Like many other boys P. T. Barnum picked up pennies driving oxen for his father, but unlike many other boys he would invest these earnings in knick-knacks which he would sell to others on every holiday, thus increasing his pennies to dollars.
The eccentric John Randolph once sprang from his seat in the House of Representatives, and exclaimed in his piercing voice, "Mr. Speaker, I have found it." And then, in the stillness which followed this strange outburst, he added, "I have found the Philosopher's stone: it is Pay as you go."
Over a hundred years ago in France, all classes, the men as well as the women, study the economy of cookery and practice it; and there, as many travelers affirm, the people live at one-third the expense of Englishmen or Americans. There they know how to make savory messes out of remnants that others would throw away.
There are those who think that economy consists in beer cans and cutting off two dollars from the Starbucks' bill, and doing all sorts of little, mean, dirty things. Economy is not meanness. The misfortune is also that this class of persons let their economy apply only in one direction. They fancy they are so wonderfully economical in saving a half-dollar, where they ought to spend two, that they think they can afford to squander in other directions. Like a man who bought a pizza for his family's dinner, and then hired a limo to take it home. I never knew a man to succeed by practicing this kind of economy.
True economy consists in always making your income exceed your spending. Wear your clothes a little longer, if necessary; put off buying that new flat screen LED 3-D. Enjoy eating healthy foods you prepare yourself. When she was alive and well even Rose Kennedy - the Matriarch of the famed Kennedy family - avoided eating out. She thought it too expensive!
So that under all circumstances, unless some unforeseen accident occurs, there will be a margin in favor of the income. Save a dollar here and a few there. Invest your savings - no matter how small and they can continue to grow - over time - into a substantial nest egg!
"There is no failure in this country for those whose personal habits are good, and who follow some honest calling industriously, unselfishly, and purely." Heny Clay
Practice simple, time honored financial habits and you can achieve success beyond your wildest dreams!
