HOUSEHOLD ACCOUNTING. 



MISS LAURA COMSTOCK, EXTENSION PROFESSOR OF HOME ECONOMICS, 

 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, AMHERST, MASSACHUSETTS. 



Mrs. Lucas^ has said that "in olden times women thought 

 and thought and thought before they spent, — now women 

 often spend and then think and think and think." If this is 

 true, how may a change be brought about? By convincing the 

 homemakers of their responsibihty with regard to the expendi- 

 ture of funds; by showing them that homemaking has in it all 

 the elemental features of a true business, and that to succeed 

 in it requires the best of training. 



Contrast the present-day housekeeping with that of fifty 

 years ago. Have the keepers of the home made as great an 

 advance in their business as the farmer, for instance, has in 

 his? If not, how may this be remedied? 



Organizing ability is one of the requisites. The routine of 

 housework in the least time and with the least energy can be 

 accomplished only after much study, but that is not all; the 

 responsibihty of spending much of the income also rests upon 

 the housewife. This is one of her greatest problems. To 

 succeed she must view the question in all of its phases before 

 spending a dollar. In other words, a budget should be made 

 and lived up to as nearly as possible. 



When a home is started there should be the utmost frankness 

 in the discussion of the standards to be maintained in that 

 home. It is taken for granted that there will be certain ideals. 

 These ideals will undoubtedly change from year to year, — 

 grow higher as the lives of the homemakers enlarge. These 

 changes will affect the way in which the income is spent. More 

 money will be devoted to one purpose and less to another. 

 Certain standards will be felt to be absolutely necessary to the 

 home life. True co-operation must exist from the first, so that 

 no differences may later arise to shatter these ideals. When 

 both husband and wife fully realize what they wish to express 



1 Lucas, Bertha J. R., "The Woman who spends," p. 12. 



