To the editor:

It is Sunday May 23. I am reading my paper and I see an article by Donna Krug. It is full of great advice. Thank you Donna for a great article. Proper budgeting and planning are the greatest tools a person will have in his life time. They are tools that are at everyone’s disposal but many choose to ignore them. We have administrators who think the measure of success is a big display of fancy costly unnecessary equipment, things that offer no value to the education of our kids. Namely luxurious busses where the old yellow buses would provide the same service at a fraction of the cost. But we have to play the game of outdo our neighbors. And when we are out of money from needless spending we just float a bond for a few million dollars and raise our neighbors taxes to get more money to waste. Our kids need to learn at an early age the value of living within your means. They need to learn that what makes a winner is not what they can buy with others hard earned money but what they can produce with their own sweat.

The value of ownership has always been the knowledge that you made it with your own sweat and proper planning. Not what you can get your neighbor to pay for you. The mark of success is not what you can spend but what you can save. The value of what you have is not what it cost but how you achieved it. When I think of value I am reminded of a song written by a great lady. It is called “A Coat of Many Colors” by Dolly Parton. If you have never heard it you had ought to listen to it. It is about real value and personal pride.

Bernard Levings

Great Bend