Frugal tips from Ben Franklin

I recently started reading a book called "Founding Fathers, Uncommon Heroes" By Steven W. Allen and am enjoying it very much.

The first chapter was about Benjamin Franklin and some of his thoughts on money are so good that I thought they would be fun to share.

Benjamin Franklin is well known for his short clever sayings, a couple of them are:

"A penny saved is a penny earned"

"Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise."

I remember hearing those two since I was a kid and they are very good thoughts. The first one goes incredibly well with the frugal lifestyle, the remembering that every little bit counts and that when we save money (instead of blowing on something) it is just like earning money.

One that I saw for the first time in this book is:

"They way to wealth.... depends chiefly on two words, industry and frugality: that is waste neither time or money."

I think that is a very neat quote because unfortunately it seems to be sometimes forgotten in our modern world. Industry and frugality aren't always popular. (Though in the Frugal Friday circle it does seem to be! Which is fun.) However I don't think most people become wealthy through borrowing oodles of money and using it, nor from government handouts or from many other ways that are looked at as shortcuts. Working hard and being frugal are still very important ways to financial security.

Quoting from the book: "Franklin believed that the only true way to wealth was through hard work. This noble idea became the soul of the "American Dream", the idea that all men are created equal and each person has the same opportunity to achieve success."

It would certainly help our nations budgeting issues if our leaders would just grasp a hold of that idea. Making sure every American can live the American dream would not mean that you have to supply them with everything or bail them out of bad situations they get themselves in, it simply means that we don't have a caste system, we believe holding another human being in bondage is wrong and that no matter where you come from, no matter what race or religion everybody has the opportunity to work and progress. It is up to each person to whether they succeed or not.

For more frugal ideas and tons of tips visit Frugal Friday at Life as MOM.