Focusing on the positive is really boring sometimes and frankly, unrealistic. Who is perfect all of the time? Who manages to control every urge to spend money instead of investing it an index fund? Who doesn’t splurge? Giving in once in a while is one thing, but lying to yourself and saying that saving money is impossible is another thing – we don’t need another list of excuses why people can’t save money, do we? To overcome this, I’ve come up with a list of reasons why people can’t save money. They’re very basic, but I’m hoping that by listing them out, it will allow those of you who are struggling to save money to see your problem and overcome it.
Have a problem saving lots of money? Well, try self-diagnosing your problem…
You Don’t Make Enough Money
I know, I know, everyone uses this excuse – but if you think about it, it has to be true for some people. I remember when I was working while in high school, several of my coworkers were in their 30s and 40s making just over minimum wage. $10 per hour may sound like a lot as a 17-year-old, but not for someone who is paying child support, a car payment, and rent, among many other expenses.
Your Expenses are TOO High
Have you ever stopped to think about where your money goes? Believe it or not, you may not be able to save money because your expenses are too high. I’m looking at some pretty expensive apartments for the big move. While I won’t do anything to jeopardize our financial future, it’s easy to see how someone could set themselves up for failure by piling high expenses on top of each other. Please do me a favor and re-evaluate your spending. You never know how much money it is possible to save until you look.
Too Much Debt
You may have also made a few bad choices in your past and now your are stuck paying it back. It’s not unusual for many people to have tens of thousands of dollars of debt because of one reason or another. Many people don’t like to group student loans with consumer debt, but both are bad in my eyes because they limit what you can do with your money in the future. Everyone should be working towards more freedom, not less.
No One Taught You How
I hesitate to even include this reason because this sounds like a lame excuse, but it’s a legitimate reason why it’s hard to save money, especially for young adults. I have grown up in an age where I learned more things by googling them than asking my parents. It’s kind of a sad reality, but that’s what it has come to. Unfortunately, many young adults don’t google “how to save money” – instead they wander through life without knowing what they are missing. If only we could change that!
Lacking Motivation to Break Bad Habits
Another reason why you can’t save money is because you just haven’t found the motivation to change your lifestyle yet. We all know that making significant changes isn’t easy. It can change in a moment after hitting rock bottom, or it could come from some positive reinforcement or idea of a future reward (like how I want to buy a home), but without these things, you may simply not have enough motivation to change your ways. It’s hard to give up that drink with dinner, or your favorite cable shows, or super fast internet, or latest gadget – unless you have a reason not to.
I think that once you stop saying ‘I can’t’ and start FINDING WAYS to do it, all starts making sense. There are people who make little money and yet save a lot, while many of the high-earners are living in debt.
Yes, it’s all about making an effort. It’s not always as easy as flipping a switch, but anyone can do it.
I agree with dojo – people should stop saying “I can’t” and start asking “how can I” in regards to saving money. There’s always a way to change something about your life – always!
Definitely. The first purpose in highlighting the excuses/reasons was to reveal that there are ways around these. In other words, it’s possible to save if you put your mind to it.
It takes doing it to realise it’s actually possible for some people to save. Great honest post, I completely agree with your last two points!
In hindsight, I wish I had saved more when I was young. We are fine now, but we would be nearly retired if I hadn’t bought two motorcycles the first year after college and had instead invested the money. Oh well, hindsight is 20-20. Once I got those out of my system, I went back to being my usual frugal self.
Yes, it’s really easy to say, I wish I had done this or that in hindsight. It’s harder to make the decision before hand, but I hope people will begin to see the importance.
The last 2 are probably on top of my list on why people can’t save money, early training on saving money and making it a habit are really important for people to learn in order to be able to save money no matter how small or big their earning is.
The last one I think is the hardest to overcome for some people. They just tend to accept the idea and think that if they earn more things would be better.
Wow…this was a BRILLIANT article. Fact of the matter is, we’re all afraid of being drug tested, we don’t have money for tailored suits (nor do we want to SPEND money on something so pointless) and generally, we think your way of doing things sucks. Listen, I’m not going to be miserable like you, and if that means a pay-cut, so be it.