Food and freedom

The special needs of the particular home under consideration, with provision for its development and protection for the future. In other words, one should take stock, as it were, of all assets and liabilities, invest the available 26 FOOD AND FREEDOM capital wisely in the desired home plant and its necessary equipment, plan a well-balanced bud- get, dividing the total annual income to the very best advantage, and never once lose sight of the fact that each new year should see the proposed "business" farther along the road in mutual happiness and wealth, always an asset to the community. This is a large order, possibly, but, with determination and the right method of ap- proach, it can usually be filled. With the available capital once properly in- vested in a suitable house, the next important move is to work out the best possible division of the regular income to cover expenditures for a certain interval. This division of income is spoken of as the "family budget." Clearly de- fined, "a budget is a detailed plan of anticipated income and expenditure for some definite future period of time, as a week, or month, or year; it is intended to control expenditures during that period." ^ A well-arranged budget includes five main items: food, home, clothing, running expenses, and personal development, with provision for the future — these items to be considered in the order given. Under normal conditions of living, ex- penditures for these items, in incomes ranging ^ Benjamin R. Andrews, Ph.D., A Survey of Your House- hold Finances. WHAT WE SHOULD KNOW 27 from two thousand to four thousand dollars, for an average family of three to five persons, have been planned on a more or less definite percentage basis, approximately as follows: ^ Food 30 per cent. Rent, or interest on home 20 ** Clothing 15 Running expenses 15 " Advancement, education, savings 20 " To what extent the percentage expenditures suggested can be followed will depend upon local conditions, the ages and needs of the various members of the family, and personal and social ambitions. An annual budget carefully planned, however, and put in effect on the first day of the home-making business year will more or less enable one to control expenditures in each depart- ment of living for that year. At least we can know within certain limitations what our ex- penditures are, and how we are prepared to meet them. With a budget well in hand, if it is not possible to make ends meet in one way, other methods will suggest themselves. Of all the items covered in the family budget, however, that of food combined with operating expenses, or the cost of running the home — which includes fuel, light, help, upkeep — is the most 1 Cf. Ellen H. Richards, The Cost of Living, chap, iii; also, John B. Leeds, The Household Budget, chap. vi. 28 FOOD AND FREEDOM variable and the most complicated. It is con- stantly affected by outside local and world con- ditions. It is, therefore, the most difficult to handle with the greatest consistent advantage to both the home and the country. Under the present disturbed conditions this is particularly true.