Saturday, February 24, 2007

Rambling About Food, Money and Benjamin Franklin

What would Ben Franklin think of our modern economy?


Our economy has changed drastically since Benjamin Franklin lived. He, with his frugal wisdom, would go into shock if he could see the way we spend money now. An economy built on debt?? A chicken in every pot, maybe, but paid for with dollars that are already owed to someone else.

And that "chicken in the pot" has most likely been processed into chicken "nuggets," or boneless, skinless breasts that makes nuggets (and other "waste" products) possible by leaving 2/3 of the chicken unused.

No, I don't want to make you feel guilty for eating only chicken breasts. How else would we get all those buffalo wings?

But back to Mr. Franklin. He always advocated wise use of money, and people were a lot more frugal back then than they are now. What would he think if he could see us now? The picture hurts my mind.

Our world is far different from the world Benjamin Franklin lived in, both economically and technologically, so it's kind of cool to see how things work out to help us actually do what Franklin advised.

Case in point: Two web sites, Mygrocerydeals and Dollar Stretcher, brought to you via a great network not even dreamed of when Benjamin Franklin was alive, have teamed up to give you a chance to win back the money you spend on groceries. I won't say more, just go to either site and look for the "Ben." (If you read the story linked above, it will explain it.)

It's wise, Ben Franklin style, to use applications like Mygrocerydeals to help you save money and time on grocery shopping whether you enter the contest or not. If spending a morning sorting through grocery store ads over and over and making and remaking lists doesn't sound like fun, Mygrocerydeals.com will do it for you. If you do enjoy poring over ads, this site adds new depth to the game and you'll enjoy that!

And last but not least on my mind this morning: "An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest." That's the way Benjamin Franklin said it. The Book of Proverbs from the Bible says it this way: "A house is built by wisdom and becomes strong through good sense. Through knowledge its rooms are filled with all sorts of precious riches and valuables." (NLT)

3 comments:

  1. Hi Pat,
    I agree with you that being thrifty is a great idea. I will try to link up to the websites you mention. It is hard for me to find time to coupon, etc. Normally, I try to make do on as little as possible or get the best deals that I can when shopping at my local store.

    Oh, by the way, I made "Stone Soup" last night, as mentioned in one of your other linked columns, I think it is "Frugal Upstate". My son came in and exclaimed, "Gosh, Mom! That sure smells good. Too bad I already ate." It's okay, we're eating it for supper tonight. Easy and frugal!

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  3. Terre, I saw the Stone Soup post and thought it was great. Jenn has a good blog there.

    As far as saving on groceries, that web site (mygrocerydeals.com) is the best I've seen because it gives you local results. I really like it.

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