Saturday.—Dinner: Liver (4d.), bacon (2d.), greens, and potatoes.
A week’s budget of Mrs. U. is given on p. 126.
Mrs. U. is an excellent manager, and certainly tries to feed her family well. But her plans are sadly interfered with when one of the children needs new boots, and, with six children, one or other of them is always needing something new. There are two courses which are taken according to the merits of the case. One is to pawn the mother’s boots, thus rendering her a prisoner in the two tiny rooms until the money to release her belongings can be raised, and the other is to save the amount out of food. She makes all the clothes that can be made at home, and is an expert needlewoman. She was a professed cook earning £1 a week before she married. No burial insurance is paid in this family.
| s. | d. | |
|---|---|---|
| Rent | 7 | 0 |
| Gas | 1 | 6 |
| 1½ cwt. coal | 2 | 1½ |
| Soap, soda | 0 | 2 |
| 10 | 9½ | |
| s. | d. | |
| Flour and yeast | 4 | 7 |
| Meat | 2 | 6 |
| Suet | 0 | 3 |
| Potatoes | 1 | 0 |
| Vegetables | 0 | 6 |
| 2 lbs. margarine | 1 | 0 |
| 3 lbs. sugar | 0 | 7 |
| Bacon | 0 | 2 |
| 6 ozs. tea | 0 | 6 |
| Cocoa | 0 | 3 |
| Coffee | 0 | 3 |
| Fish | 0 | 4 |
| Rice | 0 | 2 |
| Split peas | 0 | 2½ |
| Currants | 0 | 2 |
| Lard | 0 | 4 |
| Oatmeal | 0 | 2½ |
| Treacle | 0 | 1½ |
| Salt and pepper | 0 | 2 |
| Cow’s milk | 0 | 8 |
| Eggs | 0 | 3 |
| 14 | 2½ |
We now come to the week’s menu of a couple of families where the man was temporarily out of work, and took anything he could get. Mr. T. was carman for a large firm that employed all its enormous number of carmen by the day. The inner ring of men were given a day’s work every day, and earned 3s. 6d., which they were paid on leaving work each night. The less fortunate outer ring were given a couple or three days’ work in the week. No notice was taken or given on either side. A day’s work might mean at Christmas time a day of twenty hours, and no meal-time allowed. It might mean a much shorter day, but usually ran about twelve hours. Mr. T. had two days’ work a week, but he washed down another man’s van every day for 1s. 6d. a week. Occasionally he was lucky enough to have two vans to wash, when his money would amount to 10s. He allowed his wife 8s. 6d. There was one child. The rent for the single room was 3s. 6d., and there was no insurance.
Sunday.—Breakfast: Bloater for father, 1 teaspoonful of tea between them, 1 teaspoonful of milk from tin each, 1 small spoonful of sugar each, two slices of bread and margarine. Dinner: Six pennyworth of neck of mutton, greens and potatoes given by mother. Tea: Two slices of bread, margarine, and tea.
Monday.—Breakfast: Two slices of bread and butter, with tea, for every breakfast in the week. Dinner: Cold meat and vegetables left from Sunday. Tea: Two slices of bread and butter, with tea, for every tea in the week.
Tuesday.—Dinner: Fresh herring each, bread and butter (one slice).
Wednesday.—Dinner: ½ lb. “pieces” (3d.) stewed with potatoes, which were given by mother.