The Way to Wealth: A Penny Saved

“So much for hard work, my friends; but to it we must add frugality, if we want our work to pay. A man who does not know how to save as he earns may keep his nose to the grindstone all his life and die with nothing at last.‘If you would be wealthy, think of saving as well as of getting.’ Spain found gold in the Indies and still did not grow rich, because she spent more than she earned.

You may think that a little tea now and then, meals a little more costly, clothes a little finer and a little entertainment can be no great matter; but remember, ‘Many a little makes a mickle,’ that is, many small amounts make a large one.Beware of little expenses: ‘A small leak will sink a great ship.’

Here you are, all gathered at this sale of fine things and pretty trifles. You call them goods; but if you are not careful, they will prove evils to some of you.You expect they will be sold cheap, and perhaps they will be; but if you have no need of them, they must be dear to you.Remember what Poor Richard says: ‘Buy what you have no need of, and before long you will sell your necessities.’And again, ‘At a great bargain, pause a while,’ for the cheapness may be only on the surface, and not real.

Many people, for the sake of fine clothes on their back, have gone with a hungry belly and half starved their families. ‘Silks and satins put out the kitchen fire.’Those who always take out of the flour barrel and never put in soon come to the bottom; and then, ‘When the well is dry, they know the worth of water.’‘Pride is as loud a beggar as want, and a great deal more rude.’ When you have bought one fine thing, you must buy ten more, so that your whole appearance matches.But, as Poor Richard says, ‘It is easier to suppress the first desire than to satisfy all that follow it.’”