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..