Do You Find It Difficult To Save Money?

If you are a spender then it may be some comfort to know that you are not alone, as most people in westernised society are spenders.

You can’t blame them really, as ever since we were children we have been exposed to advertisements which tell us to buy now and enjoy ourselves.

And even if we don’t have the money for those items right now, we can always get them on credit.

The fact is that most of us westerners do find it difficult to save, however if we look at eastern countries such as China we see a reversal of this trend.

In China the majority of people save their money, and as a result the mindset of that country means it is not heavily in debt like America or Great Britain.

As eastern countries begin to grow and develop becoming more “westernised”, this trend will probably start to reverse itself and eventually they too will be in debt. But most likely not for a very long time.

Things Weren’t Always This Way

A hundred years ago people made a lot less money than we do today, and they didn’t buy as much either.

One of the main reasons for this was that there were fewer things to buy, unlike today in which we have a seemingly limitless supply of goods to spend our money on.

They also didn’t have credit cards back then either, which meant that if someone wanted to buy something they had to have the money for it (very often this would mean they would have to save for something).

As a result, they could never spend more than they earned and so could never get themselves into debt.

Drowning In Debt

Today we are drowning in debt and all the products that debt has bought for us. Look around your home, or those of your friends, and you will probably see lots of evidence of this. I know, I used to be this way.

I would buy whatever I wanted, and seemed to accumulate so much stuff that I hardly had any room in my house!

Most of this however was stuff I didn’t need, and was just lying around collecting dust. If this was a house 100 years ago it would look a lot different, and be almost empty in comparison to mine.

Why You Find It Difficult To Save Money

How much money have you spent on things you don’t need? Try looking around one room in your home, and then estimate the cost of all the things in it that you don’t really need or are no longer used.

Now multiple this number by the total amount of rooms in your home, and you will have the answer as to why you are finding it so hard to save your money.

Are We Heading Towards Financial Armageddon?

We as a society need to realise that we have been turned into consumers, consumers who live for today with little or no regard for the future.

We also need to wake up to the fact that for most people this is a completely unsustainable financial lifestyle we are living, and one that could very well endanger our future and our lives.

Unless we starting learning about money, how to effectively manage the money we do have and saving a portion of our income each month, society as we know it could totally collapse in the coming decades.

Does this sound far fetched? Well putting aside the stability of your countries economy (the pound and dollar are predicted to implode very soon, Iceland has already imploded) a nation full of debtors simply cannot be sustained in the long term.

This is especially true in our western society because the structure of our population, our demographics, is changing from what it once was.

Demographic Shift = Financial Armageddon?

In the past most western countries had a wider population pyramid base and a narrower top.

Basically what this meant was that there were more young people than there were older people, which meant the older members of society could be supported (in terms of pensions) by the younger members of society (through taxes).

However today the base is narrowing. People in western countries are having fewer children, and are living longer due to medical advances.

If we project this trend forwards into the future, western countries such as America and Great Britain will have more older people than there are younger people.

When this happens, the government will not be able to support so many people which means the people who aren’t able to support themselves, will most likely become homeless.

With fewer younger people there will also be fewer people to tax, which means the government will have less money to run the country and provide services for its citizens.

It will also mean that those who are taxed will have to be taxed more, something we are already seeing today.

So it is no exaggeration to say that someone who is my age (in their twenties) or even someone who is in their 40s or 50s, will most likely see a total collapse of westernised society as we know it, a financial Armageddon, unless we (including our government) all change our financial habits. But I doubt very much that will happen.

Far more likely is that the balance of power will shift to the east (as it is already now doing), and we (westerners) will experience a dramatic decline in our standard of living and a loss of our first world status.

Prepare Your Finances Today For Tomorrow

If this information alarms you, and it should do, prepare yourself the best you can by getting yourself out of debt and learning about personal finance.

It doesn’t matter how much you are making, because if you know how to manage that money you can ensure your future will be a financial secure one.

For example, some people who earn a very high wage choose to spend it as they get it, and essentially live pay check to check.

If they were to suddenly loose their job (which is a very real possibility nowadays), they would probably find it very difficult to survive because they never bothered to save anything and lived a financial lifestyle which they can now no longer afford to support.

However some people who don’t earn as much money choose to save what they earn or invest it. As a result, even if they do loose their job they will still have some money to support themselves with.

And if they leave their money in a savings account compounding interest until they retire, then when they do retire, they will be able to live a very comfortable lifestyle.

So don’t think that just because you don’t have much money there is no point in trying to manage it. Likewise, don’t think that you are safe just because you are earning a large wage.

Personal finance is something which applies to everyone, which is why it is so important to learn about it because your future literally depends on it.