THE ' OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SUNDAY HORNING. DECEMBER 20, 1908
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How Does
ence Compare With This
New Jersey Woman's Plan?
i 6 ES" remarked Mm Grace W.
Y Pitman, in an address before the
- New Jersey Coniresi of Moth
ers at Atlantic City, recently "I know of a
very nice little woman who keeps Herself, her
htithmA and ttvo rrowinr children well sup-
plied with food for $6 a week,
More than that, any woman with a
keen business sense can do as well -provided,
of course, she follows a carefully planned
system" "
Good-natured protest arose from all
parts of the hall; inquiries were hurled at the
speaker from every side. Miss pitman was
", don't mean, tf course, that the girl
who never brewed a cup of tea or made her
own bed before she was married could per
form a seeming miracle like this, but many
women can and do.''
f ft
r ? i
""Wi without lceboio to buy day by day.
OST bousewlvct." declared Mlsa Pitman.
Hrho livef In Faeiatc, N. J., "don't know
the value ot the penny. Tner don't know
bow to ave the pennlee and nlckele and
dime. '
Mil Pitman, who ha btied her eyetera of houee-.
hold eeanomlca upon a thorough atudy sten4lnc over
many year of living In varloue part Of the United
States, deelafea ehe will tnake tuoh teaching her life
work. Bhe will show fretting and extravagant wives '
the golden road to economy, she will shed the illumi
nating knowledge of saving and dissipate, the ig
norance which . darkens so many homes. Bhe will
teach people how to live on any Income, great or
small. ';".;--' "' ; ' ' ;- - . " i -
How, then, shafi a Housewife provide her family
tible .on a weekt a (
Miss-pitman has devised a system by whph all
expenditures are regulated on a percentage basis.
The average percentages for expenditures should be,,
regulated, she .estimates, as follows: . Rent, 17 per '
cent.; heat, i per eent.; light. VA per cent; food, IS
per cent; wages principally of the washwoman tt
per cent; Incidentals, including doctor dentist and .
medicine, J per cents other expenses, from soap to
darning cotton, 1 her cent; personal expenditure. In
eluding clothing, IS per cent; education, ztt per cent; '
religion. JO per cent, snd investment of surplus, 7H per t
cent " : ff - ; : " . ; -- . ,
According to this system, a man earning 125 ft
'month would expend, .after ti had been deducted for
his monthly carfare, 17 .per cent of his balance, or
$20.74. for rent; $4.88 for heat; $1.81 for light.' $34 ll
tor food; $10.87 for washing and domestlo assistance; -$M
for incidentals; $18.$0 for personals; 8.6( tor
operating expenses of the household; $ 18. 30 for re- ;
Uglon; $3.05 for education, and have $9.18 remaining '
for investment V . ' .' o'.'.y. . '
-- No matter what th salary, these percentages :
would apply. In various localities expenditures will
vary: rent will ba higher in the city than in the .
country, in which case if the pereentage for rent goes
up the percentage for some other expenses roust be
lowered. . - . '
"These averages," explains Miss Pitman, "are tioml-
rsl, and are be sea on investigations into the eost ot.
pend for their recreations on amusements that art
free free lectures and so forth.
"Howover, whon a family has worked out the eye
tern and arrives at the proper percentage, its beads know
just how much to spend for each need, to too penny.
Expenditures will be reduced to an accurate and un
failing system. I consider 11500 a pretty nice salary,
and a family of four can live comfortably Upon It
and save money."
Aflss Pitman's system allows 80 per cent of one's
salary for the physical life. Wives, mothers and daugh
ters certainly -could hot dress in silks upon the amount
allowed for clothing and pin mony But scores of
women, she says. Can dresa well on $7.16 a, month; many
men can do on less than this, while a reservation of $2
each for son and daughter will amply provide necessary
clothing.
