{"id":46127,"date":"2026-05-22T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/?p=46127"},"modified":"2026-05-15T11:08:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T18:08:26","slug":"book-freak-210-the-art-of-money-getting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/book-freak-210-the-art-of-money-getting\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Freak #210: The Art of Money Getting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Get The Art of Money Getting<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

P.T. Barnum was 70 years old when he turned his most popular lecture into this book in 1880. By then, he\u2019d already built America\u2019s most famous museum in New York, introduced General Tom Thumb to audiences, served as mayor of Bridgeport, gone broke from a disastrous investment in a Connecticut clock company, and clawed his way back. He was 60 when he co-founded the traveling show that eventually became Barnum & Bailey Circus. The Art of Money Getting<\/em> compresses a lifetime of hustle into 20 plainspoken rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Core Principles<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

1. Don\u2019t Mistake Your Vocation<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Barnum\u2019s first rule: pick the work you\u2019re built for, then aim to be the best at it. Most people get this backward. They take whatever job pays and spend decades fighting upstream. The people who succeed have a knack for what they do. Find your knack first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Avoid Debt Like the Plague<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Debt eats self-respect. Barnum says young people, especially, should avoid it. The moment you owe somebody money, you\u2019ve handed them a piece of your freedom. The whole game is keeping income above outgo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Whatever You Do, Do It With All Your Might<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Half-doing is expensive. Barnum watched neighbors spend whole lifetimes poor because they only kind of worked, while somebody else got rich doing the same job thoroughly. The people who go all in pull ahead of the ones who don\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Preserve Your Integrity<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Nobody buys from someone they don\u2019t trust. You can be the friendliest merchant in town, but if a customer suspects you of cheating, they\u2019ll walk to the next shop. Dishonesty might pay this week. It costs you over a lifetime. Reputation is the actual asset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Try It Now<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
  1. Examine your current work. Does it match your natural abilities? If not, what would? Make a plan to move toward it.<\/li>
  2. List your debts. Create a concrete plan to eliminate them, starting with the smallest. Avoid taking on any new debt this month.<\/li>
  3. Pick one task you\u2019ve been half-doing. This week, do it with all your might. early and late, leaving no stone unturned.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Quote<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cMoney is, in some respects, like fire. It is a very excellent servant, but a terrible master.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

    Book Freak is published by Cool Tools Lab, a small company of three people. We also run Recomendo<\/a>, the Cool Tools website<\/a>, a YouTube channel<\/a> and podcast<\/a>, and other newsletters, including Recomendo Deals<\/a>, Gar\u2019s Tips & Tools<\/a>, Nomadico<\/a>, What\u2019s in my NOW?<\/a>, Tools for Possibilities<\/a>, Books That Belong On Paper<\/a>, and Book Freak<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    P.T. Barnum’s Golden Rules for Making Money<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47588,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[76],"tags":[2397],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46127"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47588"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46127"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46127\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46129,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46127\/revisions\/46129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}