The Art of Money Getting

Those who really desire to attain an independence, have only to set their
minds upon it, and adopt the proper means, as they do in regard to any other
object which they wish to accomplish, and the thing is easily done. But
however easy it may be found to make money, I have no doubt many of my
hearers will agree it is the most difficult thing in the world to keep it. The
road to wealth is, as Dr. Franklin truly says, “as plain as the road to the mill.”
It consists simply in expending less than we earn; that seems to be a very
simple problem. Mr. Micawber, one of those happy creations of the genial
Dickens, puts the case in a strong light when he says that to have annual
income of twenty pounds per annum, and spend twenty pounds and
sixpence, is to be the most miserable of men; whereas, to have an income of
only twenty pounds, and spend but nineteen pounds and sixpence is to be
the happiest of mortals. Many of my readers may say, “we understand this:
this is economy, and we know economy is wealth; we know we can’t eat our
cake and keep it also.” Yet I beg to say that perhaps more cases of failure
arise from mistakes on this point than almost any other. The fact is, many
people think they understand economy when they really do not.