82 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



repair. The matter of keeping the house clean should be looked 

 into more carefully than it usually is, as it means pleasure or 

 pain to the housewife. 



Aside from these points which help definitely in the choice 

 of a house there are such items as express, postage, car fares 

 (incidental), water tax, and other small expenditures which in 

 the aggregate amount to a surprising sum. It is in operating 

 the house that small leakages occur. As a rule, details are 

 neglected and the bills run up. A strict account kept of all 

 disbursements in this department will many times reveal 

 interesting means of saving without crippling efficiency. 



Fifteen per cent plus or minus is indicated in the ideal 

 division, and in all incomes of $1,000 or over it is practically 

 covered by that amount. 



Clothes. 



The same per cent is indicated for this department as for 

 operating expenses. Certain budgets indicate that more has 

 been spent than the 15 per cent, but these are individual cases. 

 One should buy with a long plan. By this is meant that one 

 winter certain pieces of wearing apparel could be bought, such 

 as a suit, two suits of heavy underwear; the second winter a 

 coat, and in place of the underwear, stockings and shoes. One 

 should be a good judge of textiles and should have in mind the 

 physical need and also the aesthetic need. It is a duty of all 

 mankind to look as well as possible. Neat clothes which are 

 well made, simple in outline and of good wearing material are 

 no more expensive in the long run than those which are untidy 

 in appearance, extreme in style and unsuited to the wearer. 

 Clothes should have a distinctive air. They should look as 

 if they were meant for the individual wearing them. 



Higher Life. 

 Twenty-five per cent in an ideal distribution of funds is set 

 aside for the mtellectual and emotional life, — to that which 

 contributes so much to our truest enjoyment. In this list is 

 included sums given to church or philanthropy, savings, which 

 may include insurance and investments, educatk>n, travel and 

 recreation. Papers and magazines, books, subscriptions to 

 concerts and the like could be credited to education. 



