"It was Cathy who didn't understand, Roy, not me," I refreshed his memory. "I'd take home a little more than a dollar. By the time all my deductions had come off, almost half my bonus would be gone. Income taxes, Social Secu-rity, retirement plan contributions—they all add up."
"They sure do," Roy agreed. "A two-dollar raise often translates into only a one-dollar increase in disposable income, the same increase that would result from saving a single dollar.
"If, by buying at a liquidation sale, Tom saves two hundred dollars on the price of a VCR, it amounts to pretty much the same thing as getting a four-hundred-dollar bonus. Many people would work overtime on a holiday weekend to earn a four-hundred-dollar bonus, but those same people can't be bothered to spend three hours comparison shopping. It doesn't make sense! To be called cheap is an insult—it implies a mean and petty approach to money. What some people don't realize is that to be called thrifty is a compliment—it implies a disciplined, economical, and commonsense approach to money. It certainly was a virtue during the Depression, when I was young! Food for thought, isn't it?"
Even James Murray, Jimmy, and Clyde, the resident spendthrifts, clearly appreciated Roy's point.
"Credit cards are antithetical to well-managed finances," was Roy's second pronouncement. "We all know that if we don't pay off our debt the month it is incurred, it's subject to exorbitant rates of interest. The rate on credit-card debt is often five or six percentage points higher than on standard consumer loans—so don't carry any! If you can't pay off your balance, borrow from the bank, pay off the credit-card company, and owe the bank the money. Their interest rate