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”
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“
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e tc .

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5 8 1 58
 M$ GOO$ F R I EN $

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 T AB $ E OF C ON T E N T S

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N E SS

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II A . S A F E GU AR$ F OR T HE F U TU RE

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. T H E M AN $ E T RU ST 14’

3 IV . C AN $ OU F INANC E $ O U RSE L F ? 21

I V . T H E AR T OF S AV I N G Is T H E AR T OF $ I SE
J SP EN$ ING 33

VI . SAILING U N$ ER F A L S E C O$ OR S 41

VI I . TH E RU IN OF R I V A LR $ 49
-

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”
VI I I 57
“
. OF N

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“
I$ .

S P A R I N G L$
”
68

$ . SP EN$ T H R I F TS OF TIM E AN $ E N E R G$ 78

$ I . T H E BA N $ -

BO O $ H A BI T 85
 TH RI F T

T H RI FT, TH E F O U N D A T I O N OF A$ $ GREAT N E SS

TH E term thrift is not o nly properly a p

p lied to money matters but to ever yt hing in ,

—
life the w i se use o f one s time the wise use ’
,

’
o f one s ability one s energy and this means ’
, ,

prudent living careful habits o f life Thrift

, .

is scientific management o f one s self one s ’

,
’

t ime one s a ffairs one s money the wisest pos

,
’

,
’

sible expenditure o f what w e have of all o f

l ife s resources
’
.

Thrift i s the friend o f man a c i vilization ,

b uilder The practice of thrift gives an u p

.

w ard tendency to the life o f the individual ,

and to the l i fe o f the nation ; it sustains and

p reserves th e highest welfare of the race .

Lord R osebery wr it ing on Thrift — said

, ,

that all gr eat empires that were meant to

abide were thr ifty
, .
2 T H R I FT
“
Take the R oman Empire which i n some ,

r espects as a centered empire was the gr eat

, ,

es t in history
”
he said ; it lay like an iron
,
“

clamp upon the face o f the world $ it was

founded o n thrift and when it ceased to be
,

th rifty i t degenerated and came to an end .

Take the case o f Prussia I t began with a .

little narrow s trip o f sand in the N orth o f

, ,

Europe— all sting as some o ne said from its

‘
,
’
,

shape and the fact that i ts i nhab i tants w ere

almost all armed men and it was nur t ured
—

by the thrift o f Frederick the G reat s father ’

,

who prepared a vast treasure and a vast

army by an economy which we should call
sordid but which was the weapon by which
,

the greatness o f Prussia w a s founded and ,

from which the present G erman Empire

has risen Take the case o f France In my
. .

humble b elief France i s in reality the most

fruga l o f all nations I am not sure that the .

French always put the i r money into the sav

ings b anks and therefore they do no t figu re
, , ,

s o w ell in the proportion o f depos i tors to the

nat i on as some others may d o ; but a fter the ,

disastr ous year o f 187 0 when Fran c e w as ,

crus h e d f or a t im e by a fo r e igne nem y an d by

 F O U N D AT I O N OF A $ $ G REAT N E s s 3

a money imposition which it seemed almost

impossible that any nation could pay what ,

happened The stockings o f the French peas

?

an try i n wh i ch t hey had kept the i r savings for

,

years were emptied into the chest o f the S tate

, ,

a nd that huge i ndemnity and that war expense

was pa i d o ff in a time incredibly short The .

other tw o nat i ons that I have spoken o f were

made by their thr i ft but Fran c e was saved by
,

”
her thr i ft .

France saved b y her thrift to save d em o c

,

r acy $ N o w i t i s o u r opportunity and privi

lege b y her great example to establish both
, ,

i n the home and i n the nation such thrift that ,

we can b ountifully extend o u r aid to this brave

ally let u s every o ne o f us gladly do o u r part
, , ,

to sustain he r at this critical period s o that ,

s h e may b e preserved and her future assured

as o ne o f the great nat i ons of the world $

What is saved no w is saved for that c ountry
,

and for o u r o w n for the war f o r the victory

, ,

o f c iv i lization .

Thrift i s not only one o f the foundation

stones o f a fortune but also the foundation o f
,

much that is excellent in character It im .

pr o v es the quality of the individual T he .

4 T H R IFT

exercise o f thrift has a very healthful reaction

upon all the other faculties Thrift i s an in
.

d ica tio n o f superiority in many ways The .

habit of thrift denotes self control It i s a -

.

proof that a man i s not a hopeless vict im o f

his appetites his w eaknesses but that he i s
, ,

master o f himself as well as o f his finances .

We know that a thrifty man will not b e

slovenly that he will have a certain amount o f
,

system and order ; that he w il l be energetic

and industrious and that he is much m ore
,

l ikely to b e honest than the thriftless man .

Thrift is an educator A thrifty man thinks

.

and plans H e must have a progr amme H e

. .

must have a certain amount o f independence .

I f y o u have cultivated thrift it means that

o u have demonstrated your abili ty to control
y
your desires ; that y o u have b egun to mas te r
yourself that y o u are developing some o f the
,

grandest human qualities— self—reliance i nde ,

p e n d en ce prudence
, foresight
, ; that you are
developing your resourcefulness i nvent ive ,

ness In othe r words it indicates that y o u

.
,

have a purpose in life that you are a man

, .

“
Thrift does not require superior courage ,

nor super i or i nt e lle c t no r any superhuman

,
 FO U N D A T I O N OF A$ $ G RE AT N E ss 5

”
v i rtue says a wr i ter on this subj ect
, It .
“

merely requires common —sense and the power

Of resisting selfish enj oyments In fact .
,

thrift i s merely common sense in every day

- -

working action It needs no fervent resolu

.

tion b ut only a little patient sel f—denial

, .

B egin i s i ts dev i ce $ The more the habit o f

thrift i s practiced the easier it becomes and
the sooner it com p ensates the self denier for -

”
the sacr ifice wh i ch it has imposed .
 II

A S A FE GU A R D F O R TH E F U T URE

H ER BE R T S P E N C E R
sa i d that the chief dif
ference between the savage and the civilized
man is in the former s lack Of foresight N ot
’
.

withstanding the hardships Of the primitive

life the savage but slowly learns to practice
,

self denial in order to provide for remote con

-

tin gen cies G iven. ample provision f o r to day -

he has no anxiety over the uncertainty o f to

morrow .

It is every one s duty to give som e thought

’

to the future to keep in mind a co mforta b le

,

Old age .

The possession Of money i n rese rv e gi ves

an independence which is an encouragement
to effort j ust as i t is a safe guard for the f u
,

ture It enables a man to work with more

.

confidence to look up and not down to r ise

, ,

superior to his surroundings and not b e

dragged down by them .

When we get a little money ahead it aro us es

enthusiasm to add to it It is a perpetual .

suggestion to save I t makes i t a little easier

.

6
 A S A F E GU A R$ FO R T H E F U T UR E 7

“ ”
to s ay when inclined to spend foolishly
NO
o r f o r th i ngs which are really not worth while .

H is small savings have kept many a young

m an from fall i ng i nto temptations which
might have c rippled o r ru i ned h im .

The little di ff erence between what we earn

and what we s p end is capital an asset S av , .

ings suggest to a young couple j ust establish

ing a home wonderful possibilities Money .

saved means a better home more c omforts It , .

m eans a little more reading matter and better

b ooks and p eriodicals It means a possible .

c ollege course later o n for the children and ,

p rotection f o r ou r Old age I t means an Op .

o rtu nit to help others — perhaps o u r coun

p y
t r y— when the call c omes I t means sound .

sleep less worry and less anxiety about the

,

f uture ; it m eans exemption from the horror

O f horrors fear Of coming to want anxiety lest
, ,

those dear to us may su ffer fo r lack Of the

c omforts O f life It may mean the difference
.

b etween a skillful surgeon o r physician a nd a

b ungler i n a case O f life or death when sick
, ,

ness enters o u r home .

I know a v ery brilliant young man who

earne d a great d ea l O f mone y but who felt ,
8 T H R IFT

such confidence in h is continued ability to

earn that he r ecklessly spent every cent as he
w ent along S uddenly his young wife was
.

taken seriously ill and in order to save her life

,

he was obl i ged to get a noted surgeon to per

f orm a very delicate and dangerous Operation .

A s the surgeon w ould not Operate until he

w as assured o f his fee the young man was
,

c ompelled to b orrow the necessary sum which ,

w as very large H is wife s life was saved but

.
’
.

h er c ontinued i llness and the illness o f their

small children together with the wear and
,

anx i ety s o inj ured the young man s health

,
’
,

that his earning capacity was im paired for

m any years I n fact his career w a s very seri
.
,

o u s ly handicapped and he and his family s u f

,

f ered many privations f o r lack Of ready money

t o tide them over the i r d ifficulties This young
.

m an could easily have s ave d a thousand dol

lar s in a single yea r before h i s wife s illness ’

b ut he di d not think i t necessary and b elieved

,

i n liv ing up to his i ncome as he went along .

H e took no thought fo r the future .

$ e neve r can tell when il lness o r a ccid ent

, ,

m ay impai r o ur earning capacity or when ,

some unforeseen emergency may make an un

 A S AFE GU ARD FO R TH E F U T UR E 9

expected call upon u s Tens of thousands o f .

mothers and children have endured all sorts

Of hardships because the father never laid up
any money f o r a n emergency and when it ,

came there was no savings bank b alance to -

h elp them over thei r time Of stress .

In an address o n The G reate r Thrift “ ”

d elivered before the N ational Education As

sociation in N ew York S W S trauss Presi , . .
,

dent Of the Am erican S ociety for Thrift made ,

this statement $ The records o f the S urro

“

’
gates Courts show that Out of one hundred
m en who die three leave estates Of
,

Fifteen others leave estates from two to ten

thousand dollars E ighty two Of every hun
.
-

dred leave no i n c ome producing estates at all

-
.

T hus o u t o f every o ne hundred widows only

, ,

ei ghteen are left in good o r c omfortable cir

cum s ta nces Forty seven Others are obliged

.
-
.

to go to work and thirty fi v e are left i n a b s o -

”
l ute want .

I have little respect for the man who does

“

no t put h imself in a position both t o provide

an d retain enough material means to suppo rt
c omfortably those who are dependent upon
”
h im ,
says Colonel R oosevelt It is every .
“
10 T H R I FT

man s sacred duty to invest a c erta i n percent

’

age Of h is earnings f o r the protection Of those

depending u pon him I t i s not s o much a
.

question Of whethe r i t is a good bus i ness in

vestment ; i t i s a duty a sacred duty and he
, ,

will be cruelly unj ust to those he loves if h e

allows them to take a risk which he person ,

ally conscious Of strength and power mi ght

, ,

be j ustified himsel f in taking Moreover the.

feeling that those dearest to h im are provided

for in case Of his death o r any misfortune
,

which may come to his business from changed

'
conditions o r b a d management must g iv e an ,
”
immens e s atisfaction to any man .

