Money is for saving not spending

My parents, who are not really rich, have never, as adults, as far as I can recall, been seriously worried about money. There's a simple reason for that: they have always lived modestly, even frugally, and have always had wants that are modest compared with their means. They are not geniuses at investing and have never been wildly well paid. They have just been like an ant, laying aside money year in and year out, and now they have a comfy cushion around them. They have never come close to the edge of having to spend more than they have. Their friends and colleagues of their age all seem to be similarly situated. What I keep coming back to is that the real bottom line is a simple idea that the savers know and the terrorised don't: money is not for spending. Money is first for saving, and then for spending.

Or, you might put it a different way. Money is not for spending now. Money is for spending on a rainy day. If that rainy day doesn't come in your life, it might come in your children's or their children's. Money is protection, the shield and the buckler for your family and for you.