The Misfortune of Economy

Dickens: Many people think they understand economy when they really do not. True economy is misapprehended, and people go through life without properly comprehending what the principle is. One says, I have an income of so much, and here is my neighbor who has the same. Yet every year he gets something ahead and I fall short. Why is it? He thinks he does, but he does not. There are men who think that economy consists in saving cheese pairings and candle ends,. In cutting off two pence from the laundresses bill, and doing all sorts of little mean dirty things. The misfortune is also that this class of persons let their economy apply in only one direction