I’m not going to beat around the bush or pretend like it’s easy to save money. Just saying, “Stop spending unnecessary money and save it instead,” doesn’t actually help. However, saving money is super important. That’s why I’ve broken the answer to your question: “Why can’t I save money?” into two parts. First, we’ll talk about why you aren’t saving, then we’ll cover how you can be saving.
If you’re struggling with feeling like you live paycheck to paycheck and just can’t build up any savings, this article is for you. No matter how much you make, you can buckle down and save money. You just need to focus and commit!
This post is about helping you save money. Stop asking “Why can’t I save money?” and start asking “How do I start saving money.” Ready to change the way you think about your spending and savings? Let’s get into it!
This post contains affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you. Full disclosurehere.
Why Can’t I Save Money? Ten Reasons and Ten Solutions
Reasons you aren’t saving money
The first question is: Why can’t I save money. There are a lot of reasons you can’t seem to save money in the long run, even if you have a good job and don’t think you’re an extravagant spender. Let’s break it down.
1. You aren’t in a hurry
One of the biggest reasons people don’t save money is because they aren’t active about saving. There is such a mentality of “I can do this tomorrow.” As a result, your procrastination leads to zero savings. A lot of loans have long repayment plans. For example, many student loans come with a basic ten-year repayment plan.
Think about this for a second. Do you actually want to be paying off your debt ten years down the road? To put it differently, is “making a debt payment” part of your five and ten-year life goals?
Not to mention the interest. Many debts come with high interest rates. If you wait to start saving money and tackling your debt, you’ll end up paying thousands of dollars extra toward interest. Yikes!
2. You confuse “want” and “need”
Let’s be honest here. When was the last time you convinced yourself to buy something you really didn’t need? Whether we use the excuse that “we earned this” or “we deserve this” or “it’s not that expensive,” we often justify purchases that aren’t necessary.
In today’s world, it’s become common to confuse “wants” and “needs.” Food is definitely a necessity, but are eating out, getting takeout, or food delivery really necessities?
We often also think we need vacations, travel, or expensive hangouts with friends. While relationships are important, we need to find cheaper (or free) ways to cultivate them. Travel is also important, but is it more important than your future? You need to really buckle down on considering what you “need” and what you just “really, really want.”
3. You don’t have a good sense of your current spending
Do you know how much you spend every month on beverages? How much do you spend on fast food? Video games? Candy? Makeup? Clothes?
It is all too easy to ignore small purchases. Most people have an internal marker, whether that’s $50 or $5, of what they consider “no big deal” purchases. You know what I’m talking about. You buy that Frappuccino because it’s “only $5,” or you grab that sweater from Target because “it’s on sale!”
If you start tracking your spending and add up the cost of all these small purchases then you’ll be blown away. The truth is, small spending adds up in a big way. Many urban young adults spend around $200 on beverages each month and have no idea. Therefore, if you want to save money, don’t ignore the small change.
4. You don’t budget
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Budget! The best way to start saving money if you haven’t been able to up to this point is to create and stick to a budget.
In short, budgeting means keeping track of your income and then adjusting your spending to fit. Your budget will have different categories to help you prioritize your spending. To put it another way, budgeting is the thing that keeps you from spending $200 on beverages without realizing it.
Budgeting makes it easier to save because, at the start of the month, you can calculate out how much to save. It allows you to transfer your money into savings at the beginning of the month instead of waiting to save what you have left. (Pro tip: there’s won’t be much left.)
5. You’re great at excuses
Really, being unable to save just means that you are able to make excuses. Making excuses can mean coming up with convincing reasons why you don’t need to save. It can also be coming up with reasons why you do need to spend.
There are valid reasons why saving money is hard, don’t get me wrong. However, learning to listen to the voice in your head that creates excuses can help you sort through reasons verses excuses.
On this note, I want to mention that saving up an emergency fund should be a first step toward your journey of saving money. This way, when something does happen, you have a designated emergency fund and don’t need to pull all the money from your savings account, which can be discouraging.
6. You don’t have goals
Goals are so important when it comes to saving. Goals are the motivating factor that helps you actually stay on track. It’s much, much harder to save money if you don’t have a reason to save other than “I probably should.”
However, if you’re saving for a goal, such as paying off debt, buying a house, getting a pet, or becoming financially independent, you’ll be more motivated. You need to find a way to get excited about saving money.
Though, in my experience, it only takes work for a little bit. Once you start seeing the savings pile up, chances are that alone will motivate you to see just how much you can save.
7. You forget about the “small things”
The small things really add up. Just because something only costs a couple of dollars does not mean it’s free money or doesn’t count against your savings. Once they start tracking their spending, a lot of people are amazed by how much they spend on the “small stuff.”
For example, people who buy coffee every morning spend $150 on just coffee! Now add to that any soda, smoothies, and alcohol, and the number can become much higher.
For me clothes is another “small thing” that adds up. I love thrifting, so everything feels so cheap. However, at the end of the month I can often be surprised by how much I spent in total at thrift shops. Even when you don’t spend a lot at once, the small expenses pile up!
8. You’re living above your means
In the United States, I’ve realized that many young adults live above their means. They aren’t doing anything too extravagant like traveling every weekend or buying yachts, but they are eating out a lot, and going to bars, and spending too much on their apartment.
