Do not waste money
Don’t waste money.” The misuse of money is an evil. Today’s youth especially are wasting money in a number of ways. This will lead to bad habits, loss of peace of mind, and the ruining of your life itself. Our country is today facing grave economic problems, so indiscriminate spending of money for selfish purposes should strictly be eschewed in the interest of society at large. The spirit of cooperation has to be promoted. National unity and integrity should be safeguarded.
Sri Sathya Sai, Summer Showers 1990, Chapter 3
Nobody should waste anything. Time waste is life waste. By wasting time, we waste our life. We should also not waste money. What is the use of wasting money? Misuse of money is evil. Therefore, never misuse money. Spend only when it is necessary. Is it proper for you to spend money unnecessarily only because your pocket is full? Is it not a mistake? In this manner, many people waste money. Those who get fat salaries spend money in an arbitrary way. When you lead your life in such a lavish manner, low-income people like sweepers and milkman will also try to imitate you and ask for more salary. We should not set a bad ideal to others. We should follow the path which is beneficial to all. When you have too much money, you don’t mind wasting it. But do not spend money like that. You should think before spending, whether you are making proper or improper use of money. With this, all your questions are answered. Lead your life very carefully. Even a small mistake can be blown up by others in society. Therefore, do not make even a small mistake. Conduct yourself in this careful manner.
Sathya Sai speaks Volume 41, Sri Sathya Sai World Education Conference, Prasanthi Nilayam, 21-7-2008
People now yield, on account of weakness of will, to the temptations that clamour for their money. The richer they are, the more wasteful the ways in which they spend them. Even a struggling middle class family attempts to adopt the spending habits of the reckless rich and suffers min. A worker drawing ten rupees as daily wages spends two rupees on drink, three on the Cinema and two more on some spree or the other, forcing his family to starve. The message of placing a Ceiling on Desires and utilizing the money thus saved into a fund was to use the money for social service among the villages, for the poor and the illiterate. But, the underlying principle was generally neglected. What was offered to the fund was not savings derived by desisting from desires. The old, deleterious habits were not given up. Smoking, drinking, etc., continue undiminished. The object of the programme was to put a brake on harmful desires and not the collection of money.
SATHYA SAI SPEAKS Volume 18, Sixtieth Birthday discourse at Prashaanthi Nilayam on 23-11-1985.
