Updated: Feb 19, 2021
Saving money is important because it helps us become financially secure and provide us with a safety net in case of emergencies. That sounds really good in theory but when it comes to actually saving money, it may not be wrong to say that most of us struggle in doing so consistently. Even though we hold a shared opinion about the importance of saving money, most people may not be saving as much as they should be.
There are certain forces that make money saving a difficult task. For instance, lack of sufficient income can be one reason as majority people in our economy are living paycheck to paycheck. But in cases where income is not much of a hindrance, lack of planning and budgeting poses a threat to saving. However, people who do save may not be regular in doing so or their savings may just be for a short term as they tend to draw them out.
Someone rightly said, “It’s hard to save money because it’s easier to spend it”.
The major difficulty that arises is from the fact that the reason for savings is usually of an abstract nature. People may save for ‘rainy days’ but the definition of this may vary from person to person. With this abstract nature of savings, people don’t have an absolute thing to save for which can be a demotivating factor for them. Instead people become more comfortable on spending as opposed to saving.
Majority people rely on mental accounts and due to that they generally don’t account for savings as a priority. When organizing finances mentally, people tend to divide between needs like housing, food, transport etc. Saving is then sorted as the amount that is left over at the end of the month that most of the times isn’t much.
So, how do we find a solution to saving being difficult?
The environment around us is such that it fuels consumption and many times that may be at the cost of savings. However, we can get ahead of it if we try just a little harder. We can start with this on an individual level. The minute we receive our monthly income, we should divide it into spending and savings. The savings should be set aside at the start of the month instead of hoping you’ll save that amount at the end. It never works that way, we all know that.
On an employer level, employers can help people with the saving process by offering services and benefits that can help their employees save better. One such examples is of providing short term saving benefit to employees by replicating the system of retirement saving. This effort will be extremely beneficial for the employees who struggle with saving money.
Let’s try to make better financial decisions starting today. Saving may be difficult but the right motivation can help us get through this difficulty.