COMMENT
Take Money Lessons From Scrooge!

I remember reading "A Christmas Carol" as a young lad. At the time I was mystified as to why Charles "Goody- Two-Shoes" Dickens vilified Ebenezer Scrooge so much.

From Dickens' book, we can gather that Scrooge was quite a successful businessman whose sole objective was to live below his means. But because of his thrift, Dickens sent along three ghouls to scare him witless!

I am not advocating that we all go around bah-humbugging everything see this Yuletide - that would just be silly. Nevertheless, there is much that we can learn from Scrooge's life.

For starters, Scrooge was exceedingly careful with his money. His home was described as modest, but perhaps a bit on the dingy side. (He only had one candle that he carried from room to room.) Furthermore, his evening meals, which he prepared himself, were simple. Those are indeed laudable qualities for someone who was not short of a penny or two.

Scrooge was also very good at putting his money to work. We can deduce that Scrooge was involved money lending, and that he was quite skilled at his trade. On one occasion, he rebuked a couple for failing to make their repayments on time. But for some inexplicable reason, Dickens took exception to this. When we borrow money, we enter into a contract and we're obliged to make repayments on time.

For many of Scrooge's clients, though, he was probably a lender of last resort. Furthermore, he probably charged a hefty rate of interest too. These days it is much easier to shop around and get decent rates for mortgages and personal loans.

Finally, Scrooge was not too fond of unregistered charities. In one encounter, Scrooge turned away two people who were allegedly collecting for the "poor". I have, in the past, contributed to charities only to find that little of my money reached its publicised destination! Consequently, I'm now a bit more careful before reaching for my cheque book. If that makes me a Scrooge, then so be it!