Document 3
Home Economics

As most of our friends have either larger incomes, smaller families, or both, they often ask, "How do you manage to get along?" My answer to the question is that to successfully bring up a family on a small income it is necessary to most carefully distinguish between essentials and non-essentials, so carefully, indeed, that it amounts to a constant study. One must not sacrifice the permanent to the fleeting, future welfare to present convenience and pleasure; and yet a family must, above all things, be comfortable, healthy, and happy as they go along. . . . The prices of household necessities have increased the last few years and keep increasing . . . [S]omething surely ought to be done in this wonderful country of ours to keep all the necessities and some of the luxuries within reach of people with moderate incomes.

A "Housekeeper" in Ann Arbor, Michigan, writing on "The Increase in Household Expenses," Harper's Bazar, December 1906.