"A scout is thrifty. He does not wantonly destroy property. He works faithfully, wastes, nothing, and makes the best use of his opportunities. He saves his money so that he may pay his own way, be generous to those in need, and helpful to worthy objects. He may work for pay but must not receive tips for courtesies or good turns."
Thrift or economy is based upon a true sense of the value of things; and as the value of material things, at any rate, is usually expressed in terms of money, thrift is generally associated with a true sense of the value of money and a right balance in its use. If a person who had always lived on very little, -- and especially if it had been earned along a narrow line of business, -- were suddenly to acquire great wealth, his natural tendency would be to be lavish in some respects and stingy in others, according to the desire of the moment or the particular opportunity at hand. This is because his experience would have given him no practice in exercising his judgement as to whether what he was buying had a value for him equivalent to what he was paying for it, or whether something he was going without might not have more value for him than the money he was saving.
The true value of a thing, not necessarily its market value, does not depend on how much we may want it in order to gratify some whim or momentary desire, but it depends on how much its possession will add to our true and lasting happiness. We can't decide these questions in particular until we have reached the stage of being contented to go without anything, however much we want it, when we can't afford it. Most of us get a good deal of practice in this sort of thing, and it is really a great blessing to have formed the habit of going without early in life, so that we are spared the temptation of meanness, and envy of those who are rich enough to have more things than we have.
If our circumstances are such that we have barely enough to live on, and it is our duty to sped as little as possible for the sake of other members of the family, it is a good rule not to think of what we would like to have so much as to keep in mind the question. "What can I do without?" Even when the circumstances of the family are somewhat easier, ti is always possible to deny ourselves some personal gratifications, and by so doing procure the mens of adding to the comfort of the others.
The first element of happy thrift is the habit of going without things which are not necessary and which are not going to benefit anybody but ourselves, and this insures the saving of waste in buying candy, ice-cream, soda, and all the things that give us merely personal pleasure without contributing to that of anybody else.
There are, of course, times and occasions when such things as candy and ice-cream are appropriate and a proper cause for expense; such as, for instance, when we want to treat a stranger or express our good-will to some one who will appreciate this manner of showing friendly feeling. But these occasions are comparatively very rare, and usually the enormous waste in such spending is due to plain greediness or want of resourcefulness; that is, -- not knowing how to have a good time in more manly and interesting ways.
Being thrifty or wasteful has nothing to do directly with being poor or rich. There is as much difference in this respect among the poor as there is among the rich; but of course wastefulness is one of the chief causes of poverty, and poverty is a school in which thrift may be learned as a matter of grim necessity.
The habit of writing down and keeping in mind the money which we earn or which is given to us, and also every expenditure that we make, it a great help in training ourselves to a proper balance. Whether our income be small or large, our aim should be to set aside a certain amount every week or every day after the necessary expenses have been made. This should form a nest-egg and be deposited in the savings-bank where it can be continually added to and not drawn upon except in cases of absolute necessity, -- such as to help pay the family bills, or to help some one in distress. When the habit is formed, it is quite as easy always to be a little ahead of the game as to be always lagging behind, and there is no end to the trouble and humiliation that follow, as a natural consequence, from slackness and untrustworthiness in money matters.
There is a class of professional money-lenders or "sharks" who suck the life's blood out of the improvident and shiftless; and the latter have their wages "trusted" when they do not pay back the money they have borrowed and so are frequently driven out of employment. The power of destroying happiness which these money-lenders exercise is due to the weak and wasteful habits of people who have not learned to go without what they cannot afford; they borrow from one person to pay their debts to another, and are always postponing the day of honest reckoning which requires them to fulfil their obligations of honor.
Every time that we deny ourselves something that we want because we cannot afford it, we are in spirit paying our obligations and putting up a barrier against all disorderly waste which weakens the will, undermines our moral sense, and brings wretchedness in its train.
Many a man whose purse is slender may give out of his stores of sympathy and knowledge more abundantly thatn he could give if he merely had a large bank account; moreover, the poor have always the privilege of sharing with one another, and their generosity of spirit is beyond the power of money to buy or estimate. Many rich people who give largely to charities in prosperous times cut out their charities when times change and economy becomes a necessity. This practice proves that there is no spiritual sharing in their bestowal of alms, and that it is merely a sop to their own consciences which costs no sacrifice. On the other hand, many poor people seem to think that their poverty is an excuse for meanness, and they miss the warmth and happiness of practical human fellowship.
Thrift means planning our daily expenses so that we can afford to pay our own way and not be mean. Debt is a down-hill road which puts a burden upon our backs and lays up trouble for the time to come. It is, for the most part, merely making things easier for the present while preparing more trouble for the future. Of course there are circumstances in which borrowing is justifiable; but, in these cases, we must be sure that we lay by for every day an average amount which will cover our debt within a specified time. The honest sense of obligation which this entails, with the honest effort to meet it, will make the earning and paying of the amount borrowed an exercise in thrift and honor.
The trouble with tips or gratuities is that, unless they are recognized as part of a system of wages, they are for the most part unearned and rather to be considered as payment for services for which no charge should ever have been made. There are any little services which the helpfulness of a scout will lead him to offer as a matter of course, and he could no more accept money for them than he could accept money for telling the truth or obeying orders.
When the desire for money is strong enough to take advantage of the good nature of rich people or the need of helpless persons, it drives out and takes the place of unselfishness and the spirit of knighthood. Good scouts would lose more than half the pleasure of their lives if their habits of voluntary helpfulness were turned into a profitable business. Business itself suffers when the motive of money-getting becomes selfish and sordid; when it is conducted in a liberal spirit and aims at the benefit of both parties to every transaction, it is one of the most constructive and humanizing influences in the world.