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saving is a priority

April 13th, 2017 at 04:06 pm

People don't save period. They barely save for retirement. They barely save for an emergency. Many use a tax return as enforced savings. But many really couldn't tell you what they are spending their money on. Nor do they see it as important to start saving.

One could argue that it's because they don't make enough. The truth? That saving is a priority. People make a conscious decision to not save. They also make a conscious decision to live day by day and paycheck to paycheck. I understand people who make below the poverty line struggling or around the median salary for the US. But at the same time perhaps it's time to look at your expenses and see if it's worth living where you do if you can't afford it.

I'm not a huge latte factor fan. I don't see how $5 a day works when you make $4k/month and pay $2k/month rent. It just won't work to survive without going into debt. Or $500 car payment. A lot of times just the basic outflow is to high to even pay for groceries or utilities and that's how the CC debt starts. So $5 coffee isn't going to make a difference if you start out the month in the hole. It just make the hole $5 deeper.

I'm not sure how to make people realize it might be a good idea just to save?

Posted in Savings | 4 Comments »

4 Responses to “saving is a priority”

  1. creditcardfree Says:
    April 13th, 2017 at 06:37 pm 1492108634
    1492108634

    I think the latte factor is about helping those who have no awareness of where their money is going. They need to add something up that they spend money on regularly, such as coffee. $5 a day, 20 working days a week IS $100 a month. If I were talking to someone I would explain that there are other places they are spending money on that are not necessities that could be cut out to also add up to save even more per month. Yes, only skipping coffee and saving that money will not make a long term difference, but it is a start of awareness for many people.

    But I do understand what you are saying and coming from too.

  2. ThriftoRama Says:
    April 13th, 2017 at 09:07 pm 1492117620
    1492117620

    I agree with CCF on the latte thing. It's a wake up call to pay attention to drips. BUT I will say of my friends and colleagues who are falling behind, it's not the small luxuries, it's the expenses of everyday life that are killing them. The mortgage. The homeowners insurance (especially my Louisiana friends. it can be $700 a MONTH just for homeowners since Hurricane Katrina.) The car payments, the health insurance. It's killing people. Incomes aren't keeping up.

    My big complaint, though, is the smartphone and cable bills. I know so many people who are broke or going into debt but they refuse to consider cutting cable and getting rid of the smartphone --both of which are huge monthly bills. Or, downsizing to a more economical car (parents are guilty of this). Yes, it's harder to trade in a car than to cut cable, but when shopping for a new one...

    I feel like my family is treading water these days and not saving as much as we could even five years ago, but we've also hedged against harder times with paid off small cars that sip gas, no cable bill, no smartphones, etc.

  3. Bluebird Says:
    April 14th, 2017 at 12:17 am 1492129078
    1492129078

    LAL, I totally agree with you. There needs to be a major change to mindset, and people are just not willing to do it, or are afraid to, or don't realize that they're setting themselves up for tough times in the future.

  4. My English Castle Says:
    April 14th, 2017 at 01:18 am 1492132690
    1492132690

    When DH was unemployed, I was super scrupulous (maybe a little crazed) about giving up my university coffee habit. It's not a latte (pun sort of intended), just $2/day. I'm usually at school 4 days/ week so $32/ month. That would be half a week's worth of groceries. But though I may go back to it in the fall, what's happened is that it's made me very conscious of how much money sort of leaks out. We don't have cable and have pay-as-you-go phones, but still I think we leak cash. It's funny how we all have our "things" we rail against--mine is car leases. My DH's is food waste.

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