Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Cheap is Cheap no Matter How Much You Have

I recently read an article about people who become rich by being cheap and stingy. Make no mistake, you can acquire wealth in this way, even if it wouldn't endear you to a lot of people. However, the point of the article was that persons who acquire wealth in this way may end up with a lot of money, but it is often the only thing they know. How much better to acquire knowledge of making your money earn more money and expanding your income, than simply being stingy and hording what you earn. The whole reason I want to have money in the first place is to be in a position to make my life better and to help others. For me to help others on a continuing basis I will have to have the ability to make my income grow from year to year.

I personally know a lot of people like this. One of them recently was commenting on a few of the customers where I work, who come in and sit for hours and drink coffee. He said they must not have any social life. It occured to me that he couldn't see what his own stinginess was doing to his life. Even though he owns two profitable businesses and has accumulated a great deal of money, he sleeps in his truck when traveling. He spends so much time watching over his businesses, to the point of paranoia, thinking that all of his employees are stealing from him. Since he spends so much time trying to catch people stealing from him, he spends very little time with his family, and I have yet to hear of any friends. This is not the way I want to live my life. Money is not everything. Yes, it's great to have but you should never pursue wealth as the be all and end all. You may just get to the end of your life and realize that you've spent all of your time on this earth chasing after dollars. Personally I intend to live life, money and wealth are secondary to that.

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