When finances are cared for on the budget plan, the case is very different. Before one purchases a suit of clothes, an article of furniture, or anything else, he first looks at the page on which the finances of the department in question are recorded. If the money is on hand, he proceeds with the purchase. If the funds are insufficient, he waits until they have increased to a point where the purchase is possible. This plan accomplishes two things. It keeps personal or family expenditures within the income from which they must be made. It also avoids the mistake of spending for one thing the funds which rightfully belong to something else. These, by the way, are two of the fundamental principles involved in the matter of getting from a dollar its full worth. If the family income is fixed and regular, it can be divided arbitrarily among the different classes of things for which it is to be spent. So much may be appropriated to one class of things and so much to another. In this case the division is easy and simple. However, in many homes the income is not regular as to either time or amount. In this case it can best be appropriated on a percentage basis. A certain percentage is set aside for each division of family expense. It is then credited to the account of the departments involved. In making this division, a number of things have to be taken into account. Among them are the size of the income, the needs and tastes of the family, and the financial condition of the family when the plan is adopted. One home I know works on the following basis: Religion 10%, Indebtedness 10%, Savings 10%, Clothing 20%, Groceries and household supplies 30%, Home furnishings 10%, Miscellaneous Expenses 10%. Each home can choose its own plan. It can also change its plan at will. It is well to get a loose-leaf book of suitable size and to have a page devoted to each division of expenses. The money is kept in one sum in the bank, but all receipts are credited and all expenditures charged under the proper headings. Then the bottom figure on each page represents the amount available for the particular department of expense represented there. This plan simply provides for system in spending. It serves to balance expenditures. It also does the best that can be done to provide a reserve for every need. It helps the well-to-do to greater independence. It enables the poor to keep from growing poorer, and often enables them to reach comfortable circumstances. It does not make of a dollar more than a hundred cents. That is impossible. However, it does enable the owner of a dollar to get the full value of a hundred cents from it. It is a good way in which to “pay as you go, and keep books.” Efficient Spending (1921)