I know Of nothing els e whi c h quite takes the

place Of a little r eady money i n case Of need ;
something which w ill b e a bu ffer between u s
and the r ough knocks Of the world N O o ne .

who can possibly a ff ord i t should b e without

such a b u ffe r
'
.

U nless y o u are thr i fty w ith you r mone y ,

w ith your time y o u are not suc c ess organized

, .

Of course there are many fine lovable people

, , ,

Often gen i uses in some direction who are to ,

tally lacking i n the sense Of money values and ,

spend money —when they have it— r ecklessly

, .
12 T H R I FT

earned a great deal Of money but is always ,

”
“
hard up and i s constantly borrowing from
,

h i s friends .

The power o f r eady money i s usually not

hal f appreciate d by young men and young
women T h i s i s a land Of oppo rtunity and
.
,

good chan c es a re c onstantly coming to those

who have the r eady cash H o w Often w e hear .

I
people plead a s an excuse f o r no t seizing a
r are Opportunity f o r i nvestment that they had ,

no r eady money T here are always plenty Of

.

Opp ortunities if o ne only has a little r eserv e

,

laid by .

Every young p e r son shoul d h ave f oresight

and shrewdness enough to p rote c t some Of
his savings no t only to keep h i m fr om any
,

possible want in c as e o f sickness death o r , ,

emergency b ut also to enable him to get a

,

start again provide d h e shoul d m eet u nex

,

ected losses Without s u ch a r eserve he may

p .

be handicapped f o r years espe ci a lly if h e h as,

'

a family depending u p o n him .

A r elatively small amount O f r eady money

has sav e d man y a fortune in a c ase o f panic
or emergen c y T her e are t imes i n most
.

people s li ves wh en th ey must h ave rea d y

’
 A S AF E G U A R D FO R TH E F UT URE 13

m oney and must have i t imm ediately Per

, .

haps a thousand dollars i n cash would make

all the di fference b etween succes s a nd failure ,

and because they do not have the thousand they

fail and Often become victims Of despa i r .

I t i s very di fficult to get a hold again after

y o u have once lost your grip especially
, in
middle life $ Many employers look with dis
$trust o ngr ay hairs seeking a livelihood They .

think there is something wrong somewhere

when a man o f years has nothing b etween
himself and want .

T O realize that the b est years the most pro

,

d u ctiv e years Of one s life have gone by leav

’
,

ing no protection f o r Old age is certainly dis

,

heartening .

The world looks very di ff erent to the m an

who has something laid aside f o r an emer
geney for sickness o r for the comforts Of Old
, ,

age to what it does to the man who has noth

,

ing ahead The man who saves is insuring

.

against all sorts of misfortunes which may

come to himself and those dear to him i n the
future H e is building around his home a wal l
.

Of protection from insults fro m unkind treat

,

m ent from c old selfishness of othe r s

,
.
 I II

T H E M AN WE T R U ST

BE F O R E people will back a man w i th ca pi

tal before bankers will loan him money o r
,

j ob b ers give h im credit they want to know

,

what sort Of a man he is They will i nqu ir e

.

into h i s hab its fo r they kno w these will i ndi

,

cate h is characte r .

“
I s he stable in his c hara cter ? D oes h e s a ve
his money H as he formed habits Of thrift ?
?

Can his word be r elied upon ? H a s he good

business ability ? I s he industr i ous and s o ‘

”
b er ? These are the first questions which a
banker will ask in i nvestigating a man who
has applied for a loan The same thing is true
.

Of the j obbers o f whom he asks cred i t B us i .

ness men know that it is pretty safe to trust

a young man who has developed the habit Of
thrift who is careful Of his time hi s health his
, , ,

savings .

T h e quality which increases the confidence

o f others in a young man and adds trem en

1
4
 T H E M AN $ E T RU ST 15

d o u s lyto his credit is the reputation Of sta

b ility o f soundness of j udgment in business
,

matters I f a man is known to be careless in

.

money matters ; if he is not prompt in his pay

ments ; if he is inclined to gamble and does not ,

have much faculty for holding on to his money ,

he will have very hard work to get credit or to

start in business for himsel f .

Every sound business man knows that i f a

man cannot control h imself ; if he cannot resis t
the temptation to spend every bit O f his in
come perhaps more in unnecessary ways in
, , ,

f oolish indulgences he cannot be trusted with

,

money The man who cannot hold on to h is

.

money who spends it rashly no matter h o w

, ,

honest he may be is always an easy dupe of

o thers who take advantage of him and his
,

gullibility .

N oth ing w ill do more to help a young man

to get credit and gain for him the assistance
Of successful people than the reputation Of
having the saving habit Of having something
—
,

laid by whether in government bonds or in a

, ,

life insurance policy o r in some other invest

,

ment S uch thrift gives him standing

. .

A prominent business man says $ G ive me “

16 T HR I FT

the youth who saves to make the man worth

”
while .

Every employer knows that the employee

who always manages to save something o u t Of
his salary has other sterling qualities because
, ,

thrift b elongs to a large and most ex c ellent

family .

The man who has a fair salary but who ,

does not lay up anything is looked upon with ,

suspicion either as to his ability o r his habits

, .

Level headed business men always think well

-

Of young men who no matter h o w little they

,

earn manage somehow to save part Of it O ur

, .

savings are a p ower not only f o r the money,

they represent but because they are evidences

,

o f self denial good j udgment thrift

-

, , .

The very fact that a you ng man has the

foresight to look ahead to provide for the ,

future f o r others or against accident i ndi

, , ,

cates that he possesses fine qualities o f mind

and heart and that he is a good citizen and
,

neighbor People have confidence in him

. .

The reputation Of being provident and a good

citizen means more credit more capital more , ,

i nfl uence .

Yet there are young people s o foo lish a s to

 T H E M AN $ E T RU ST 17

boast Of spending everything they can get and ,

that they are always in debt And there are .

thousands Of young men receiving good sala

—
r i es some Of them very large— who never
think Of laying up a dollar They never see
.

”
anything i n the ir salaries but a good time “
,

and they never develop the habit o f thrift .

You ask them h o w they are doing an d they ,

will s a y $ O h j ust getting along

“
, j ust mak,
3,

” ”
ing a living j ust holding my own
,
“
.

J ust mak i ng a b are living is not getting o n ,

an d i t is not su fficient r ecommendation .

B acon says that a man who would live well

within his income ought not to expend more
than o ne half and should save the rest
-

, .

I knew a young man who had received a

goo d salary for many years and who had ,

neve r saved a dollar but who always intended

,

to save Every year he thought he was going

.

to save several hundred dollars at least o u t o f

h is salary ; but at the end Of the year he always
found that all o f his money was gone .

O ne day someone asked h im what he had

done with his salary the past year It set him .

thinki ng U p to that time he had never kep t

.

an ac co u n t o f his expen ditur e s ; but he s a t

18 T H R I FT

down and began to figure up his necessary ex

penses and found that they were not equal to
,

on e quarter Of his salary

-
Three fourths o f
.
-

all he earned had gone fo r amusement and

trifles H e resolved then and there to save
.

half Of h is salary and at once Opened an ac

,

count in a savings bank and deposited what

he had H e did not make the fatal mistake
.
,

which many make Of waiting until he had a

,

large amount to deposit .

I n a sho rt time this young man was not onl y

surprised to s ee how easy it was to save when
he had a strong motive but he was also s u r
prised a t the pleasure he had i n saving in ,

w atch ing his account grow and in planning ,

for a home Of his o wn and to go into business

f o r him self At the end Of the first year he had
.

a splend i d b alance in the bank and yet he ,

could no t s ee that he had missed any pleasure

$which w ould have been of real benefit to h im .

H e ha d cut Off habits which were inj urious to

h im an d which only made him hate himself for
,

indulgence i n them and with his increasing

,

self respect he had formed the habit Of reading

-

and self—improvement Everybody who knew .

h im no tic e d th e gre a t change i n h i s a pp ea r

20 T HR I FT

your home Make a sure thing Of i t N ever

. .

mind the little sacrifices you make to day -

.

You can a fford them for the sake Of to

m orrow .

Make a cast ir on rule to lay aside a certain

-

percentage Of your earnings every year N O .

matter h o w small i t may be o r if y o u have to

,

g O wi thout a great many things that you think

you need \p u t a certain per c entage Of your
,

earn ings where it will be absolutely safe .

Thr ift S tamps are a safe foundation o nwhich

to build your happiness and welfare You .

will find there is a great satisfaction not only

i n s eeing your li ttle savings grow but in ,

knowing that such investment o n your part ,

small as it may be is helping your country to

,

b ear its burdens at a critical tim e .

The great maj ority Of people are incapab le

o f doing large things — it would b e irn o s s ib le
p
f o r them to raise any considerable amount Of
m oney at once but the gr eat mass o f people
—

can put aside a certain amount from the ir in

comes o r salaries an d thus p rovide fo r the
futur e.
 IV

C AN $ OU FI NA N C E $ O UR SE L F ?

A M O S T essential thing for every one to

know i s h o w to fi nance oneself— ho w to earn
and use money I t does not matter h o w much
.

you know or h o w educated you are i f you ,

c annot finance o r support yourself there i s

something wr ong i n your e d ucation and you r
training ; you are deficient no matter h o w ,

talented i n othe r r espects .

O ne Of the most patheti c p hases Of Am er i

c an life is that s o many people are leading
unhappy wr etched li ves because in their youth
,

they were not taught h o w to finance them

selves Or to earn the ir o w nliving H o w many
,
.

thousands o f o u r young women have been

placed at the mer c y Of chance because they ,

lacked training in this respect $ From child

hood the i dea was instilled in them that w hen
”
they grew up they were expected to marry
“
.

Whethe r they ought to marry o r not r egard ,

l ess Of any s pe ci al talent the y m i ght h av e f o r

21
22 T HR IFT

business o r for a profession regardless o f

,

whether they had a special mission for the

world they were supposed to look o u t fo r a
,

husband It was no t considere d necessa r y o r

.

desirable that the daughter should have any

special training to fit her f o r a business o r in
dependent career R eared as a dependent
.

creature the girl Of the past was a sort Of

clinging vine brought up to think that some
,

on e would take care o f her so far as her living

,

was concerned ; that her father wo ul d look o u t

f o r her until s h e married and then her hus
,

band would do the r est .

