10 Reasons You Aren’t Saving Money

The goals you set are too high and not realistic.

You need to make sure that you set goals that are attainable and realistic for you and your budget. You can’t set a goal to save $40,000 this year but you only make $35,000, that is just not possible. Sit down with your yearly budget and set some realistic goals for yourself and family.

Not enough motivation to keep going.

You don’t have a big enough why. My husband and I are currently saving for a house and have a goal to save $45,000 this year to put towards our down payment. Our why is that we want to start having kids and get a puppy (dog fever is real). That is a huge why! If our why was just because our coworkers all have big fancy houses and we want to keep up with the Jones’ or because we simply don’t want to live in an apartment anymore; then it won’t really motivate us, or at least for the long term.

You give up too quickly and take the easy way out.

Whether you are paying off mountains of debt or cash flowing a big purchase it is so easy to just give up when you don’t see the end in sight. I recently cash flowed my dream car, a Jeep Cherokee. I’ll be honest with you, there were many times where I wanted to just throw in the towel a couple months early and finance the last $5,000.

But I stuck it out and waited until we had enough cash saved. I had tears in my eyes as we drove off the lot because I was so proud of this huge accomplishment.

Society tells you it’s not a good idea.

Everyone has a car payment. Society tells us that debt is okay and is a way of life. NO! That is not the case, debt is “normal” so is living paycheck to paycheck. I don’t know about you but no thank you, I’ll be weird!!

Not checking in on your goals and having budget meetings with your spouse.

We previously talked about making sure your goals are realistic and attainable. In addition to that it’s very important to check in on your goals on a regular basis. My husband and I have monthly budget meetings and at the beginning of each budget meeting we talk about our short term and long term goals. That was it sets the stage for what we want to accomplish. We’ve found that when we start with our goals it is much easier to pass on asking the other person for extra spending money or eating out money. We have a goal TOGETHER and that means delayed gratification… together!

Unwilling to make a lifestyle cut.

I have had many coaching clients in the past few years that have been living paycheck to paycheck with more month at the end of their money, in tears when we sit down because they are so stressed.

The first thing I do is sit down and create a zero based budget, we write down their income minus the expenses and see how much is left to put towards their debt.

When we come up in the red that means we need to start cutting. We cut back in eating out, groceries, personal spending money, cable, pampering etc. So many times people have looked me dead in the face and tell me that they are unwilling to cut in any of the categories especially getting their hair and nails done.

This breaks my heart that they are so tight on money but if you are choosing between your light bill and your nails … I personally think the light bill is the clear answer.

Not tithing while on your journey.

This one is controversial and I totally understand and respect other people’s views but I’ve found personally for me that tithing (especially when I’m behind on my bills) is a trust thing and it is very important to make giving a priority.

You have too many other goals.

This is the third time that we are talking about goals which says how important they are but at the same time it is important that we don’t spread ourselves too thin by having too many goals. I myself have been guilty of this, I’ve had too many big savings goals but then I am only making small progress on many rather than BIG progress on a few. I cut down my sinking funds this past summer and within 4 months I was able to finish off the my savings to cash flow my dream car!

Not prepared for murphy.

Murphy is a not so nice friend that tends to show up in the form of a flat tire or leak in your roof. He is the exact reason why we need an emergency fund. If you are paying off your debt (not including mortgage) I recommend being at least 1 month of expenses in an emergency fund, if you are debt free I recommend 6 months of expenses in a an emergency fund.

Not willing to get creative to find extra income.

When you want to hit your goals faster or have more month left at the end of your money… go get a side hustle… or a few! Right now my husband and I are saving for a 20% down payment on our first home. We both are working over a hundred hours a week between our day job and side hustles. Some of our side hustles include overtime, YouTube, Mystery Shopping, Etsy and cooking lunches for my coworkers just to name a few.

What are you good at that you can start charging money for or already doing? Are there moms that need someone to pick up their kids from school? I watch my coworkers fight for an elevator and RUN to their car every day because if they don’t pick up their kids by 6pm they are charged crazy fees. Do you have coworkers like mine that don’t want to meal prep and would like to stop eating out so much? I make a couple of my coworkers the same meal prep that I do and it’s a win win for both of us!

Your Turn!

What are some obstacles that get in the way of you hitting your savings goals?