Skimpflation

There are ideas that shout. Skimpflation is not one of them. It waits quietly until the day you need it.

The idea is simple, and like most simple ideas it is easy to nod at and hard to use. The nod is free. The use costs attention, every day, in small change.

It is worth keeping in your pocket not because it is always right, but because it is always available. A tool you carry beats a perfect tool you left at home.

The housewife with her kitchen budget runs a tighter ship than most finance departments. She knows the difference between price and cost — one is on the tag, the other is on the month.

Money is a good clerk and a terrible master; the arrangement is entirely up to us. A word is a lamp. This one is now yours to carry.