Think o f the position o f a sel f respe c ting

-

girl with perhaps no desire o r Opportunity to

,

marry when s h e reached maturity and felt that

,

her parents expected her to relieve them Of

her support yet realized sh e was p erfectly
helpless to do s o $ S he had never b een taught
to earn her living what was s h e to do under
,

such circumstances S he found hersel f gr ow

?

ing Older and Older and did not want to

,

marry yet there seemed nothing else f or her

,

t o do .

To those with modern i deas there are plenty

Of useful careers besides that Of m at ri mon y
 C AN $ OU F I NAN CE $ O UR S E L F ? 23

Open to the girl o f to day The war is pre

-
.

senting new and wonderful opportunities to

women and they are developing marvelous
,

resour cefulness i nventiveness vast ability

, ,

which they never before dreamed they pos

sessed This new Outlook for woman with
.
,

her new i ndependence her new self reliance

,
-

wil l give her a chance which s h e never before

had The educated girl Of to day knows Sh e
.
-

i s under no Obligation whatever to marry

unless there is a loud unmistakable call in her
,

nature and of this she Should be the j udge

, .

The fact that they were totally untrained to

earn the ir living ; or at best not su fficiently
trained to make it possible for them to earn
more than a bare subsistence has had a blight ,

ing effect o nmany promising young lives .

There are many women to day who are per -

f ectly miserable because their whole natures

have r evolted at the idea Of marriage but ,

they were practically obliged to leave home ,

and they believed there was no other door open

for t h em They had never been trained in any
.

money making profession that would assure

-

them independe nce Is it surprising that such

.

w omen p rove ine fficient thriftless wives a nd

, ,
24 T H R IFT

when widowed are incapable Of self supp ort ? -

T O my mind it is not only cruel but really ,

a crime to force a girl when s h e is hopelessly

, ,

inefficient out i nto the world to earn her living

, ,

o r to marry a man who is totally unsuited to

make her happy o r to be the father Of h er chil

dren the head Of a family
, .

Pa r ents make your girl self reliant s o that

,
-

men will kno w that she is not dependent upon

any o ne of them for support that sh e is per
, .

f ectly capa b le no t only Of making a living but ,

o f making a c a r ee r of distin c tion b ecause o f

,

he r education and expert tra i ning in som e

particular line Most girls are j ust as proud
.

Of making a reputation along the lines o f their

ability as are the men and they shoul d have
,

the same chance that their brothers hav e to

develop their business possibilities .

Many a cultured girl has been th r own s u d

d enly o n he r o wn resources by the failure o r
the death Of her father and has found hersel f
,

wholly incapable Of adm inistering his affairs

o r o f earning a living Many women when
.
,

the ir husbands die suddenly are left with ,

b usiness r espons i b ilities wh ich they are u t

,

terly unfi t to a ssume .T he y a r e a t t h e m e r c

y
 CAN $ OU F I N AN C E $ O UR S E L F ? 25

of d esi gni ng lawyers o r dishonest business

m en who well know that they are mere babies
,

i n their hands when it comes to im p ortant

,

business transactions .

Bus iness talent i s as rare as a talent for

mathematics We find boys and gi rls turned
.

o u t Of school and college full Of theories and ,

all sorts Of knowledge o r sma tterings of

knowledge but without the ability to protect
,

themselves from human thieves who are try

in g to get something for nothing N O girl o r .

b o y Should b e allowed to graduate especially ,

from any o f the higher institutions without ,

being well grounded in p ractical b us ines s

methods Parents who send their children out
.

in life without seeing that they are well versed

in ordinary business principles do them incal
c u l ab le inj ustice .

Thousands Of girls are sent o u t into the

world with what is called finished educations ,

who cannot even give a proper receipt f o r

money to s a y nothing Of d rawing a promis
,

sory note a draft o r a bill o r understanding

, ,

the Significance and importance Of business

contracts O ne such woman presented a check
.

for payment to the paying teller o f her bank .

26 T HR I F T

He passed it back to her with the request that

s h e be kind enough to indorse it The lady .

wrote o n the back Of the check I have done ,

“

business with this bank for many years and I ,

believe it to b e all right M rs J ames B . . .

”
Brown .

I f every child i n Americ a had a thorough

b usiness training tens Of thousands Of p r o
,

m o ters longheaded cu nning schemers who

, , ,

have thriven o nthe people s ignorance would ’

b e o u t Of an occupation .

S ince as w e have seen i n a precedin g chap

,

ter only eighteen o u t o f every o ne hundred

,

w idows are left independent forty seven ,

-

being obliged to go to work and the rema in ,

—
ing thirty fi v e being left in absolute want it ,

is clear that e v ery woman married o r single , ,

should know h o w to support and finance her

self The necessity for this is made more a p
.

parent than ever a t this critical period o f the

world s history when the male element o f the
’

family is being called from the home I t is .

a s imperative to train the girl to be self s u

p
-

porting as it is to train th e boy .

What pitiable cases we often s ee o f young

w i ves sincere and honest but who had p ra c
, ,
28 T H R I FT

said s h e had never before realized that i f sh e

spent her money f o r o ne thing s h e could no t
,

have i t f o r someth ing else .

T he w ise e xpenditure of money i ncurring

thr i ft y habits o f l iving i s a matter i n wh i ch
every girl Shoul d b e well trained before s h e
leaves home I kno w fathers who seem to
.

think that the y s av e m oney b y not allowing

thei r daughters to handle it B ut i f a sensible
.

girl h as learned the value O f each dolla r sh e ,

will b e ver y m u c h mo r e c areful a s t o how sh e

Spends i t.

Most girls are not given an opportunity to

handle money u ntil they are mature H ence .
,

many neve r learn i ts real value o r h o w to

spend it to the b est advantage They are un.

developed inthe ways Of thrift D uring her .

school days the father not only p ays for the

,

daughter s clothing but the mother usually de

’
,

cides o f what the clothing shall consist I n .

othe r w ords instead of giving the daughter an

,

allow an c e while she is in school o r not in a ,

position to earn anything to Speak o f and ,

teaching her h o w to use her j udgment and

cult i vate he r taste in the selection o f whatever
s h e w ea r s, t h us develop ing he r self r eliance -

,
 CAN $ OU F I NA N C E $ O UR S EL F ? 29

and making her as self dependent as possible -

the average girl is brought up to lean U pon

her parents in all such things and not being ,

accustomed to handle money of her own o r to ,

keep accounts she Often goes to her o w nhome

,

with very little practical sense in money mat

ters Thousands of girl s marry in this weak
.

and helpless condition and a great d eal Of dis ,

cord results in the home oftentimes wrecking ,

it H o w can a girl w h o has had practically no

.

training in the h a ndling of money know its ,

v alue ,all at once become a wise financier

when s h e is married ?

When a girl who has been brought up i n a

v ery strict home who has perhaps been over
,

chaperoned and over protected feels her new

,
-

found freedom her new sense o f liberty fro m

,

restraint she is naturally led i nto extrav a gant

,

expenditures and i s Often encour a ged by a n

,

affectionate indulgent husband who is a nxious ,

t o d o everything he can to please h er .

I know of a pitiable case of this kind w here

the w ife Of a young college professor ra n u p
accounts in department stores at livery ,

stables even at florists without realizing wha t

, ,

Sh e was do i ng H er new found liberty away

.
-

,
30 T H RI FT

from the r estr a i nts Of a n exacting penurious ,

father meant l i cense t o this young wife and

, ,

s h e did not know h o w careful she would need

to b e in the spending o f her husband s small ’

salary o f two thousan d dollars S he did no t .

stop to consider that her father would no

longer send checks for her purchases and that ,

tw o thousand doll ars a year did not admit Of

many theater o r Opera tickets B efore sh e .

kne w it She had run up large accounts and

,

no t o nly embarrassed her hu s band for several

years b u t also suffered great humiliation and
,

chagrin herself .

When the bills began to arrive and th e

young wife awoke to the full realization o f her
situation rather than tell her husband Sh e
, ,

pawned her j ewelry some of which were her,

wedding presents B ut the husband found

.

that o u t and w as not only greatly shocked at

,

the condition Of things but was ser i ously ,

t r oubled because o f his wife s deception even ’

though not i ntentional .

The world demands that every indi vi dua l

kno w h o w to take care of himself h o w to b e ,

i ndependent self reliant h o w to finance him

,
-

sel f wi sely h o w to make the most of his in

,
 C AN $ OU F I NA N CE $ OU R S E LF ? 31

come There is nothing more important to a

.

human be ing than to be able not only to earn

h is o wn living but also to know h o w to use
,

h i s money to the b est p ossible advantage fo r ,

o nthis depends his p ower to make himsel f in

dependent and consequently to do his best

work in the world .

O ne Of the first steps in financing yoursel f

properly is to keep a personal ca sh account .

This is o ne Of the best educators and teachers

Of economy and system I f th e habit i s
.

formed when you are young in years it will

never be broken I t will mean a competence
.

in later life when otherwise there m a y be none .

Very f ew young women and girls use busi

nes s methods in the handling of thei r money .

N o w financing you r self is one o f the first

,

lessons in the scienc e o f success I f you can .

not finance yourself i n a l evel he a ded wise -

way you certainly c a nnot w i sely man a ge your

,

own a ff airs o r those Of anothe r U nbusiness .

like methods unwise handling Of money will

,

make a b ad impression upon your employer ,

or your husband I f you are not thri fty in

.

your own a ffairs if you are not businesslike

,

i n managi n g them others wi ll take it fo r

,
32 T HR I FT

granted that you will be inefficient in the

handling o f their a ffairs .

H owever you make your l i ving whethe r by

,

the work Of your hand o r o f you r b rain in a ,

t rad e o r in a p rofess i on at home o r i n the

,

sho p whethe r you r i ncome be small o r l arge

, ,

you will always be placed at a disadvantage ,

unless you know h o w to finance yourself s u c

ces s f u lly.This is no t to be close mean o r
”
“
,

st i ngy b ut to know h o w to make the most o u t

,

Of you r inc ome ; not to expend the margin you

should s ave i n Silly extravagances o r to make
foolish inves tments Let your slogan b e a s
.
,
”
it is w it h the nation ,
“
E conomy .
3 45 T HR I FT

energy F o r him to ach i eve such wealth a

.

certain amount Of economy must have b een

necessary o nhis part as well as that o f othe r s .

But that he never l earned the tr ue mean i n g

o f thrift i s certain for th rift teaches h o w to
,

spend as well as h o w to save Many p eo p l e

.

have accumulated money who d o not kno w

h o w to spend it wisely .

O nly a little while a go I he ard o f a y o ung

m an who was left a large fortune an d wh o ,

w as s o intoxicated with the foolish i dea that

he w as going to be a great financier that he ,

invested right and left in all sorts Of se c u r i

ties H e became s o entangled i n the schemes
.

