Why Saving Isn't Fun

jeffrey · #1 (**permalink**) 10-14-2005, 07:49 AM

I'm looking for a list of reasons why people think saving isn't fun for a possible article I'm thinking about writing. I have a list of why I think people think saving isn't fun, but would like to expand it. Either from personal experience or just your feeling why you think people might not enjoy saving money. Thanks in advance for your help.

Jeffrey

CRFSaver · #2 (**permalink**) 10-14-2005, 08:01 AM

No instant gratification...

sweeps · #3 (**permalink**) 10-14-2005, 08:09 AM

It's not fun because it takes considerable time and patience, whereas spending money is instant gratification. The problem is the high from spending is temporary and doesn't give you the lasting feeling of independence like saving does.

sweeps · #4 (**permalink**) 10-14-2005, 08:20 AM

Looks like we're on the same wavelength, CRF.

Another problem is that there is a stigma associated with saving money. How many positive names can you think of for savers? I can't think of one. But I can think of lots of negative names: miser, cheapskate, tightwad, scrooge, penny pincher,.....

BillsGirl · #5 (**permalink**) 10-14-2005, 09:11 AM

because savings is done is little bits here and there and then the money saved isn't like the concept of "car commercials" where you get cash in hand for the money you saved, it's wavering in the back of your head!

gakline · #6 (**permalink**) 10-14-2005, 09:16 AM

Old money doesn't have that "New" smell.

Fern · #7 (**permalink**) 10-14-2005, 09:31 AM

Because saving for something that's going to be used/purchased down the road is an intangible concept, it's hard to put your hands around it, whereas if you spend now, you feel like you've improved your life somehow because you can see it in front of you

Dingoluv4eva · #8 (**permalink**) 10-14-2005, 09:36 AM

Saying takes work, and it also takes careful management of relationships..
U have to say "NO" a lot..
not easy if u got a demanding family and friends and u love them that way..

PLAY HARD>. but also SAVE HARD>. its possible!

Gruntina · #9 (**permalink**) 10-14-2005, 09:46 AM

No Patience! Sometimes we want things right away rather than wait to save and buy certain things at a later time.

baselle · #10 (**permalink**) 10-15-2005, 06:58 PM

Because spending and consumption is public and saving is private. You have a lot of opportunities to show off your spending but no opportunities to show off your saving.

Except here, of course.

miclason · #11 (**permalink**) 10-17-2005, 08:46 AM

..hmm...this may sound weird, but there's also a sense of one's own mortality involved ("You can't take it with you") and, no, you can't take the stuff you buy either, but, you get to "enjoy" the $$$...I don't know if this is true in the US or other countries, but it's true where I live...this sense of mortality is also apparent here in smaller things, like saying: "Take care" everytime you say good-bye...or, if someone says: "See you!" the other person's response, most of the time, will be: "If it's God's will!"....this stems from our war years...

Another aspect of it might be the fear of getting older...just like some people don't draw up wills because they are afraid to even contemplate the possibility of death, saving for when you are older implies that you recognize you WILL be old someday!!

Also, there is the glorification of recklessness...we have been conditioned to admire people who are daring, who take risks, who don't care about tomorrow...we have romaticized this figure, and, of course, s/he is not a saver!!

These are just disconnected thoughts, of course, but they come from attitudes I have seen around me towards money saving...

PrincessPerky · #12 (**permalink**) 10-18-2005, 05:21 AM

'Everybody else is doing it...'

While one or two of us here are saving or at least spending less, the rest of the world is jumping off that bridge, and like Miclason said, that is the 'cool' thing to do. And we want to be cool even as adults

.

cicy33 · #13 (**permalink**) 10-18-2005, 08:44 AM

Also sometimes saving money or whatever can be very overwhelming. It seems sometimes that bills outweigh the possibility of saving and so they give up. I have felt this way many times!

PRICEPLUS · #14 (**permalink**) 10-18-2005, 09:21 AM

It is not fun because our perception of it is colored by the consumer society we live in! Spending is what is emphasized in our culture. Saving is not emphasized at all!

abowers · #15 (**permalink**) 11-17-2005, 04:06 PM

The interest rate is so low it's not worth keeping my money in a savings account. But interest rates are slowly on the rise so it's also silly to lock money away in a CD.

cercis · #16 (**permalink**) 11-17-2005, 06:54 PM

Because you have to say No so much. I'm used to saying no, I'm a mom, but it doesn't get any easier.

I feel like a frump because I haven't bought anything new to wear in 3-4 years (except the skirt from the thrift store).

I feel like a hag because I won't let my dh buy the movies he wants.

I feel like a scrooge because I won't buy my kids the toys they really want.

genchan · #17 (**permalink**) 11-18-2005, 06:13 PM

Because it forces you to face up to how badly you've been managing your money up to that point.

Russell · #18 (**permalink**) 11-18-2005, 06:59 PM

For me, its not that its not fun but the goal (final sum) sometimes seems unreachable. Also, I wonder if I might later on regret not spending money on cars, clothes, luxuries etc while young. Afterall, how much could I enjoy a Ferrari when I'm 65 ?

But, I guess there's more to life than flashy cars and clothes so I keep on saving hoping that the day when its time to reap the reward it'll be a good day.