“If You Look After Your Pennies, Your Dollars Will Look After Themselves”

I didn’t realize when i was a small child what a wise man my grandfather was. Some people may have thought he was just a foolish old man, but not I. Without a thought as to the validity of his many quips and sayings I simply soaked them in.

“Is everybody happy?”

He always asked this. Followed by something to the effect of “You choose your own happiness.” I have embraced this philosophy my whole life. I choose if I will be happy or not regardless of the circumstances. And believe me, there are always reasons I could be unhappy, but I have learned to look for the joy even in the hardest of times.

“God helps those who help themselves.”

This one is forever imprinted into my soul with a picture of him nailing a board up on his porch. This was not just any porch either, it was a porch that surrounded his whole house held up by support beams below. And it was not just any house either. It was the house he built with his own hands in the lean years following World War II with the help of my mom, his third daughter. The porch on this little house made out of a variety of scrounged materials was a very strategically planned addition. It was framed with removable windows all around, thus creating a barrier of insulation in the colder months and shade and a breeze for summer. If was a brilliant design especially for a self-trained handyman.

And while I never thought twice about the legacy he was instilling while I was racing pell-mell around and around the porch trying to beat my brothers at porch tag, the lessons have none-the-less stuck and I am striving to carry on a thrifty, generous and resourceful life.

“If you take care of your pennies your dollars will take care of themselves.”

While I often credit my father with my amazing budgeting and financial planning skills, it truly was my maternal grandfather that passed along the legacy of penny pinching. Saving his pennies in jars and starting a piggy bank for each of us kids, my grandpa's words have stuck with me and been repeated many times. And they are truth.

If I become careless about the small things. The pennies. The slightly higher prices. This all adds up significantly. A coffee here, a donut there, and suddenly, I’ve run out of money while I still have a great deal of month to go.

Conversely, when I pay attention to the details, budget carefully, cut my bills, stand in the store and figure the cheapest per ounce item, my money will often exceed my month.

And this brings me to what started this story in the first place.

Half Pennies!

My grandfather's wisdom came to light in a very tangible way recently when I decided to write for the Vocal Media Website. (You can sign up for the Plus account here for just $1.00 if you want to try it too.)

“Join us,” they urged.

“We will pay you .6 of a cent every time someone reads one of your published works.” Now the offer of a half a cent just because one person kindly read a story I wrote sounds pretty minute and honestly kind of lame. But…. my grandfather’s voice echoed in my soul, “If you take care of your (half) pennies, your dollars will take care of themselves.”

Now, writing is my passion. I have been a storyteller since before I can even remember. I happily write for no compensation at all, however recently I realized I needed to begin to embrace the fact that I am a writer and value my own work enough to seek at least a living wage from wordsmithing. So, when I saw the offer of a half a penny for every read, while I had no illusions of grandeur, I did see a start. A beginning of a journey that would encourage, inspire and at least start to fill my bucket (or my bank account) with pennies. And over the course of 4 ½ months, I have collected 5000 half pennies. (Technically 5000 .6 of a penny as a Vocal Plus member.)

Did I get rich? Nope. (Not YET!!! <grin>)

Was I encouraged and inspired and possibly even succeeded in improving my writing over this time? Absolutely a resounding YES.

And…. I made $30.00! Nothing to sneeze at. It is however a seed. A beginning. The start of greater earning. And most of all it is once again a reminder of the wisdom of my grandfather shining through as I celebrate each and every half penny gifted to me in the form of time spent reading my musings. Thank you for both the gift of your time and.... a half a penny!

Picture me, pecking away at my computer in the wee hours of each morning just hoping and hoping that each reader at least gets their half penny’s worth! <3

If you want to read more of my scattered musings and hints of wisdom you may go to my Vocal Profile here.

And if you too, wish to begin collecting half pennies from your own creative thoughts and stories here is the link to sign up for $1.00: Vocal Media Plus