The Art Of Money Getting– Book Summary
When in good health making money is not difficult, what is difficult is to keep it. That is why Dr. Franklin said that the road to wealth is, “as plain as the road to the mill.” It consists simply in expending less than we earn, this is the true substratum of art of money getting.
“To have an annual income of twenty pounds per annum, and spend twenty pounds and sixpence, is to be the most miserable of men; whereas, to have an income of only twenty pounds, and spend but nineteen pounds and sixpence is to be the happiest of mortals.”
Economy is not meanness. People have different ways of saving money, but care should be taken that one is not saving and contemporaneously wasting money in other ways, e.g. having expensive parties, wasting time, etc.
This what Dr. Franklin referred to when he said “saving at the spigot and wasting at the bung-hole;” “penny wise and pound foolish.”
True economy consists of always making the income exceed the out-go. Wear the old clothes a little longer if necessary, live on plainer food if need be, by so doing in case of emergency you will have a margin in favor of the income to bail you out.
Post it every day in two columns, one headed “necessaries/comforts”, and the other headed “luxuries,” and you will find that the latter column will be double, but real comforts of life cost but a small portion of what most of us can earn. Dr. Franklin says “it is the eyes of others and not our own eyes which ruin us. If all the world were blind except myself I should not care for fine clothes or furniture.” It is the fear of what Mrs. Grundy may say that keeps the noses of many worthy families to the grindstone.
STOP ACTING RICH
You don’t have to act rich so that you feel comfortable and in the same class financially with your rich friends, what you need to do is to behave as well as they do, manage your money, live below your means, lay up something for a rainy day; but you cannot make anybody believe that you are rich as they are.
“You cannot accumulate a fortune by taking the road that leads to poverty. Those who live fully up to their means can never attain a pecuniary independence.”
“A spirit of pride and vanity, when permitted to have full sway, is the undying canker-worm which gnaws the very vitals of a man’s worldly possessions.”
Many persons, as they begin to prosper, immediately expand their ideas and commence expending for luxuries, until in a short time their expenses swallow up their income, and they become ruined in their ridiculous attempts to keep up appearances, and make a “sensation.”
The foundation of success in life is good health: that is the substratum fortune; it is also the basis of happiness. A person cannot accumulate a fortune very well when he is sick. He has no ambition; no incentive; no force. Study the laws of health.
To make money requires a clear brain which enables man to lay his plans, and reason to guide him in their execution, no matter how a man is blessed with intelligence if the brain is muddled, and his judgment warped by intoxicating drinks, it is impossible for him to carry on business successfully.
We put off until to-morrow, and then forever opportunities because a cup of wine has thrown the system into a state of lassitude, neutralizing the energies so essential to success in business. Verily, “wine is a mocker.”