Two little old ladies decided to go shopping. One wanted new shoes, the other a new dress. The first little lady looked in the shoe store window and saw shoes she would like to have but was dismayed when she saw the prices. So she walked into the store and said to the cashier, ”I’d like some shoestrings, please. Some nice bright pretty ones.” She went home and put the shoestrings in her old shoes and smiled. ”How nice these shoestrings make my shoes look. Why, my shoes look almost new.” The other little lady looked at dresses but was dismayed at how much they cost. So, she said to the cashier in the dress shop, ”I would like some buttons, please, some nice bright red ones.” She went home, took the black buttons off her favorite dress and replaced them with the bright red ones. ”How nice these buttons make my dress look,” she said. ”Why, it looks almost new.” We can learn a lot from these two sweet, budget-minded ladies. Even when you can’t afford some things you would like to have, you can still be happy. All you have to do is look for creative ways to live on less, make do with what you have, buy yourself some ”shoestrings and buttons,” and be thankful and happy that you have shoes on your feet and a dress to wear..