ecosophia | Frugal Friday

Welcome back to Frugal Friday! This is a weekly forum post to encourage people to share tips on saving money, especially but not only by doing stuff yourself. A new post will be going up every Friday, and will remain active until the next one goes up. Contributions will be moderated, of course, and I have some simple rules to offer, which may change further as we proceed.

Rule #1: this is a place for polite, friendly conversations about how to save money in difficult times. It's not a place to post news, views, rants, or emotional outbursts about the reasons why the times are difficult and saving money is necessary. Nor is it a place to use a money saving tip to smuggle in news, views, etc. I have a delete button and I'm not afraid to use it.

Rule #2: this is not a place for you to sell goods or services, period. Here again, I have a delete button and I'm not afraid to use it.

Rule #3: please give your tip a heading that explains briefly what it's about. Homemade Chicken Soup, Garden Containers, Cheap Attic Insulation, and Vinegar Cleans Windows are good examples of headings. That way people can find the things that are relevant for them. If you don't put a heading on your tip it will be deleted.

Rule #4: don't post anything that would amount to advocating criminal activity. Any such suggestions will not be put through.

With that said, have at it!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Does anyone know of any manuals on wealth building or investment that were written before the joint stock company came into vogue (say 1800 or thereabouts)? I'm looking for other perspectives than the usual "sign up to an online service and hope the numbers go up on your screen forever" that have fewer fees, require less infrastructure, have more tangible applicability, and have a philosophy other than infinite growth. I suppose this could also take the form of particularly useful memoirs from well known figures as well.

Pay yourself first.

That is, put a few pennies into savings and then pay your bills, while sticking to a strict budget.

IIRC, in 1849, Mr. Micawber of Dickens' "David Copperfield" said "Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty-pound ought and six, result misery."

The other advice you see is to have good relations with your community so you can get help when you need it.

There was an entire 19th century genre of thrift novels, whereby a new bride would learn the value of thrift and save her family from ruin. Look for David M. Tucker's scholarly book "The Decline of Thrift in America: Our Cultural Shift from Saving to Spending" (1990) for a list of titles.

You'll need to get Tucker's book via the Interlibrary loan. It had a small print run and is very expensive today.

There's not much else that I can remember.

Unless you were stunningly wealthy, everyone expected to work until they died. The poorhouse and workhouse awaited people with bad family relations and no money and no ability to work anymore.

As my partner is fond of quoting, "a dollar saved is a dollar earned." No idea where the quote originates.

Unless you were stunningly wealthy, everyone expected to work until they died.

My partner and I have believed this since our teens. The only generation to benefit from the idea of universal retirement is the boomers. In subsequent generations, it is less common. A simplified lifestyle helps, however.

Caldathras

I believe that Ben Franklin used "a penny saved is a penny earned" in Poor Richard's Almanac. Adjusted for inflation, it's now "a dollar saved...". It took me many years to understand that he was saying "it's WORK to save that penny. If you can do so, you've EARNED it."

Lathechuck

Frugal Friday

Historical Investing Manuals

Re: Historical Investing Manuals

Re: Historical Investing Manuals

Re: Historical Investing Manuals