Where Farm Family's Money Went, 1939

From an editorial in the January 1939 issue of The Southern Planter

Where Your Money Goes

Did it ever dawn on you that 37 cents out of every dollar used for family living on the average farm goes for food? That is what Maryland home demonstration club women, who keep accurate records, have found—see Miss Hinton’s article on Miss Hunter’s page this month. Every housewife should study that article carefully because, we believe, better management of family finance will do much to make a little money go a long way.

For example, look at the item of food--$448.89 was the value of all food used, $244.89 was bought and $204.25 worth produced on the farm as chickens and eggs, dairy products, vegetables, etc. Stated differently, of every dollar used for family living, 37 cents went for food—20 cents for foods bought and 17 cents for homegrown foodstuffs. 

Food is the greatest item of cost in farm living, and here is the remarkable thing about Miss Hinton’s study: Some families bought nearly all of their food, while others produced up to 74 percent. Where as much as 55 percent of the food was raised at home, meals averaged 4 cents per person; where only 3 percent of the food was homegrown, meals averaged 28 cents each. Those who raised most of their food had better meals than those who lived out of the grocery store. Money saved on meals is released for the purchase of other commodities that make for better living on the farm—radios, home furnishings, water systems and better medical care. These facts give the live-at-home program a new meaning for 1939.

To the ladies:

1.       Get your husband to read Miss Hinton’s article.

2.       Have him buy you 300 baby chicks, use and sell the cockerels for broilers in late spring and keep the best pullets for fall and winter eggs.

3.       Get him to use as much commercial fertilizer on your garden as he puts under an equal area of cotton, tobacco, or potatoes; and insist that the garden by worked equally well.

4.       Then, keep at least two good milk cows—one to freshen in fall to produce milk in winter, and the other, to calve in spring for summer milk production.

If you will do these things, your family will live better in 1939, enjoy better health and have more money for family living, even if your income remains the same.