272 THE PRINCIPLES OF SELF-MASTERY
a month, and this saving would have brought him many opportunities
that would have led directly to financial independence.
Some who are shortsighted pseudophilosophers are fond of pointing
to the fact that no one can become rich merely by saving a few dollars
a week.
This may be true enough, as far as the reasoning goes (which is not
very far), but the other side of the story is that the saving of even a
small sum of money places one in a position where, oftentimes, even
this small sum may enable one to take advantage of business oppor-
tunities that lead directly and quite rapidly to financial independence.
The table [page 269] showing what a saving of $S a month will
amount to at the end of ten years, should be copied and pasted on your
mirror, where it will stare you in the face every morning when you get
up and every night as you retire, providing you have not already ac-
quired the habit of systematically saving money. This table should be
reproduced, in letters and figures an inch tall, and placed on the walls
of every public school throughout the land, where it might serve as a
constant reminder to all children of the value of the savings habit.
COMMENTARY
A modem example might look something like this. Terry, a twenty-six-year-old
professional, is earning $36,000 a year. Terry's monthly financial picture is as
follows:Income: $3,000
Outgo:
Taxes $900
Food $200
Rent and bills $150
Gar payment $200
Car insurance $100