There are smart ways on handling and spending money, and then there are what many consider to be the 'foolish' way. Indeed, spending money on necessary things like clothings, shelter, food, and water is all well and good, but not everyone acts with such wisdom.
Millions of people end up losing their money through foolish means, some of which include blowing it all at a casino, making wild investments, or by being scammed online by some dishonest person. Plenty of opportunities have existed, and still do today, for people to act like a 'fool' and part ways with their money. So it isn't a surpise to find out that this phrase is over 450 years old.
The phrase has been around since at least 1557, as it was used by the poet Thomas Tusser, who wrote a poem called Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry. In the poem, the expression is written:
"A foole and his money be soone at debate: which after with sorow repents him too late."
The wording is a bit different, but ultimately, it's similar to the saying we use today.
Reference: Wikipedia
Note: A phrase's origins are, a lot of the time, very uncertain. The origins you see listed are the more plausible theories that are floating around for how or where an expression came to be, but just remember, theories are not always fully accurate! The quotes which have the phrase in them are the oldest written forms of the phrase I could find, but thre's always a chance of an older recording being out there. Perhaps I've missed it. Feel free to let me know if you know of any!
Also, remember that just because you see an idiom in some old book or newspaper, let's say they're from the year 1893, well it doesn't mean the saying originates from that source. In all likelihood, if an expression is already in use in a book or newspaper, then it's probably older. Nevertheless, these old quotes serve as a way to show the reader how far back in history some of these sayings go, which can be quite interesting!
