Mrs. Stapleton tells me that two families may live side by side inidentical houses， in the very same suburb， have the same numberof children in the family， and receive the same income—yet theirbudgeting needs will be radically different. Why? Because peopleare different. She says a budget has to be a personal， custommade job.
The idea of a budget is not to wring all the joy out of life. Theidea is to give us a sense of material security—which in manycases means emotional security and freedom from worry. “Peoplewho live on budgets，” Mrs. Stapleton told me， “are happierpeople.”
But how do you go about it? First， as I said， you must list allexpenses. Then get advice. In many cities of twenty thousand andup， you will find family-welfare societies that will gladly give youfree advice on financial problems and help you draw up a budgetto fit your income.
Rule No. 3： Learn how to spend wisely.
By this I mean： learn how to get the best value for your money.
All large corporations have professional buyers and purchasingagents who do nothing but get the very best buys for their firms.
As steward and manager of your personal estate， why shouldn’tyou do likewise?
Rule No. 4： Don’t increase your headaches with your income.
Mrs. Stapleton told me that the budgets she dreads mostto be called into consultation on are family incomes of fivethousand dollars a year. I asked her why. “Because，” she said， “fivethousand a year seems to be a goal to most American families.
They may go along sensibly and sanely for years-then， when theirincome rises to five thousand a year， they think they have ‘arrived’。
They start branching out. Buy a house in the suburbs， ‘thatdoesn’t cost any more than renting an apartment’。 Buy a car， a lotof new furniture， and a lot of new clothes—and the first thing youknow， they are running into the red. They are actually less happythan they were before—because they have bitten off too muchwith their increase in income.”
That is only natural. We all want to get more out of life. But inthe long run， which is going to bring us more happiness—forcingourselves to live within a tight budget， or having dunning lettersin the mail and creditors pounding on the front door?
Rule No. 5： Protect yourself against illness， fire， and emergencyexpenses.
Insurance is available， for relatively small sums， on all kindsof accidents， misfortunes， and conceivable emergencies. I am notsuggesting that you cover yourself for everything from slipping inthe bathtub to catching German measles—but I do suggest thatyou protect yourself against the major misfortunes that you knowcould cost you money and therefore do cost you worry. It’s cheapat the price.
For example， I know a woman who had to spend ten days in ahospital last year and， when she came out， was presented a bill—
for exactly eight dollars！ The answer? She had hospital insurance.
Rule No. 6： Do not have your life-insurance proceeds paid toyour widow in cash.
If you are carrying life insurance to provide for your familyafter you’re gone， do not， I beg of you， have your insurance paidin one lump sum.
What happens to “a new widow with new money”？ I’ll letMrs. Marion S. Eberly answer that question. She is head of theWomen’s Division of the Institute of Life Insurance， 60 East42nd Street， New York City. She speaks before women’s clubsall over America on the wisdom of using life-insurance proceedsto purchase a life income for the widow instead of giving her theproceeds in cash. She tells me one widow who received twentythousand dollars in cash and lent it to her son to start in theautoaccessory business. The business failed， and she is destitutenow. She tells of another widow who was persuaded by a slickreal-estate salesman to put most of her life-insurance moneyin vacant lots that were “sure to double in value within a year”。
Three years later， she sold the lots for one-tenth of what she paidfor them. She tells of another widow who had to apply to the ChildWelfare Association for the support of her children—within twelvemonths after she had been left fifteenth thousand dollars in lifeinsurance. A hundred thousand similar tragedies could be told.
“The average lifetime of twenty-five thousand dollars left inthe hands of a woman is less than seven years.” That statementwas made by Sylvia S. Porter， financial editor of the New YorkPost， in the Ladies’ Home Journal.
Years ago， The Saturday Evening Post said in an editorial：“Theease with which the average widow without business training， andwith no banker to advise her， can be wheedled into putting herhusband’s life-insurance money into wildcat stocks by the firstslick salesman who approaches her—is proverbial. Any lawyeror banker can cite a dozen cases in which the entire savings ofa thrifty man’s lifetime， amassed by years of sacrifice and selfdenial， were swept away simply because a widow or an orphantrusted one of the slick crooks who rob women for a livelihood.”
If you want to protect your widow and your children， why nottake a tip from J. P. Morgan-one of the wisest financiers who everlived. He left money in his will to sixteen principal legatees. Twelvewere women. Did he leave these women cash? No. He left trustfunds that ensured these women a monthly income for life.
Rule No. 7： Teach your children a responsible attitude towardmoney.
I shall never forget an idea I once read in Your Life magazine.
The author， Stella Weston Turtle， described how she was teachingher little girl a sense of responsibility about money. She got anextra cheque-book from the bank and gave it to her nine-year-old daughter. When the daughter was given her weekly allowance，she “deposited” the money with her mother， who served as a bankfor the child’s funds. Then， throughout the week， whenever shewanted a cent or two， she “drew a cheque” for that amount andkept track of her balance. The little girl not only found that fun，but began to learn real responsibility in handling her money.