The Washington herald., 1909-07-12
OF INTEREST TO THE WOMEN
THE OWNING HABIT.

II you want tc get into q habit that Is
really worth while. why not try 20 ac-
quire the habit Of owning things? II is
Just as easily acquired as most OF the
habits that people form. but It Is a grea;
deal more profitable than many Of them.
writes Graham Hood in the New York
Globe.
II this idea should appeal TO you IA
vorably, and you want some advice in the
matter. I should say that there was no
better way to form 3 habit than to be-
gin by trying 10 own a home. have
always noticed-and you may have no.
ticed II, also-that the man who actu-
ally owns his own home seldom stops
at that point This is especially true
when the home owner is a man who has
earned the money 10 buy this property
/ by the sweat Of his brow. or who has
saved IT few pennies or nickels at a
time. The simple fact Is that IN getting
/ this home. he unconsciously acquires the
owning habit, and. once started, he does
not find II easy 10 stop.
! The great trouble with the majority OF
US to-day Is that we have become ad-
dicted 10 the spending habit We make
money enOugh-or most OF Us can-but we
don't save X. II we see something that
we think We particularly want. we buy
I II. II we haven't money enough. we ei-
/ ther get trusted for IL and get into al
i kinds OF trouble trying 20 pay the bill
afterward, or We save money for a week
/ or two until We have enough 10 secure
/ the article that we desire. In this way.
however. We waste a great deal Of money.
simply because the things We buy are
usually things we actually do not need.
/ Our modern life, or life in the large
/ cities. does not tend 20 habits Of econ
omy. There are so many temptations 10
1 spend money when there are so many
shops 20 attract our attention. so many
/ theaters and restaurants 10 beckon US.
/ that IL takes an individual with a pretty
( strong VIII 10 resist such an enticing
/ assortment Of choice temptations.
A writer In one Of the daily papers
calls attention TO the fact that while The
/ scale of wages IS constantly increasing,
I the number OF home owners s. constantly
/ diminishing. and that is probably the
/ reason why il is so. The modern man and
woman cannot resist the temptation %
I spend money unnecessarily. That IS the
I explanation. We succeed In acquiring
/ the spending habit. or habit OF extrava-
/ ganCe. rather than the owning habit. or
/ the habit Of economy.
I And the habit OF economy Is Just Ike
any other habit Il is formed IN pre-
Z cisely the same way
/ For example. q young manor an old
man, either, for that matter. for II is
/ never too late 10 begin 20 do right-makes
up his mind that he should ike 10 own
/ bis own home. He has been paving rent
/ for some years, and ne comes 10 the
| extremely rational conclusion that he will
put the profit on this rent money into
/ bis own poceSt instead OF continuing
| 10 give Il 20 the landlord
/ II this determination is held with suf-
heient strength OF will fully half OF the
I victory Is won. FOR when one has made
up his mind in the right way 70 do some
/ thing that ne knows he ought 70 do,
\ nothing remains but 10 go forward and
do H.
1 Il may come hard az frst-this work
/ OF saving m0ney-and yet 7 doubt II
there IS a single individual who reads this
article who could not save a little money
4 II he really wanted 10 do so. The writer
whom 7 have already quoted cites the
\ case Of a car driver who began 20 save
/ pennies when he was earning but Si-15 a
day. Before he died De was able % live
I IN luxury. for he accumulated nice es-
\ tate or course ne did not do this by
I saving pennies alone. but he did do Il
/ by acquiring the owning habit. AS It was
1 the saving OF the pennies that got him
/ into this habit. you might say that Il was
/ the pennies that did II after all