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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY PUBLICATION NO. 6 



terials had been poorly calculated with respect 

 to probable future income. The exact amount 

 of money possessed on February 10 was not 

 known. Just before the fiesta, Vicente said he 

 had sold $190.00 worth of white ware, and 

 about $100.00 of common. Later I saw the 

 sales receipt showing $188.50 for the white 

 ware, so assumed that his estimate for all was 

 approximately correct. During the fiesta — again 

 an estimate of the family — about $150.00 was 

 spent, mostly for clothing, for incidental enter- 

 tainment of visitors, and so forth. Assuming 

 that when the pottery was sold the family had 

 at least a few pesos, this led to the conclusion 

 that the balance must have been about $250.00 

 on February 10. 



The final exact balance was not known — 

 "Just about out," was Nati's expression. Since 

 the kitchen was full of pottery at the time, and 

 since a couple of hundred pesos of white ware 

 had been dispatched and the check expected dai- 

 ly, I did not feel the need of advancing more 

 money. With these known reference points, I 

 began with the balance of $2.40 on March 10 

 and worked forward and backward, with the re- 

 sult of $264.24 at the beginning of the period, 

 and $4.62 at the end. Disallowing the February 

 11 item of $25.10 entered as a maize expense 

 and pots income, which was barter, there is a 

 theoretical cash balance on the first day of the 

 schedule of $239.14, which checks very closely 

 with the estimated $250.00. The cash balance at 

 the end of each day is not, of course, something 

 which could be checked. Nevertheless, the entire 

 picture of finances for the 2-month period makes 

 a reasonable and logical picture, and, I believe, 

 shows rather accurately the day-by-day state of 

 family economics. Unquestionably, items of 

 both income and expenditures were missed, par- 

 ticularly some in which barter on a small scale 

 was involved. Nevertheless, these would seem 

 to be a very small percentage of the total, and 

 to about balance out. 



Eliminating the capital improvements, it is 

 seen that the average daily expenditure of the 

 family, including food and other necessities, and 

 the expensive glaze for pottery, figures out at 

 $3.44. 



Inspection of the expense sheet reveals an 

 interesting pattern. Except when the family is 

 really low on money, there is little relationship 

 between the cash balance and the expenditures 



— one spends what one feels like spending. 

 Likewise there is a tendency toward "grouping" 

 of purchases. Natividad will purchase meat one 

 day, it tastes good, and she will purchase it on 

 the following day or two, not to buy meat again 

 for a week or 10 days. Mezcal was purchased 

 on 6 days only, and 3 of those in succession. 

 Natividad had made atole, preferably taken with 

 sweet mezcal, and it had tasted so good that the 

 dish was repeated for 2 following days. Very 

 rarely is there an "every other day" or "every 

 third day" pattern in purchases of individual 

 items. 



Pottery was bartered for maize worth $25.10 

 and firewood worth $0.60, representing about 10 

 percent of all financial transactions during the 

 period. 



The total family income is estimated at 

 $2,530, or $506 per person. Of this, $1,600 

 results from the sale of pottery, mostly for cash, 

 though a small amount of barter also is includ- 

 ed. Wheat and maize harvests represent about 

 $400 each, beans $30, and other items, such as 

 eggs, chickens, and fruit, about $100. Probably 

 about 12 fanegas of shelled maize, 1,200 liters, 

 worth $270, are consumed by the family, and 

 a bit more must be added for livestock. This 

 is an average of 240 liters per person. For a 

 family which can afford all the food it wants, 

 this is a low figure. The explanation is that 

 much bread is eaten, and a good deal of the 

 wheat is made into gordas (wheat tortillas), 

 which partially take the place of maize tortillas. 

 Maize accounts for 11 percent of the entire bud- 

 get, and 24 percent of the food budget, in the 

 first case the lowest percentage of the cases studi- 

 ed, and in the second, the next to the lowest. 

 Relatively few beans are eaten, simply because 

 the family can afford more varied foods. The 

 average of 20 liters per person is again the low- 

 est of any family which can buy all of the food 

 it needs. Expenditures for meat, fish, fruit, and 

 sweets are relatively high, as would be expect- 

 ed. Probably $100 is spent in the course of the 

 year for milk, and $200 for wheat, eaten either 

 in the form of bread or home-made gordas. Food 

 represents 43 percent of the entire budget, the 

 lowest percentage recorded. 



Clothing is estimated at $475 a year, as fol- 

 lows: Vicente, $120; Natividad, $160; Gauden- 

 cio, $75; each of the two girls, $60. For Vi- 

 cente this means two new pairs of pants, two 