Of w i ly promoters wh o were qu i ck to di scover

,

h i s gu llibility that before he knew it he h ad

, , ,

run through h is entire fortune Yet he really.

tho u ght he was making money unt il the crash

came .When he failed i t w a s found that
, ,

in the enti re list o f his securities there w a s

scarcely anyth ing of real value The re w as .

hardly a se c urity in wh ic h any l evel hea d ed -

bus i ness man would have ri sked a dolla r .

Most young men have an amb i tion to m ak e

money There is a personal pride in it It
. .

to u ches the ir v an i t y T he y think th e r e is

.
 S AVI N G IS T H E A RT O F W I SE S PE N D I N G 3 5

something the matter with a young man who

ca nnot make money The motive is S O strong
.

for money making that they make a strenuous

-

endeavor to get i t ; b ut do not make an equal

e ff ort to retain i t there b eing a thousand and
,

on e tem p t a t i ons t r yin g to indu c e them to g iv e

it up .

A self made m illionaire tells me th at n

-
ot

on e o u t o f a hundred Of those who make money

in N ew York can keep it While this may

.

b e exaggerated we all know that compara

,

tiv ely f ew are able to keep what they make .

T he inducements to p art with money are very

alluring to those who are no t strongly in
trenched in self c ontrol -
.

A well known victim o f thriftlessness i s

-

th e amiable easy going large hearted liberal

,
-

,
-

man H e is always ready to pay for the lunch

.
,

for the dinner for the drinks H is bump Of

, .

generosi ty is S O strongly developed that every ,

thing goes as fast as he gets it H e c annot .

seem to hold on to money .

This type o f a man often h a s the b est in

tentions fine impulses yet b e absolutely ruins
, ,

those dependent upon h im as well a s himsel f , ,

b y not prov i ding f o r their future Almost .

36 T H R IFT

anyone can get money fro m h im if h e h a s ,

any by asking If he does not happen to

, .

have i t he will Often borrow i t for his friends

, . .

I kno w a man Of th i s sort who but f o r th i s , ,

on e defe c t would pro b a b ly have been a ver y

,

great success H e h a s many warm friends ;

.

everybody who knows him loves him yet he ,

has not been able to get capital ahead and his

family those really nearest and dearest to him
, ,

a r e the victims Of h is pr odigal i ty S u ch a .

man might w ell tak e a lesson from G oldsmi th ,

who wr ote $
I had learned from b ooks to b e disinte r
“

ested and generous before I was taught fro m

experience the ne c essity Of b eing prudent

O ften b y b eing even with my na r ,

ro w finances c haritable to excess I forgot th e

, ,

r ules Of j usti c e and pla c ed myself inthe very

S ituat i on o f the wr et c h wh o thanked me f o r
”
my bounty And this man who could r efus e
.
,

no indulgen c es eit h e r to himself o r others a d ,

monish ed his b rothe r to tea ch h is s o n thrift

and e c onomy Let h i s poo r w andering
.
“

’ ”
uncle s example b e placed before his eyes .

Everyone Should be taught th e value Of

money and h o w to spend it wisely I f people .
 S A VI NG IS T HE A RT OF W I SE S PE ND I NG 37

do not acquire this knowledge i n youth they ,

seldom later in life do s o .

T here i s no o ne human faculty negl e c te d

m ore by the c ommon people than prudence .

Men rea ch ahead and make money b ut after ,

they get i t m ost o f them see m power l ess to

,

keep it I t slips through their fingers in an

.
,

i ncredible manner i n all sorts Of foolish w ays

, .

T he art o f saving i s essentially the art Of

wi se Spending O ftentimes what seems like
.

e xtravagance is the greatest possible economy .

T here are many families especially i n smaller

,

t owns and in the country who o wnautomobiles,

b ut who have no bathtub s i n their homes and ,

c onsider the latter expens i ve luxuries .

W e would not discourage people from o wn

i ng automo b iles becaus e they are a precious
,

b oon to the American home bring i ng relief ,

to the m onotonous existence Of women and

c hildren and health v ariety and j oy to vast
, , ,

m ultitudes o f people heretofore deprived O f

thes e blessings ; but c leanl i ness i s not only next
to godliness i t is godl i ness and most Of us
, ,

c onsider a b athtub an i mp ortant adj unct to

c leanliness It took civilization many centu
.

ri es to arrive at the b athtub as a necessity a n d

38 T H RI FT

luxury Most o f us are finding that the daily

.

bath is a wonderful health and e ffi ciency pro

moter and life prolonger .

T he great thing in making expend i tu r es is

to spend upward to invest in oneself $ O not , .

b e c ontent to wear silks and diamonds on the

body to ride around in your limousine and to
, ,

dress the m ind in calico and the character i n

rags Let self improvement self cul ture a
.
-

,
-

healthy mind a fine personality b e your ri chest

,

dress S pen d your money and t ime o nth ings

.

which endure S pend them in any w a y that

.

w ill make y o u a larger grander truer man , ,

o r woman T here is i nfinite satisfaction i n

.

Spending for the higher instead Of the lower ,

in self investment i n self im provement

-

,
-
.

I nvest in the b est things It i s spending .

u p ward living upward dwelling i n honesty

, , ,

insim plici ty living the life that is worth while

, ,

the r eal life the s incere life the genu ine life
, , ,

t h at will gi ve the greatest satisfaction .

T here are people who have very small in

comes an d yet they spend it in all sorts Of
,

fool i sh ways They will take their last penny

.

to b uy expensive b rie a brae and articles Of - -

dress which only the well to do could a ff ord to

,
- -
 S AV I NG IS T H E A RT O F W I S E S PE ND I NG 39

have and then they su ffer for the real neces

,

s a ries Of li fe .

I know a most excellent woman who was

b rought up in luxury without learning the
v alue Of things and who is no w p oor $ uite
, .

r ec ently she would go to market and buy the

greatest variety Of eatables for the table know ,

i ng perfectly wel l that She would be obliged

to go without necessary articles Of clothing in
order to cover the extravagan c e S he co ns id
.

ers i t deplorable not to have a great quantity

and a great variety Of food o nthe ta b le This .

housekeeper as well as many others who here

,

tofore spent recklessly for foodstu ffs and lux

u ri e s
, are no w taking lessons i n thrift from
o u r wise G overnment .

Most people do no t take i nto c onsideration

t h e tremendous indu c ements that are all the
t ime at work trying to get the ir money away
from them S cores Of fancied wants are tug
.

gi ng away at the po c ketbook all the t ime and ,

u nless w e are well gr ounded in the principles

-

Of self control and caution and prudence u n

-

l ess we develop good j udgment the money ,

w ill Slip away from us .

T here are multitudes O f p eople to d ay in

40 T H R IFT

the gr eat failure army in o u r poorhouses o r

, ,

being helped by the char itab le associations ,

who w ould have been fairly independent to

day had they learned the art Of wise spending .

“
A penny saved instead Of a p enny properly
”
spent is a penny wasted w e a r e told
, . Why
“

no t remember the parable o f the ta lents and

”
learn wisdom fr om it ?
42 T H R IFT

$ eeping up false appearances living a false ,

life is most demoralizing Trying to make

,
.

people think you are better Off than you really

are acts as a boomerang which strikes back
with a fatal rebound .

A N ew York woman o f high so ci al a mbi

tions not long ago lost her hom e and all her
property in her e fforts to in troduce her d au gh
ters into fashionable society The family could .

have lived in comfort o nthe ir modest income ,

had not the mother gone far beyond their

means in her eagerness to force her daughters
i nto the society Of those who were socially far
above them i n the matter o f wealth S he spent .

a great deal o f money in giving smart enter

ta in m ents in order to show her girls Off to the
best advantage Thousands Of dollars were
.

sq u andered in b uying beautiful gowns hats , ,

laces and all sorts Of expensive fi nery f o r them

, ,

s o that they might Shine as brilliantly as othe r

young ladies who had a hundred t imes the ir

financial means In an insane attempt to keep
.

up appearances far beyond her income and ,

to secure as she ho p ed wealthy husbands fo r

, ,

her daughters s h e b ecame hopelessly entan

,

gled in debt and was forced into bank r u p t c y

, ,
 S AI L I NG U ND E R F A LS E C O L O R S 43

a nd the daughters instead o f w inning the

,

prizes their mother sought are mortified and ,

chagrined to find themselves no w without even

a home .

Mothers in ordinary circ umstances often

make tremendous e fforts to marry their d a u gh
ters to rich men li ttle realizing that they are
,

thus maki ng their girls dissatisfied with their

humble surroundings and leading them to
,

think their modest home a bore a place to b e ,

shunned as much a s p ossible They little .

know that this catering to van i ty is what ruins

s o many girls and makes selfish discontented , ,

thriftless wives Of them .

T rying to put up a good front to kee p up ,

ap pearances which we cannot afford has cast ,

a gloom o f unhapp iness and misery over thou

sands o f homes which but for envy but fo r ,

S illy false pride might have been very happy

,

homes There is more misery and discontent

.

among the many people who occupy boxes

and expensive seats at the theater and the
Oper a than among those who cannot a fford a
s ea t a t all but stand up in the rear
, .

I know Of women who enj oy life immensely

who cannot a fford e v en the cheapest seats at
4 41 T H R IFT

the Opera but they gladly stand and return

, ,

home delighted radiant with happ iness while

, ,

on e O ften sees othe r w omen in the most ex

,

pens i ve b oxes whos e faces a re the bulletin

,

boards that Show the i r discontent .

Would you not rathe r go to the theater i n

ordinary c lothes and i n a street ear than t o -

b e fashionably attired go i n a l imousine and

, ,

s it ina b o x and worry all the evening because

o u c ould not a ff ord it and wondered h o w you

y ,

w ere going to pay your bills ?

Who can estim ate the su ffer i ng the human ,

tragedies that result from thi s everlasting

strain Of trying to keep up appearances Of ,
’
l i ving beyond one s means ? There are plenty
o f people everywhere to d ay who do not have

e nough to eat and who p racti c e all so rts o f

,

p inching economy at home f o r th e s ake o f

keeping up appearances i n so ci ety .

What tremendous strides we coul d make in

things that really count were the energy ex
p ended in stra ining to keep up appearances
spent i n improving ourselves in genuine self ,

c ul ture i n man b uilding in woman bui lding $

, ,

Why shoul d i t r equire s o much c ourage to

live the life we canafford to be genu ine true
, , ,
 S AI L I NG U ND E R F A L SE C O L O R S 45

and never to fear what neighbors think o ur ?

Even those who are wealthy will think more

o f us f o r this independence .

