‘CUZ YOU
KEEP
SPENDING
MORE
THAN YOU
SAVE!!
So stop doing it :)
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Why You May Be Poor…
Budgets Are Sexy
Money | Minimalism | Mohawks
Wait… what are you trying to say?
To step away from the mall :)
Sounds like me! :)
Step away from the credit card!
Really? That’s why!
AHHHH I know! I need to stop shopping.
So check this out. I normally find myself spending so much money going out to eat.. Not just fast food, i mean nice restaurants where my tab alone is $50 for one meal…. A Pop!!!! Now, this is on a regular basis.. One interesting thing i noticed is that this week, with the weather being so nice ive been going to the park in a town nearby & i’ve been meeting alot of new people. Two days ago I had more fun hanging out all day with these theater students… We played frisbee, soccer, had interesting conversations & the only money i spent was $9 at Moes grill… that was it. $9 the whole day & i felt more fulfilled than i do if i go out with my friends to a restaurant/bar & spend $100. I realized that its all about REPLACING. Just replace those indulgences that CO$T in order to feel satisfied, with those things that fulfill you alot more but don’t really cost anything…
but if I save more than I spend, I won’t have any stuff, like tiaras and beer.
I definitely spend more than I save – on debt. Which is why in 2 months I’ll be DEBT FREE! Can’t wait.
LOL! This cannot be said enough!
No.. it’s cause the man’s trying to hold me down.. It’s the system!
LOL…that’s too funny
Or because there isn’t enough money in the first place.
Many people here don’t understand, but working full time at my job made me 12,000 per year. Sometimes it’s really difficult to escape your personal circumstances. I’m poor because there IS nothing to save.
Haha! Couldn’t have said it better myself… :)
Thought y’all might like that ;) Was feeling pretty feisty this morning…
@Aldo – There you go! I like it! Find what makes you happy, and do MORE of it – pretty easy in theory :) If only it worked out nice and easily in real life all the time, haha…
@Jessica, The Debt Princess – Haha… sure you will – just keep on rockin’ those side hustles ;)
@Carrie Smith – Work it girl! Ow ow!
@Peter – But YOU’RE the man now ;)
@C The Writer – I think you’re certainly right on that one too. Spending and saving is just one piece of the puzzle, just usually the bulk of it for people. If you can live off of $12k/year, more power to you! I know I couldn’t :) But I also know there are 1,001 ways to make MORE too if people truly wanted to – they usually just don’t want to put in the time.
I would be happy to work a properly paid job if it was offered to me. But it hasn’t been.
I’m sure that you couldn’t. You have a mortgage, and you’re having a child. I chose differently. I’m not having kids, ever, and I live with my mom because I can’t afford to move out. I don’t get to have a nice car, and so on. So that’s how I live on less. I actually don’t make that much anymore, since I cut back my hours (job is too stressful).
Yeah, the Mrs. needs to get a 2nd job. :)
I think it’s different for each person. You might be poor because someone robbed you. Or because you lost it all to your ex. Or you got conned into a Nigerian scheme. You shouldn’t make blanket statements like this.
;)
@C The Writer – A lot of people would be happy to work a nice paying job if it were “offered” to them ;) But usually you have to go out and do everything in your power to GET one, or even START one, if you really want it that bad. Not saying you have or haven’t, but a lot of people have the mentality of waiting for things to happen TO them rather than making things happen themselves. Know what I’m saying?
As for living on less though, I def. commend you for figuring out a way to do so – you gotta do what you gotta do! No shame in that at all. It’s just a matter of how badly (or not) you want your lifestyle to change now that will determine your future. If you’re totally content there, keep rockin it :)
@retirebyforty – Hah! You better hope she doesn’t read this blog ;)
@Clever Dude – For sure – there are a billion reasons why someone could be poor, no doubt about it. It’s obviously more of a general statement since 99% of people who read financial blogs like ours fall under it ;) I don’t think we need to throw in caveats with every single bog post we do or we’d never get them all out… this was just a quick kick in the pants, if you will, for those needing a little wake up call.
For many, it’s because they spend more than they earn and money that they haven’t earned yet!
oops, I think you meant to say retirebyforty, not me. heh heh.
Anyway, my last bootstrap broke, so…
I understand what you are saying, but this is mostly for people with a disposable income. In this economy many people are underemployed or unemployed so whatever they get, they spend on neccessities, not being a Mall Rat. So yes they are spending money to live, to get to work, for their car, for the gas prices that are gouging them. I am always so surprised that the advice from experts is to save money- people would if they could….
Lol. You’ve set the bar pretty high with this post. There’s actually nothing left to say. Are you retiring :)
HA! Now if I could just take this and beat it over several of my friends’ heads….
