45 
[irerican Agriculturist, January 20,1923 
Who Should Carry the Family Purse? 
Some Say Ma, Some Say Pa, But Most Say Both 
T he answer from American Agriculturist 
readers has been very nearly unanimous. 
With a few scattered votes for “Pa” and, yes, 
about an equal number for a purse in the 
hands of “Ma,” the general opinion has been 
—make it a joint affair. 
Some say, have it a sort of double-barrelled 
affair which opens with equal readiness to 
the hand of either husband or wife. Some 
say there should be no pocketbook, but that 
the bank should receive all the money that 
comes in and, save for a little emergency 
change, yield it up only to pay bills by check. 
But whatever the method used the idea is 
the same. “Marriage is a partnership”— 
that sentence occurred so regularly that we 
came to expect it by the end of the first para¬ 
graph of each letter. And what is more, the 
letters went on to prove, by the personal ex¬ 
perience ■ and money habits of the families 
they represented, that the typical American 
farm home is indeed a true partnership, with 
the mother and father working together for 
the common welfare of all those under the 
home roof. 
But let them tell their own stories. First 
we’ll hear from two families, each of which 
represents a successful partnership of twenty 
years duration. In one case it is the father 
and in the other the mother who writes: 
“I read with interest the discussion on 
Who Should Carry the Family Purse. When 
wife and I were united in marriage, (it will 
be 20 years ago this 24 day of December) 
we became as one and have clung to that 
idea ever since, although there are seven of 
us now. We have but one purse—cream 
money, hog money, corn money, poultry 
money, and all that is produced from the 
farm goes in the same purse, and all the 
family draws therefrom. As I see it, this is 
as it should be, for the entire family is as 
one company, each one helping where he* 
can in the house, or out in the fields, girls 
and boys alike, father and mother the same. 
We try to teach our children that the home 
belongs to them the same as us; that wife 
and I are only president and vice president, 
and they are stock holders and all have one 
common interest.”—W. S. B., Ohio. 
“The question of who should carry the 
pocketbook seems to some a great problem. 
Father and I have been married 20 years. 
We have always used the same pocketbook, 
also had the same privilege of signing checks. 
The money we both receive from the sale of 
farm products, stock and so forth all goes 
in one fund to make up our income. When¬ 
ever we wish to purchase anything, we dis¬ 
cuss this together. I would no more think 
of buying new curtains than father would 
buy a horse until we have talked it over to¬ 
gether. We keep a little money on hand for 
our personal use. This is also for the son in 
High School and the son and daughter in 
the grade school. 
We have always discussed our financial 
problems before the children in order to 
teach them the value of money. After all, 
when a home is founded on love, money mat¬ 
ters can easily be settled between husband 
and wife.”—M rs. E. W., Ohio. 
Hearing* from the Younger Ones 
J UST to show that the younger genera¬ 
tion is not behind its elders in common 
sense and the ability to work hard and pull 
together, we’ll now introduce two young 
married couples. In both, it is the wife who 
finds the time to write: 
“I saw your question. Who Carries the 
Pocketbook?” in the December 16 issue, and 
thought perhaps you could use our little 
plan, which is working splendidly. We have 
been married a little more than two years, 
and find we must figure quite often to make 
our ends meet, and this is how we carry our 
pocketbook. All the money which comes in 
is placed in a box which we keep in a place 
we are both familiar with, and we both take 
out what money we feel necessary to spend; 
but first we consult one another as to what 
we are going to buy and then buy according 
to our decision: Then we have what we call 
a “housebook’ and what is spent for the 
house and for pleasure and general use is 
put down every day in this book. We also 
have a book called the ‘barn and outside ex- 
Marriage is a Partnership 
We introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. J. S. Clarke 
^of Forestside Farm. Steuben County, New York. 
’They were married 61 years ago last April and 
have lived for the most of that time upon Forest- 
side Farm where Mr. Clarke was born. Not much 
danger of any serious argument in a real partner¬ 
ship of this kind about <‘Who Shall Carry the 
Purse” or about any mutual problem. 
pense book,’ where we keep account of all 
things bought and sold from outside. 
