A Little Savings goes a Long Way

My dad tells a story about a colleague of his who lived paycheck to paycheck for years, always worried about the next disaster. One day over coffee, my dad and some others got to talking about the value of saving just the littlest bit of money, ten dollars a paycheck, and putting it into a savings account. This guy thought they were all crazy, $10 would never amount to anything, but somehow they all convinced him to give it a try. To this day, I have no idea why he tried it, whether it was an attempt to prove people wrong, just the right moment, or an act of total desperation, but this man started putting $10 a pay into a savings account, every two weeks.

Time marched on, with the occasional comment about the increased balance in the account, maybe particular notice of milestones of $50 or $100. At some point that year, they all received a small raise and discussed how much could be added to the savings rate from the raise. After all, you were fine before, you won't miss what you didn't have. The man added a bit to his $10 per pay, and the account kept growing. Months passed.

Imagine the shock of my father and the others when, one day, the recent saver came in to the break room, sat down, and said, "My savings account is empty." Knowing my dad as I do, I can see the look on his face, and imagine the reaction as somewhat close to having a heart attack! How could this have happened? This colleague had done so well for so long, what could have cause this slip?

The man said to all his friends, "Wait, you don't understand! My hot water heater died over the weekend. I walked into the store, and I paid for the new one with cash. I have never in my life had the money to fix a problem like that with cash."

Listening to my dad tell that story, you can hear the pride in his voice for his friend's success, you can feel the saver's pride in himself, you can have your own lightbulb moment that a little savings can go a long way. 30 years later, I have never forgotten the lesson.