“What was your first job, and what did it teach you about money?”

“Would you like fries with that?”

I started flippin’ burgers just after I turned 15. Actually, that’s not true. I needed “experience” before I could cook the meat. My first gig at McDonald’s was “puttin’ buns in the oven”.

And did my dad love to snigger at that one. For years. He still does. Bloody Boomers.

The list of instructions for cooking buns for the Golden Arches was a page and a half long. That was just the buns. There was another page or two each on how to dress them, to cook the meat, and even to wrap them.

Why is Maccas one of the most successful businesses in the world? Because their burgers can be reproduced, almost identically, globally.

The biggest lesson I learned from McDonald’s was that importance of process.

If you want to make money, or save money, build a process around it. The more automated, the better.

For savings, make sure the money comes out of your account the same day every pay. Unlike in the 80s, electronic banking makes this automatic.

With property and shares, use the same search criteria each time to find the best available investment.

It all starts with finding, building or stealing a process. Then dumb it down. Right down. Even further than that. Make it so simple that even a pimply faced boy/girl, who’s really only there to try to snog other pimply faced girl/boy co-workers, can reproduce it.

Bruce Brammall is the author of Debt Man Walking (www.debtman.com.au) and a licensed financial adviser.