punctually and precisely. The plan for keeping household accounts, which
we should recommend, would be to make an entry, that is, write down into
a daily diary every amount paid on that particular day, be it ever so
small; then, at the end of the month, let these various payments be
ranged under their specific heads of Butcher, Baker, &c.; and thus will
be seen the proportions paid to each tradesman, and any one month's
expenses may be contrasted with another. The housekeeping accounts
should be balanced not less than once a month; so that you may see that
the money you have in hand tallies with your account of it in your
diary. Judge Haliburton never wrote truer words than when he said, "No
man is rich whose expenditure exceeds his means, and no one is poor
whose incomings exceed his outgoings."
When, in a large establishment, a housekeeper is kept, it will
be advisable for the mistress to examine her accounts regularly.
Then any increase of expenditure which may be apparent, can
easily be explained, and the housekeeper will have the
satisfaction of knowing whether her efforts to manage her
department well and economically, have been successful.