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11

financial situation. The record is a "Family Expense Record" book laid out for keeping a month-by-month account of income and expenses.  Unfortunately, it starts in April 1930, for which month there appears to be a complete record, May is almost complete, and then it stops except for a few notes on the month of August, 1932.  Evidently the work of keeping the book was deemed sufficiently unrewarding to warrant continuing it until in 1932 one might infer that things began to get so bad that we were alarmed into resuming the attempt at control only to drop it again almost immediately.  But what there is of it is interesting. Following is our budget and actual expenses for the month of April 1930:

[[TABLE with three columns]
[column ONE (Untitled)] | [[underline]]Budget[[/underline]] | [[underline]]Actual[[/underline]]
Rent and Heat | $58.50 | $58.50
Gas, Electricity, Phone | 7.25 | 10.01
Groceries | 50.00 | 45.68
Outside meals | 11.00 | 9.04
Dry Goods and Clothing | 30.00 | 7.35
Labor and Services | 15.00 | 14.50
Physician and Medicine | 10.00 | .38
Life Insurance | 12.70 | 12.70
Vacation Accrual | 5.00 | ---
Church, Charities, Gifts | 7.00 | .60
Laundry | 7.00 | 5.72
Amusement and Dues | 11.00 | 5.20
Entertainment | 5.00 | --
Garage Rent | 5.00 | 5.00
Auto Repairs, Tires, etc. | 7.00 | 1.90
Gasoline and Oils | 13.00 | 12.05
Household Supplies | 2.00 | 2.00
Personal Supplies | 2.00 | 2.53
Other Items | [[underline]]3.00[[/underline]] | [[underline]]2.94[[/underline]]

Totals | 261.45 | 196.10

[[underline]]Notes on above[[/underline]]:

[[underline]]Rent and Heat[[/underline]]--I don't know how this was broken up between
the two but suspect the rent was $58.50 and the heat, which 
was coal, was to be budgeted during the heating season although
I'd think we'd need the furnace in April. Maybe the
call went in as one slug in say September.

[[underline]]Gas, Electricity and Phone[[/underline]]--The gas was 4.50, electricity
2.26, and phone 3.25.

[[underline]]Groceries[[/underline]]--The highest day was 4.02 and the lowest .11 but
the majority of purchases were less than a dollar.