Saving money is hard for everyone– even me. As a previous financial advisor, you would think that saving money would be easy for me; it’s not! I like to buy nice things, I like eating take-out, going out with friends on weekends and online shopping just as much as the next guy.

But there comes a point in your life when you decide that you are going to start taking control of your money, instead of allowing your money to have control of you. It’s called growing up.

Human beings are naturally emotional, and because of that, we tend to make many emotional decisions. And in the world of money, if you make mostly emotional decisions, “You Will Be Broke.”

For those of you who think that saving money is boring–it’s not. It could actually make you a happier person overall. Believe it or not being broke actually causes health issues too. The American Psychological Association releases an American study every year, and its findings concluded that the primary stressor for adults of all ages, was money. 80% of Millennials listed money as their biggest stressor, while 77% of Baby Boomers and those in Generation X ranked it #1.

So if you need any reason at all to better manage your money, then how does improving your overall health and happiness sound to you?

I’ve come up with 5 reasons that could be preventing you from saving money. Recognizing what is preventing you from saving is the first step to making a change in your life.

Bad Habits

You must start getting in the habit of saving, and out of the habit of spending. When you get paid, get a big tax return or a raise at work, is the first thing you think about is, how you are going to spend it?

If you splurge then you are probably living paycheck to paycheck.

If you spend all the money you make then you also probably don’t have a contingency fund, which is an emergency fund with at least 6 months of expenses saved up. Just in case you lose your job, Just in case you need to replace your roof, just in case your car breaks down, just in case of a death in your family or you get diagnosed with a serious illness. Whatever the situation is, you must have some emergency money to fall back on to at least keep you going without having to worry about bills.

Dave Ramsey in his book “Total Money Makeover”, says that we all experience at least one big catastrophic event in our lives once every 10 years. If you are not prepared for it, not “if”, but “WHEN” it happens then how are you going to deal with it?

Create a habit of saving not because you enjoy doing it, but because it’s the responsible thing to do. If you have a family then it’s the unselfish thing to do.

Procrastinating

Just like most things, humans love to make a million excuses as to why not to start today. Whether it is to lose weight, whether it’s time to search for a new job, ditching the boyfriend that you should’ve left a long time ago, starting a business, or whatever it might be, we all like to procrastinate. The truth is; we are afraid of change.

Your Friends Aren’t Helping You

You spend time with people who aren’t really great with money either. How do you expect to save money when you are hanging out with people who only spend money? If your friends are spending money, it will rub off on you. If your friends are spending money, while you are trying to save money, then how do you expect them to support your decisions?

Either you need to hang out with different people or you and your friends need to start saving together –as a collective group.

Also, consider appointing someone to become an accountability partner. This way, when you’re tempted to overspend, you can give him or her a quick call.

You Compare Yourself To Other People

In the world of social media, we see more and more people comparing themselves to everyone else out there. Trying to keep up with the latest fashions, and trends, and constantly being bombarded with advertisements everywhere we look can really affect the way we spend our money.

The only way to not get caught up in everything going on around us, is to simply remind yourself why you are saving in the first place. Whether your goal is to get out of debt, whether it’s saving to buy your first home, whether you want to retire early, or achieve financial freedom then you need to think of how happy you will be when you get there.

Lastly, just be happy with yourself and who cares what everyone else is doing.

You Are Not Motivated

If life has been going smoothly, you probably don’t think much about saving cash. However, life is unpredictable. A major emergency could knock you right off your feet. All it takes is an unexpected illness, a divorce, or a sudden death to change your financial circumstances overnight. If you can’t seem to get motivated, think about what your life would be like without an extra cash cushion.

In conclusion

Start thinking deeper about the purchases that you are making on a regular basis. Get in the habit of investing at least 10% of your income. In the financial world we call this “Paying Yourself First.” And track all of your expenses every month (including the smallest expenses like coffee).

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