“Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship”- Benjamin Franklin

Watch Out for Small Leaks

Benjamin Franklin was probably one of the most frugal of his era. And the above quote speaks a lot about the wisdom in not letting the little expenses accumulate and, in the long run, put us further in debt.

Another piece of advice to learn? Cut up those credit cards if they are keeping you in debt. I only know of one or two people that use credit cards intelligently and pay them off each month.

Credit cards should be treated like debit cards. Pay them off and keep out of debt. That monthly finance charge will keep accumulating more than you can earn in a money market account. Always pay cash if you can. It’s not really all that wise (in the long run) to use money you haven’t earned yet, and receive a finance charge for borrowing that money. Something to think about…

Growing and Cooking your Own Food

Fossil fuels. We are so dependent on them; the fact that we use them to ship our food long distances is cause for concern.

If you have a home with a backyard, why not grow your own fruits and vegetables? There would be no fossil fuels used to transport them to your dinner table.

A garden of fruits and vegetables, however, does require a lot of work. So, if your career is such that it truly prevents you from growing your own produce, then of course it would be more difficult to maintain a vegetable and fruit garden.

“He who does not economize will have to agonize” —Confucius

On the other hand, if you are struggling financially due to the economic tide of recession, job loss, lay offs, then you should look into alternative ways to save money.

I don’t have to convince anyone that cooking your own meals at home (as well as growing them) can really help to save money each month. And whether you are trying to save money to survive from paycheck to paycheck, or you want to save money to go on a big travel adventure abroad, it really helps to cut costs by growing and cooking your own food.

And, with all the information available to us online, it makes it quite easy to gather the basic information to start financially healthful habits.