Question

Penny-Wise and Pound-Foolish careful in small matters but careless about important things; saving small amounts of money while wasting large amounts

Accepted Answer

That was penny-wise and pound-foolish. You saved a dollar in car fare when you walked all the way home, but now you need new sneakers. This was a well-known proverb by the early 1600s in England, where a pound is a unit of money. A penny was always worth much less than a pound. So the expression meant you were smart about things that were small and careless about things that were big.

Idiom	Penny-Wise and Pound-Foolish
Example	That was penny-wise and pound-foolish. You saved a dollar in car fare when you walked all the way home, but now you need new sneakers.
Meaning	careful in small matters but careless about important things; saving small amounts of money while wasting large amounts
Origin	This was a well-known proverb by the early 1600s in England, where a pound is a unit of money. A penny was always worth much less than a pound. So the expression meant you were smart about things that were small and careless about things that were big.

Small Penny Wise Pound Foolish Careless Amounts Things Saved Dollar