Under this system, and on this Salary, there Is little
money to spend for education. On tnagasino at 10 cents
is not denied; 60 cents may be allowed for newspapers,
and 83 for musical lessons for the child. -
For food there is a calculated expenditure of 88 per
cent, of the income, or $84.16 a month, By practice and
experience this can be reduoed. Miss Pitman claims, to
about $4 a week. The housewife planning to keep house
systematically should begin, if possible; with an allow
ance of $10 a week.
The housewife. It is understood, is without money to
buy supplies by the wholesale; in fact. Miss Pitman has
found, it Is no less expensive for people living in apart-
Such arti
cle, as sugar and flour are purchased every other week,
regularly. Five dollars la allowed for the larger table
expense, including th cost ot vegetables, meats, etc
Basing her experience upon the average appetite ot a
family Of tour persons, Miss Pitman, for one week, sets
down a proscribed list as follows:
Coffee. 30 cents; butter. (0 cents; milk, $1.12; eggs, 80
cents; cereals, 10 cents; one a month, cocoa, 23 cents;
teas, 10 cents; salt, 10 cents; pepper, 10 cents; cornstarch,
10 cents: mustard, $ cents; lard, 45 cents. Supplies bought
one a month must be bought at different times tea the
first week, lard th second, salt snd mustard the third
and pepper and cornstarch the fourth. Every two weeks
there will be bought flour at 85 cents and sugar At 49
cents. Each week there is. a surplus, which must be
saved for expediencies, for fruit in preserving times and
such extra occasions ss th Christmas and Thanks
giving dinner. ,
"With this card system," explained Miss Pitman,
"there is a regular time for buying all food supplies. In
cluding the staples and supplies for the table each day.
It is ao arranged that the staple are bought at Inter
vals; it would be a mistake to buy all the sugar and
flour at ones. Starting with no money, in three years
the housewife will have accumulated a nice fund.
"Of course, to run a household on these lines means
that a housewife will have to get down and knuckle to
It But that is the only thing that counts for success.
Now, the housewife without a wholesale' fund will buy
, ... , . r , m - ft . .
MEAT53READt t J T. j v tt J - I
VEOETABltSfrq s As 5
JITTER 5gQ. jfo L3o -flol"""
: m miiz
B. POWDER .33 3T
cereal .io io lTTrtTo
COCOA
SALT .10 .10
PEPPER -IO
C STARCH" .10
MUSTARD .08 "
LARD 4S
WCEKL SURPLUS" 8 5" 7S 15 11$
TOTAtTOBtSPCVr
.WBtOWKltRS t j j
"$ IO. 10. I Q. 0. ' to,"
her eggs, say two dozen, each week. In the winter eggs
are dearer than in the summer, but when she has her
fund she will buy eggs when they ara cheap and pre
serve them for winter use. By this system the surplus
each month takes care of the needs of the season for pre
serving and canning and holiday dinners and guests.
"As a matter of fact, most liounewlves go in debt
at these times. Last year I made an inquiry among sixty-seven
butchers and grocers to And how housewives
stood after Thanksgiving and Christmas. They told m
that most of them contracted bills at these times that
required months to pay.
"What sort of meals, you ask. would one have in th
household regulated on this basis?'
"Tou will have good nutritious meals," declares Miss
s
TKANGE, isn't it, to think of millions Of
dollar that hare rio owners! , One is to ore
inclined to think of tie great." army of men
and women who have no dollars to speak of.
' Yet the fact remains that the felose of every
year sees a great ampnnt of "orphan" and unclaim
ed cash in this country as well as in ethers. Jut
how much there is has never been estimated ae
curately; so far as known, because it is a difficult
almost impossible estimate to make.
T
living of twenty families In twenty different sections
of the United States during a period of twenty years.
"Conditions vary in airrerent localities, and 17 per
rnt would be extreme! high rent for some sections.
while it would be, quite low !n the big cities. The
percentage for rent may have to be increased, for
instance, to S0M per cent, so soma ether percentage
must ha Invar. - - -
Where there, is a regular income a family canf a
craug the 'percentage basis In three . months, - but
where th ' income fluctuates It "-will require nine
months to strike the proper averages.. When the.
