SUZANNE TATE: Even In Tight Times, Everyone Can Find Small Ways To Save

So we’ve been asked to be of greater service to our country. We’re supposed to stop putting off hard decisions.

Do you suppose top presidential staffers thought part of the pain meant their salaries would be frozen?

They got the word first thing Wednesday when President Barack Obama delivered an obvious message. The rest of America is tightening their belts; Washington should, too.

He announced that anyone making $100,000 or more would have their pay frozen.

In retrospect, it seems an obvious place to tighten. Many of these staffers make far more than $100,000 a year. Many people in the private sector, who make far less, have had their pay frozen for far longer – if not reduced.

In 2007, when I worked for another newspaper company, we were told there would be no raises that year. Period.

Six months later, when my duties expanded to include another city, four additional reporters and an assistant city editor, my raise was nada. It was part of the cannibalization of newspapers – what once was done by 20 people will now be done by 10. It was to save costs, preserve the paper, save jobs. Critics might say the same work could be done by three people or none, or that the Internet will magically pick up the slack. Sadly, they don’t realize that news organizations feed the Internet sites with legitimate news.

With my increased duties came a promise of a bonus at the end of 2008, provided the year was strong. I know, I know; you can stop laughing now.

In today’s newspaper business, writers and editors are grateful if their jobs are not vanishing. Forget raises right now.

Many municipalities in Virginia and other states enacted hiring freezes in late 2007 or early 2008. States, which unlike the federal government have constitutional requirements to pass balanced budgets, are really feeling crunched right now.

So I don’t feel bad for someone making more than $100,000 – or three times that – whose pay will be frozen. It’s a wake-up call; times are tight and we all need to cut back. A person making a larger salary can better weather a salary freeze, at least for a while.

So how to respond to at least part of President Obama’s call for service and personal responsibility? Most Americans aren’t making $100,000 or even half that. Many of us are in debt or fear for the future of our jobs.

It sounds cliché, but the only way out is through. Small steps can turn things around, albeit slowly.

I make regular contributions to my own savings and each of my three children has their own savings account. Theirs are fueled through minimum $2-a-week contributions. When I started the accounts, I set that as a bare minimum knowing a manageable goal would give me encouragement to continue. Each child has a money jar in their bedroom – a cleaned out orange juice jug with a narrow neck (it discourages stealing) – and each week $2 in ones, change or some combination goes into the jar. Sometimes extra cash or change makes its way in as well.

Then every three months, I count out the money, roll the change and take it to the bank. We make it a production; we drag out the colorful coin wrappers, the money jugs, the passbooks and get counting. My son, Nelson, is the most deliberate saver and often contributes extra birthday money he is given. His account is brushing the $500 mark; yes through an effortless $2 contribution over multiple years. And his two siblings’ accounts are close behind.

The truth is this: I wish it was more. But I also know anyone can do what I have done. Regular contributions, over years, will lead to success.

Two dollars is manageable on any budget and it teaches a life lesson that sticks with children. It’s important to save and small amounts really do add up.

And while White House staffers lament their salary freezes, there are plenty of us who wish we had one of those salary-frozen $100,000-a-year (or more) jobs so we could put a bit more in our savings and our dwindling 401(k) investments.

Suzanne Tate is the opinion page editor of the Bristol Herald Courier. You may reach her at (276) 645-2534 or state@bristolnews.com.