Always be economical
Dr.K.Veeramani
[ A translation of an article in Tamil from the Fourth volume of the series of by name Vazhvial Sinthanaigal, Thoughts on the Art of living ]
Be economical is foremost among the golden rules to be followed in life. It is our essential duty to make the youth from early age to think of the amount they get as income, the amount they spend and what remains after spending.
Periyar E.V.Ramasamy, the Vaikom hero, prescribed economy and simplicity as the basics of the rationalist way of life. He set an example in that respect.
There are people who always have a deficit budget. They do not understand themselves why it is so! Only governments have the prerogative of having a deficit budget. If individuals resort to having deficit budget, they will end up as persons wandering in a wilderness, without knowing the direction.
Periyar E.V.Ramasamy, the Vaikom hero, prescribed economy and simplicity as the basics of the rationalist way of life. He set an example in that respect.
Periyar collected four annas (quarter of a rupee) from his admirers to put his signature. He carefully preserved even the amount so collected and used them through the charitable trusts he had created for the benefit of the public.
He used to give the following advice to the newly wedded couple: “If you get an income of Rs. 100, spend Rs. 99 and save atleast one rupee. Learn to save by being economical. Then the economic condition of your family will automatically improve.” Millions of people followed his advice and their families thrived.
Thiru Valluvar gave a wonderful formula 2000 years ago to maintain a sound domestic budget:
“It won’t do any harm even if the passage through which income flows in is narrow, provided the passage through which it flows out is not broader.” (Couplet 478)
It doesn’t matter you don’t earn much. Use a part of your income to meet expenditure on the essentials. Reduce the spending on vain luxuries. Then you will realise that your income has, in a way, increased. This economic law was indicated by the great authority on the art of living, namely, Thiru Valluvar.
In his book, The Rules of Wealth, written in 2007, Richard Templer, has assigned a whole chapter, ‘Spend less than you earn, ’ to stress the point.
All those accustomed to spend within the limits of their income lead a contented life. They don’t spend sleepless nights being worried about the burdensome situation of repaying debts.
In the case of professional and business people the incomings and outgoings will fluctuate. They should have a pocket note-book and write them in it. Late lamented Thanjai K.M.Kuppusamy, the former Treasurer of Dravidar Kazhagam, was a trader. He used to make note of his expenditures promptly in a piece of paper.
Most of those belonging to the community of Naattukoettai Nagaratthaar have this habit as though they are born with it. My father-in-law, Thiru AL.Chidambaram, after returning from the bazaar, will arrange the bills in the order of the purchases made, and then note down commodities and the amount spent on them. He would preserve the lists of expenditure for years together.
When we write down the expenditure, we become conscious of the expenses that are useful and that are not useful. This gives us an opportunity to correct ourselves and move up in life.
Some people don’t know how much income they get. They don’t think about how they spend, and lead an extravagant life. This makes them poor and then penniless, making their life shameful.
Everything has a limit and so is the case with income - it has a limit. Those who are aware of this, will spend with in the limit and save for the future.
We should not confuse economy with parsimony. Being frugal is different from being mean with money.
Parsimoneous persons don’t spend even on essentials. Being mean is the opposite of being generous. Those who are parsimoneous find joy in hoarding and not in using. Though they are rich, they are really worse than the poor.
Living economically means spending for the necessaries, avoiding useless luxuries, and leading a simple but progressive life.
If an occasion demands generosity, then giving generously will not amount to extravagant expenditure. If one is tight-fisted on such an occasion, he is miserly, niggardly.
Being generous when we have to be cautious and thrifty amounts to squandering to get cheap popularity. Let us understand these things and lead a successful life.
