How to Lessen Your Financial Worries
Chapter 59
“Seventy Percent Of All Our Worries…”
If I knew how to solve everybody’s financial worries， I wouldn’tbe writing this book， I would be sitting in the White House—rightbeside the President. But here is one thing I can do： I can quotesome authorities on this subject and make some highly practicalsuggestions and point out where you can obtain books andpamphlets that will give you additional guidance.
Seventy per cent of all our worries， according to a survey madeby the Ladies’ Home Journal， are about money. George Gallup， ofthe Gallup Poll， says that his research indicates that most peoplebelieve that they would have no more financial worries if theycould increase their income by only ten per cent. That is true inmany cases， but in a surprisingly large number of cases it is nottrue. For example， while writing this chapter， I interviewed anexpert on budgets： Mrs. Elsie Stapleton—a woman who spentyears as financial adviser to the customers and employees ofWanamaker’s Department Store in New York and of Gimbel’s.
She has spent additional years as an individual consultant， tryingto help people who were frantic with worry about money. Shehas helped people in all kinds of income brackets， all the wayfrom a porter who earned less than a thousand dollars a yearto an executive earning one hundred thousand dollars a year.
And this is what she told me： “More money is not the answerto most people’s financial worries. In fact， I have often seen ithappen that an increase in income accomplished nothing but an increase in spending—and an increase in headaches. What causesmost people to worry，” she said， “is not that they haven’t enoughmoney， but that they don’t know how to spend the money theyhave！”… [You snorted at that last sentence， didn’t you? Well，before you snort again， please remember that Mrs. Stapleton didnot say that was true of all people. She said： “most people”。 Shedidn’t mean you. She meant your sisters and your cousins， whomyou reckon by the dozens.]
A lot of readers are going to say： “I wish this guy Carnegie hadmy bills to meet， my obligations to keep up—on my weekly salary.
If he did， I’ll bet he would change his tune.” Well， I have had myfinancial troubles： I have worked ten hours a day at hard physicallabour in the cornfields and hay barns of Missouri—worked untilmy one supreme wish was to be free from the aching pains ofutter physical exhaustion. I was paid for that grueling work not adollar an hour， nor fifty cents， nor even ten cents. I was paid fivecents an hour for a ten-hour day.
I know what it means to live for twenty years in houseswithout a bathroom or running water. I know what it means tosleep in bedrooms where the temperature is fifteen degrees belowzero. I know what it means to walk miles to save a nickel carfare and have holes in the bottom of my shoes and patches onthe seat of my pants. I know what it means to order the cheapestdish on a restaurant menu， and to sleep with my trousers underthe mattress because I couldn’t afford to have them pressed by atailor.
Yet， even during those times， I usually managed to save afew dimes and quarters out of my income because I was afraidnot to. As a result of this experience， I realised that if you and Ilong to avoid debt and financial worries， then we have to do what a business firm does： we have to have a plan for spending ourmoney and spend according to that plan. But most of us don’tdo that. For example， my good friend， Leon Shimkin， generalmanager of the firm that publishes this book， pointed out to mea curious blindness that many people have in regard to theirmoney. He told me about a book-keeper he knows， a man whois a wizard at figures when working for his firm—yet when itcomes to handling his personal finances！… Well， if this man getspaid on Friday noon， let us say， he will walk down the street，see an overcoat in a store window that strikes his fancy， and buyit—never giving a thought to the fact that rent， electric lights， andall kinds of “fixed” charges have to come out of that pay envelopesooner or later. No—he has the cash in his pocket， and that’s allthat counts. Yet this man knows that if the company he works forconducted its business in such a slap-happy manner， it would endup in bankruptcy.
Here’s something to consider—where your money is concerned，you’re in business for yourself！ And it is literally “your business”
what you do with your money.
But what are the principles of managing our money? How dowe begin to make a budget and a plan? Here are eleven rules.
Rule No. 1： Get the facts down on paper.
When Arnold Bennett started out in London fifty years ago tobe a novelist， he was poor and hardpressed.
So he kept a record of what he did with every sixpence. Did hewonder where his money was going? No. He knew. He liked theidea so much that he continued to keep such a record even afterhe became rich， world-famous， and had a private yacht.
John D. Rockefeller， Sr.， also kept a ledger. He knew to thepenny just where he stood before he said his prayers at night andclimbed into bed.
You and I， too， will have to get notebooks and start keepingrecords. For the rest of our lives? No， not necessarily. Experts onbudgets recommend that we keep an accurate account of everynickel we spend for at least the first month—and， if possible， forthree months. This is to give us an accurate record of where ourmoney goes， so we can draw up a budget.
Oh， you know where your money goes? Well， maybe so; but ifyou do， you are one in a thousand！
Mrs. Stapleton tells me it is a common occurrence for menand women to spend hours giving her facts and figures， so shecan get them down on paper—then， when they see the result onpaper， they exclaim：“Is that the way my money goes?” They canhardly believe it. Are you like that? Could be.
Rule No. 2： Get a tailor-made budget that really fits your needs.