BETTINA AND THE EXPENSE BUDGET
"RUTH asked me today how we manage our finances," said Bettina over the
dinner table. "She said that she and Fred were wondering what plan was
best. I'm so glad I have a definite household allowance and that we have
budgeted our expenses so successfully. The other day I was reading an
article by Carolyn Claymore in which she says that three-fourths of the
domestic troubles are caused by disagreements about money."
"Then we haven't much to quarrel about, have we, Betty? That is true in
more than one sense. But I'm sure that this way seems to suit us to a
T."
"I'm even saving money, Bob."
"I don't see how you can when you give me such good things to eat, and
when we have so much company."
"Well, I plan ahead, you know--plan for my left-overs before they are
left, even. I do think that an instinct for buying and planning is
better than an instinct for cooking. And either one can be cultivated.
But it was certainly hard to get that budget of expenses fixed
satisfactorily, wasn't it? I told Ruth that no two families are alike,
and that I couldn't tell her just what they ought to spend for clothes,
or just what groceries ought to cost. After all, it is an individual
matter which things are necessities and which are luxuries. The chief
thing is to live within your means, and save as well as invest
something--and at the same time be comfortable and happy. I told Ruth we
started with the fixed sums and the absolute necessities, and worked
backward. I told her they must absolutely be saving something, if only a
quarter a week. Then, that Fred must manage the budget of expenses that
comes within his realm, and not interfere with hers, and that she must
do the same with the household expenditures, and not worry him. It takes
a lot of adjusting to make the system work satisfactorily, but it is
certainly worth it."
"Did you tell Ruth about the envelope system that my sister Harriet,
uses? She says she is so careless naturally that when George gives her
her allowance each month, she has to put the actual cash in separate
envelopes, and then vow to herself that she will not borrow from the gas
money to make the change for the grocer-boy, and so forth. That is the
only way she can teach herself."
"My cousin's wife used to keep the most wonderful and complete accounts,
but she couldn't tell without a lot of work in hunting up the items how
much she already had spent for groceries or clothes or anything. She had
to change her method, and it was she who taught me to keep my accounts
in parallel columns, a page for a week, because you give me my allowance
each week. I like this way so much, for I can tell at a glance how my
expenses are comparing with the allotted sum."
"I like to look at your funny, neat little notebook, Bettina, all ruled
so carefully for the week, and the headings, such as gas, electricity,
groceries, meat, milk, laundry, across the top."
"Don't make fun of my notebook. I couldn't keep house without it. In
case of fire, I'd save it first of all, I know! It is almost like a
diary to me! I can look back over it and remember, 'That was the day Bob
brought Mr. Green home and we almost ran out of potatoes!' Or 'This was
the day I thought my brown bread had failed, but Bob seemed to like
it!'" she exaggerated.
"Failures in cooking! Why, Bettina, I don't know the meaning of the
words! And I don't see how you can feed me so well on the sum I give you
for the purpose. I'd feel guilty, only you don't look a bit unhappy or
overworked."
"I should say not!"
"You surely don't remember how to cook all the things you give me!"
"No, indeed, Bob, not definitely, that is. You see, on the shelf by my
account book, which you smile over, I have my card index with lots and
lots of recipes filed away. Then I have notebooks, too, with all sorts
of suggestions tucked in them just where I can lay my hand on them."
"Betty dear, you've given me a real glimpse into your business-like
methods! Some men seem to think that it doesn't take brains to run a
house well, but they don't know. It requires just as much executive
ability and common sense as it does to manage a big business."
That night the dinner for two consisted of:
Cold Ham Green Peppers Stuffed with Rice
Light Rolls Peach Butter
Hot Fudge Cake
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
=Light Rolls=
2 T-sugar
1/4 t-salt
1/2 C-scalded milk
1/2 yeast cake
3/4 C-flour
2 T-melted butter
1 egg, well-beaten
2 T-lukewarm water
flour
Add the sugar and salt to the scalded milk and when lukewarm, add the
yeast dissolved in the lukewarm water, and three-fourths of a cup of
flour. Cover and set in a warm place to rise. Then add the melted
butter, the well-beaten egg, and enough flour to knead. Let rise in a
warm place. Roll to one-half an inch in thickness and shape with a
biscuit cutter. Butter the top of each. Fold over, place in a buttered
pan, close together. Let rise again for forty-five minutes and then bake
in a quick oven for twenty minutes.
=Green Peppers Stuffed with Rice=
6 green peppers
1 C-white sauce
1/2 C-cooked rice
1 T-chopped green pepper
3 onions cooked and cut fine
1/2 t-paprika
Cut the stem ends from the peppers, and remove all seeds; add one-eighth
of a teaspoonful of soda to each pepper, fill with water and allow to
stand one-half hour. Mix one cup of white sauce with the rice, onions,
chopped pepper and paprika. Fill the pepper cases and bake thirty
minutes in a moderate oven.
=Hot Fudge Cake=
1/3 C-butter
1 C-sugar
2 egg yolks
2 squares (or ounces) of chocolate, melted
1/2 C-molasses
1/2 C-sour milk
1/2 C-hot water
2 C-flour
1 t-cinnamon
1 t-soda
1 t-baking powder
1/4 t-salt
1 t-vanilla
2 egg whites
Cream the butter, add the sugar and continue creaming. Add the egg
yolks, melted chocolate, molasses, sour milk, hot water, flour,
cinnamon, soda, baking powder, salt and vanilla. Beat two minutes, and
add the stiffly beaten egg whites. Fill well-buttered muffin pans
one-half full, and bake in a moderate oven for twenty-five minutes.
Serve hot as a dessert, with whipped cream.