In the third chapter of The Richest Man in Babylon the book lists and details "seven cures for a lean purse." Today, we'll cover cure #2 which is:
Control thy expenditures.
As you might imagine, I love this cure! ;-)
The book starts this cure by addressing the objection that everyone always brings up first when it's suggested that they spend less than they earn and save a part of everything they make:
How can a man keep one-tenth of all he earns in his purse when all the coins he earns are not enough for his necessary expenses?
Here's the answer the book gives -- which I agree with 100%:
Now I will tell thee an unusual truth about men and sons of men. It is this: That what each of us calls our "necessary expenses" will always grow to equal our incomes unless we protest to the contrary.
That's right. It always seems that outgoes equal (or surpass!) incomes -- no matter how much the incomes grow. I've helped people who have made $20,000 a year and others who've made $150,000 and the problem is the same: their "necessary expenses" exceed their incomes.
The book goes on:
Confuse not the necessary expenses with thy desires. Each of you, together with your good families, have more desires than your earnings can gratify. Therefore are thy earnings spent to gratify these desires insofar as they go. Still thou retainest many ungratified desires.
Let's face it, most of us will still want "more" no matter how much we earn. So at some point you need to control your spending -- why not now?
This cure ends with the following advice:
Budget then thy necessary expenses. Touch not the one-tenth that is fattening thy purse. Let this be thy great desire that is being fulfilled. Keep working with thy budget, keep adjusting it to help thee. Make it thy first assistant in defending thy fattening purse.
Read more summary of this book
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Tuesday 6 November 2007
The Richest Man in Babylon: Seven Cures for a Lean Purse Part 2
In the third chapter of The Richest Man in Babylon the book lists and details "seven cures for a lean purse." Today, we'll cover cure #2 which is:
Control thy expenditures.
As you might imagine, I love this cure! ;-)
The book starts this cure by addressing the objection that everyone always brings up first when it's suggested that they spend less than they earn and save a part of everything they make:
How can a man keep one-tenth of all he earns in his purse when all the coins he earns are not enough for his necessary expenses?
Here's the answer the book gives -- which I agree with 100%:
Now I will tell thee an unusual truth about men and sons of men. It is this: That what each of us calls our "necessary expenses" will always grow to equal our incomes unless we protest to the contrary.
That's right. It always seems that outgoes equal (or surpass!) incomes -- no matter how much the incomes grow. I've helped people who have made $20,000 a year and others who've made $150,000 and the problem is the same: their "necessary expenses" exceed their incomes.
The book goes on:
Confuse not the necessary expenses with thy desires. Each of you, together with your good families, have more desires than your earnings can gratify. Therefore are thy earnings spent to gratify these desires insofar as they go. Still thou retainest many ungratified desires.
Let's face it, most of us will still want "more" no matter how much we earn. So at some point you need to control your spending -- why not now?
This cure ends with the following advice:
Budget then thy necessary expenses. Touch not the one-tenth that is fattening thy purse. Let this be thy great desire that is being fulfilled. Keep working with thy budget, keep adjusting it to help thee. Make it thy first assistant in defending thy fattening purse.
Read more summary of this book
Control thy expenditures.
As you might imagine, I love this cure! ;-)
The book starts this cure by addressing the objection that everyone always brings up first when it's suggested that they spend less than they earn and save a part of everything they make:
How can a man keep one-tenth of all he earns in his purse when all the coins he earns are not enough for his necessary expenses?
Here's the answer the book gives -- which I agree with 100%:
Now I will tell thee an unusual truth about men and sons of men. It is this: That what each of us calls our "necessary expenses" will always grow to equal our incomes unless we protest to the contrary.
That's right. It always seems that outgoes equal (or surpass!) incomes -- no matter how much the incomes grow. I've helped people who have made $20,000 a year and others who've made $150,000 and the problem is the same: their "necessary expenses" exceed their incomes.
The book goes on:
Confuse not the necessary expenses with thy desires. Each of you, together with your good families, have more desires than your earnings can gratify. Therefore are thy earnings spent to gratify these desires insofar as they go. Still thou retainest many ungratified desires.
Let's face it, most of us will still want "more" no matter how much we earn. So at some point you need to control your spending -- why not now?
This cure ends with the following advice:
Budget then thy necessary expenses. Touch not the one-tenth that is fattening thy purse. Let this be thy great desire that is being fulfilled. Keep working with thy budget, keep adjusting it to help thee. Make it thy first assistant in defending thy fattening purse.
Read more summary of this book
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
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