Why Do People Struggle Saving Money?

[Neodanthril]

The costs of goods increases while wages have stagnated for nearly forty years but also productivity has increased

 

[George Lucas]

The internet and social media in particular is very very good at honing in on your interests and making you think you need shit that you don't. No longer do they have to rely on commercials to hit certain demographics, now they can get extremely specific.

This shit has nothing to do with the internet.

People have wasted money on dumb shit since money existed.

Humans are fundamentally hunter-gatherers. Food goes bad so it should be used right away. Money to people is seen no differently. The act of saving has to be learned. Some people are more inclined to save, but in general, people are retarded.

If you want to see the mindset of the poor, you can go on the r/povertyfinance subreddit.

 

[PFM]

People have wasted money on dumb shit since money existed.

No shit. My point was that the internet has allowed them to hyper-tailor their marketing to a very extreme degree. Most people using social media are continually being marketed to without even realizing it.

 

[Palmer Bangs]

There's a big difference between:

• "I can't save money at all."
• "I can't save enough money to put any aside for emergencies."

and

• "I can't save enough money to put it to work."

In the first category, either your spending is too high or your income is too low, or both.
In the second, you try to save but until you have a big enough pile set aside, any unexpected expense (something breaks, car problems, etc.) can wipe out all your progress. In my experience this is the most disheartening place to be.
In the third, you can save enough to have an emergency fund, but you can't "save" in a way that causes any meaningful change in your life. Maybe you can buy one share of VOO (~$500 at time of writing). That isn't going to feel like much, and it's going to hurt even more if an emergency comes up that wipes out your emergency fund and then you have to sell some stocks and pay taxes on it.

Great post. Sometimes it feels like as you start climbing out the bucket, something pulls you down.

 

[Freshly Baked Socks]

I remember once being told that saving money is cultural. I have been told that in some land thousands of miles away from where I live, people save more money, and always have, and that it how they operate. I even recall when I was young and my parents telling me stories about saving (and spending) money that they had been told by their parents.

On that point, many people are uncultured and lack discipline or parenting... While other people have much to spare by comparison.

 

[x3firehexx]

There's a big difference between:

• "I can't save money at all."
• "I can't save enough money to put any aside for emergencies."

and

• "I can't save enough money to put it to work."

In the first category, either your spending is too high or your income is too low, or both.
In the second, you try to save but until you have a big enough pile set aside, any unexpected expense (something breaks, car problems, etc.) can wipe out all your progress. In my experience this is the most disheartening place to be.
In the third, you can save enough to have an emergency fund, but you can't "save" in a way that causes any meaningful change in your life. Maybe you can buy one share of VOO (~$500 at time of writing). That isn't going to feel like much, and it's going to hurt even more if an emergency comes up that wipes out your emergency fund and then you have to sell some stocks and pay taxes on it.

Which is why I won't even bother saving much, because by the time I have a decent amount of.money It will fly away due to some bullshit emergency like you said, so when I get a good amount of money I'd rather spend it on something that'll actually matter to me, wether it'd be bills, taxes, rent, and assuming that's covered already then spend it on a PC upgrade, or new furniture, or something like that, because saving it is just like putting a time bomb on said pile of money. And it's not like I'd even be able to have a considerable emergency fund anyway given the current economy, so might aswell just not bother, right?

 

[rel=alternate]

There are different levels to it. But overall, it ties with personality and motivations.

Examples you give are basically homeless type of considerations. If a $100 a month make a difference to you, you should be extremely worried. And saving is not something you should be focused on.

Otherwise, like I said, it depends on motivations. Some people just like to spend money. Most often to show off one way or the other.

The people who actually are clever about their finances, you don't hear about them, so it's easy to think they don't exist.

 

[The Hardest R]

- Little expenses that might just be a few bucks by itself but add up quickly
- Interest fees associated with debt service
- Eating out versus cooking at home
- Various subscriptions and fees that are mostly ignored or that they didn’t know they have
- YOLO lifestyle where money burns a hole in their pocket. These people often regret their impulse buys

Most people have several items of the above. A lot of times it adds up to several hundred dollars per month.

 

[Alex Hogendorp]

When you visit Argentina. You'll find the future nightmare that is heading towards us. Hyperinflation.

 

[Sho'nuff]

The costs of goods increases while wages have stagnated for nearly forty years but also productivity has increased

I always see this argument but I never see context put on it. The means of productivity has changed drastically. In 1950 a guy making ten thingamajigs an hour was a skilled laborer. The equivalent worker now is pressing a button and making 1000 thingamajigs an hour. They are untrained and replaceable. They do not deserve equivalent pay. The 60 years of pay increase was offloaded into the people who design, make, service the machine the button is connected to, they are the skilled laborers.

This effect is seen throughout the workforce, manufacturing has changed drastically in the last 40 years, let along a bigger time frame. AI will be replacing low level programmers soon, and in 10 years those same programmers who are prompting an AI to write code will be complaining about how much more efficient they are than their current day counterpart, so why aren't they being paid relatively more... because they aren't writing a code, they know enough to prompt and QC maybe, the people designing and training the AI will be getting their salary.