Income goes below $1600, down .to $600 a year, the
percentage tor expenditures for the Intellectual life .
must b pretty wau Umiiad and people must de-
, O GIVH an Illustration. When effort were be
ing mad to straighten the affair of th sus
pended Knickerbocker Trust Company in New
York city alt astonishing condition of affairs
was revealed. ' : :'' '
Notwithstanding th efforts of a force) of "sixty Or
more agents, aided W tho postofllc authorities, soan
880 persons who had deposited money In th bank
could not b locatad. '
' Their depoeita aggrgat4 In amount $700,000.
' Whn opening deposit accounts depositors are re
quested to glv their addressee. In looking up these
880 missing depositors th agents found vacant lota,
I : stables, stoneyards and 'almost anything- xcept resi
dences at a cumber t th addresses given. '
i in on instance a person to whom certifies! ot
deposit, tor more than $10,000 had been issued as far
back as 1884 had never been heard ot from th day
he placed his money in the institution.
;-, Alter a-search of considerable length agenLi lo
cated him in a quiet Connecticut community. He was
very weaitny man and was living a retired life.
. The agents declared that he had o much mon
that he had actually forgotten the $20,0.06 deposit-
wnicn is nara to oeiieve.
Nevertheless, there is a very large ' amount of
money, in the aggregate, lying in savings banks and
other financial institutions throughout th counts
which is ia reality without owner. .
In some states . such accounts pass Into th posses
sion of th stata after a certain number of years. In
Pennsylvania, tor uamol. the law direct th dluuw
sitlon of money of the dead or missing after their ac
counts have been inactive for thirty year.
This law was passed in 187f; it requires that offi
cers, of savings funds make returns of such accounts
to the state treasurer and turn over to that official
the moneys which thus escheat to the state
One ot the largest Institutions in the state since
the passage of the law has turned over something like
$35,000. Another, in one year, turned over $2400.
In a number ot states there are no legislative regu
lations Ilk in Pennsylvania, and financial Institution
sre considerably enriched by th " money . ot missing
depositors.
One such institution in an eastern Stat is said to
hav paid for a splendid new building largely jwltH
money in its vaults .that bad no owners, or, at least
Don that could b found.
It is not to be Inferred that financial institutions, a
'a rule, hold and Use the money of miasm uetwiurs
with dishonest intent Most of them make earnest en
deavors to locate the owners of accouuts. tsoumimes -accounts
get into the missing owners' list in singular
; way. .-.
Some Um ago a prominent savings institution un- -earthed,
after considerable search, a man who had
$200 on deposit there and knew nothing of his good
fortune.'' It seems the money had been placed there in
his. name several years before by a relative, but the
relative had neglected to inform him of the fact. a .
A great deal of money in the aggregate escheats
to various state treasuries each year from estates of ;
people who dl without heirs. As a general thing the
separate amounts are comparatively small, but now
and then a fortune of considerable slse goes that way. .
Only a little while ago the newapaper told of
$16,000 that was lying in a Philadelphia . bank vault
waiting to be claimed by a soldier of fortune, a man
who had been rich in British South Africa, had lost
hlaf estates In the Boer war and had drifted to ''ottS'-.
countries since, at on time being a conductor on
New tork-Coney Island trolley car. The money comes
.from th BritiSn government to ropay jn k;
losses on his estate, for several months earnest efforts,
to And the man proved unavailing.
Pitman. "Take the average breakfast for four you can
have cereal, a boiled egg. toast or brsad and coffee.
There will be two quarts of milk- a day, which will be
ample. For diuner there will be soup, chopped steak,
rice, carrots or som other vegetable, wafers, chees
and coffee. . ,
"Now, living on $10 a wek the allowance for' th
beginner you will not be able to afford the choice cuts
of meat, but you can affdrd the most nutritious.. The
housewife must make ber own soups; she will not be
able to afford the canned soups, , Soups can be made
from bones and meat in the stock pot In which sh,wlll
keep an the odds and ends of her meats.'
