“This book of cures for lean purses has been termed a guide to financial understanding. That, indeed, is its purpose: to offer those who are ambitious for financial success an insight which will aid them to acquire money, to keep money and to make their surpluses earn more money.”

Note: “Cures for lean purses” means things you can do to have more money in your bank account (purse).

Babylon – The City Of The Wealthiest People

“Babylon became the wealthiest city of the ancient world because its citizens were the richest people of their time. They appreciated the value of money. They practiced sound financial principles in acquiring money, keeping money and making their money earn more money.”

The Wisdom of Babylon

• “Money is the medium by which earthly success is measured.”
• “Money makes possible the enjoyment of the best the earth affords.”
• “Money is plentiful for those who understand the simple laws which govern its acquisition.”
• “Money is governed today by the same laws which controlled it when prosperous men thronged the streets of Babylon, six thousand years ago.”

Decide To Pursue Wealth

• “Thou makest me realize the reason why we have never found any measure of wealth. We never sought it.”
• “In my youth I looked about me and saw all the good things there were to bring happiness and contentment. And I realized that wealth increased the potency of all these. “Wealth is a power. With wealth many things are possible.”
• Devote time and energy to learning about wealth and how to accumulate it.
• “Gold is reserved for those who know its laws and abide by them.”

The Three Laws of Successfully Handling Wealth

1. Law 1 – Acquire (Save) Money: Find ways to earn money and then live on less than what you earn. Save a portion of what you earn for yourself (at least 10%). “A part of all you earn is yours to keep.”
2. Law 2 – Keep Money: Be careful with the money that you acquire. Seek advice from people experienced in saving and growing their money.
3. Law 3 – Use Money: Use the money you save to earn more money. “Every gold piece you save is a slave to work for you.” Use it to make smart investments (Remember Law 2 – seek advice about what investments are smart).

The Seven Cures For A Lean Purse

1. Start Thy Purse To Fattening: Earn an income and put at least 10% of every payment into savings.
2. Control Thy Expenditures: Create a budget to ensure no more than 90% of your income covers all your expenses. Know where your money is going and what it’s being spent on. If you need more money then you should reduce your desires and the things you need to pay for until you have a greater income.
3. Make Thy Gold Multiply: Use the money you’ve saved to earn more money by investing. Take advantage of compound interest. This will increase your income even more.
4. Guard Thy Treasures From Loss: Be careful when investing and using your money so that you don’t lose it all. Consult financial experts for advice. Be wary of investments and opportunities that let you “get rich quick”. Study carefully before parting with your money. Become aware of the dangers in what you choose to do.
5. Make Of Thy Dwelling A Profitable Income: Own your home. Instead of paying rent to a landlord, pay a mortgage. Eventually you will own the home and these payments can go back into your bank.
6. Insure A Future Income: Prepare for your retirement when you can’t work anymore. Plan investments and savings that will allow you to last many years. Own a house for you and your family to live in.
7. Increase Thy Ability To Earn: Look everywhere for wisdom, learn more about your profession, and increase your skills. Knowledge and skills make you a better worker which your employer or whomever pays you will recognize and reward. “…seek greater skill that [you] may better serve those upon whose patronage [you] depend.”

The Five Laws Of Gold

1. Gold comes to those who save at least 10% of their earnings.
2. Gold increases by using it to earn more gold.
3. Gold stays with people that protect it and use it cautiously.
4. Gold leaves those who invest it places they or their experts don’t understand.
5. Gold leaves those who follow “get rich quick” schemes and other tricks.

Wealth Provides Protection From Misfortune

• “In this day, behind the impregnable walls of insurance, savings accounts and dependable investments, we can guard ourselves against the unexpected tragedies that may enter any door and seat themselves before any fireside.”
• Create an emergency fund for emergencies (lost job, sudden medical expense, etc.)
• Having wealth and emergency money will ease your mind. “…man’s need and desire for protection. This desire is inherent in the human race.”

How To Attract Good Luck

Note: “Good Luck” means “chances to get money”.

• Don’t search for Good Luck by gambling or going to casinos. In these situations the odds are always against you
  • Note: Getting money by chance (like at a casino) is bad if you don’t understand the laws that govern building wealth. You either spend it all or fear spending it because you don’t know how to replace it.
• Good Luck comes to people that look for opportunities and then act upon them. “Men of action are favored by the goddess of good luck.” Do not procrastinate on actually taking action on the opportunities.
• Good Luck comes to people that work hard. People around you see your hard work. Future employers and business parters will want you to work with them. Working hard helps you increase your skills which can help you take advantage of opportunities.

A Plan To Get Out Of Debt

“If thou contentedly let the years slip by and make no effort to repay, then thou hast but the contemptible soul of a slave. No man is otherwise who cannot respect himself and no man can respect himself who does not repay honest debts.”

“Thy debts are thy enemies”

“My debts were my enemies, but the men I owed were my friends for they had trusted me and believed in me.”

The Steps

1. Create a budget:
   1. Set aside a portion of your earnings for your savings (about 10%)
   2. Set aside no more than 70% of your earnings for necessities (home, clothes, food, simple pleasures). Determine how to live on this amount.
   3. Set aside the rest to pay off your debts (about 20%)
2. Make a list of all your debts
3. Tell all your creditors of your plan and pay them every month from the debt-fund in your budget. With patience these debts will eventually all be paid off.
4. Invest money from the savings-fund in your budget so you can earn more income

Always Work Hard

“Promise me, boy, if thou get a master, work for him as hard as thou canst. If he does not appreciate all thou do, never mind. Remember, work, well-done, does good to the man who does it. It makes him a better man.”

• “More interest in my work, more concentration upon my task, more persistence in my effort… With reasonable promptness my increased skill was rewarded, nor was it necessary for me to go six times to my master to request recognition.”
• The ability to work hard is very valuable yet some people treat it as their enemy. Working hard will help you develop skills and help you earn more income. Working hard will also show that you’re valuable to future employers and business partners. Working hard will build your confidence.

Misc Notes

• Income is important
  • “A fat purse quickly empties if there be no golden stream to refill it. Arkad has an income that constantly keeps his purse full, no matter how liberally he spends.”
  • “I tell you, my students, a man’s wealth is not in the coins he carries in his purse; it is the income he buildeth, the golden stream that continually floweth into his purse and keepeth it always bulging.”
• Be careful if you decide to lend money to help friends and family
  • “If thou wouldst help thy family or thy friends, find other ways than risking the loss of thy treasure.”
  • “…I will no longer lend any of it where I am not confident that it is safe and will be returned to me. Neither will I lend it where I am not convinced that its earnings will be promptly paid to me.”
  • “If thou wouldst help thy family or thy friends, find other ways than risking the loss of thy treasure.”
• Be careful with debt. Get determined to pay it off.
  • “Youth, never having had experience, cannot realize that hopeless debt is like a deep pit into which one may descend quickly and where one may struggle vainly for many days.”
  • “Yet, I do not discourage borrowing gold. I encourage it. I recommend it if it be for a wise purpose. I myself made my first real success as a merchant with borrowed gold.”