Like other grocery stores in the Fifties, Gooding’s had a mechanical horse just outside its entrance, and you could ride it for a dime. My brother and I would jump into the backseat of Mom’s station wagon every Saturday morning for the week’s grocery shopping, and beg Mom to let us ride that horse. But every Saturday morning Mom ignored our request because she could buy a loaf of Wonder Bread for a dime, and we ate two loaves each week. “Were we willing to go without sandwiches for a week for thirty seconds of fun?” she’d ask.
Mom wasn’t mean-spirited. She was practical. She was thrifty. She was frugal. As a child of the Great Depression, she knew the value of a dime and focused on what the family needed, not what the family wanted. That was an important life lesson for a five-year old, and made a profound impression upon me.
Those shiny objects we always want, never need, and most of the time can’t afford, saddle us with unnecessary debt. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
If you’re struggling financially, evaluate which monthly expenses are essential and which are optional. Find replacements for, or eliminate the optional expenses, and focus on building an emergency fund. Then focus on reducing credit card debt by paying the minimum on each while putting everything else toward paying off the smallest debt. Once that is paid, move on to the next. This technique, known as the “debt snowball,” builds momentum toward debt reduction, and was made popular by Dave Ramsey.
And understand the value of time in building wealth. Small investments made early in life grow to enormous sums over time due to compound interest. Just a single thousand dollar investment at age eighteen grows to more than a quarter million at age seventy-four. But you’ve got to have the discipline to save some money and open the account.
Spending more than you earn puts the safety and security of your family at risk. Simply stated, spend less that you make, and live within your means.
“It’s no use filling your pocket with money if you have got a hole in the corner.“
George Eliot