Now in this way we are able to tell just 
how much we are spending a year and just 
how much is necessary to have on hand in 
case we would run short. I think it a 
splendid plan. Then at the end of each year 
we take inventory and see what outstanding 
bills and so forth are waiting, and are able 
to know whether we are going ahead or be¬ 
hind in any way. / 
We hope some one else would like to adopt 
our plan and run it as satisfactorily as we 
are doing, for we want to be honest with 
each other, and in this way we feel we are.” 
—Mrs. P. H., N. Y. 
“Yes, indeed this is an important problem 
for every family. This is the way we look 
at it. We rent a flat in a small village. My 
husband works about thirty miles from here 
and commutes every day. We are saving 
money to buy a home, (we want a small 
farm, about thirty acres of good land), so 
we both want to put in the bank every cent 
that we can spare. Every week, my husband 
writes out a check for my allowance, which 
we decided would be three dollars and a half 
a week for the provisions and my spending 
money. Sometimes I pay the electric light 
bill, which is a dollar or more a month. Of 
course that means careful planning to keep 
the house well stocked with groceries and 
necessities. This summer I bought fruit 
and sugar to can it. Last week we bought 
half a hog. My husband paid for it and I 
plan to pay him back out of my allowance 
this winter, as I will not have to buy pork, 
sausage, ham and lard. We expect to buy 
a quarter of beef also, and can it. My hus¬ 
band pays the rent and buys the wood and 
coal. Every two weeks when his check 
comes we send it right to the bank, then he 
checks out just what we really need. We 
find this a very satisfactory way. I am 
very strong for the allowance system for 
each member of the family, and then keep 
within that allowance, even though it be 
small.”— Mrs. M. P., N. Y. 
Sometimes a Second Start is Needed 
A WOMAN who has learned by experience 
the bitter 'results of an unfair system 
of handling money, tell frankly of her past 
unhappiness and present content in the hope 
of helping others just starting out: 
“As a rule a woman nine out of ten has 
the business in her and sees through things 
better than # man, as men as soon as they 
get a good start have a big eye and want 
everything they see. When we first got mar¬ 
ried we got 54 dollars a month—I was for 
saving, and saved a hundred dollars in fif¬ 
teen months. We had a daughter and I 
thought we could be cared for nicely. One 
day I told my husband where the money was 
and when I got around there was only $20 
left. I never said anything, but I could see 
he could not run his income. Like some 
women, he did not care to work as long as 
the money lasted. He then handled his own 
pocketbook. He got very selfish and I 
couldn’t get a dollar from him without his 
getting mad, and yet he expected three meals 
a day. 
Then I got mad and left him for a week. 
He asked his neighbors to phone me, and 
they told him to fetch his wife himself, which 
he did, and we talked it over and agreed to 
discuss it together when we wanted any¬ 
thing. We both handled the pocketbook and 
saved $1,000 in four years. We bought this 
farm of 70 acres, and now are happy with 
three little daughters, three horses, four 
cows, four pigs, 60 chickens, and are con¬ 
tented to stay at home with the American 
Agriculturist.”—M rs. R. B. N. Y. 
We must find room for two more letters, 
one a very jolly one, which shows that a 
sense of humor comes in handy in even the 
most serious matters; the other from a young 
woman who started learning thrift habits 
at the mature age of four: 
“Who should hold the pocketbook?” That 
is easy to answer. You should all have a 
joint account, just as we do. I told that to 
a friend once and he said his wife would 
bankrupt him in less than a year if he gave 
her a checkbook, and told her to go to it. He 
reminded me of a woman who was so sur¬ 
prised when the bank said she was over¬ 
drawn because as she said, “I haven’t used 
half the checks yet.” I can’t tell what my 
friend’s wife would do of course, but I can 
say that I haven’t been bankrupt yet be¬ 
cause of the joint account. In fact I am 
both glad and sorry to say. I believe my wife 
is a more economical spender than I am. 
If you are as nervous as my friend was 
about trusting your helpmate with a check¬ 
book, it seems to me that there are several 
remedies that may help you. First, don’t 
marry the girl you can’t trust with money. 
I presume that advice is too late for a large 
number of my readers, and it is somewhat 
difficult to follow at best, because there isn’t 
enough of the right kind to go around for 
everybody and even the wisest men have 
been known to make mistakes and the little 
lady who is so saving before she lands you, 
may be acting for your especial benefit. 
{Ccnitiniiedon pa(/e 49) 
