Financial experts make saving money seem like second nature. All it takes is putting a percentage of your paycheck into a savings account. Unfortunately, many people have trouble with the concept because they live in the real world. But, why? Why does it seem like you’re never able to save money? Let’s take a closer look.
You’re Living Paycheck to Paycheck
Is your paycheck already spent before it arrives? Believe it or not, an estimated 75% of Americans live this way. It’s not hard to understand the problem. If your money is already spent, it’s hard to save. You need to look into creating more income or reducing your expenses.
You’re Living Above Your Means
One of the reasons people live paycheck to paycheck, and never have money to save, is they live above their means. Many people have mortgage/rent payments that are above what they can afford. The same goes for car payments. You may also be carrying a large amount of debt. You need to sit down and see what can be done to reduce your cost of living. You may need to rethink the car you drive and where you live so that you’re in a better place financially.
You might need to make drastic changes (like downsizing where you live) or selling your car so that you can have enough money to live on without going into debt or to start paying off debt.
You Don’t Make Saving a Priority
Each week you tell yourself that this will be the week you start saving money. Then the weekend is over, and your account is empty. If you want to ensure that money goes into your savings account, setup an automatic savings plan. This way, you’ll treat the amount like any other bill.
If you have a budget, then you'll know how much money you have to spend at all times. A budget doesn't mean you can never have fun, but it does mean that you'll still have money left over for savings and bills when you're done having fun.
You Think You Need a Lot of Money
People often shrug off saving money because they only have a little bit of money they could save each week. It doesn’t matter. Even $5 a week can grow into a lot of money over time. And, as time goes by, you should be able to increase that amount.
Once you get into the habit of saving a small amount of money, you'll likely enjoy how it feels to have some money in savings (or extra to pay off your debt) and start trying to save even more or pay even more!
You Haven’t Made It a Habit
If you want to get serious about saving money, you need to make it a habit. One way to do that is the 52 Week Savings Challenge. Each week, you’ll put a little bit more money into a savings account. The first week, you save one dollar. The second week, you save two dollars. And so on and so on until you put $52 into savings on the 52nd week.
Many people have trouble when it comes time to save money. Whether you’re living above your means or haven’t made saving money a priority, you can make changes so that you actually save money.
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