"Not very often wilt she afford a pot roast, rib roast
top sirloin or rgund roast Poultry must b entirely cut
out, except for special occasion. She can have pork
once in a while, and, Ot course, sh can get good chopped
beef and soup meats. .. -
"Th housewife should select her own round Steak
at the butcher's and hav it chopped; she should never
buy the prepared chopped meat. Su will, of course,
buy the vegetables that are in season; rice is cheap;
carrots snd similar vegetables are low In price. She
must watch to markets and uy the cheap vegetables.
"By careful buying and an economical use of things
a family can easily cut down expense for food to $
a week. As I saldj experience is necessary. Upon this
basis there won't be much cream, nor desserts for that
matter. For desserts th housewife can well get fruits
and remember th fruits a they coma in season. Rica
can be used often instead ot potatoes and bean instead
Of meat. Many foods are cheap, but nutritious.
Miss Pitman has also formulated a system for per
sons living on allowance and for wag earners. Chil
dren, maintained by their parents, she declares, should
be given money to spend, and taught Its value.
From 10 to 15' they should glv an account of their
expenditures to their parents and bgin to make small
Investments. The system for persons living on an al
lowance, which includes children, provides 7$ per cent
of their Income for the physical life, and 85 per cent
for the intellectual, which includes religion, education
and investments, " 1 1 , f ; 1
When the child begins to earn money it becomes
k wage earner, and should expend it wages according
to a regular schedule. About tS per cent, of children.
Mies Pitman 'said, leav high school to Cam their own
living. A personal account should be kept of all ex
penditure., so that when the child grows up it will
have th training and will know the value of th
penny.1- .-; s;r ' V ...: '.'"..'s; ;;; ,
A wag earner should average 13 per cent' of the
income for board, 2 per cant, tor-clothing and per
sonal expense. 5 per cent for wages of helpers, 5 for
Incidental expenses, 10 for religion, i tor education and
10 for investment. With moat persons, Mlsa Pitman
says. It takes twenty to thirty years to work out the
problems of life. , - '.
RESULTS OF INVESTIGATION
An Investigation into the cost of living of families
with varying incomes was recently made by a special
committee on the standard of living of the iJchool ot
Philanthropy, in New York, which showed interesting
revolts. Three groups of people, one earning an aver
age income of-fTom $6U0 to $700, another earning $70v
to $800 and another $800 to $900 a year, were taken,
and the expenses of each group for rent carfare, fue.,
furniture, insurance, food, clothing and education aver
aged. It was estimated that a family with an Income ol
850 a year averages 25 per cent for rent, 44 per cert
for food, etc. in all. 85 percent, for four Items food,
clothing, light, fuel; 2 per cent tor education, recre
ation, dues to societies, and 12V4 per cent for heaHh
insurance, furniture, carfare, meals away from hsst.,
and miscellaneous expenses. ...
It was found that tha average expenditures of f
first group, with an Income of less than $700 for r; 1
was $154. food $270, clothing $91. fuel ana Usui $ ,
Of the second" group, wun an income 01 ir imtu
ren
$3
$900 rent
K a JlorcJInr to Miss Pitman's plan, a
Income of $00 would avrag per year;
$252 for food, $135 for clothing anl p-ri
and 149.DU ior in ,
However. 1 na o" n
the second-group, w in an "V." ,""""
t lis, food $320. clothing $102 and ful an l i
1 and of the third group, with an Income ) t t
JoJSfnt 817. food $245. clothing $112 and fuel .
fairiHv wit
8U.1 f.r
B $ nr In.
creases the cost of living aoev i: i'i nr
costs-the poor more to live, fomiuoi ivf v 1;
rich. One can get a better apart -int 1 'r
comparatively, than for $li. wh.e I.
laborer earning $1 a day. In rr.'M; -r' ,
below that of a man earnlns $j to 1-j a v