The Richest Beggar in England
pinch pennies: to be very careful with money and spend as little as possible
Most people know Ebenezer Scrooge, the rich old miser from Charles Dickens’s famous book, A Christmas Carol. Dickens based the character on a real man named John Elwes, who lived in England in the 1700s.
Elwes was one of the richest men in England. He inherited a fortune worth many millions in today’s money. And yet he chose to live as though he owned almost nothing.
He wore the same ragged clothes year after year. Strangers who passed him in the street felt sorry for him, believing he was a beggar. Some gave him small coins, which he happily accepted.
On the coldest nights he refused to light a fire, sitting in the dark to save the cost of coal. Because he hated to waste food, he ate old, rotten meat rather than pay for anything fresh. In every corner of his life, Elwes found a way to pinch pennies. One night, walking home in the dark, he badly cut both legs. To save money, he let the doctor treat only one leg.
The strangest thing is that he was generous to everyone but himself. He lent large amounts of money to friends freely, and when he died he left around £500,000 to his sons. He denied comfort only to the one person he could control, which was himself.
Dickens gave his fictional Scrooge character one thing the real man never had, a chance to change. Elwes stayed afraid of spending to the very end.
Sample sentences
After he lost his job, Marco had to pinch pennies for months until he found new work.
We are not rich, but we do not need to pinch pennies either. We just spend carefully.
The company began to pinch pennies, and soon there was not even free coffee in the office.
