The flour allowance

An original account written in a nineteenth-century voice; a period simulation, not an archival document.

When I began the weekly bread fund, every household was to receive the same weight of flour. This appeared fair until Mrs Vale came with a list of the mouths she had to feed. A single man and a family of six could not make equal use of equal parcels. We therefore divided the flour according to the number of people in each home. The change required a longer ledger, but fewer callers returned before the week was out to ask for another allowance.

Give one phrase that shows the revised system reduced the need for extra help during the week.