230 The Farmstead 



sure what is going to be needed by the family. 

 Over against the money saved in seeming a bar- 

 gain, must always be reckoned the time and 

 energy used in finding it, and the risks that its 

 quality may prove inferior, or that it may be 

 unsuitable when finally used. If a woman has 

 nothing better to do with her time and strength 

 than to hunt bargains, there is nothing further 

 to be said; but if she has, it is usually more 

 economical and more satisfactory to buy the 

 articles needed for definite use at a reliable 

 place and at a fair price. 



All the suggestions that have been made 

 imply accurate knowledge on the part of the 

 housekeeper. A thoroughly trained housekeeper 

 of long experience may possibly keep all the 

 household detail in hand without keeping books 

 of account, but it is absolutely impossible for 

 the inexperienced or unsystematic housekeeper 

 to do so. The mental training involved in keep- 

 ing an accurate account of family income and 

 expenditure is as valuable as a course in mathe- 

 matics. For her own self- discipline, as well as 

 for the better distribution of the family income, 

 every housekeeper should keep an itemized ac- 

 count. Until she can balance her account accu- 

 rately at the end of every month she has not 

 learned the a b c of thorough housekeeping. 

 After having learned to do this easily, she may, 



