The person who spends more than he earns, is a fool. The
civil law regards the spendthrift as akin to the lunatic, and frequently
takes from him the management of his own affairs.
The next rule is to pay ready money, and never, on any account, to run
into debt. The person who runs into debt is apt to get cheated; and if
he runs into debt to any extent, he will himself be apt to get
dishonest. "Who pays what he owes, enriches himself."
The next is, never to anticipate uncertain profits by expending them
before they are secured. The profits may never come, and in that case
you will have taken upon yourself a load of debt which you may never get
rid of. It will sit upon your shoulders like the old man in Sinbad.
Another method of economy is, to keep a regular account of all that you
earn, and of all that you expend. An orderly man will know beforehand
what he requires, and will be provided with the necessary means for
obtaining it. Thus his domestic budget will be balanced; and his
expenditure kept within his income.
John Wesley regularly adopted this course. Although he possessed a small
income, he always kept his eyes upon the state of his affairs. A year
before his death, he wrote with a trembling hand, in his Journal of
Expenses; "For more than eighty-six years I have kept my accounts
exactly.
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