Man, we have to spend every single penny to get out of this whole I dug us into in college. It has to come to an end soon, right? We still have a decent savings built up but these student loans just beat us down.
@Carolyn Wolfe – Haha, well first off if you’re referencing me as an “expert,” you’re def. off – which you’ll probably agree with by the looks of your comment :)
But yeah, you’re def. right with that first part of your comment there – a lot of America IS struggling and are affected by many circumstances outside of their control :( I agree – and that’s a real shitty situation.
Today’s post is geared more to those who CAN save money like you mention, but aren’t. There’s a huge difference there. And I think it has more to do with staying motivated and taking action than the mere fact of “being able to.” It’s like anything else we all can do but we don’t: eat better, give back to charity, keep our houses clean, etc. Most of us HAVE the power to be our best, but for whatever reason we fall short. And that’s more along the lines of today’s posting reasoning. To remind people that they CAN indeed save more if they really stopped to pay attention. And myself is included in that too.
@John @ Married (with Debt) – Hah! No way – cuz we all still need to be motivated to take action! :)
@Stephanie – I’m sorry to hear that, friend :( That’s frustrating! At least you have a good college education, eh? I know people debate all the time whether it’s truly worth it or not, but I’m def. a believer in higher education – even if it costs a pretty penny. The thing to remember is that it’s just a PHASE right now – you won’t need to spend every penny towards them down the road, just until you get better traction :) I used to think I was screwed for yearrrrrrrs cuz I was always just breaking even all the time. But as you get older and take on more experiences etc etc, you realize the opportunities are everywhere and eventually you “move up” and have a lot more freedom down the road to get out of funks and into other areas that are important to you. Just takes time and effort, and I’d say you’re def. on the right track :) So keep it up!
“Spending more than you save” ?? You mean to say that at the most I can spend only 49% of my income while literally saving 50% of it? That’s a pretty lofty goal, dude!
TL:DR
haha… nah, best post ever!
Thank you for your comment back to me- I think you are right , sometimes we just do not do what is best for ourselves. I know I could do a lot better nutritionally etc..
I also think that once you have had a time of unemployment, when you get a little money, you feel like celebrating a bit. I am guilty of that too. I do think that cutting back on a few non- necessities like Latte’s for lunch or going out to eat instead of brown baggin’ it, is a great way to save cash that is usually spent and forgotten. I also liked the comment about enjoying yourself more and doing what you like to do, instead of spending lots of cash!
Movie nights with friends, old fashioned block parties and pot lucks are so much fun! Just being together we those we care about is more fun than the fancy restaurant or clubs… We do a lot of pot luck dinners in my community and love it!
AND keep spending more than you make. Saving can only come when people first live within thier income. If the income is not high enough, they can try to get a higher paying job. But they will still need to live within their means. A three-year-old near and dear to my heart has a habit of saying , “But I WANT to!” We all need to get beyond our 3 year-old selves. ;)
So simple! So true! but a lot of people find this hard to do. (rhyme unintentional)
LOL!!!! You are so right. We gotta stop all this darn spending if we want to save. You hit it right on the nose. :-)
@Austin – Haha… never thought about it like that ;) You’d def. be the opposite of poor going that route!
@philip – Is it bad that I had to Google “TL:DR” ? :) Glad you liked it!
@Carolyn Wolfe – Awesome! Love pot lucks myself :) Def. true – it’s OK to spend money in some areas, as long as you’re cutting out in others and being more CONSCIOUS about where that money is going. All about prioritizing!
@Maggie@SquarePennies – Haha, amen to that ;) A lot easier said than done too!
@Anthony @ EachPesoCounts – Haha, yup! Everyone KNOWS what they should be doing with this stuff, they just don’t do it. The trick is finding out how to motivate yourself and take action :)
@Alunda @ My Take on Money – Thanks! And only took me 30 seconds this time, rather than 2 hours to come up with a good post – yay! Thanks for commenting :)
I was just messing with ya J. I agree most people are poor because they spend more than they make, even if they make nothing. But then you get into the situations where people are “born into poverty”, which is a reality and it’s tough to move up in the world when you’re surrounded by those willing to bring you down to their level or don’t know any better to teach you. The cycle continues over and over in these portions of society, except for a select few who make it out.
You mya be poor because you don’t earn enough so there is nothing much to spend or save. And this may be because the economy is sh*t and one is so under qualified, under educated and over confident that…Oh, well…you are right :).
If it were that easy, dude, we’d both be out of a job right now.
@Clever Dude – For sure, those of us who were born in better off countries were blessed form the beginning and have a much bigger advantage from the start. There are always exceptions to things we blog about.
@maria@moneyprinciple – Haha… you’re right that there are lots of variables though! Luckily some of them we have more control over than others ;)
@Donna Freedman – You got that right!