FOR THE HOMEMAKER FAMILY ACCOUNT BOOKS B. R. ANDREWS Chairman, Budget Committee, American Home Economics Association, Teachers College, Columbia University The Budget Committee is undertaking the collection of accurate records of family expenditures at various levels of income, and to this end wishes to determine upon standard forms for recording expenses. Below there is given a list of some of the available account books and cards, and there is appended a suggested account form which seems desirable for use in families making cash expenditures and not using charge accounts. Practically this suggested form will probably be most useful in families on small incomes under $1000-1200 a year, and as such it will be of especial interest to visiting housekeepers, charity societies, and others. This account form will be reprinted from the JOURNAL as an account book for twelve weeks expenditures with the title "Family Cash Expenditures-Week by Week." The committee hopes that teachers of Home Economics will secure the keeping of records by this booklet among families of small income and contribute the results to the Committee. Another prime problem is the keeping of accounts in the family where there are charge accounts. The Budget Committee asks that suggestions of card record forms for middle class incomes from $1200-2000 or more be sent in. By using the card record system for this type of family there will be a chance to compare the card and book methods in household book-keeping. The purpose of collecting household budgets is to learn the economic habits of the American family. We wish to know these habits so that with the scientific knowledge available we can help society to a more efficient and rational expenditure of its income. In order to analyze conditions, and to know how to increase the efficiency of family expenditure, we must know how money is being spent. The budgets collected must, as regards food costs for example, be accurate enough and detailed enough to serve as dietary studies. From the clothing budget we should know not only the amount spent by each member of the family for different types of clothing but also for the different clothing materials. There has been little said up to the present time about the universal bad economy in the use of clothing materials. The same accurate detail must hold true of other expenditures if we are really going to solve problems. The best way to get this data is to keep accounts in such a classified way that they can easily serve as an accurate study. The first step in this direction is to furnish the house wife with some system by which she can keep accounts that will give the desired result, and that will not only furnish the student with adequate material from which to work but will furnish the house wife definite data by which she can criticise her own expenditure and make her budget for the following year. It will also stimulate business methods in ordering and buying. With this end in view the Budget Committee is working out systems for the keeping of household accounts. Students are asked to plan to secure accurate records of expenditure in their parents' homes. FAMILY CASH RECORD-WEEK BY WEEK Members of The Social Work Committee of the American Home Economics Association have prepared the following form, which, as stated above, is suggested for use in families with cash expenditures only. Copies of it arranged for twelve weeks expenditures will shortly be available. In this pamphlet the page will be larger and the forms spaced conveniently. They will be prefaced by the explanations given on page 534. |