Saving is important and even ants know the very reason why they have to. The future is uncertain and we do not know what it brings us. Saving is not necessarily means monetary savings because it is just one part of it. It may also include saving all possible resources such as water, electricity, clothing, etc. In fact, in the early days, when people made an oversupply of any produce, they discovered ways to preserve their foods. Indeed, SAVING is an important habit that we have to always keep in our mind and the way we look at our resources. We cannot say to ourselves that we are rich enough to waste.. NO! There is a future generation ahead of you. Not saving is selfish as do you not regard others who have not. Who knows, your saving can save yourself... and others too! But why saving seem so difficult to many people? Why so many excuses? In terms of monetary savings, people mostly said, "If I have extra money, then I will save." but when it is going to happen? What do you think are the many other excuses people made for NOT saving? Let's discuss why and how to address it.
I have never had a problem setting money aside for a rainy day. I also keep a lot of extra food in the house. People that don't save usually say the bills are too high. One way to get ahead of bills is pay them up ahead a time. At tax return time I always pay the rent up for 2-6 months, depending on how much money I have to put into it. If you get yourself ahead then you can keep paying ahead when times are good, and when you hit a rough patch, you are covered.
Some people don't have excuses; they simply don't care about saving at all! I've noticed this in some of my friends. We're in our early 20s, the time when we're just starting out with our careers, no family yet, etc. One told me that he just likes to enjoy to the fullest, even if that means spending all his money. He also justifies buying luxuries, such as the latest gadgets. "I need this." That's what I always hear.
Some can't save any money because there isn't no extra cash left over to save. I know people who are so deep in debt that most of the money they earn is spent repaying debts and the little that's left is used for buying food, paying utility bills, etc. Would such a person save any money? No. They'd have to clear all their debts first.
Most people I hear about who have trouble saving almost always have lots of new things at home. I have a few friends who always come to me asking for small loans but their shoes and other stuff are always way better looking and more expensive than mine. Fortunately they pay me back so I'm not totally offended by their ways but I think that's one of the biggest hindrances for people in terms of saving. They are just too easily tempted by consumer goods.
Savings is a lot easier to talk about than to do. Some of the most common excuses are that people cannot find enough discretionary income to set aside for savings and that they cannot be disciplined enough to make the conscious decision to save money. While I do not save as much as I would like, I have fooled myself into savings in a couple of ways. First, my wife and I try to do the 52 Week Money Challenge (I have a post about this challenge in the savings section). Also, I withhold money from my paycheck every two weeks and put it in a Christmas Club account at my local credit union. I never see the money and forget that I have set it aside, and then in November I have a nice nest egg from which to purchase Christmas gifts and pay for other needs (or to roll into my personal savings account).
Saving is really my least favorite thing. It drives me crazy to feel restricted budget wise and know that it doesn't have to be so tight because there's money sitting there. I save some for 'mad money' because that's a goal of saving so I can spend, not an indefinite maybe disaster. And I decided to try the 52-week challenge for 2015 to see how it goes. Some of the things we do to make saving easier: 1) I don't see or look at the accounts. The money just goes there which makes it easier to forget about. 2) Like someone mentioned above, we pay things ahead. Then the money is spent already in my mind but really means if we were to lose jobs or whatever, we have a period where we could just not pay. 3) We have some money each week that we agree we each don't have to account for, because the tighter and more confined I feel on the budget, the more I hate it. 4)This applies to my teen daughter as well - we give her a combined amount that we feel is reasonable for for allowance, school lunches/breakfast, and movies out/entertainment. If she chooses to eat $10 lunches every day and can't afford to go out to a movie on the weekend, that's on her. That may not seem to apply to savings but since we became strict about this, I haven't been tempted to pull money out of savings to let her have the fun things she wants. I feel what we give her is fair and she's learning an important skill AND I have to do a good job at sticking to the budget as an example because she sees it.
I don't believe that all people who can't save are just doing so out of selfishness and that they are making excuses. It's up to them as to whether they choose to save or not. People that are living hand to mouth simply cannot afford to save when they can barely afford to feed their families and maintain a decent quality of life. Also as recently reported a lot of people are in debt with payday loans and so forth they are robbing peter to pay paul and stuck in a vicious of circle of paying off and then borrowing to survive and so saving is not an option.
Most young folks claim that life is short and they should enjoy life now by spending on the niceties that the world offers. But enjoying life doesn't mean that you can't save. I believe that you can enjoy life but still be able to save. Save in terms of food(eat at home more often), save in terms of clothing(buy cheap quality clothes, and not designer clothes), etc.
Sometimes I simply buy ahead into the future. Stuff I know that I will need. I have about a years supply of many household items and essentials, so at least I do not have to worry about the cost of that over time.
Fiscal discipline is very important for any individual. Sometimes people just fall for an attractive commercial and develop compulsive shopping habits. One needs to plan their money and see how much is left in the pocket after paying away all monthly bills. Make it a habit to save at least 20% of income to save and strictly not touch it for petty expenses.
I agree. I have some friends who are not very capable of saving because they just get tempted way easier than I do. Not that I consider it totally a bad thing since it can also serve to be a positive motivation for people to just work harder and be more productive but for most it's just a drain on expenses without the positive counterpart.
I can think of a few, based on experience and keen observation: 1) Almost everyone relies on their Christmas bonus or 13th month pay. They don't save from January to November because the bonus is already such a large sum. They think they'll be able to save that amount come December but always end up spending it all on vacations, luxury items and other pleasantries. 2) Good ol' procrastination. There's always the next salary anyway. They keep postponing the savings date and before they know it, the year has already come to an end. Goodbye to one's new year's resolution to save. 3) Sudden, unforeseen expenses. This is very real and I've often been in such situations. It's weird. Whenever I'm about to reach my target savings, something happens, forcing me to withdraw a large sum.
Selfish? Quite the blanket statement. Not everyone has extra money to put away.. not everyone has enough even to pay the bills, let alone sock some away. Some people are so busy working 10 jobs to put food in their children's mouths, saving is the least of their worries.. or rather, their biggest, because what will become of them in their later years? We can't all live the same way and just because you can do something, doesn't mean it's doable for everyone else. The poor are the most exploited, trampled on of all citizens.. life is designed to keep them down. Big kudos to those who find a way to save when they're barely getting by...