Many people Shorten the ir li ves in over

w o rking in plodding a l ong w i thout vacations
,

o r c hange struggl ing to keep up appearances

, ,

t o satisfy others ideas Of what they ought to

’

d o and Ought to have .

I have watched young people who live this

sort o f a life and i t is a rare thing that any
,

o f the m turn o u t w ell Thei r w eakness the .

,

tendency for S how gr ows upon them and , ,

when they once get a taste o f what they c all

”
the good things O f life the luxuries they
“
, ,

d evelo p a dissatisfaction f o r their humb le

h omes They i mmediate l y think they w ere
.

b orn Out o f the ir sphere ; that it is a shame f o r

p eople with a taste fo r luxur i es to b e poor .

T hey never think they should p ut forth any

honest e fforts to bring about a m ore prosper
Ous condition .

The fact is that extravagant habits are

,

i ncompatible with the thrift necessary for suc

c ess in any c aree r There must b e an under
.

ly i ng clean c ut thr i ft i n the nature a dis p osi

,
-

tion to make the most o f e v er ythi n g and to ,

46 T H R I FT

make every dollar go as fa r as possible and ,

to save j ust as much as possible without p i nch

i ng in one s comforts or being mean
’
.

The people who plunge into extravagance to

keep pace with families of the rich overlook
the fact that beh i nd every honest fortune lies
thrift If we investigate we will generally
.
,

find that the antecedents Of these r ich people

worked hard lived frugally practiced econ
, ,

om
y to lay the foundation Of the fortun e .

O ur real wants are very simple W e could .

supply them all by working a very small part

o f o u r tim e ; but it is the th i ngs demanded for

others eyes that are so expens i ve that cost

’
,

o u r life —blood that sap o u r energy that cause

, ,

the tremendous life strain the nervous pros ,

tra tio n the paralysis t h e premature Old age

, , .

’
Ah $ what tyrants o thers eyes are $ H ow
we wince under their glance $ What a rare
thing it is to find a perso nwho i s large enough
an d free enough to be really natural .

H o w many people live and dress and pose

and endure all sorts Of inconveniences and
slavery j ust to impress their neighbors $ $ O
what they will they cannot get away from
,

others eyes They have costly draperies at

’
.
48 T H R IFT

A course Of plain living and high thinking

would be good f o r the morals o f society and ,
”
good f o r legitimate trade .

Why not get down to realities b y l iv i ng the

simple life the natural life by throwing Off
, ,

masks and being what you seem ? This co n

stant straining to appear what y o u are not ,

this building up a superficial character keep ,

ing up a deceitful appearance will honey ,

comb the life with fraud and leave noth ing

but dissatisfaction behind .

$ O no t be afraid to decline to do what you

”
cannot a fford D are to say N O with em
.
“

phasis to b e yourself B e content to let

, .

others make fools Of themselves if they wi ll

, .
 VI I
TH E RU I N OF R I VALRY
N OT l ong ago I hea r d a N ew York b us i ness
m an w i th a small i ncome s a y $ I have no idea
“

o f tak i ng a b ack seat when it comes to putting

”
up a good front . H e said that h i s income
would no t warrant his keeping an automobile ,

b ut he w a s obliged to have o ne because his

neighbors and others had them and he did no t
,

p ropose to be outdone by them ; that he did

no t w ant his children humiliated because they
coul d no t a fford what others had and s o he ,

ran i nto a debt whi c h h a s made him a slave

fo r years.

There are tho u sands Of peop l e str i ving and

struggling in the most unnatural way to get
along in N ew York and other large cities who ,

are des p erately unhappy b ecause o f the con

trast b et ween their condition and that o f those
w hom they envy I do not believe there is
.

any place i n the w orld where envy plays such

a p r om inent p art as in a great city .

49
50 T H R I FT

S o m any people seem to think that it is al

most a disgrace not to have what other people
whom they know have I f others have an au .

to m o b ile they must have one whether they

, ,

can a fford it o r not D aughters Of men i n

.

narrow circumstances think they must have

the same beautiful things to wear as their
friends have who may be infinitely better able
to a ff ord them I know young people who s ay
.

they would rather stay at home than go any

w here unless they can dress as others do and
go as others go .

A young man who received twenty dollars a

week told me that it cost him fifteen dollars
on e evening to take a young woman to the

opera and to suppe r afterward Another .

young fellow who only earned eight dollars a

,

w eek told me that he frequently spent nearly

,

half that amount in taking a young woman to

the theater B ecause her other friends coul d
.

do this he felt he must Everywhere we s ee

, .

p eo ple in ord i nary c irc umstances ap i ng the

rich.

Many Of us are such slaves to this i mitat i on

Of others that we have no time for friendships ,

no t im e f or soc ial l ife no t ime for true enj oy

,
 TH E R UIN O F R I VA L R Y 51

ment for d oing the things that are really

,

worth while .

I know a mother who is not very ambitious

for herself and she is not particularly morti
,

fi ed or very greatly inconvenienced personally

by her poverty but she is very much dis
,

tressed and humiliated on her daughter s a c ’

count S he grieves that her child cannot have

.

what other girls whom she knows have that ,

Sh e must ride o n the street car o r walk when

-

other girls have maids to attend them and ,

luxurious automobiles to take them whereve r

th ey wish to go .

S he says it breaks her heart to think th a t

her attractive daughter has to wear cheap o r ,

d ina ry clothing when other girls not hal f as

,

attractive o r deserving dress in the most ex

trava ga n t manner and wear expensive j ewel
ry, and that there is something cruell y wrong
with a society which forces her daughter to
work i n an O ffi ce all day instead of living a
,

life o f ease with serv ants and money at her

,

command .

T his woman has s o poisoned her daughter s

’

m ind in talkin g before her in this way in ,

br ingin g he r u p to d es p ise her h umble home

52 T H R IFT

and surroundings that the girl does not a pp re

,

ci ate anything she has Like her mother She .

,

is always comparing her limited c ondition with

the luxurious state Of others The mothe r
’
h as filled the girl s head full o f nonsense ab out
making a supreme e ffort to marry money and ,

i n this w a y help to replenish the depleted

family treasury S he tells her that no matte r
.

h o w honest o r i ndustrious a young man may

b e if he has not money if he cannot suppo rt
, ,

a wife i n luxury s h e should have nothing to

,

do with him I n her desperate efforts to

.

marry her daughter to somebody w ith money ,

I doubt very much Whether sh e w ould a sk

any questions ab out a wealthy suitor s c h ar ’

acter .

I nstead o f being buoyant cheerful ha p py , , ,

Opt imistic a s all youth naturally are the

, ,

daughter is cynical sarcastic about everything

, ,

always complaining of her hard lot S he .

neve r seems to enj oy anything s h e has It is .

always cheap and dowdy never looks right o r ,

sets right H e r hat i s a ch eap j ohn thi ng ;

.
” “

”
she
“
hates i t .

H app iness i s a mental attitude i t i s the ,

c on dit i on Of t h e min d not the c ondit i o no f the

,
 T H E R U I N O F R I VA L R Y 53

pocketbook and N ature has made it further

,

impossible f o r happiness to live in c om p lex ,

c omplicated envious conditions

, .

I f y o u are made o f the ri ght kind o f metal

y o u w ill no t allow other people to destroy

you r peace o f mind o r your happiness It is .

a n evidence Of weakn ess if y o u do ; i t shows

that you have a foolish van i ty .

G ratification s a tisfaction o f o u r selfish

,

cravings only i ncreases o u r soul hunger

, .

D esire is as i nsatiable a s i ts demands ar e

“

”
attended to .

H uman b eings starve and p inch their lives

an d stunt their growth by their wrong att i
tude toward life They kill every j oy and
.

blight the ir happ i ness by thei r o w n envy j eal ,

o nsy and false ambition

, .

I t i s not s o much o u r lack O f comforts or ,

Of l uxuries as o u r envy o u r selfishness o u r

, , ,

false standards that make us unhappy .

Many Of us miss the j oys that might b e ou r s

b y keeping o u r eyes fixed o n those of other
people N O one can enj oy his o wnOpportuni
.

ties f o r h ap p iness while he i s envious of a n

other s W e los e a gr eat deal Of the j oy Of
’
.

livi n g by not ch ee rfully a cc e p ti n g the small

54 T H R I FT

pleasures that come to us every day instead Of ,

longing and wishing for what belongs to

others .

Why no t take pleasure in o u r o wn modest

”
car and not long for the luxurious Twin S ix
,
“
-

that some o ne else owns Why let the edge

?

be taken Off the enj oyment Of o u r o w n little

home watching the palatial residence Of o u r
neighbor Let us try to get satisfaction o u t
?

Of a trolley ride int o the country o r a sail o n

a river steamer and not envy the man who
,

can enj oy the luxury Of his o wn touring ca r

o r yacht U sually y o u will find he o r some
.

on e belonging to him has labo r ed hard for

these enj oyments .

Many people envy the p ossessions Of the

“

rich says S amuel S miles but w ill no t pass

”
, ,
“

through the risks the fatigues o r the dangers

, ,

o f acqu iring them It is related o f the D uke .

Of D antzig that an Old comrade whomhe had ,

no t seen for many years call ed upon h im at ,

his hotel in Paris and seemed amazed at the ,

luxury o f his apartments the richness Of his ,

furniture and the magnificence Of his ga r

,

dens The duke supposing that he s aw i n his

.
,

o ld c omr ade s face a feeling o f j ealousy sai d

’
,
56 T H R IFT

Of the demoralizing influence Of her example

upon poor girls H o w many are tempted into
.

extravagan c e which they cannot a fford make

,

slaves Of themselves o r are tem p ted i nto im

moral living in try i ng to a p e peo p l e Of he r
type ?
N O greater delusion ever crept into a r ich
woman s head than that wanton extravagance
’

is j ust ified o n the gr ound that it gives em

ployment . Thousands Of girls are ruined
every yea r b ecaus e Of the demoralizing influ
ence Of j ust such examples ; bes i des the m ult i
tudes that are r endered unhappy b e c au se they
c annot Obtain thos e things .

N O r ich person has a right t o set an exam

ple which will demoralize others O u r rights
.

to extravagan c e cease when they i nj ure others .

N O woman has a right to flaunt he r ri c hes in

the faces O f poor girls who a re made mise r
,

able by he r foolish ex tr ava gant examp le

, .
 VII I
“ ”
A H OME OF M$ O$ N

I N t h e heart of the average yo u ng p e r son

l i es the desire to possess a home o f his o wn .

U nfortunately most people fail to s ee the

,

Obstacles that lie in the way Of their ach i eving

this wo rthy desire A home Of my o wn$
.
“ ”

Around this cluster many sweet dreams Of

fireside j oys b ut we start wrong i n o u r quest
, .

