Why is it difficult to save money? Or another way to phrase it, why does it seem like saving money is so hard? I think it’s a pretty common question that people often wonder about.
I also asked myself this as I started working to establishing a good savings rate. I found this to be a common question around the internet too, so I wanted to put something together.
My first year of really trying to save money was slow and appeared difficult, but looking back a lot of the barriers were my own doing.
And when it comes to saving habits in America, the data is pretty rough
- Two-thirds of Americans would struggle to scrounge up $1,000 in an emergency, according to The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
- The average American saves less than 5% of his or her disposable income. (LA Times)
- 20% of Americans don’t save any of their annual income at all and even those who do save aren’t putting away a lot. (CNBC)
Why It’s Difficult to Save Money
Below we’ll cover why saving money appears to be difficult and some simple tips to get you on track. Hopefully, saving money will be much easier in the near future for you!
Rising Housing, Education, Healthcare and Childcare Costs
I think many of these on this list are something you can take action on or at least work towards improving. However, this one is not necessarily entirely in your control.
Costs like housing, education, healthcare, and childcare continues to rise and salaries are not keeping up as fast. You might agree or might argue against this, but there is valid truth to it.
Millennial earnings are low compared to median wages — lower than Gen-Xers or Baby Boomers when they were early in their careers. (Center for Retirement Research)
Debt
Now more than ever, debt is increasingly becoming a challenge and problem in our society. It’s also a huge barrier when it comes to saving money.
Between increased student loan costs and racking up credit card debt, saving money tends to be last on people’s mind. And depending on the size and interest of the debt, saving just does not take any priority.
However, I found that paying off debt and saving money at the same time is possible and could be the right choice for you. D
43% of Americans spend more than they receive each month borrow and use credit cards to finance the shortfall. (Federal Reserve)
Not Generating Enough Income
As I mentioned above, salaries are not growing as fast as the various costs of living. This makes it difficult to save money. But at the same time, you can improve how much income you are generating.
This means putting in some work to increase how much money you bring in. This can be a combo of improving your career worth, changing careers, starting a side hustle, or investing in income generating assets.
Not everything will help you get rich or build massive wealth, but it can start putting money into your savings and help you get out the not saving limbo. Learn more about generating more income.
Not Tracking Your Spending
Have you ever caught yourself saying, “I need to start tracking money or manage my spending.” But then, never actually start doing it? I can raise my own hand to that.
It’s not exciting and it’s not glamorous. It’s one of those things we know we should do, but loathe actually starting.
By not starting to track your spending, saving becomes quite difficult to do because you don’t actually know where all your money is going. There may be opportunities to reduce spending, cut back on certain expenses, and more that can help you start to save money.
At some point once you get in a financial groove, you may not have to track your spending as often. It took me about two years to feel comfortable not tracking my spending, but it is possible at some point.
Social Activity Hurting Your Pockets
While going out with friends and meeting up is enjoyable, it can also cause you to spend more than you initially want to. We carry FOMO around, or fear of missing out, which can damage our finances.
We don’t want to miss going out, not see that latest movie, miss hitting that newest restaurant, but over time you get into a dangerous pattern of spending more than we save.
I’m all for having fun and going out from time to time. I love finding some new good restaurants and eating.
It’s finding a balance and knowing when to cut yourself off for the day/night. When I was living paycheck to paycheck, I’d go out to meet friends but I rarely bought anything. I still got to have fun and socialize, but I kept my spending in check.
Not Prioritizing Saving
Why is it difficult to save money? Well, a big reason is you simple are not making it a priority in your life. If you don’t make saving a priority and a recurring habit, it tends to fall behind…FAST.
For years, I wondered why my savings lacked or never seemed to get much higher than $1,000. It never occured to me that I just wasn’t investing my time in saving. It was literally the most simple concept, yet I was completely overlooking it.
I wanted to have more saved, but I was too passive about it which left me not saving much at all.
Once I adopted the pay yourself first mindset and put a plan in-place to make saving a priority, my savings account started to grow consistently. Sure, it was slow at first but it changed the financial game for me.
Financial Ignorance
It’s pretty obvious that our society has a financial ignorance problem, I mean just look at some of the statistics I shared in this post!
We just don’t know or understand personal finances as well as we should. And this includes a wide range of financial topics, not just saving money.
It’s hard to save money or invest when you don’t know what you are doing, right?
The concept of saving money is really not hard, but it falls under the full category of finances. If you don’t understand, debt, budgeting, credit cards, etc. saving money also becomes a challenge.
Not Wanting to Learn
Financial ignorance is one thing, and as our society hopefully works towards making finances more accessible in our education system, learning is going to be on you.
Finances
If you want to save money and eliminate the difficulty, starting wanting to learn. Even if you don’t WANT to, make an EFFORT anyway. You’ll slowly get into a groove and you benefit your finances. Win.
Lifestyle Inflation
If you are fortunate enough to make a great salary or get some awesome raise(s), what do you typically do with that money? Seriously. Ask yourself if you are currently in this “lifestyle inflation” category.
Many times, people become infected with lifestyle inflation whereas their income goes up, so does their spending.
There are too many examples of people with high salaries having difficulty saving money. Or they end up losing that job and all of a sudden they lose everything or go into debt.
You might be thinking, how can anyone let that happen? It’s easier than you think! Especially if you are not used to a great income and all of a sudden you are making six-figures.
It’s easy to splurge and be able to afford more things. But be careful, you end up to comfortable spending more and this is a financial trap.
Even high income earners may find it difficult to save with lifestyle inflation. Just because you can afford it now, doesn’t mean you should spend it. Instant gratification and luxury are roadblocks to saving money.
Simple Tips to Make Saving Money A Bit Easier
Many of the above are things you can control and a few are somewhat out of your hands. But putting in the effort to save money can be revolutionary to your financial health.
It may seem difficult to save money, but there are a few additional tips that will help you start stacking that cash.
And guess what? These are not groundbreaking theories, just some straightforward truth bombs. Trust me, I had to face all of these myself in 2014 as I was looking for the secrets to wealth.
Here it is:
- Stop complaining about your financial situation, do something about it! Get motivated, get angry, and start making changes. Even if they are small changes, taking the first step is the hardest. Complaining is always easier than fixing, but nothing gets accomplished by just complaining.
- Don’t compare to what others have or are doing. Focus on your situation! Worrying what others have can cause you
spend money, go into debt, stress, get frustrated, or just give up. Of course you can use it as motivation too, but if you know it makes you feel bad instead, then ignore it.
- Be patient. Learning how to save money and putting money away takes time. Everyone’s income and knowledge is different, be happy with any progress. Whether you save $5/month or $500/month, you have to start somewhere.
Once you start to recognize the issues, make changes, and put a plan in place, you’ll find saving money is much easier than you initially thought.