Why do people insist that they can't save anything?

[Ima saver]

Why is it that some people insist that they can't save anything? I have a friend who i tried to talk into saving money about 30 years ago. I told her to start with just $5 a week. She told me, what good would $5 a week do her?
Well, $5 times 52 weeks is only $260, but after 31 years, it is over $8000 and would be much more with compound interest, probably closer to $20,000. Still she has no savings.

[maat55]

Self-control and delayed gratification are not traits many people aspire to. Many don't realize that having savings and security feels as good or better than having useless junk. I found that it does not take very long to establish this trait when desired.

[mom-from-missouri]

Because they really don't want to.

[creditcardfree]

It's their maturity level. Only a mature person, can say no to wants in an effort to save. Just my opinion.

[Goldy1]

I have a child on the way and I hope he learns from me to not be too materialistic or impulsive.
For me it comes from trusting and loving what is inside of me. My inner peace, financial freedom, and self esteem can not be bought at a mall.
I also hate clutter. lol....it's like "I am sick of these wall hangings sorta but if I buy new ones these ones will clutter some storage space"
Honestly my friends think personal finance is BORING.

[Helena_Handbasket]

I think these people are incapable of imagining a worst-case financial scenario where they would need substantial savings to get by. They have the "it will never happen to me" mentality. Or they believe that someone (government) will take care of them if they cannot do so themselves - unfortunately there are too many examples of this actually happening, so it's easy to believe.

[FrugalFish]

Based on my experience with DH, who has little to no interest in money, I think that is where a lot of people fail- just a total lack on interest. Also, people like DH have a hard time conceptualizing things like money and time. You know the sort- give them some cash, watch them spend it, and then watch them try to figure out where it all went.

Money is easy to spend and savings seems abstract and not all that useful in the immediate moment. My DH is also the kind of guy who worries about everything tomorrow, but tomorrow never comes though eventually the storm hits.

[fruitbowlk]

I think people that don't have interest in saving money are people who likes to be charity cases. Most of the people that I know are like that. They rather have people give to them instead of them saving money and taking care of business the way they suppose to. I started saving $5 a paycheck and increased it as I could. I always say something is always better than nothing.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by mom-from-missouri

Because they really don't want to.

Originally Posted by FrugalFish

I think that is where a lot of people fail- just a total lack on interest.

I think this is basically it. Sure, there is the immediate gratification thing, but I think some people simply don't care. They are the "live for today" types. They see no need to save because they might get hit by a bus tomorrow. Why save money that you may never get to use. I've found that it is impossible to have an intelligent conversation with this type of person.

These folks also are often clueless about money. They pay no attention to sales, coupons and discounts and then go around complaining that they have no money. I work with someone like this. It is very frustrating.

When most people say they are broke, it is pretty simple to see how they live and know why they are broke. But don't bother trying to explain what they are doing wrong or how they could fix it. They don't care. They'd rather complain.

[Ima saver]

I agree Steve. I have tried to get her to save money for a rainy day, but she never would. She was always borrowing money to get by on. When things got real bad, her church would pay her bills. She is a little older than I am and will have to work the rest of her life.

[Goldy1]

I have a 30 something friend who works as an independent contractor and elects to not buy health insurance. I told him about some quotes around $100 or so with a high deductable. He told me that was high for him. He regualry "gets his drink on" as he calls it at bars, wines and dines a girlfriend who disrespects him at least twice weekly and who said he has no plans to marry ever or stay with, and purchases cigarettes daily. He buys many dvd's even of movies he said are "just ok".

He used to be an ex cowroker who went to the vending machine for soda and snacks daily. We were close so I jokingly told him to go to the store and put an 8 pack or so of soda in our company fridge. He said he likes his walk to the vending machines. lol

[Goldy1]

oh and the friend I refer to has no savings or debt so I suppose if he did come on hard times like a medical emergancy he could file bankruptcy and the courts would have no assets, only debt(student loans, bank loan, car, and so on) to go after. you know nothing to lose mentality.

[KatieNK]

People like that should read "The Automatic Millionarie" by David Bach. They are exactly the type of people to gain the most from this book!

[Snave]

The really big obstacle is now with this down maket these people will use it as their rationale for never having invested. I can hear then now saying "See, this is why I never put anything away." They don't seem to see that even if they had less in their account after a market drop like we have had that it would probably be more than the $0 they have saved currently.

[xplosionplaya15]

it is very easy to save

go open up a savings account

[Pitman]

Personally I don't think being "mature" has anything to do with saving. I think it all boils down to simply having will power, some have more will power than others. My brother is 6 years older than, in his entire existance he has never saved one penny. His saving account has about 52 cents in it at the moment. My brother is very mature, but has a extremely difficult time saving, he said it himself, he said mentality, I can't save.

[MoneyTrev]

There's only 2 reasons that you can't save money.

1. You don't want to.
2. You can't.

If you don't want to, thats the end. You can't pursuade someone that doesn't want to save money to save money

If you can't, then that's that also. You may be working hard at your job but if your earnings are poor and can only fill your basic life, you can't do anything about that as well.

[Jazzmint98]

Originally Posted by MoneyTrev

There's only 2 reasons that you can't save money.

1. You don't want to.
2. You can't.

If you don't want to, thats the end. You can't pursuade someone that doesn't want to save money to save money

If you can't, then that's that also. You may be working hard at your job but if your earnings are poor and can only fill your basic life, you can't do anything about that as well.

If your earnings are so poor that you aren't able to save anything at all, then I think that individuals need to make some changes. For example, get an extra job to supplement a full-time job to increase the cash flow.

I agree though that some people just don't have the willpower to save money.

Just my opinion.

[Russell]

My spouse is in this boat. She has 401k, Roth and a 529 for DD. I have to say I'm lucky that she's not into Gucci and Prada stuff and like me she doesn't seem to be spending money on frivilous stuff either. I feel that really she's entitled to spend some money on good quality clothes, health etc but every once or twice a year she asks me for money because she has none in her account and all along I'm under the impression that she's not wasting money and she's saving part of her paycheck. I think the last expense was the Invisilign teeth straightner she got to the tune of $5k or so which again wouldn't be a bad thing, it's not like she went and bought a $5k Prada bag but if it were me I would've saved up for it before I went and spent the money. Of course, she put it on her credit card which recently jacked up the interest rate to 16% !!! Luckily she said she transfered her balance to a 0% card.

She gets annoyed when I 'lecture' her on how I would've done something or that she should have a bank balance buffer of $1k or so and never let it go below it unless it's an absolute emergency and even then replenish it immediately afterwards. Instead she says that the groceries/utilities are more expensive now and that's why she doesn't have any savings.

[Goldy1]

I know so many people who are filling a void or a hole with buying stuff. IT ruins some people's lives, and sadly some of them don't seem to be able to change yet.
I think the culture is shifting. My dh's father retired from the big three. He took 30 years to pay off a mortgage he got in his 20's then had debt we helped them consolidate. They spent every dime they made and then charged whatever else they wanted. They never heard of a 401K or knew what the difference between principal and interest is. WAnt to go to the casino again? They went. WAnt to buy tons of stuff? They bought. That pension check will be there for some people til they drop. I see it now repeated in my dh's brother. Him and his wife "work" for the big three on the line. They have so much expensive stuff, 2 time shares, about 7 long vacations a year, a 10 grand cruise planned. pension check will be there. no worries.
For the rest of the world? Oh yea it's reality. lol It is a cultural shift of take care of yourselves, no longer the 30 (or 20 in come cases) and out, company take care of me.