Something For a Rainy Day

by jr paruolo
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I don’t go looking for somewhere to spend my money. You can step on a tube of toothpaste for a week, if you have to. I spend what I need to and give it away.
T. Boone
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When the first financial crash
Put the country in the trash
And the banks ran out of cash

Leaving everyone holding slews
Of worthless stocks and bonds and IOUs
And invoices stamped - Payment Over Due

Those of that unfortunate time
Learned how to pinch ever dime -
And control the financial bottom line

It's simple - my grandmother would say:
Don't just throw your money away.
Save something for a rainy day-

She never went on shopping sprees
or purchased things of luxury -
But splurged on life's necessities

Especially when it meant saving a few cents
on cans with missing labels or minor dents
(which she jokingly called - her mystery ingredients)

She'd haggle to her heart's content
Squeezing the value out of every cent -
Often to my embarrassment

She was truly a manager's nightmare
And would go stare for stare
Until he threw his hands in the air

And she always made sure
she left every store
None the worse -
And never with an empty purse