I love that the “financial authority” here is a woman. Who knew that a woman could be recognized as such in 1953? But in paragraph three she uses the male pronoun. Ack. One step forward and two steps back. 

Today you may be taking in the highest income you’ve ever earned. Yet, if you’re like millions of others, never before have you fretted so much about making your income match your outgo, nor so eagerly sought financial peace of mind.

You won’t attain these goals by trying to live according to a rigid plan, nor by trying to fit yourself into a ready-to-wear budget worked out for the “average family.” You will be on your way to financing your bread and your dreams only when you work out your own plan designed to make your money buy things you want and need.

From my own experience and the studies of experts on money management, I’ve selected a half-dozen basic guides. They can help anyone whether he is earning $2,500 a year of $25,000.

1. Make your program a family project. Call the family together on a quiet evening and discuss what you’re trying to do. Let the children become part of the team.

This really is the only way to make any program work, for, if each member knows what is the family’s aim, each will try to reach it. Early in our married life my husband and I sat down to discover why we were so persistently close to zero in our joint bank account: each of us, we found, was keeping a separate, “secret” budget, each buying and paying for things without the knowledge of the other. Right then we made our money management a family project.

1. Whatever records you keep, keep them simple. Never try to keep detailed records of where every penny goes—these only consume time and produce pain.

Buy an inexpensive notebook. On one page jot down your monthly income; if you don’t have an income 12 months a year, spread what you have into 12 “spending periods.” On a second page jot down what you must put aside for major, unavoidable expenses—rent, taxes, debts, savings—and prorate them on a monthly basis. On a third page put down what you have left after you have subtracted your unavoidable expenses from your gross income; this is the total you have with which to meet your day-to-day expenses. On a fourth page juggle your day-to-day expenses until you come out better than even and are satisfied that you’re getting the maximum benefit and comfort from what you’re spending.

If you have no past records, collect what receipts you can find and call on the family to supply what figures they can remember. Work along with trial records first and soon you’ll adjust them so they fit your life.

1. Deduct the money for your savings as an “unavoidable expense” BEFORE you start spending for the pleasant but unessential things of life. That’s the secret of saving.

You should have a rainy-day fund to take care of the unexpected bills that come up in every family’s life. This fund should hold two months’ income at least—six month’s if you can manage it. If it doesn’t, agree in your family conference on how much can be put aside each month until your nest egg is assured.

1. Provide personal allowances for each member of the family, including the children. Then let each one decide what he wants to do with the amount allotted.

No one should have to account for his allowance. If a husband wants to blow the entire sum on one evening with the boys, that’s his affair. If a wife wants to spend it on what appears nonsense to everybody but her, it’s her affair. Children learn to handle money surprisingly fast when they are given the chance.

1. Don’t be too arbitrary about your figures or set limits that are impossible to meet.

You cannot anticipate an illness or an accident and its cost. If you set limits that are too tough for your family, your search for financial peace of mind will end in discouragement. If after you’ve tried a plan for a few months, you find your limits are too stiff—change them. It’s your budget and it’s up to you to make it fit.

1. Finally, if after all your efforts yo still cannot make your income match your outgo, cut your spending or raise your income.

That’s the most fundamental rule of all. For if you cannot make ends meet even after the most careful budgeting, you are living beyond your means and you might as well face it. But there still are ways out.

You may think it impossible to increase your income now, yet many resourceful people have found ways of making their time produce more. One young mother takes care of small children along with her own when their mothers are at work of shopping. A man whose hobby is puttering in the workshop brings in respectable extra amounts by repairing and refinishing furniture.

You may suppose it is impossible to cut your spending; but, when you think it over, changes sweeping enough to reduce expenses all along the line may seem not only possible but desirable. You would not be lowering your fundamental standards, but maintaining your integrity and independence.

There they are— six guides which may seem deceptively simple but which actually are basic ways to financial peace of mind. Apply them and you’ll discover how much they help you live on what you make.



My comments

Yes, financial security would certainly contribute to my happiness and I agree with every one of these six points. In fact, back in the 1990s when I had a six-figure income I had a budget like this. But this is the 21^st Century and I’m thinking that only the top 1% of Americans has the luxury of budgeting this way. The rest of us are just trying to minimize the size of the debt hole we are digging. Plan for a six-month rainy day? Try six years. What do you think? Do you have a budget that works for you and your family? 

cathryngoodman@yahoo.com

Growing Pains

On my list of New Year's resolutions was: "Be more patient with my daughter, Janet. No matter how irritating she is, remember that, after all, she is only 15 and is going through the exasperating period of adolescence."

Imagine my feeling when, quite by accident, I came across Janet's New year's resolutions and saw at the head of her list: "Try to be more patient with Mother."

- Contributed by Mrs. C. R. Knowles

Ah, yes. Some things never change. Can't you imagine Janet being exasperated by her own daughter 20 years or so later?