錢qián到dào用yòng時shí方fāng恨hèn少shǎo

What does 錢到用時方恨少 (qián dào yòng shí fāng hèn shǎo) mean?

錢到用時方恨少 (qián dào yòng shí fāng hèn shǎo) is a folk proverb (yànyǔ 諺語). Word for word it reads "Only when you need money do you regret having too little." In use it means: The true value of savings becomes apparent only in a crisis. People rarely appreciate their reserves until the moment of urgent need. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Water note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Dog.

Literally: "Only when you need money do you regret having too little.."

The reading

Emergencies do not announce themselves in advance, and neither does the feeling of financial helplessness. The person who saves when times are good is buying insurance against this exact moment of regret. Comfort breeds complacency with money. Only the shock of an empty purse during a crisis teaches what a full one was worth. This is a proverb written in the ink of painful experience.

What kind of proverb it is

• Typeyànyǔ 諺語
• FocusPresent-minded
• Element水 Water
• Zodiac tie狗 Year of the Dog

Source Traditional folk proverb, widely quoted in Cantonese and Hokkien communities

Sits beside

Keep reading

Return to the Proverb Pond to draw another of the eighty-seven, or hear one read aloud. Read the rest of its chapter in Adversity & Resilience, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Dog, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Ox.