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ALLOWANCE VERSUS CREDIT SYSTEM 
By Elizabeth Atwood 
=q)]| 1 is true ‘that the mind cannot give what it 
has not taken in” in some form or another. 
The child cannot learn the value of money 
if she never handles it, nor can she ever 
learn the first principles of economical spend- 
ing if she neither has the money to spend 
nor the advice upon spending. Neither can a woman learn 
how to buy economically, nor how to save if she always 
has her bills paid for her and never has any moaey to 
handle, so that she may learn how to save. In short, a 
woman without an allowance, be she rich or poor, is a 
very helpless, careless and, many, many times, a most un- 
happy one. 
A child’s idea of money is what is seen in return for 
certain expenditure. Not until he is four or five miles from 
home with his pockets empty of cash does he fully realize 
the value of a nickel. Nor are children alone, in this 
actual sense of money value. One should establish an allow- 
ance plan and adhere to it. I have started several times 
to do this, and the children (wise things) were very glad 
when their wants were again supplied from the family 
fund. ‘Why, we get along so much easier and have more 
money to spend,” they said, which was all too true. | 
Many parents have had this same trying experience. It 
is so hard to say ‘‘no” to your honest, pleading, brown- 
eyed boy, in whose hands your pocketbook is as safe as it 
is in your own. ‘There are so many lessons to be taught to 
a boy or a girl who is to dress and pay for his or her pleas- 
ure out of an allowance. Do you not know how hard it is 
to keep within a prescribed limit? Well, I do if you do not, 
you, mother, who has not suffered in this kind of training 
of self and of children. 
It is only through trying again, that we get training and 
experience. Every child ought to know through handling 
of his pennies, that ten cents make one dime and ten dimes 
make one dollar. After that the dollar will be cared for 
as worthy of consideration. A penny is so small an amount, 
and does not count “just this once.’’ Our children are all 
very willing to help spend the money which comes into the 
family; in fact, they seem to regard it as a right of theirs, 
which we ought to consider a privilege. It is a rare occur- 
rence when children are interested in the saving of the 
family income, even though it is to be for their ultimate 
gain. 
We only are to blame. Where did we make the mis- 
take? How could we have done better? Just by taking 
time and giving more thought to the training of the chil- 
dren and their spending of money, whether penny or dollar. 
If a child has an amount which is his very own, out of 
which some portion of his pleasure or comfort must be 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
HELPS TO ne 
TABLE AND HOUSEHOLD SUGGESTIONS OF INTER- 
EST TO EVERY HOUSEKEEPER AND HOUSEWIFE 
July, 1912 
e 
e 
paid, he is bound to value one cent out of his ten more than 
one cent out of your pocketbook. In a stipulated sum, the 
child’s right should be absolute, as are the consequences. 
Out of such an allowance all gifts should be made, teaching 
the reward of self-sacrifice in the pleasure of giving. 
Only a girl who has no fund of her own, knows the 
anguish of being without money, especially if all her com- 
panions have allowances. Her nature must be very easy 
and cheerful if she can stand this test. There is as much 
danger of a girl becoming a sponge as there is of a boy. 
If she has no money of her own her friends cannot bear 
to have her left out of possible treats or entertainments 
and they invite her to join them. ‘This is the entering 
wedge of many unpleasant qualities. Her sense of obliga- 
tion grows less and less and the one of right, becomes 
distorted. 
Every girl should beg of her parents to give an allow- 
ance system a trial, even though they may not believe in it. 
Many parents would do this gladly, would have done it 
sooner, only they did not think of it. The girl with an 
allowance should be very honest with herself, always keep- 
ing within the limit. If mother gives the allowance she 
should not work upon the feelings of Daddy if she does 
come short, for this will weaken will-power and encourage 
dishonesty. Moral fiber is in training and this will help 
its growth. Self-reliance is surely helped at the same time. 
An allowance wisely directed in its uses develops the girl 
wonderfully, though it may only be twenty-five cents a week. 
Whether a girl marries or not, this early training in 
wisely using an allowance is one of the best studies she can 
take up. Asa rule there are few girls given even a smatter- 
ing of a business training, and then later on men ridicule 
them for this lack. Where were the fathers when these 
girls were young? Probably they were paying bills and be- 
moaning the extravagance of women in general, their own 
in particular. I am not at all sure that these men desire 
to have their wives grow business-like. Fathers and hus- 
bands alike unite in keeping their women helpless in money 
matters. ‘They do not want their women to develop the 
business side of their characters. 
One writer puts it, that ‘““Masculine kindness to women 
is so tangled up with selfishness that there need be no sur- 
prise that there is some confusion regarding them.” They 
want to give everything, be responsible for everything the 
wife buys, for they are really very generous at heart, but 
they like to feel the dependence of their women, just as a 
mother loves to feel the clinging fingers of her baby learn- 
ing to walk. 
But how about the effect upon the wife? How about 
these women who are compelled to resort to tricks in order 
to have money, real money in their hands. It is all very 
well to run bills, but it is very pleasurable to pay for things. 
In fact, a woman with an allowance of twenty-five dollars a 