Even if you are living just a tiny bit above your means it can impact your ability to save. Some ways to lower your cost of living are to find cheaper housing, bike and walk more instead of driving, cook more often, drink less fancy drinks, lose some subscriptions, travel less.
9. You’re stuck in a “why can’t I save money” attitude
Sometimes our own frustration gets in the way of our progress. If you’ve been telling yourself that you can’t save money, that becomes your reality. When you get stuck in the ways you’ve failed in the past, you can’t look forward to the ways you might succeed in the future.
The first step to saving money is to stop asking “why can’t I save money” and to tell yourself, “I can save money.” Once you’ve got the attitude to succeed, it’s just a matter of making a plan and sticking with it. You’ll never move forward if you focus on your mistakes!
10. You’re trying to take shortcuts
Finally, shortcuts don’t work, especially when it comes to saving money. When you take a shortcut, you don’t make real, lasting habits. It’s great if you can put a big chunk of money into savings one month. But don’t stop there. Find real, ongoing ways to save money and curb your spending.
A quick fix just won’t work in this case. No matter how much or how little money you make, savings and progress depend on effort. You need to consciously save money, spend less money, and focus on bringing in more money. Combining all three is the only way to really succeed at finances.
Ways to start saving money
Hopefully you now feel motivated to leave behind some of your bad habits and, in contrast, move forward toward progress by starting good habits. The ten things listed above lead to a “why can’t I save money” lifestyle. The thing things below are ways to shift into an “I can save money,” attitude.
1. Plan ahead
Savings take planning. Don’t assume that you can build up a savings account just by putting away whatever money you have left at the end of the month. In order to save, you need to know how much money you’ll put into savings at the very beginning of the month. You need a plan for when you will transfer the money to savings. You need a separate savings account. And you need to know how you will transfer money.
Write this information into your calendar or set an alarm on your phone. Whatever your strategy, make a plan that you can actually stick to.
2. Save first
I already touched on this but it’s well worth repeating. You need to save first, and then spend what you have left. I suggest putting aside the money you will need for set costs like rent, utilities, debt payments, and gas. Then calculate how much you will need that month for groceries and any other necessary purchases.
With the money you have left, make a decision about how much will go into savings and how much will go to fun spending like entertainment, food and drink, and travel. Put simple, make saving money a priority!
3. Start a budget
Budgeting is so important for building up your savings. In the section above I talked about determining how much to save and making sure that happens before you allocate any funds to fun stuff.
Do you know what will make that process even easier? A budget. Each month, you’ll already know how much to expect in each category. You’ll know whether you can increase the amount you save. Budgeting is simply the best way to stay on track of your finances.
4.Track your spending
Along with budgeting, you need to track your spending. A budget is useless if you don’t know whether or not you stuck to it. Tracking your spending is actually pretty easy, and can be eye opening when you divide your spending into categories.
You can track spending by hand using a budget planner or you can use on of many apps that help you with budgeting and tracking, such as Every Dollar or Mint.
5. Get an accountability partner
If you’ve had a hard time saving money in the past, it could be time to get an accountability partner. You don’t need to go through this process alone! In fact, letting a close friend or family member know your goals can be really helpful.
Sometimes an outside opinion is exactly what you need. They might be able to point out areas where they think you are overspending or have suggestions of ways they’ve saved. Plus, they can offer support and encouragement when things get tough.
6. Try a money savings challenge
I have an article with ideas of several common money savings challenges. These are short-term challenges that boost your savings. To sum up these challenges: during a period of a week to a month to a year, you’ll save money in a specific fun way. These challenges will help you save a designated amount in an easy, attainable way so long as you stick with them.
Money saving challenges are great because they can show you what things you can live without. You might insist that eating at restaurants is a necessity, but after skipping restaurants for a month you may realize that you actually enjoy cooking. In no time, you’ll have tons of new saving strategies.
7. Make your savings inaccessible
One way to make sure that your savings stay saved is to make them somewhat inaccessible. Obviously, you don’t want them to be completely off-limits, but it should be hard to get to your savings and should take some time. You don’t ever want to have savings that you reach from an ATM.
By keeping your savings separate from your spending money and hard to get to, you’ll be more focused. You’ll see the growth of your savings and be reminded that it’s not for spending.
8. Try frugal living
Consider living as cheaply as possible for a month. What spending could you give up? You could try eating rice, beans, and chicken only. Maybe you don’t buy any clothes. Could you walk to the grocery store and meet friends at the park?
When you cut back on all the extravagances in your life, you can find areas that are forcing you to live beyond your means. Once you know where your big spending is, you can cut back more easily.
9. Make more money
Okay, okay, I know this sounds obvious. But, if you have time, consider getting a side gig like driving for Uber or proofreading online. There are a million opportunities for side gigs nowadays.
Here’s the real tip, though. When you get extra income from this side gig, put it directly into savings. You’ve already been living off your current income, so any extra money can go right to savings.
10. Use a different payment method
If you have been using credit cards and slowly racking up more debt instead of less, it’s time to switch to a debit card or cash. If you just can’t get a sense of how those $5 drinks keep adding up, try cash. You’ll have to physically hand over the money and watch as your cash supply dwindles through the month.
Using cash can be a great first step toward budgeting and tracking your savings and overall getting better at how you spend your money and how you save.
Final Thoughts
Stop asking “why can’t I save money” and start breaking down excuses and building savings. You can save money. It just takes time, sacrifice, and dedication. With this in mind, these tips should help get you started. What other ways have you managed to save money?
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