WHILE THE KETTLE BOILS

New Zealand Listener, Volume 2, Issue 33, 9 February 1940, Page 43

WHILE THE KETTLE BOILS

Dear Friends, Economy seems. to be the watchword these days. With half the world plunged in chaos, the future presents an unread face to us, and economy becomes the necessity of the moment. But-there is a big But-don’t let that word trap you into a hidden pitfall. There are some forms of economy that are merely another form of extravagance. For example, there is the question of food. In the planning of their menus, some women may let their zeal betray them by cutting down on those foods essential to health. There is not a soul among us who can afford to do this. You may certainly have a lighter grocer’s bill, but your doctor’s bill will treble it. Then there is your home. Letting your home run down for economy’s sake is another familiar pitfall. You may put off the evil hour-but it is going to be a heavier reckoning when it does arrive. Attending to repairs in time and as they come is the best form of economy. These broken plates of your dinner service may cost a few shillings to replace now, but to wait and then discover that the particular pattern is unprocurable means buying a new set-or doing without. Minor furniture repairs will put off for a long time a complete house renovation, and the housewife who keeps her linen cupboard replenished is a far better economist than one who does without till she is forced to buy a complete new outfit. Economy, to be successful, should be as nearly invisible as possible. The thing one can’t afford to do is to let it became a drag and a disfigurement on an attractive, well-ordered life. Economy, if too ruthlessly pursued, can develop into stinginess-and that is the tnforgiveable sin. Stinginess never réally succeeds in saving money. It hits back in some way or other, and through it one can lose the respect of one’s friends-even of one’s own family. There are some forms of economy that simply none of us can afford. I have a particular case in mindand it applies principally to women. It is the unpardonable extravagance of "letting yourself go." Hard luck, financial and family worries are offered as excuses for it-but none of them will do. A woman owes it to her family, her job, and, most of all, to herself, to keep a watchful eye on her appearance. Single women don’t usually need to be told. It is the married woman, with her added burden of family cares, who is the chief transgressor. She hasn’t time -or she has ceased to care. Nothing condones the deplorable fact. From a man’s viewpoint, his wife always temains the ideal girl he first saw and wooed, and often he is forced into disillusionment by seeing her develop into just the opposite. He’ll never tell her, but in his heart he will nurse a grudge, for he will feel that in some way he has been cheated. The enormous sale of cosmetics each year proves that these beauty aids are within the reach of all. The wise economist to-day learns to shampoo her own hair, manicure her own nails, and do her own facials. She is her own beauty specialist. She keeps herself always trim and neat in little house frocks that can be purchased for a few shillings-or achieved in less on her own machine. She remains always the girl her husband first married. Her secret is to plan so that she can have the necessities for good grooming-and to plan her time so that she can apply them. No, she is not the Perfect Woman. She is one of the countless army who have learnt to live wisely, beautifully, and graciously -even:in a-troubled world, ‘ -Yours Cordially,

Cynthia