FARMERS' MONTHLY OF HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 



HOME MAKING 



PLANING YOUR FAMILY ' 



EXPENDITURES FOR 1927 



The homemakers of the United States, 

 as a group, manage one of our largest 

 business undertakings and direct the 

 spending of many billions of dollars an- 

 nually. What can they learn from the 

 business world? How can they improve 

 their business methods? First, and basic 

 to all other improvements, they can make 

 a plan for spending the family income 

 to the best advantage. This would mean 

 not only better household management, 

 but also, perhaps, a margin for expendi- 

 tures on the worthwhile things of life, 

 and money for labor-saving devices which 

 would give the homemaker more time for 

 the children, for reading, and for com- 

 munity activities. 



How to make a budget or a spending 

 plmi : — 

 First, if you can, get the whole family 

 interested. If, as a group, you make a 

 plan and try to live by it, you will be 

 very likely to succeed. However, if some 

 members of the family are not interested, 

 start with a budget for your own clothing 

 and for all the household expenses over 

 which you have control. Later the other 



how much money you have spent, but how 

 you spend it and what you get for it that 

 is important. Your object is not a set 

 of balanced books, but information as to 

 where your money has gone, in order that 

 next month and next year you may spend 

 it to better advantage. 



The second budget. — At the end of the 

 year after you have completed your sum- 

 mary and compared it with your budget, 

 look over the details of your record, see 

 where you made mistakes, where you did 

 well, and knowing these facts, make a 

 budget for the next year. The best way 

 of going over your record is to ask your- 

 self questions. Put yourself through a 

 regular examination in regard to your 

 habits and your methods of buying. The 

 questions on page 6 may be helpful for a 

 beginning, but you know yourself and 

 your situation better than anyone else 

 can and will soon think of other questions 

 more suited to your needs. 



Why have so few homemakers budgeted 

 .their expenditures? Perhaps first of all 

 because they have not realized that part 

 of their work is the management of a 

 business, that one of their important 

 tasks is the handling of the family in- 

 come and that the success of their many 

 other activities depends largely upon 

 their success in doing this well. They 



which became effective January first. 

 Miss Cora M. Winchell, professor of 

 Household Arts, Columbia Teachers' Col- 

 lege, says in recommending Mrs. Herr: 

 "I cannot recommend Mrs. Herr too high- 

 ly for the position of Home Demonstra- 

 tion Leader in Massachusetts. She has 

 had the contacts and experience here 

 which give her a good background and, 

 having been a mother and homemaker 

 for 18 years, she is well fitted for the pos- 

 ition". 



The new leader was graduated from 

 Columbia University in 1920 and received 

 her M. A. degree in 192.3. She special- 

 ized in Household Arts, Education, Nu- 

 trition, and Child Welfare. For six 

 years Mrs. Herr was in.structor in House- 

 hold Arts Education at Columbia Teach- 

 ers' College and the pa.st year has been 

 instructor in methods and supei-visor of 

 practice teaching in Home Economics. 

 She has also had considerable experience 

 in organization and supei-vision of 

 mothers' groups. 



member of the family will, no doubt, have | j^^^^ j^j^ ^^^^ ^^le discussion of money 

 to admit that you are doing better with a i j^atters should not take a prominent 

 plan than without one, and then will want ' ^j^^.^ ^^ ^^le home. But only when money 



matters are well handled do they occupy 

 their proper place in the background of 

 family life. Badly managed they take 



to join in and make a budget for all of 

 the family expenditures. 



Hotv to record your expenditures: — 



One of the best ways to start keeping 

 account of what you spend is to have a 

 good account book. There are many such 

 books on the market. Some have the 

 headings all written in for you. If you 

 prefer that type, the "Household Budget" 

 put out by the Society of Savings, at \ 

 Cleveland, Ohio, and sells for fifty cents, 

 is very good. Another type has no head- 

 ings and you can fill in the headings that 

 fit your own needs. For this kind the 

 Phoenix Mutual In.surance Company, of 

 Hartford, Connecticut, issues a very good 

 one, which sells for twenty-five cents. 



Do not make your recording of expen- 

 ditures a family nuisance, the main sub- 

 ject of conversation at the evening meal. 

 If each member of the family has an al- 

 lowance to cover personal expenditures, 

 all that need be entered in the household 

 record under the heading "personal", is 

 the amount of the allowance, once a 

 month. Each individual may keep his 

 account of the details of such expenses in 

 his own book. This will be good train- 

 ing for the children and will save the 

 grown-up members of the family many 

 aggravating minutes of questioning. 



Your record of expenditures is not a 

 formal account book. Do not waste time 

 in accounting for every penny. It is not 



the center of the home stage. 



Many homemakers excuse themselves 

 for not having a plan for spending by 

 saying that they are poor at figures. 

 Figures are not the important thing in a 

 budget. It is not a matter of addition 

 and subtraction. It is a matter of decid- 

 ing upon what type, quantity, and qual- 

 ity of articles and services to spend one's 

 income. It is not the figures that most 

 homemakers really di.slike; it is living up 

 to a standard, watching bad habits of 

 spending, and being careful. But, after 

 all, being careful in little things in order 

 that the more important things may be 

 enjoyed is not such a hardship. 



County Home Agents Have a 

 New State Leader 



Mrs. Annette T. Herr of 

 Teachers' College, New York, has been 

 appointed to fill the position of State 

 Leader of Home Demonstration Agents. 

 The position has been vacant since Sep- 

 tember seventh, when Miss L. W. Rey- 

 nolds, former leader, resigned to take up 

 her studies at the University of Chicago. 

 ■ Mrs. Herr, who is a Pennsylvanian by 

 birth, comes to Massachusetts highly rec- 

 ommended for her new appointment. 



QUESTION AND ANSWER COLUMN 



Conducted by May E. Foley, State 



Nutrition Specialist 



"SHOULD STOLiT PEOPLE USE MILK" 



"Yes, by all means, and particularly 

 skimmed milk and buttermilk. Remem- 

 ber this does not mean cream! Cream is 

 very fatening. Milk contains valuable 

 minerals and vitamins which none of us 

 can afford to be without. Children 

 should use a quart a day and adults a 

 pint, whether overweight, underweight, 

 or normal. 



"Are bananas harmful for children?" 

 "If bananas are ripe, that is, if they 

 show no green at either stem, and have 

 little flecks of brown all over them, they 

 may be safely eaten. They .should al- 

 ways be carefully chewed, otherwise they 

 will lie in a hard mass in the dig:rtive 

 tract and cause trouble. For young chil- 

 dren it is better to mash or scrape them, 

 or serve them stewed or baked. 



"Is it all right to eat white bread if 

 we use plenty of vegetables?" White 

 bread is a good food, but we must re- 

 member that it is low in minerals when 

 compared with whole cereal breads. On 

 the average a whole cereal contains 

 Columbia double the amount of mineral matter that 

 we find in any refined cereal food as 

 white bread. We need minerals for bones 

 and teeth and for maintaining the body 

 in good health. There is no cheaper and 

 easier way to get them than in whole ce- 

 real products. So regardless of what 

 else we eat, it is well to eat a dark bread 

 or dark breakfast cereal at least once 

 during the day. 



"What is meant by a protective diet"? 



