CHOOSING WHAT TO SPEND

People, and especially young people, need a certain amount of sweets in their diet. But when we know that the candy bill of the people of the United States amounts to $400,000,000 a year, that this is almost as much as the total amount spent for public education, that it is about double the amount used to keep Belgium supplied with food for a year during the war, or that it will buy 234 million bushels of corn at $1.70 a bushel, we may well think twice before deciding to spend MUCH money for candy.

TESTS FOR SPENDING

The few cents difference in the price of two articles between which we must choose, and the nickels we spend for immediate enjoyment, may seem to amount to very little; but the New York City street railways collected in a year $95,000,000 in five-cent fares, and the Woolworth Building in New York, one of the largest office buildings in the United States, was built from the profits of "5 and 10 Cent Stores." One thrift stamp a week amounts in five years to $65, and 14 cents a day at 4 per cent interest amounts in twenty years to more than $1500. In one of the "Ten Lesson in Thrift," the following "tests in buying" are given:

Do I need it?

Do I need it now?

Do I need something else more?

Will it pay for itself in the end?

Do I help or injure the community in buying this?

Do you have instruction in your school in home economics that relates to wise spending or buying?

If you do not have such instruction, apply to the home demonstration agent in your county (if there is one), or write to your state agricultural college, or to the States Relations Service, Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., for circulars or bulletins relating to thrift in buying food, clothing, etc.

In writing for such material, why is it an example of thrift to ask for ONE copy of EACH publication for your CLa.s.s or for your SCHOOL, rather than to ask for a copy for each pupil?

In what ways is thrift shown by having a cla.s.s committee write one letter making the request for the cla.s.s instead of having each member of the cla.s.s write?

Has any home demonstration work relating to thrift been conducted in your community? What methods were employed, and what results achieved?

Who in your family makes most of the expenditures for the family living?

For what items in the family living is most of the money spent?

What are some of the things that have to be considered in buying food? clothing? house furnishings? books? amus.e.m.e.nts?

Discuss the topics mentioned in the following statement of "values in buying" (from "Ten Lessons in Thrift"):

Food: nutrition, healthfulness, cleanliness, attractiveness, flavor, quality, price, economy in preparation (of time, strength, fuel, utensils), buying from bulk or in package, buying in quant.i.ty or small unit, buying for the day or laying in stores, calculation of portions, calculation of meals, varied diet.

Clothing: design related to material, color, and becomingness; style, durability; adaptability to fine or rough wear, to repair and remaking; suitability to season, health, occupation, comfort; home-made VERSUS ready-made; conditions of manufacture, use of child labor, the sweat shop, the living wage, health.

Make a study at the grocery of the relative prices of articles bought in small and large quant.i.ties: for example, laundry soap by the bar, by the quarter's worth, by the box; canned goods by the can, by the dozen, and by the case; flour by the pound, by the 25- pound sack, 50-pound sack, by the barrel; etc.

Make a study of the relative prices of articles in bulk and in package; for example, vinegar by the bottle and by the gallon; bacon in bulk and in jars, etc.

Why may it be economy to buy some food articles in packages rather than in bulk, even at a higher price? Give examples.

Which is likely to be more economical, to buy groceries by telephone or in person? To buy by mail order or at the store in town? Why?

At Christmas time the Park View community center in Washington, D.C., ordered 140 turkeys from a rural neighborhood center in Maryland. The turkeys were brought by the producers to the schoolhouse of the rural neighborhood, taken by a postal service motor-truck to the schoolhouse of the Park View center in Washington, and from there distributed to the 140 families. The city buyers paid an average of 15 cents a pound less than the price prevailing in the Washington markets, and the producers received 6 cents a pound more than the Washington markets were paying.

Why was there a saving to both producer and consumer in the above case? What costs of marketing were cut out or reduced?

What is the "middleman"? Does he perform a real service to the community? Should he be paid for his service? Why? Is it just that the middleman should be "eliminated" by cooperative marketing and buying organizations? Why?

Is there any cooperative buying organization in your community? If so, how has it benefited the community? If not, why? (Consult your parents, your county agent, and others.)

Get publications from your state agricultural college relating to cooperative buying and selling.

THRIFT IN MANAGEMENT

Wise expenditures depend not only upon knowledge of prices and qualities, but also upon good management, as in planning ahead.

One plan that has been the means of lifting many individuals and families out of financial difficulties and of enabling them to lay by as savings a portion of their income, however small the latter may be, is the BUDGET, which means the apportionment of expenditures according to a plan laid out in advance. No budget can apply to all families alike, but the following ill.u.s.trates the principle:

House (rent, taxes, insurance, repairs)........................25%

Food (all expenditures for the table, ice, etc.)...............30%

Clothing (materials and making, repairing, cleaning, pressing, millinery, shoes)..............................................13%

Housekeeping (labor and materials for laundry, fuel and light, telephone, supplies, and furnishings)..........................12%

Educational (school and school books, club dues, church and charity contributions, gifts, books, magazines, newspapers, amus.e.m.e.nts, medical and dental treatment)...................................6%

Luxuries (all items not necessaries and not coming under "educational," such as candies, etc.)...........................4%

Savings........................................................10%

Total.........................................................100%

Before a budget can be planned, and in order to know whether it is being lived up to, it is necessary to keep accounts of receipts and expenditures. With such accounts, it is possible to determine where savings can be made under some heads and where, perhaps, it is necessary or advisable to spend more.

Is a budget used in your home? Find out from your parents their reason for using, or not using it.

Could you use a budget in your own personal affairs?

Find out whether a budget system is used by your local government and your state government in apportioning expenditures.

How may we "budget" our time? Is the time you spend in school "budgeted"? Make a daily time budget for yourself.

When is clothing a necessity and when a luxury? [Footnote: This and the following topics are adapted from "Ten Lessons in Thrift."]

When is food a necessity and when an amus.e.m.e.nt?

When is amus.e.m.e.nt education and when a frivolity?

When is fuel an item in rent and when current housekeeping expense?

When are club dues education and when amus.e.m.e.nt?

When is vacation health and when amus.e.m.e.nt?