_Buying on installments._——Methods of payment are discussed in Chapter XX. The installment plan is important to consider, since it is so common for people of small means. How tempting for a young couple, who have no savings, to furnish the new home in this way? It is a “gambling on futures,” however, as much as are some methods in the Stock Exchange. If the income stops, because the position is lost, or if sickness comes, and the installments cannot be paid, the whole outfit may be lost. There have been real household tragedies of this kind. The better way is to save until a small amount of simple furniture can be purchased outright. The installment method is also used by established firms of sound reputation to tempt one to buy the latest encyclopædia, or the new musical instrument, or some other much-desired possession. This is safe if one is absolutely sure of a fixed future income; but here again it is better to save first and buy outright. You may say that the installment plan gives the use of the encyclopædia at once, and this is true. But if you have the saving habit, there will already be a fund on which to draw. =The ethics of shopping.=——There is no greater test of good breeding and kindness than the tour of a crowded shop; and sometimes the silken thread is strained to the snapping point. Remember that tired human beings are at the counter. Time your shopping that you may not help to crowd business at the closing hour. If the shop closes at five, leave several minutes before the hour. As a matter of fact it is only to the shopper that the shop closes at the stated hour; some of the hardest work of the day comes after hours. Avoid shopping at the luncheon hour, and on Saturday afternoon at the time of the week when the salespeople are most tired. This is also a hard time for delivery men and boys. Consult here the pamphlets of the Consumers’ League. In times of stress, the shopkeeper asks you to carry small bundles home with you, and this you should cheerfully do. Some women carry the C.O.D. privilege to an extreme, ordering in this way with the intention of sending certain articles back, thus creating much unnecessary labor.