To save for old age, earning a maravedi and drinking three.
To save for old age, earning a maravedi and drinking three.
Meaning in plain English
A stated intention to save conflicts with spending more than is earned. The one-to-three comparison exposes that mismatch, without making poverty or unavoidable expenses a failure of character.
Example
Someone notices an optional recurring purchase undermining a personally chosen reserve and reviews that purchase rather than relying only on the intention to save.
Deeper explanation and when to use it
The speaker names saving for old age, then sets one earned coin against three spent on drink. The numbers make the intended reserve and the repeated practice incompatible within the image. Applied more broadly, an aspiration needs habits that support it rather than continually undo it. Examine the particular pattern instead of assuming a declared intention will produce its result. This reading is not a financial plan or a judgement about everyone who struggles to save. Essential costs, limited resources and other circumstances may constrain what is possible.
When to use it
Use it to notice when a repeated practice contradicts a stated intention.
Keep in mind
Do not blame people for unavoidable expenses or limited income; the saying is not individual financial advice.
Edsverb editorial interpretation · agent reviewed · 2026-10-05. This explains the saying; it does not establish its historical origin.
- Source
- A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (1857)
Printed page 195; Spanish section, paragraph 4064; source wording: Ahorrar para la vejez, ganar un maravedi y bever tres.
Read the original context ↗ - Attribution confidence
- traditional · historical anthology
Preserved as printed; independently unverified. - Historical coordinate
- Undated
No reliable date supplied by the collection. - Rights & edition
- Public domain (United States)
Translations and rights may differ elsewhere.
Provenance and licences ↗