Sometimes Clark's advice is probably better to ignore. Here's an example: Clark was bringing his son to a bagel shop in the midst of the rain. His $1 umbrella inverted in the wind and broke, leaving Clark as wet as if he'd jumped in a pool.

The penny pincher has long said that he's always willing to accept lower quality for a lower price. That's because he's so obsessed with spending less than he makes and being a maximum saver.

Clark recently saw a drawing by cartoonist Joel Pett that appeared in The Lexington Herald-Leader. The cartoon depicted a man asking his wife, "When can we go back to wasteful consumerism fueled by reckless borrowing against our childrens' uncertain future?" The woman is reading a newspaper with a headline that says "Economic 'Slowdown,'" and the man is wearing an American flag T-shirt.

Isn't that modern America in a nutshell? For the first time in history, the average American is carrying debt way beyond annual income. The immediate gratification mindset is killing us. It's good for a moment, but then the financial hangover comes when you use money that you don't have.

Mind you, it's not necessary to be as extreme as Clark with the umbrella.

Here's another admitted example where Clark's cheapness may be getting the best of him: His 17-cent razor is starting to wear out after little more than 5 months. But Clark insists that he's going to push it to 6 months. But at the price of getting cut? That's just silly over a 17-cent razor.

Yet Clark would rather be foolish that way than spend money willy-nilly in his life. Nobody ever got rich paying Visa and MasterCard interest for things they can't afford.