another way to save.

when you give, you receive. sounds cliche, but i have found it to be true. in some ways it is the best tip i can share with you in this pursuit of balance in finances and in life.

when you meet someone without a home; without a warm place to sleep, you soon forget about that list of things you want; you think differently about all the things you think you need.

you fill his bowl with hot chili and you serve him coffee and chocolate chip cookies and he tells you about when he first moved to nashville with only a guitar on his back, or about his grown kids who live in texas who he never sees, or about his life before this, when he was a chef, a university custodian, a singer, a taxi driver, a music teacher.

when you feel like you have nothing, reach out to someone who has even less.

maybe you will see his rotten teeth and scabby fingers and matted hair and say, 'there but for the grace of God go i."

or maybe you will look into his eyes and see the sorrow and the hope and say, "we are the same."