Pinching Pennies

We all have had piggy banks as children, but the vast majority of people reading this

have likely cracked those open and gone to spend that money long ago. As kids, we would

snatch up any coin and any dollar bill that we could get our hands on. It didn’t matter if it was a penny or a nickel, many of us would save what we could get. This is the kind of mentality one needs, even today, to be truly financially competent. Many of us have abandoned this mindset, and it shows in our spending habits.

Think about when you go to a store and you pay in cash. Do you keep all those coins that you are given back, or do you just dump them in the tip jar? I think most people have the habit of giving those coins away, and this is the issue. Before one can make real money, he or she has to start small by collecting the pennies and dimes.

It’s all about the idea. If one can’t find value in the tedious collecting of the relatively

invaluable coins, then how can someone expect to get through the financial hardships that

everyone will go through at some point? There will be a time in everyone’s lives when he or she just wants to splurge on some expensive thing. When one devotes the time it takes to save vigorously, it is far less likely that he or she will fall into this trap. Taking the time to save and count coins or small sums of money teaches a person to truly value money. This is the most important building block of wealth.

As Mother Teresa once said, “There are many people who can do big things, but there are very few people who will do the small things.” So, before anyone can expect to be wealthy, one must take a step back to the foundation of wealth and start pinching pennies.