Tabor City tribune. (Tabor City, N.C.) 1946-1991, 1963-01-23
You Wonder Where The Money
Went: For Housing, Clothing. Rent
BY l.. {. HAMILTON,
Clemson Extension
Information SpecialiSt

Want to Know where your
money goes?
Elizabeth w. Potter. Glenn
son extension home manage
mcnt specialist, has some mild
surprises for people who can
be classified as average"
homemakerS.
Did you know, for instance,
II takes more money to Opcr-
ate the average home than to
make rent or inStallment pay
mcntS on the house itself?
About Is cents of eacn
family dollar, on the average,
is spent Tor heat, light, water,
furnishings, and equipment
Tor the home. This surprises
some people who think their
house payments take the big
geSt chunk of salary.
But only IA cents of tire
average family budget dollar
goes tor house payments, aC-
cordlng to the Agricultural
Research Service consumer
price index" Mrs. Potter say
The house and its operation
together make up the biggest
family cXpenditure-29 cents
of each dollar.
Food is second as family
expenditures go. But if You
think you're giving larger
share of your income for food.
you have another surprise
coming.
Consumers were paying %
cents of each dollar for IoCd
III l94T-i9. But today'S food is
only - cents. Food prices have
advanced about pcrcen.
during the last year. but rcla-
lively much less than other
goods and services"
Logically, clothing would
seem to take third place on
the family budget. But in act
ual practice this is not the
case. The average family
spends - cents of each dollar
tor transportation. Riding may
be fun. but it's costly. So II
takes third place as family
expense
Clothing. downgradcd -
fourth place. gets 10 cents of
the average family dollar.
Medical expenses amount %
cents.
The first five cost items ac-
count for 10 cents of the fam
lly'S dollar. After that a mis-
cCllanCuuS category takes d
penny here and d penny there
until the dollar is gone.
Family spending habits toll
low such rigid patterns. ITS
not easy to find place 20
econCm lze. One thing hat
plays havoc with budget Is
having to replace major pieces
Of equipment when no provI-
SlOnS have been made to do
50.
Suppose your refrigerator
quits or the washing machine
decides TO balk. Faced with "a
costly repair bill. you may de-
eide that the machine is nos
worth the cost. So you'll have
10 buy Il new one.
Days like this. which every
family experiences sooner OF
later. are guaranteed To- make
the CdlmcSt of persons toOs his
family budget out the window.
Mrs. Potter says such major
financial emergencies nigh; be
minimized by watching the
the machines life span" and
replacing them in staggered
fashion.
Ranges. rCtrigerdtOrS. and
trcezers are kept by average
homeowners about Is years.
If yours is older, you may On
pect reckoning sometime IN
the future.
Washing machines last only
about 10 years in most family
laundry rooms before they are
traded or junked. A dryer or
TV set may last from IL TO Is
years. But a family may keep
a sewing machine about 25
years
Mrs. Pottcr'S suggestions
may open the way to keeping
a portion of our money with
us for longer period. / sug-
gest one reason we can't Zig
ure out where money goes is
Its not with us long enough,
The Richard Gordpns visit
cd in Waxaw. N, C. Ci,irIr,y