UNITED STATES—The notion of saving money is like kryptonite for most Americans. We don’t want to hear it and we don’t want to do it. We just don’t because it means we lose money that we might want to utilize to do other things. When we hear the move ‘save’ we clam up, it causes us to stress and it makes us think about money more than we probably should.
Money is vital to the American lifestyle. You need it to survive, you need it to have experiences, you need it to wield power in some facets. Money is power and the more money you have the more have the more power you have in this world. Its an unfortunate thing to bring to the forefront, but I would be lying if I didn’t say it. With that said, do you have at least 3 months in your savings or checking account to cover your monthly expenses, God forbid something unexpected transpires. It happens in life to more individuals than we’d like to imagine.
However, the harsh reality is that a vast majority of Americans do not have enough money to cover basic expenses. Many of us are living paycheck to paycheck, which is absolutely the worst feeling in the world. You’re so worried about money you find yourself in a situation that you have less of it. When it comes to money we have to learn how to control money and not allow money to control us and it all starts with the psyche.
I know this sounds crazy, but your mental state and ability to resist temptation to spend and try to force yourself to save is so important to ensuring you have that rainy day fund and money for the unexpected, when the unexpected does indeed unfold. Temptation is hands down the biggest issue when it comes to saving money. We love to tell ourselves that we can resist, but we buy and then after the fact, we regret it. Did you really need that $13 meal? Did you need those pair of shoes that you haven’t worn in 6 months.
Probably not, and you have to start to fathom what you could have done with that money that was perhaps wasted. We really fail to think about our future when it comes to saving money. What do I mean? Yes, bills exists and we will always have them until we die. However, we don’t think about putting money into our 401k or IRA account, how about money towards a new car, a house, your kids college education, that illustrious vacation that you have been dreaming about, that luxury or item that costs a lot of money and you’re afraid of spending a lump sum up front.
Americans want to see instant gratification when it comes our money, and having delayed gratification is not a good feeling because it doesn’t give us that high we get at times from buying something. Its like the reward center in our body is triggered when we spend money. When we save money, we don’t get the same result and it goes back to the psyche.
There are many of us who would love to have unlimited loads of money so that we don’t have to worry about how to pay the rent, the car note, our health insurance, the light bill, the gas bill, the water bill, the cell phone, the list goes on and on. However, let’s face reality, most Americans don’t and will never know what that feeling is.
That does not stop us from starting to take STEPS NOW IN OUR LIFE, so that we’re not nearing retirement and we cannot retire because we don’t have enough money to retire comfortably. You work to live life, you don’t live your life to work and if you do, there is something you need to immediately change to put yourself in a situation that improves your financial future.
