This year,' said Pa, on New Year's night, 'we'll start upon a different plan, <br />I'm sick and tired of ending years as poor as when those years began; <br />I'm sick and tired of spending coin before I've really got it earned, <br />This year we're going to save some dough—that is the new leaf that I've turned.' <br /> <br />Ma didn't say a word right then, an' Pa went on: <br />'This year we'll try <br />To cut out all our foolishness, an' put a little money by; <br />It's terrible the way we've spent the money that I labor for <br />On things that we don't really need, but we won't do it any more. <br /> <br />''There's lots of ways that we can save, we'll stop the many little leaks <br />And soon we'll have a bank account—I've thought it out for weeks and weeks; <br />I'm sick and tired of toiling hard, an' havin' nothing left to show <br />For all I've done the long year through—this year we'll start to save our dough.' <br /> <br />An' Ma looked up an' said to Pa, 'I'm glad to hear you make that vow, <br />We ought to save a lot each year; an' listen while I tell you how: <br />Those poker games you ought to stop, I've always said that they're not right, <br />Ten dollars that we could have saved you lost at Brown's the other night. <br /> <br />'An' then you cut out shaking dice with friends who ride in motor cars, <br />We'd save a lot of coin if you'd quit getting stuck for their cigars; <br />There are a lot of ways to save our money I can plainly see.' <br />Then Pa got mad an' said, 'That's right, I knew you'd blame it all on me.'<br /><br />Edgar Albert Guest<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/pa-discusses-economy/
