我一天至少能省下30元
一個月就省下 900
一年就省下10800
嗯，好像不夠多
不過如果存進養老金戶頭
三十年後就有324000元
假設台幣沒有貶值的話
倒也是一筆好用的錢
好啦
這種省錢方法大家應該都聽過
另一個方法是
每天從一杯星巴克咖啡改喝即溶咖啡的話
一天至少省下60元
那以上的數字就以兩倍計算了
我不知多久以前
就希望自己一天少吃一塊蛋糕
倒不是真的天天都去買三十元的蛋糕
不過每天都會吃一些甜食
加減起來一定有三十塊
要是不吃的話
不僅省錢
又不用辛苦運動好把多餘脂肪消除（或是根本沒消除）
更重要的，還能保持健康（糖這種東西會讓身體免疫力下降、讓體質成酸性，而且容易蛀牙，一不小心又要花好幾萬裝假牙…總之壞處說不完）
話雖如此
我大概只做到 一兩 天
又繼續照花和照吃不誤了
為什麼呢？
因為我沒有具體看到白花花的銀子越積越多
頂多只是錢包裡的一百塊慢幾天消失而已
所以何必忍得那麼辛苦呢！
今天去逛書店
《這小子，讓川普讚嘆！》這個書名引起我的注意
因為有「川普」這兩個字
這個小子是卡麥隆．強森
某一集的「誰是接班人」提到了這位21歲就成立過12家公司的年輕人
結果我一看就看了半本
這種真人真事的成功經驗真的是太好看了
很有啟發性
不過他的商業頭腦以及對買賣的熱情
我遠遠比不上
我當然也不會閱讀商業週刊這類雜誌抓出經濟動向
或觀察眾人的需求而創造商機
不過他提到一點，大概是他這本書中我唯一能做到的，
那就是「現在就儲存養老金」
就那麼簡單
他說對於有心創業的人來說
儲存養老金能為心裡帶來安寧，這是非常重要的
博客來在介紹這本書時，引用書中的重點：「增加利潤的一個做法是提振業績。還有另一個方法，而且效果同樣顯著：縮減支出。」
好吧，既然我目前沒想到方法提振業績或增加利潤，那就縮減支出吧！
可是怎麼樣才具體、才有成就感呢？
我腦筋動到不久前人家送來的撲滿
而且是法鼓山的沙彌撲滿
不過，我不要像小學生一樣一天存十塊
我要每一次我想買垃圾食物卻沒買的時候
把本來要交給7-11或麵包店的錢
交給這位小沙彌
這樣的具體作法，相信能給我更大的動力做到「少吃蛋糕好存錢」
本計畫將從明天2008/10/5開始執行
要是虎頭蛇尾也絕對不會跟大家透露
免得誘使仿效者半途而廢
一大罪過也
這種具體作法的靈感
其實來自幾年前加拿大老師Mrs. Royce寄來的一篇文章
叫做 「一千顆彈珠」
一位老者對壯年的 “Tom” 表示：你很勤奮地工作賺錢，這樣很好沒錯，但可惜你很少陪伴家人。
這位老者表示他在五十五歲的時候實際計算一下，看這輩子大約還有幾個星期六可以過。他假設一般人平均能活到七十五歲，因此一輩子有3900個星期六可以過。看起來很多，因此有些人會抓不到事情的先後順序、輕重緩急。他在計算時，才發現自己可能只剩一千個星期六可以活，他這個人很實際，馬上就去買了一千顆彈珠，放在透明容器裡，擺設在工作室的醒目地方，一星期拿掉一顆。看著彈珠愈來愈少，你也知道自己時日不多，因此就能愈把注意力放在最重要的事情上，而不會說「有空再說」。這一天早上，他拿出容器裡最後一顆彈珠，心裡想說要是我能活到下星期六，代表上帝賜給我多一點時間讓我跟至親的家人在一起。最後他祝福 Tom：願你花更多時間陪伴家人。
這篇的重點當然是不要因為工作而忘了家人，但幾年前初次讀到這篇文章時，令我驚嘆的是這位老者的實際。我們都知道人生無常，但其實佛書看久了，這類的話也就麻痺了，但這位老者卻是用具體的東西，提醒自己日子一天天過去，這讓他更積極，更能看清什麼事才重要。
嗯，他是用透明塑膠容器裝那些彈珠，才能看到彈珠一天天減少，看來我還是不要用法鼓山的撲滿好了，應該找個透明魚缸，才能看到錢一天天增多，不過得找塊木板把開口封住再挖個洞，免得手癢，隨時又把裡頭的錢乖乖搬給7-11了。
以下就是這篇「一千顆彈珠」，作者不知是誰。
One Thousand
Marbles
The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday
mornings. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being
the first to rise, or maybe it’s the unbounded joy of not having to be at
work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are
most enjoyable. A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the kitchen with a
steaming cup of hot chocolate in one hand and the morning paper in the
other. What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of
those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let
me tell you about it. I turned the volume up on my radio in order to listen to a
Saturday morning talk show. I heard an older sounding chap with a
golden voice. You know the kind, he sounded like he should be in the
broadcasting business himself. He was talking about "a thousand
marbles" to someone named "Tom." I was intrigued and sat down to listen to what
he had to say. "Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job.
I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home
and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should
have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. Too
bad you missed your daughter's dance recital." He continued, "Let me tell you something Tom, something that has
helped me keep a good perspective on my own priorities."
And that's when he began to explain his theory of a "thousand marbles."
"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The
average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live
more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years."
Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900 which is the number
of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now stick
with me Tom, I'm getting to the important part." "It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think
about all this in any detail," he went on, "and by that time I had lived through
over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I
lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to
enjoy." "So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they
had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to roundup 1000
marbles. I took them home and put them inside of a large, clear
plastic container right here in my workshop next to the radio. Every Saturday
since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away." "I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I
focused more on the really important things in life. There is
nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your
priorities straight." "Now let me tell you one last thing before I
sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This
morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I
figure if I make it until next Saturday then God has blessed me with a little
extra time to be with my loved ones...... "It was nice to talk to you Tom, I
hope you spend more time with your loved ones, and I hope to meet you again
someday. Have a good morning!" You could have heard a pin drop
when he finished. Even the show's moderator didn't have anything
to say for a few moments. I guess he gave us all a lot to think
about. I had planned to do some work that morning, and then go to
the gym. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a
kiss. "C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast."
"What brought this on?" she asked with a smile. "Oh, nothing special," I
said. "It has just been a long time since we spent a Saturday
together with the kids. Hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? ... I
need to buy some marbles." HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND AND MAY ALL SATURDAYS BE SPECIAL
AND .. . . May you have many happy years after you lose all your marbles. Keep a
song in your heart.
後記：天才老媽看了這篇之後，馬上做出五個反應：
1. 我做不到
2. 我做不到
3. 我做不到
4. 可憐的孩子
5. 妳是不是有點奇怪呀？
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