Wit h small salaries and limited i ncomes ,

h o w Often young men spend ex travagantly i n

the i r c ourting days $ In their youthful ardor
they send the Obj ect O f their devotion ex p en
sive bonbons costly flowers in winter and
, ,

other luxuries o u t O f season ; and without r e ,

gard to expense hire automobiles for theater

,

and opera when lower priced vehicles would -

answer Al l O f these things keep back the

.

young man who wants to establish a home Of

his o wn H e is not starting right It gives
. .

a w rong im pression to his future w ife E x .

57
58 T HR I FT

pensive bonbons and flo w ers and costly amuse

ments will not make a sensible girl think any
more o f y o u my friend ; s h e will often think
,

less Of you especially if sh e knows o r even

, ,

suspects that you can t a ff ord the outlay It

,
’
.

does not bespeak a level head good j udgment , ,

sound financial w isdom o nyour part .

I have Often heard girls s a y that they were

sorry their men friends spent s o much money
o n them because they knew that they c ould
,

not afford it ; b ut they did not like to s ay th i s

to them S ome years ago I knew a young
.

man earning a salary of about twelve dollars

,

a week who would buy expensive roses for a

,

young woman he admired and go without his ,

lunches in order to save f o r them I have .

known him when the O b j ect o f his devotion

,

w a s traveling to telegraph to a di stant city to

,

a florist to deliver flowers at her hotel $ N ot

withstanding this foolish expenditure h e fail ed ,

to make the impression upon the young

woman that he thought he would make S he .

found tha t he was no t well balanced and -

, ,

after he had expended a gr eat deal o f money

and seriously embarrassed himself financially
trying to win her S h e refused to marry him
, .
 ”
“
A HO M E OF M $ O$ N 59

I f he had been more sensible in his courtship

he might have been successful but the young ,

w om an knew he could not afford the ex tra va

gant things he did and she lost faith in him .

The temptations to spend o n every hand

are s o alluring that i t i s very d ifii cu lt for a
young man o f ordinary self control to resist -

them and save his money It is very easy .

,

especially in a large city with a ll its allure

,
’
ments to spend one s loose change f o r c igars
, ,

for drinks theater tickets dinners at ex p en

, ,

s i ve restaurants and hotels and all sorts Of in

,

d u lgences . Thes e are the things that go far

to prevent the accumulation o f that first thou
sand dollars which i s SO important in the
foundation f o r all one s future success and
’

happiness .

If y o u really want to make your dreams

come true you will enter into a compact with
yourself to save a certain amount every week
o u t Of your salary .

It is a great thing always to have some Ob

j e ct in view N O.better one could be found
than that Of helping your country by invest
ing all you can in War Certificates and Thrift
S tamps Forego the luxuries and e xtra va
.
60 T HR IFT

gances Of former days and Show your patr i ot

ism in th i s w ay Thus you may b e able to
.

estab lish not only habits Of thrift and econ

om
y
, but to bring i nto r eality that home you
hav e b een vi sualizing .

A little money in rese rv e i s a gr eat enco u r

ager a perpetual stimulus to ambition The
, .

consciousness tha t we are getting o n i n the

world that we are laying the foundation for
,

the home o f Our dreams i s a tremendous mo

,

tive which marvelously increases o u r c ourage ,

o u r a b ility o u r e fficien c y
, .

Thrift is the beginning Of suc c ess I t puts .

a foundation unde r your a i r castle I t builds .

that home o f my o wn to which every

“ ”

healthy am b itious young fellow looks forwa rd

,

as the culmination Of his hopes .

$ h o c an ever estimate what the sav i ng f o r

a home h as done f o r people $ This glorious
vision has held vast multitudes Of men and
womento their task kept them from yielding
,

to a thousand tempting call s bidding f o r their

m oney .

Lear n i ng h o w to h ol d o nto money without

b eing mean o r stin gy w i th i t is a great art .

Anything which will induce the habit o f s av

 ”
“
A H OM E OF M $ O$ N 61

i ng i n th i s extravagant nation i s a b lessing .

The whole tendency is t o ward a w icked waste

o f money shameful ext r avagance i n l i v i ng and
,

i n social l i fe N O matter h o w small your in

.

come make it above the line Of your expenses

, ,

and w i thout b e i ng penurious keep as far w ith

in this boundary line as possible -
.

On l y recently I heard a young man b oast

ing that he go t a big salary but he had neve r ,

laid up a cent in his life and that Often at the ,

end Of the week he was b ehind and had to

borrow money N O$ think o f a young m an
.
,

boasting Of this and yet expecting to get o n

,

in the world to o wn a home o f his o wn to

, ,

stand f o r something i n his community to b e ,

a man Of importance among his fellows $

Most people are entirely to o confident
about their financial safety They do not ex .

peet the emergencies o f illness o f accident of , ,

business Of change of location losses which

, ,

war b rings for example and which panics and

, ,

fires cause H o w many thousands Of peo p l e

.

to d ay are eating the bitter fruit o f poverty ,

g r inding penury are homeless moneyless

, , ,

who if they had but put a little money in th e

,

savings bank during their productive years

62 T HR IFT

would have had a good home comfo rts and , ,

contentment
O n every hand we see people go i ng through
life with stooping shoulders drawn fea tures
, ,

slaves o f a mortgage o r other debts which are

sapping the life out Of them making them ,

prematurely Old when they should be in the

,

v ery prime o f life $ o u can always see the

.

mortgage looking o u t o f the ugly wrinkles

which i t h a s made in their faces H ad they .

sought thrift a s their companion through life ,

h o w di fferent would have been their lot .

Is there anything more pathetic to see than

s o many men and women who have reached

middle life o r later with no home o r money ,

nothing saved f o r a rainy day not only wi th

,

o u t prospects, but many Of them wi thout o c

n
cu p atio s ? Parents are Often to blame for
much Of this unfortunate condition because ,

t h ey did no t early inculcate i nt o the ir ch il

dren the principles o f economy did not esta b
,

lish in their early careers the habit o f t h rift .

When y o u are fifty o r more my young

.
,

fri end the dollar will look very di ff e r ent to

,

o u than it does n o w when the years are f ew

y , ,

th e fu ture full o f promise and y o u fee l s o

,
64 T H R IFT

sense of security because there are insurance

policies there The history Of many a life in
.

surance policy h o w it has saved the home

,

from the mortgage has enabled bus i nes s men

,

to start again after their property was lost o r

their bus iness swept a way by pan i c w oul d ,

read like a romance .

A l i fe insurance policy has Often made all

the di fference between home and no hom e ,

food and no food $ It has saved multitudes o f

men from the humiliation Of utter failure and ,

spared many families the shame o f bein g

turned o u t o f their home .

S omeone has said that it is no t the high

cost Of living but the cost Of living high that
, ,

cripples S O many lives and compels great abil

ity to put up with the returns Of mediocrity .

Man y people who are no w poor W ithout ,

homes living from hand to mouth have earned

, ,

enough to have made them i ndependent if

they had used good sense in guarding their
earnings .

I know Of no other habit quite like that O f

the early formed habit Of thrift ; not th e
stingy squeezing holding o n habit but the
, ,
-

habit o f W ise living and spending the wise ,

 ”
“
A HOME O F M $ O$ N 65

administration o f o u r money and o u r domestic

a ff airs A provident wi fe can establish such
.

a system Of household thrift that combined ,

with her husband s e ff orts the family budget

’

will take o n r emarkably large p ro p ortions

and wi thin a short time the possession of a
, ,

home O f their o wnmay become an established

fact.

In criticis m Of o ur Am erican housewives it

has been said over and over again that a
French housewife would feed a family o nwhat
an average family throws away Years ago .
,

a great economist E d w ard Atkinson said , ,

that in the U nited S tates the wast e from bad

cooking alone was over a thousand mill ion
dollars a year And o u r wastefulness and
.

extravagance have gone on increasing i n every

direction .

The p oor would b e shocked if they were told

that they were more extravagant than the
well to do Yet it is even s o The average
- -

. .

p oor woman in Am erica for instance r arely , ,

knows h o w to b uy food for the family eco no m

ica lly . S he does not like the French woman , ,

know h o w to buy the inexpensive cuts Of meat

and c ook them so that they will be as palatable
66 T H R IFT

and nutritious as the more expensive ones .

N or does s h e know h o w to economize in other

equally important details .

S ince America entered the war both o u r ,

men Of wealth and o u r housekeepers have been

learning lessons in economy Mr H oover and
. .

his army Of assistants at the Food D epartment

in Washington and all over this country are
showing the necessity Of eco no m l z m g I n every
possible way and instructing people in all
,

ranks h o w to do it H ousewives are being

.

taught food values and h o w to cook in the

best and most economical way ; inexpens ive
but nutritious menus are suggested and thus ,

women a re shown h o w to make a good meal

o u t o f leftovers that formerly went into the

garbage pail .

Women Of all classes are especially c au

tio n ed in r egard to the saving Of food They .

are asked to save every bit o f meat every ,

crust o f b read stale o r otherwise even the

, ,

crumbs ; and not to pare potatoes but to cook ,

them with the ir j ackets o n People are also

.

advised to wear their Old clothing as much as

possible instead Of purchasing new for we
, ,

are told that o u r p ractice o f economy will

 ”
“
A HOME OF M $ O$ N 67

help w in the w a r N ever b efore in the history

.

o f the world has the subj ect Of economy and

the necessity for thrift been so universally em

h a s iz ed as to day N ever before in this c oun
p
-
.

try has the word economy been so p ersist

ently dinned into our ears through the press ,

through posters through the pulpit through

, ,

pamphlets through lectures in every poss i

,
—

ble w ay.

Ar e y o u lear n i ng that great lesson o f the

hou r ?
 I$
“
HE T H AT TH S P A R I N GL$
SO WE S H ALL REA P
”
S P A R I NG L Y

M AN Y as are the maxims which urge the

practice Of economy those which warn against
,

false economy are almost equally numerous .

S olomon said $ There i s that scattereth an d

“

yet increaseth ; and ther e i s that withholdeth

”
more than i s meet but it tendeth to p overty
, .

“
S aving at the spigot and wasting at the
”
bunghole S poiling the ship to save a cent s
,
“ ’

”
worth Of tar and many anothe r homely s ay
,

i ng reflect the common sens e view Of forms o f

,
-

false economies which tend to loss inste a d o f

ga i n .

There are people who waste much more in

valuable time in trying to save a little by ,

picayune methods than the th ings saved are

,

worth I kno w a bus iness man who makes his

.

employees as a matter Of p rinciple save the

, ,

string from packages even i f to save it takes

,

t wic e a s m u ch time a s the string i s w o rth .

