She's a saver, thanks to Charlotte non-profit

AMY BALDWIN

abaldwin@charlotteobserver.com

Lynette White is not a rich woman, but people trying to build wealth could learn a valuable lesson from her.

She's a saver.

She sacrificed and set goals and saved up some money to buy her first house in 2002 in northwest

Charlotte. White, 45, doesn't shop on credit. She owns everything inside her house. She's still saving -- for

short-term and long-term wants and needs. Her success was mentioned at a recent Charlotte Saves

luncheon. The nonprofit agency helped White get started saving.

"I just believe in saving for what I want and not having any stress (from debts)," she said. White said that

every day her job as a case worker assistant at Crisis Assistance Ministry reinforces in her mind the need to

do whatever you can to take care of yourself and pay your bills. Crisis Assistance helps people in financial

crisis become more self sufficient.

"We're accountable to our own actions." she said. "You never know when something in your house is going

to break -- or your car."

White said she often talks to her four sons -- two of them still at home -- about the value of saving money,

paying bills on time and building good credit.

Given the sluggish economic landscape, more Americans could use some of White's discipline and a little

cushion, some funds to tap when their car breaks down or their work hours are cut.

But in a nation that runs on instant material gratification, where consumer spending accounts for two-thirds

of the economy, many Americans burn through what they make and then some. There is little to no extra

cash to tap when times are tough. The Commerce Department reported in January that the personal savings

rate for December accounted for 0.2 percent of disposable income. And that was an improvement from a

savings rate that was slightly negative in November.

How does White tackle saving?

For starters, she said she lives within her means. She doesn't go out to eat much. She takes her lunch to

work. She shops sales and coupons. She recently was saving a little extra to buy new cookware, which she

won't get until she has the $200 to buy it and there's a sale.

White has two credit cards but said she uses them only for true emergencies -- like if her car needs new

tires -- and then pays them off immediately.

She also socks away a set dollar amount -- she won't say how much -- from every paycheck into her savings

account. And since her employer introduced a 401(k) plan late last year, White has been saving a

percentage -- again, she's private about how much -- into an account for her retirement.

Asked how much she has saved for that, White said just this, "I am comfortable. I can say that."