Blowing Up: Spending Money Is Easy And That Makes Saving It Really Hard

If you aren’t thinking about money, chances are you’re at one of two spots on the financial spectrum.

You’ve given up trying to save, and you just go from one paycheck to the next in the hopes that you’ll either hit the lottery or eventually make more money and don’t pay much attention to budgeting because you assume that getting ahead is fool’s gold.

Then, there’s the other, better side of the money coin.

You might not worry about money because you have all your bases covered. You have a light’s out budget, and you make more than you spend because you have decided to spend wisely, invest even more intelligently and are able to save between five and seven percent with every pay and have a nice emergency fund waiting, not to be touched unless for such an emergency.

Let’s talk for a minute about the former group, the ones that are constantly struggling with little or no end in sight as far as their struggles with saving money.

Ever wonder why saving money is so hard? The real reason is quite simple and plays perfectly off that question. Saving money is hard because spending it is far too easy. When we spend money, studies have shown that the average individual is happy. Buying something is a rush of adrenaline; you enjoy having something in your hand or a particular service in waiting or about to happen, such as getting your hair or nails done or a professional massage.

Who doesn’t want those things? More importantly, who wouldn’t be able to justify spending money on things that make you happy?

But what never truly resonates with that group is the idea that money doesn’t buy happiness; it creates debt and more harm than good. Sure, you’re having a blast with your new iPad or 4K TV but once that newness wears off, and the credit card bill arrives or your next bank statement minus a few hundred dollars lands in the mail, you aren’t so much enamored with the product as much as you are frightful and upset that now you have to pay back what you borrowed, and thus charging this item isn’t really all it was cracked up to be.

Those who have money and can save realize that any budget has to include spending on a want versus a need as part of it. You have to find the balance of strict and selfishness in small does, and budgeting suddenly doesn’t look so bad after all. If you’re being romanced and seduced by the art of spending, you’ll never be able to learn how to save properly.