68
 ”
H E T HAT S O W E TH S P A R I NG L Y
“
69

This man also in trying to save electricity

, , ,

keeps his pla c e Of business so dark and dingy

that he loses custom H e does not reali ze that .

a goo d light is the best kind Of advertisement .

I n trying to economize in petty ways thou

sands o f men fail to do the bigger things pos
sible f o r them T hey develop a sort Of mania
.

f o r sav i ng for small economies W ithout r eal

, ,

i z ing i t o r h o w they are i n danger Of star ving

,

their minds and strangling their gr owth to

ward larger things .

$ ou c an not a fford to economize at the ex

pense o f m ental strengt h at the expense o f ,

e ffic i ency These are your stock in trade

.

the ma chinery and apparatus o u t Of which

you must carve your destiny $ O not tamper .

wi th your creative product i ve ability $ eep

, .

up your standards at all hazards This will .

enable y o u t o produce to the max imum o f your

possib ilit i es f o r it keeps y o u i n good health
,

and in a condition to enj oy the largest com

’
,

p l ete s t happ i ness .

N othing surprises a young man more than

the w onderful working Of this la w $ F o r who “

soeve r hath to him shall b e giv en an d he

, ,
”
s ha ll hav e m o r e abun d an c e .
70 T H R IFT

What a wonderful power there i s in th i s

l a w Of increase There is everything in hold
.

ing the right view Of economy investing wise ,

ly in keeping the mind upon plenty carrying

, ,

the a b undance thought instead Of the limited

-

narrow false economy thought

, .

H e that soweth sparingly shall reap spar

“

in
”
l
gy is j ust a s true Of the bus iness man as
o f the farmer Wise economy often means a
.

very liberal expenditure .

I once knew a man who in remov ing an Old ,

building to make way for a new o ne left part ,

Of the Old foundation because he thought he

,

thus could save several hundred dollars The .

new building was several stories higher than

the Old one but only a f ew weeks after it was
,

completed it began to crack badly and before ,

any occupant moved in the whole struc ture

collapsed Everywhere in all lines Of human
.

endeavor w e s ee the fatal e ff ects Of trying to

save on foundations .

The youth in the past who pinched o n hi s

education who did not think it worth while to
,

prepare f o r v ery much Of a career because he

did not think he w as going to be very much o f
a m an ; th e youth who picked o u t the easy
72 T H R IFT

broad deep foundations

, The result has
.

been that his whole life has been marred and ,

he never has accomplished anything like what

he might have accomplished but f o r this great
lack H e never dreamed that the skipped
.

problems way back in his boyhood the neg ,

lected tasks would r eappear in his mature

,

manhood like Banquo s ghost to mar both hi s

,
’

success and his happiness S O during his later

.

years this man has been trying to do very

painfully and very imperfectly what he could
have done s o easily way back i n his youth .

The result Of all this has been a l imited ca

reer The man has fa iled several times b e
.

cause he chose a career which was no t i n kee p

ing with his lack Of early trai ni ng .

I f he had not tried to save o n his f o u nd a

tion if he had been liberally prepared for the
,

c areer which he chose and had not had to

,

spend such a large part Of his life in trying

to overcome his handicap h is lack to strength
, ,

en his foundation after the superstructure was

built he would have had ti m
, eto do the th ings
which make for a broad liberal manhood and
, ,

have become a man o f some importance a ,

m an who would have c ar r ied weight i n his

 ”
H E T H AT S O W E T H S P A R I N G L Y
“
73

community As it is his life has been so

.
,

starved and pinched that he has never p assed

for very much Of a man .

H o w many parents i n the ir eage r ness to in

c rease the family income depr i ve their children
Of a college o r university education and rush

them i nto business half prepared to meet o p

o rtu n iti for advan c ement that later come
p es

to them $ They c annot send the b o y o r girl to

”
school o r college b ecause the r ainy day is a
“

sort o f s p ecter which rises at every feast ,

whenever they try to get some enj oyment o r

satisfa ction o u t o f the present They are al .

ways sav ing for some fu ture t ime ; always

p ostponing things till next year an d this ,

”
“
next y ea r never comes .

H o w many Of us economize i n o u r friend

sh i p s b—y neglecting th em ; economize in o u r
_

social lifO , plead ing with ourselves that we

cannot a ff ord to take the time for visiting and
receiv i ng visits $ W e economize o n our vaca
tions until we are obliged to take long en
, ,

forced r ests fro m the arduou s duties Of o u r

business or profession b ecause the machinery
,

o f o u r b odies s o delicately and wonderfully

,
74 T HR I FT

made h a s become so worn i t is in danger Of

,

snapping at some vital point $

Many people live in such c onstant terro r
”
Of that terrible rainy day that they do not
“

en o y the present They deny themselves this

.

and they cannot afford that ; they postpone

their real li ving ; they j ust exist to day ex -

p ec ting really to live and enj oy themselves

to morrow I f they go away o n a little vaca
-
.

tion or if they travel at all they do it in a

, ,

way which destroys most Of the advantages

they would otherwise get from it They a re .

afraid Of spendi ng a penny for anything b ut

their actual fare and the barest necessaries .

I know o f a N ew York bus iness man who

before the war traveled abroad and went to
many interesting points but he was to o stin gy
,

to go into historic homes o r buildings where

any admission was charged F o r example he
.
,

visited the homes Of very famous characters ,

in different countries homes which are re

,

garded as shrines by thousands Of intelligent

people who have visited these c ountries but ,

he never entered them because he woul d no t

pay the price Of admission H e said that h e
.

had seen the outside o f the buildings and tha t ,

 ”
H E T HAT S O W E T H S P A R I NG L Y 75
“

was enough The result is that though he has

.
,

traveled considerably he cannot talk interest

,

ingly o r even intelligently about any place

, ,

he has visited .

I have kno wn p eople Of means tr a vel ing

abroad who were too stingy to buy B aedekers
o r othe r gu ide books and who would never
-

think Of hiring a gu i de to Show them a b out ,

even in the most histori c p laces D oes i t not .

seem strange that people will Spend so much

money f o r travel i ng and then be too pars i
m o nio u s to pay a little extra money to s ee the
v ery things they had gone s o far to s ee ?
S ometimes lib erality which woul d see m to
,

a smaller man extravagance is the b est kind ,

Of economy Friendly hel p i nsp i ration cul

.
, ,

tu red acquaintances are never too dearly

,

b ought at any price o ne c an a ffor d to p ay .

Everything must be measured by the end i n

v i ew the general result to b e obtained
, .

I t i s not a question of whethe r a man c an

a fford to pay ten o r fifteen dollars for a seat
a t a b anquet table considered by itself H e .

m ay pay fifteen dollars for his dinner b ut he ,

m ay get a hundred dollars worth o f inspira ’

ti on from asso ci ation with dist ingu ished gu ests .

76 T H R I FT

S uch occasions are Often a great stim ulus to

the ambition They bring o ne in contact with
.

persons Of broader culture and Wider ex p eri

ence and it i s w ise expenditure to avail o u r
,

selves Of everything within our r each which

makes for culture and breadth Of vision .

H O$ much better i t woul d b e i f y o u can

possibly a ff ord it to go where the leaders in
your specialty lunch o r dine than to patron ,

ize a place where the atmosphere i s not con

genial to you $ This opportunity for acquain t
ance and friendly relations with men o f re
fi nem ent would b e worth very much more t o
you than the f ew cents o r even the dollars you
save by going to a cheaper place .

O f c ourse I would not advise anyone to

,

commercialize his ability o r to try to sell his

,

brains by wire pulling methods but I do a d

-

vise those wh o a r e str uggling to get o n to

form the acquaintan c e o f those who can in
sp ire and help them I t i s a tremendous st im
.

ulus to one s ambition to come in close co n

’

tact with thrifty energetic people who are

,

successful in one s o wn line Of endeavo r We

’
.

are more likely to do better ourselves to bring ,

o u t o u r full resources w hen we associate w ith

,
 $

S P E N D T H R I F TS OF T I M E AN $ E N E R GY
TH E wise economist is the o ne who saves
his time who regards every moment as pre
,

c io u s capital which he cannot a ff ord to throw

away who regards his energy as a divine gift

, ,

to o sacred to be foolishl y expended .

The world is full Of people who are plod

ding along in mediocr i ty who have enough
ability to do something worth While if they
would only get rid Of the sid e issues the no n ,

essentials which eat up the i r time and s a p

their energy .

H e who would make the most possi b le o f

h is life must early learn to stop all leaks o f
power The wasting Of Opportunities tim e
.
, ,

and vital forces constitutes the great tragedy

,

Of human life It is the principal cause of

.

unhappiness and failure Many a man who i s

.

economical to stinginess in money matters ,

squanders with fearful prodigality his physi

cal mental and moral energy and his time
, ,
.

H e scorns a vacation considering it a fright

,

78
 S PE ND TH R IFT S O F T IM E AN $ E N E RG Y 79

ful waste Of precious hours loses needed sleep

,

in working late at night at his desk and i s ,

i ndi fferent to regularity i n eating S uch m en .

pay the penalty in lowered vitality and a

shortened business career .

Many busy people are shameful wasters Of

time and ener gy simply b ecause they do the
,

lower things when higher ones are possible .

They read a poor book when they might read

a better one ; they squander time with ordinary ,

purposeless companions when better ones are

possible ; they wast e time in half do ing things -

in botching bungling and blundering in do

, ,

ing things j ust for no w

”
“
doing things over
,

and over b ecause they were not done right

,

the first time .

I know a business man who i s ambitious to

do great things b ut who gets so clogged up
,

with details that he cannot seem to get out

from under them H e tries to hurry with his
.

work but the little everlasting details con

,

s ta ntly j ump up and get away with such a

large part Of his time and energy t h at the
day s work is always disappointing and he
’

leaves his O ffice at night very un happy A .

confused mind is an ineffective mind .

80 T HR I FT

The confused excited min d is not only in

,

efficient but is likely to do some very foolish

,

things To guard against this it is important

.
,

to keep your mentality calm a nd balan c ed .

