BORROWED
Arkad's first cure for a lean purse reads, “Start thy purse to fattening.” The line underneath explains itself: out of every ten coins that come in, put one aside and live on the nine that remain. I read that as an instruction to move money first, not to save whatever happens to be left at the end of a fortnight.
George S. Clason invented Arkad for a series of pamphlets starting in 1926, parables set in ancient Babylon. Banks and insurance companies distributed them in large quantities and the most famous lent its name to the book: The Richest Man in Babylon. One of his parables sets aside two coins of ten for debt, the same shape Pape’s first bucket takes, which I wrote about yesterday.
What I took from Arkad's cure is the order: move the money before anything else touches it. Arkad asks for a fixed tenth, whatever the purse holds, so I picture a fortnightly income of K2,000, with K200 of it set aside under his rule.
Arkad reports something odd once he started living on nine-tenths. “I was not shorter than before,” he says, and before long, coins started reaching him more easily than they had. His own explanation: gold comes more easily to those who keep a part of what they earn, and avoids those whose purse stays empty.
This is where I think of Ruth. She runs a home hair salon in Goroka and earns close to that fortnightly figure. Her tenth doesn't always make it into the pool untouched. Some fortnights a client cancels, or her daughter needs stationery for school, and what she moves is closer to K150. Other fortnights it's the full K200, sometimes more. What stays constant is the order: she decides what the purse gets before she decides what the rest of the fortnight gets.
And like Ruth, I paid myself first.
NEXT FRIDAY
I read the book itself and give it a verdict
Best
Amanda
P.S. What’s your view on today’s newsletter? Did I miss something out that you’d like to share? Write to me, [email protected]. I may not get back to you, but I will try to read what you send in.
IMPORTANT NOTE
Wild Money is general information only, drawn from my own experience and research. It isn't financial advice, and nothing in it is a recommendation to buy, sell, hold or manage money in any particular way. What worked for me won't necessarily suit you. Please seek advice from a licensed financial adviser before making decisions about your own money.