Interviewer instructions
INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETING THE DIARY
The diary is intended for the daily accounting of all monetary expenditures made by your household over 14 days.
The diary has to be completed by the household member who is more than the other household members involved in household activities and knows more about the expenditures.
Next to a date one has to indicate the number of people present in the household on that day.
Expenditures of each day have to be put down on a new page. If there are not enough lines for all the purchases, one may put down some of the purchases on the following day's page.
Entries have to be as detailed and accurate as possible. For example:
Incorrect: Correct:
Bread Meat Cheese Fish Rye bread Ham, pork, mutton “Sausage cheese”, “Poshekhonsky” cheese Fresh fish, cod, Alaska Pollack
When making expenditures on the purchase of foodstuffs, nonfood products or on services outside of the Republic of Belarus, one has to indicate the place of purchase in Field 2 - “Outside the Republic of Belarus".
In the table “Expenditures on foodstuffs and alcoholic beverages” one has to put down all the foodstuffs and alcoholic beverages purchased on that day. In fields 2 and 4 one has to indicate the place of purchase and a measurement unit that is most convenient for you. For example, if 0.5 kilograms of cheese was purchased, one may put down “500” in Field 3 “Amount purchased” and circle “g” in Field 4 “Measurement units”, or one may put down 0.5 in Field 3 and circle “kg” in Field 4.
In the table “Expenditures on foodstuffs for cattle and domestic animals” one has to put down all the products purchased for feeding cattle and domestic animals (dogs, cats, birds, etc.)
In the table “Expenditures on eating out” one has to put down all expenditures on eating at restaurants, canteens, lunchrooms at work and at school, cafeteria, etc.
In the table “Consumption of foodstuffs produced on the individual plot or received as presents” one has to put down the foodstuffs (except for purchased foodstuffs) used on that day for preparing breakfast, lunch or dinner:
- Foodstuffs produced personally or received as presents;
- Berries and mushrooms gathered by household members, wild fowl killed and fish caught by them.
Consumption of canned foodstuffs is accounted for on the day of opening the can.
In the table “Expenditures on nonfood products” one has to put down expenditures on the nonfood products that are purchased for household members or as presents for relatives and friends.
In the table “Expenditures on services” one has to put down expenditures on all types of services: consumer services (haircuts, shoe repairs, etc.), medical services, transportation services, communication services, etc.
When purchasing tickets or passes from the driver, conductor, or at kiosks, in Field 2 one has to indicate “Organization” as the place of service provision.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETING THE JOURNAL
The Journal is intended for recording all the monetary expenditures made during the course of the following 3 months (except for food expenses):
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All expenditures on goods and services are entered in the Journal with an indication of the dates on which they were made. Every purchase has to be put down as a separate entry and in as much detail as possible. For example, “cotton fabric”, “women's leather shoes”, “swimming-pool membership”, etc.
When recording expenditures on goods and all kinds of services (consumer services, utility bills, medical, transport and communication services, services provided by educational, cultural and other institutions), in the field “Place of purchase/service provision” one has to indicate where the goods were purchased and the services provided.
In addition to payments for goods and services, one also has to indicate the amounts of various taxes, fines, dues, alimony, as well as the money spent on paying off debts, loaned to anyone or given away for free.
In Section IV - “Money Income” one has to indicate the amount of wages received both at the primary place of work and in a second job (if applicable) for each working member of the household.
If any household member is engaged in individual entrepreneurial activity or any other income-generating activity, the share of their income included in the family budget has to be recorded in the Journal.
In addition to wages, one has to record the amounts of old-age pensions, scholarships, benefits, as well as the money received from selling or renting out real estate, personal or household property, from selling agricultural products, monetary assistance received from friends and relatives, and other monetary receipts.