Do not despise small gifts and be attentive to losses.

Avoid being wasteful with resources, such as allowing bread, food, or horse feed to go to waste.

Confer with skilled financial advisors and learn their methods.

Consider what can be sold, planted, or produced from your lands. Employ craftsmen to help you achieve these goals.

Know your entire income and always have an eye on your affairs.

Before incurring expenses, consider how you can recover an equal amount, so that you don’t lose money overall. For example, if you decide to give four thousand scudi¹ to valiant soldiers, you should first announce monetary penalties for gamblers and similar vices. This way, the expenditure can be offset by the income from these penalties.

Avoid owning expensive utensils that deteriorate with use or lose their value. If you need to sell these items, you will receive little in return. Instead, only possess enough to suit your status, such as silver vessels, where the craftsmanship is more valuable than the material itself.

Try this method to catch a steward’s dishonesty: A few hours later after he has provided an account, pretend to have forgotten and ask him to repeat the same information from memory. If the information is false, his answers will be inconsistent.