Mary Hinman Abel, Successful family life on the moderate income, éd. Forgotten Books, 2019 (1921)
A pillar for the home economics movement
Beneath the gold edges that cover this blue background hides the most fundamental work of one of the pioneers of the home economist movement, Mary Hinman Abel. Successful family life on the moderate-income deals with income management by middle-class families and is divided in four parts : the different sources of incomes available to middle-class families, the financial management of the household by previous generations, the support and contributions of the community to middle-classes incomes and an in-depth analysis of the income manipulation by housewives using the tools provided by budget planning and administration of household accounts. With the help of a large number of examples, Abel gives a whole range of economic, social and moral questions that any housewife with an income above the minimum has to face one day or another when she keeps her household accounts. It focuses on the contribution of housewives to income management, on the role of the Community in that context and devotes no less than ten chapters to the practical administration of the household budget, from standards to useful tools and methods, to necessities of life, possible savings and advancement funds. With a simple and practical vocabulary, it also offers easily applicable solutions to all these problems, while promoting many of the principles and values inherent in household accounting, making of this book a pillar for any housewife seeking appropriate advice.