The next t ime things press y o u s o hard o n

every hand that y o u do not know which way
to turn stop and take an i nventory Of the
,

tasks to b e done and y o u wi ll find that your

,

confused mind which is r apidl y exhausting

,

your vitality is largely d u e to the fact that

,

y o u are mentally trying to do many thi ngs at

the same time I n other words the sense Of
.
,

mental pressure is caused by the constant a n

ticip a tio n o f the task s ahead o f y o u N O$ .
,

when you kno w y ou c an only attend to o ne

thing at a t ime why not shut o u t everything
,

else until you are through with that o ne and ,

then take the next a nd so o nto the end with

, ,

o u t attempting to do these th in g s over and

over again by anticipation ?
I f we could only learn thus to c oncentrate
the mind intensely upon the things we are
doing and shut o u t everything else until its
turn c ame we would never have that sense Of
,

confusion and pressure which s o interfe r es

with efficiency and happiness .
 S PE ND T H R IFT S O F T IM E A N D E N E RG Y 81

There was in process o f building in Eng ,

l and a c lock in an edifi c e i n whi ch many

,
.

l awyers had the i r O ffices and there w a s Often

,

a large c ongregat i on o f them i n the lobb y and

corridors .

T he clockm aker sent one Of h i s men for a

m otto to put under the mammoth clock The .

messenger asked the first man he met who , ,

no t knowing what the b oy meant said $ Be ,

“

”
gone about your business $
T he clockmaker received the motto as the ,

messenger delivered i t with surprise ; b ut

,

after thinking a moment de c ided to us e it, .

It served a s a quiet rem i nder to loungers as ,

i t t i cked o ff the minutes that wer e as fleet ing

as the sun s r ays ’
.

T he men w ho accomplish things w h o do .

big things in a b ig way protect their ex ecu

,

tive abili ty b y all sorts o f safeguards Many .

men keep secretaries as a sort o f b u ff e r to

protect themselves from peo p le who steal
their time .

We may not begru dg e o u r t i m e to p eo p le

wh o have cla ims upon u s o r w ho g i ve u s some
,

c ompensating advantage o r to those wh o n e ed

,

o ur a ss i s ta n c e ; but i t is exasperat ing to b e

82 T H R IFT

obliged to s it f o r half an hou r o r an h o ur

and listen to some irrelevant matte r wh ich
does not i nterest us j ust because we d o no t
,

w ant to appear ru de .

I t i s no t alone in the busy Office that we find

these spendthrifts o f time and energy ; they
are j ust as frequently seen i n our homes The .

housewi fe while in the midst o f her domest ic

,

duties i s called to the telephone to listen to a

,

garrulous ne i ghbor s latest gossip o r i n r e

’

spo u se to the door bell a friendly vis i tor ap

-

pears with long drawn Ou t tale Of domest i c

- -

tribulations .

S ome women are always dropping i n to chat

with the b usy woman who is trying her b est
to get a little time f o r the things worth while .

These idle purposeless women sit an d chat

,

and chat until the Opportunity for do i ng What

the ambitious energeti c woman longed to do
,

has gone by I f such people only realized the

.

preciousness Of time the gr eat value o f a ,

Single day they would not let it Slip through

,

their fingers s o lightly o r treat it S O flip p antly .

T here c an be no thr i ft o r ul t imate suc

“

cess wher e hou r i s no t fastened to hour and

momen t w o v en i nt o m oment in th e g rea t
 S P E N D T H R I FTS O F T IM E AN $ E N E RG Y 83

p attern Of li fe says a wr ite r o n Life s

,
” “ ’

”
Waste .

“
The waste o f t ime i s li fe s gr eatest blunder
’

and most destructive force In the fragments .

i s an ab undance Of Opportunity O h how .

,

r uinous waste has Shattered the hopes and a m

b itions Of men $ I t has been the author Of de
spair and even death to the best in life The .

greatest discovery Of young life i s the value Of

t ime . The value which a man places
upon the moments of to d ay is the author Of
”
all good in every to morrow -

Think Of the possibilities that li ve i n a single

day $ Think Of what it would mean to some
on e somewhere — to the producer Of great
, ,

masterpieces in a rt and science $

When y o u start out in the morning j ust
try to picture to yourself the wonderful value
O f that day J ust think what y o u would make
.

O f it if y o u kne w you wo ul d never have a n

other what every minute would mean to you $
—

H o w y o u would crowd values into it $ Every

second would be precious .

”
“
There are moments says D ean Al ford
, ,

“
which are worth more than years We can .

not h el p it T h e r e is no p rop ort i on b etween

.
84 T H R IFT

spa c es Of time i n importance o r in value A .

stray unthought Of five minutes may conta i n

,
-

the event Of a life And this all important

.
-

moment— who c an tell when it w ill be u p on

”
us ?

Every d ay is a precious gi ft from th e Cre

ator— fresh beautiful filled with magnificent
, ,

possibilities . D on t squander it in useless

’

motions and wasted energies ; don t i dl e i t ’

away ; don t w atch the clock and w i sh it away

’
.

’
D on t thro w it away ; don t waste i t ; don t ki ll
’ ’

i t ; f o r you r future li v es i n i t .
86 T H R IFT

hab it It is very difficult to do things we have

.

no t formed a habit Of doing The nerves con

.

trolling the muscles are dependent upon th e

brain and respond to its reactions learn its ,

habits and do automatically whatever the

,

brain has formed a habit Of doing .

I f we have formed careless spendthrift

,

habits habits which drag us in the Opposite

,

d i re c tion from that we wish to go we must ,

put o u t an enormous amount Of energy to

fight against their gr ip ; f o r habit is second
nature and gets as stron g a hold upon u s as
o u r original temp eramental tendencies We .

are placed at the tremendous disadvantage o f

trying to form new tracks for thought new ,

highways for habit at the same time that we

,

are trying to obliterate the deep furrows which

a thousand repetitions have already made i n
the brain and nerve centers .

Fo r all practical p u rposes habit f o r a mid

,

dle —aged person is fate it is almost hopelessly

,

certain that what has been done every day for

twenty years will be repeated thereafter We .

im agine that we can break a bad habit at any

t ime but i t usually takes j ust ab out twi c e a s
,

l ong to br e ak a habit a s it did to mak e it .

 TH E B A N K B OO K -
H AB I T 87

’
When R ip Van Winkle said I won t count “

”
this time he gave voice to a very common
,

delus i on B ut though it was easy for him to

.

”
s a y that h e would not count this lapse o r
‘ “

that into his Old habit th e cells o f the brain ,

”
“
counted it ; as Prof J ames said every nerve .
,

and fiber i n his organis m were counting it .

D own deep inhis nervous centers there was a

call f o r alcoholic stimulant s o loud S O i nsist ,

ent that R ip Van Winkle was practicall y

p owerless to resist it Every cent he had and .

some that he did not have went for drink I t .

is the same wi th the spendthrift habit It is .

on e O f the hardest to break and o n e o f the

most r uinous to fall i nto O n the other hand . ,

the bank book habit is o ne Of th e b est friends

-

a boy o r girl a young man o r young woman

, ,

can make .

Every ch ild should be started in life wit h

a bank account however small and something
, ,

Should b e constantly added to this s u m no ,

matte r h o w little i f f o r no othe r r eason than

,

to implant inhis m i nd the idea of saving and ,

the larger i dea o f thrift A child should gr ow .

up with the i dea that it is absolutely necessary

t o h is s elf r es p ect his safet y to have a l ittl e
-

, ,
88 T H R IFT

money between him self and want someth ing ,

which will stand as a protection a bu ffer b e , ,

tween himself and the demanding world i n

case Of necessity .

“
There i s a real exhilarat i on in a bank a c
count even if it is not a large o ne says the
,
”
,

R ev D r C H Par khurst A young fello w “

. . . . .

recently had a certain amount not a large s um , ,

put to his credit in a savings bank It made .

an epoch i n h is history and when S i x months

,

late r h is p assbook was wr itten up an d showe d

an i nterest a c cu mulation Of five dollars and
t w enty two c ents it straightened him u p to
-

three i nches above the ordina r y he i ght an d he ,

declared that he felt a s though h e belonged to

the c apitalisti c class an d w a s m o ving among
”
th e high moneyed c ircles .

The moment a young man begi n s to save

systematically and appreciates the t r u e v alue
o f money he ne c essarily b e c omes a larger m an .

H e takes broader v iews o f l i fe H e begins to .

have a better Opinion Of h im self T r ust takes .

the place Of dou b t h is sav i ng s ar e the a c tua l

,

demonstration that he has not onl y the abil i t y

to earn but also to keep h i s mone y an d as
, , ,
90 T H R I FT

business j udgment It is a gr eat thing to

.

make your signature stand for something

never to have your credit questioned to have
—

everybody say you are good pay and quick

p ay .

A schoolboy who was asked to state the

greatest event of the year said that it was the
fact that he had saved fifty dollars From .

on e point o f view he was not so wide Of the

,

mark The first fifty dollars he saves is really

.

on e o f the most important things in one s life

’
.

There is an infinite meaning in little s av

ings They are the germs Of a greater for
.

tune Many people would b e surprised at

.

the vast acc u mulations made in a lifetime by

the continual and persistent saving Of petty
accounts which they despised The tendency
.

o f money j udiciously invested is to multiply

the more you get the faster it accumulates ,

j ust like the small b oy s snowball the more he

’

rolls it in the snow the larger it grows

,
.

A f ew hundred dollars or a thousand in a

savings bank has Often made a ll the di ff erence
between success and failure I know of a co n
.

cern which has estimated assets Of o ne hundred

and fifty thousand dollars yet it was forced
,
 THE B A N K B OO K
-

H A B IT 91

to the wall for the lack Of five thousand dol

lars ready cash .

A b ank o f any standing must have a sur

plus Every young man o f standing should
.

have a surplus Of savings no matte r h o w small

, .

S tart i t $ eep adding to it

. .

The youth who is careles s of his change ,

who th inks that a nickel o r a dime or a qu a r

ter has very little to do with a fortune i s ,

forming a habit that may cripple h im for life .

Most people especially young people do

, ,

not appreciate the value Of small savings .

They think that if they had a large amount

i t w ould p ay to put it in the bank or to make ,

this o r that investment but that they could

,

not do much with a small amount The re .

sult i s they keep their small savings about

them and this is a constant temptation to
,

spend f o r there are always scores Of ways Of

,

getting rid Of loos e change It is very Slip .

pery.

I was quite impressed recently by a remark

o f a young man who said that he had been
,

c arrying his money loosely in hi s pocket for

several years and he had found that it slipped
,

away s o fast for all sorts o f things which he

,
92 T HR I FT

might have gotten along with out that he tr ied

,

the experiment Of carrying all his money in a

purse The result i s that he finds it much
.

easier to save because he says he has time to

,

think before he gets his money o ut Of his purse ,

and he Often decides not to buy what he would

have bought had his change been so handy that
he could put his hand o n it in an instant .

The saving habit is a character builder b e

,

cause if w e are willing to make the sacrifice

o r to practice the self control
-
to forego the
,

passing pleasures f o r something more pe r

manent w e are making it more and more cer
,

tain that we Shall not throw away o n foolish ,

frivolous things these savings which have cost

,

us s o much .