beyond our ability to pay means going into debt via the shortest route.
Getting out of debt means a revision of our code to the extent of
ceasing to live beyond our means and saving something with which to pay
off what we owe. Some men can do this successfully--others fail while
seemingly trying their best to succeed--and still others do nothing to
stem the tide. With these it is a matter of how the tide serves. If
favoring winds should drive them to opulence they would more than likely
pay up, particularly those imbued with _sufficient personal honor_ to
"make good."

Such are the exigencies of life, we may as well concede that a vast
majority at some time or other find it necessary to owe more than they
can readily pay. Emergencies arise which force us into expenses that
require credit, and if we have so ordered our lives that when the pinch
comes _we have no credit established_ the fact that we pay out our last
dollar and go hungry to bed does not bring us much sympathy. Thus it
would seem that to be able to say: "I pay as I go," or, "I owe no man a
dollar," or, "I never live beyond my means" is not much of a boast,
when, after a death in the family, or other unforeseen circumstances,
we find ourselves broke and nowhere to turn for accommodation.

It has been aptly said that "_People can save themselves to death._" In
other words, one may develop the saving habit to such an extent that
"Laugh and Live" can find no room beside us on the perch of our
existence. We must admit that the systematic saver of pennies misses a
lot as he goes along, and, with time, degenerates into a sort of "Kill
Joy." In the matter of regulating his family to his way of thinking he
usually has an uphill job. Sons leave home as soon as they can;
daughters marry and breathe a sigh of relief, leaving mother behind to
slave on _in order that the hoard may grow_.

While all of this is true it only represents extreme cases, therefore it
should not be construed that this chapter is launched against _the habit
of saving_. Rather, its purpose is to suggest the thought of not
"_over-saving_" at the expense of _personal welfare_. Our best plan
would be to save in reason, not forgetting that life is here to enjoy
as we go along. Then, too, we must have a _credit rating_ among our
fellow mortals, just the same as a business person must have credit
rating among financial institutions.

[Illustration: _Squaring Things With Sister--From "The Habit of
H