If you can't recognize this, you will continue to misinterpret a main driver for wage stagnation and your concerns will continue to fall on deaf ears, with nothing changing.

 

[Neodanthril]

The equivalent worker now is pressing a button

to pretend that the sole input of every human being on the factory floor in every factory in the world is pressing a single button is mental masturbation. has productivity increased? sure, but thats not why the value of the worker decreased, unless you are going to tell me that increasing the supply of a product has no effect on the value. if you have a better explanation for why the trend lines for labor and productivity only separate after 1965 i would love to hear it.

They are untrained and replaceable

they are only so replaceable because of immigration. which is the modus operandi of captialism. from day one the bourgeoise have sought to undercut the value of labor, first with enclosure acts, then with immigration and integration.

They do not deserve equivalent pay.

who are you to make that judgement?

AI will be replacing low level programmers soon

if you knew what you were talking about at all you would know that low level programming if anything would be the last bastion of human input to follow with the theory you put forth.

 

[Sho'nuff]

to pretend that the sole input of every human being on the factory floor in every factory in the world is pressing a single button is mental masturbation. has productivity increased? sure, but thats not why the value of the worker decreased, unless you are going to tell me that increasing the supply of a product has no effect on the value. if you have a better explanation for why the trend lines for labor and productivity only separate after 1965 i would love to hear it.

No, obviously I was being hypothetical and hyperbolic, hence the item being a "thingamabob". I didn't think it would be necessary how to explain increased production speeds, computerizations, transportation, etc has simplified, increased, and increased quality of production. And yes, when the ease of production increases, the value of the worker inversely decreases unless the production increase is tied to labor. Which labor is not the reason for the increase. Let's not even get into modern reliable transportation making the pool of workers larger. Increased education levels adds to this, everyone has a decently high level of education which continues to add to labor pools. No matter how you look at it, the stagnation in manual labor wages coincides with increases in available labor and the floor of that labor.

they are only so replaceable because of immigration. which is the modus operandi of captialism. from day one the bourgeoise have sought to undercut the value of labor, first with enclosure acts, then with immigration and integration.

Immigration is an entirely different issue. Most production jobs are just being sent to the countries those immigrants were coming from, because the production is so simplified any 3rd country dirt farmer can press buttons to make thingamabobs.

who are you to make that judgement?

A person that can make a logical deduction from the available evidence.

you knew what you were talking about at all you would know that low level programming if anything would be the last bastion of human input to follow with the theory you put forth.

Not worth the time to discuss.
Also your picture just shows a stagnation, it doesn't prove anything.

 

[Dawdler]

Usually, the product you make costs more than the time it took to make. Value of labour is purposefully diluted to nothing and entire thing is rigged to extract as much money from you as possible.

 

[Neodanthril]

picture just shows a stagnation

im aware, i said as much. what caused it? why does a consistant and radical change in the direction of the trend line coincide with radical changes in immigration law?

modern reliable transportation making the pool of workers larger

Immigration is an entirely different issue.

oh, like reliably transporting people from hati to Springfield ohio, totally separate things

the stagnation in manual labor wages coincides with increases in available labor

oh, so importing immigrants causes a change in the value of the labor. crazy.

Most production jobs are just being sent to the countries those immigrants were coming from

and what does that do to the value of the labor of the employees who lost their job because it was outsourced? how about their wages, do they go up or down when their factory is moved from where they live to china?

 

[Fascist Kirk]

the thread should be why am I a poor? maybe because you are a degenerate faggot who can't do math. numbers are hard, like words. Gibs me dat free shit

 

[Rudy Coleman]

my biggest issue is eating out and drinking at bars.
However ive started saving much more now that i make all my coffee at home and started cooking lunch before hand, now instead of drinking at bars where i can be around people and socialize i drink by my self alone and unloved

 

[Devout Muslim]

Saving for what? Saving for a goal; ok. Saving to be wealthy? Retarded.

“There is one who is enriched by spending sparingly, and this is the extent of his reward. About this, he says: "I have found rest for myself, and now I alone will eat from my goods." But he does not know how much time will pass before death approaches, and then he must leave everything behind to others and die. Stand fast in your covenant, and become familiar with it, and grow old in the work of your commandments.”

 

[tradecode]

my biggest issue is eating out and drinking at bars.
However ive started saving much more now that i make all my coffee at home and started cooking lunch before hand, now instead of drinking at bars where i can be around people and socialize i drink by my self alone and unloved

You could save money by only drinking in gay bars and then you just sit in the shadows and drink a cup of your own cum.

Disclaimer: I am not a professional licensed financial advisor. Please consult with an attorney before following my advice. Or don't.

 

[NoReturn]

Saving for what? Saving for a goal; ok. Saving to be wealthy? Retarded.

Stop bullying me.

 

[⋖ cørdion ⋗]

The richer you are, the more you invest and save. I still invest less than I save and every time i #suitandtieMAXX and decide to up my investment, I realize I'd be better off with a safety net.

If I earned twice as much I'd spend as much as I do now except invest more.. You can get very far on not spending a lot of money if you're actually enjoying what you buy. Imagine if your gaming needs were met by WoW alone. 12 month sub, once a year. Cheap as fuck all things considered, but in reality people stack on dlc and other games and shit they don't touch.