explained. 'But if you want to accomplish your goals, you must save something. I think you can see that. Luckily, there is an almost painless way to save—a way to save where you barely notice the money is gone!'"
"I might not know much about financial matters," Tom blurted out, "but I know there's no painless way to save ... no way, no how."
A voice sounded from the corner of the room. "Be quiet and listen."
The source of that remark really caught me off guard. In the over twenty years I had known him, Clyde had not said one serious thing. And that's not an exaggeration. That he was even paying attention to such a no-nonsense conversation was startling, let alone that he seemed eager for it to continue.
"Clyde," Roy asked mischievously, "is there a painless way to save?"
"Sure is. Pay yourself first. Old Mr. White knew what he was talking about when he told you that," Clyde nodded.
"Oh, no," Tom muttered. "The wealthy barber I can take, but the wealthy wacko . . . that's too much!"
Roy and Clyde just grinned at each other.
"Pay yourself first. I can't tell you what those three little words have meant to me," Roy reflected. "After agreeing that the ad hoc approach to saving doesn't work, and after explaining to me why the budgeting approach seldom works, Mr. White announced that the only way to save is to pay yourself first. Although he was talking about saving the ten percent, the axiom holds true for all savings. Whether you're saving for a down payment, a car, a trip, whatever, the most effective thing is to have the money come right off your paycheck, or right out of your bank—before you have