HOW FAR A SOVEREIGN GOES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 1019, 20 July 1911, Page 4

HOW FAR A SOVEREIGN GOES.

THE PRICE OF FOOD. A HOUSEWIFE’S EXPERIENCE. “A great deal has been said about the price of food, and what it costs to live, but so far no one has voiced the opinion of a person who really knows —the housewife,” declared a charming little woman living in a modest coftage within the “ tup-penny section,” at which an Auckland Star reporter paid a haphazard visit the other morning, bent on getting the only side not yet published in connection with the dear food controversy. “ They tell us that the price 01 actual necessities of life has not gone up, and that we have a free breakfast table. All that I can say is that, strive as we will, I cannot make a sovereign go as far now as I could make fifteen shillings a few years ago. Happy I am if there comes a week when my housekeeping account for the week does not exceed 25s for the bare necessities of life. Fifteen shillings a week rent brings it up to £2. As a careful housewife I keep an account of every week’s transactions, and so I can show how the increase has gone on. Butter is a luxury, the meat bill is just awful, eggs we can only have once in a while, and even in such items as tea, milk and bread we have to be careful. Here is an account of how far I can make a sovereign go now, as compared with ten years ago, and it deals with absolutely essential things, and does not include coal, gas, fruit, and vegetables :

“Add to this the cost of a tailor-made suit for my husband once a year, the cost of clothing myself and the children, and see how much there is left out of a salary of per week,” was the financial proposition with which the practical housekeeper concluded her argument.

1901. 1911. s. d. s. d. 14-lbs potatoes 6 1 0 of flour 1 10 1 7 One dozen loaves 3 6 3 6 Half-pound tea io J A 10 3lbs sugar 1% 8 i lb mixed biscuits 5'A 4 Seven quarts milk 1 9 2 4 3lbs rice 1% 6 rib cheese 6 8 One dozen eggs 8 X 4 ilb butter 1 0 1 4 rolbs meat 3 4 4 2 i lb dried apricots 10 ii 5lbs oatmeal 8% ii 2lbs honey u J A 1 0 4lbs sago 6 1 0 xlb bacon S 11 2lbs jam 8 8 20 0 23 8