the pranks that the New Year youngster is 60
ing to play on you before you have disciplined
him properly And if you don't take him in
hand from the beginning, he soon will have
had his own way too long and another year
will have ended with alarming deficit
This appears to be inevitable in majority
OF cases, regardless of the size of the income.
recent investigation into the living expenses
and income of family groups in certain income
classes, revealed that a majority showed a
deficit which amounted to an average for all
families of S7.96 on incomes averaging 87.
These deficits were met with small additional
THIS is the time Of year when boastful 50 00G-
a-week figures longer prevaricate, but
shrink down to a cringing $500 $50. 1t is
no time to figure paper profits that might have
been; neither is there any hope that a whole
sale moratorium will be declared all debts.
The safest thing is to get acquainted with
your budget and stay on friendly terms with
it for the rest of the year.
Some people never trouble themselves about
budget boxes and accounts-so they claim
but, whether you do not, your income falls
into some kind of a budget system, anyway.
At the end of the year, you will have used
certain per cent of it for food, another portion
for clothing, and so on. Whether yours cor
responds with the average income budget de-
pends upon your habits and needs.
It might be interesting to compare it with
the budget figures of the United States ma
tional income of which investigation re-
veals some startling truths, A Nation with
combined personal income of S89419, ,000, 900
per annum should not have to worry about
keeping the wolf from the door, particularly
when it can afford to indulge % per cent of
it in luxuries waste ID per cent of it and invest
II per cent toward the return of further in
come.
No wonder American youth is the healthiest
and best developed in the world A food bill
OF more tlan SZOVUVOOo,UUU accounts 1or tnaC
and the money is well spent. Not all income
brings such satisfactory returns, however. Be-
sides the IA per cent of the peoples income
that is wasted. crime takes ga per cent, schools
receive only is per cent and churches O.75
per cent, making the cost of physical develop
ment Is times that of mental development and
33 times that of spiritual
low is this $8e,41s, 900 900 public income
apportioned by budget? In the first place.
after all the people of the United States spend
for food, clothing and other necessities, there
is social surplus of some $4,000, 600 900. This