The Rat Traps to Savings

Dear readers, to save money is one of the most important, if not the most important step to financial independence and retirement.Without this step, nothing will be achieved. No emergency funds, no investments, no safety net. So why is it that so many out there who are able to save still not saving or saving way too little?
I guess the main reason is that they have hit one of the several Rat Traps. Rat Traps are traps that stop you from getting out of the Rat Race. It traps you and keeps you there until you die. Sad but true.

For today's post, I'm going to talk more about the Rat Traps that keep you from saving money. I hope that you are not currently caught in them and if you are, I sincerely hope that you will realize it after reading this post and get out of it and eventually the never ending Rat Race.

So without further ado, here they are.

1. Ready, get set.....NOTHING 
• The hardest part to doing anything new is to get started. There are so many thoughts running through our heads that keep us from taking that first step forward. The 2 largest killing factors are fear and procrastination. For savings, it's mainly procrastination. We always have something we need the money for first, so wait. Too lazy to open a savings account, so wait. Remember, every single day you procrastinate will delay your target date of retirement. Push yourself out of your comfort zone, tell someone or everyone that you are going to start a savings plan and do it. This will push you to not procrastinate and friends and family will from time to time ask you how your plans are going, thus reminding you to keep on doing it.
2. Inconsistent Savings.
• If you are not saving on a regular basis, you will not be able to form the habit of saving. Your conviction to save will be too rubbery. You might fall into the trap of eventually telling yourself, why save and stop saving altogether. Combat this trap by setting up an automated savings account. Most banks have these and the best part is that you wont even have to think about it.
3. Eenie meenie minee mo!
• This trap is, to me, the deadliest of all traps. Conflicting goals. It makes you weigh and choose which situation is the more important one. Conflicting goals are when  you have to choose between saving for that period, or using it to go for that year end holiday you and your family have been talking about all year. If you save, you will be on target to retirement. If you spend on the holiday, your family would be happy. So hard to decide...Set your priorities right, and sometimes, its okay to compromise. The best thing you can do here is to, if you know that you are going to spend on a year end holiday, start setting money aside throughout the year for it. This way, you will not eat into your retirement portions of your savings and your family will be able to have a nice holiday.
4. I'm going nowhere..forget it.
• This is where most people get caught, they have taken the 1st step, and the 2nd and maybe even reached the 10th step. But at a certain point, you will definitely start to doubt and wonder whether all of this is worth the effort at all. Your savings and investments seem to be going nowhere. The balance doesn't even look like its moving. But please, you have pulled yourself this far. Nothing good is ever free or easy. There is a saying that the 1st $100,000 or the 1st $1,000,000 is the hardest and as you go on, it gets easier and easier. Just put one foot in front of the other and keep on going. Set mini goals in between this large goal to keep yourself motivated. Set yearly or monthly goals to save a certain amount, invest a certain amount or pay of a certain amount of debt. This helps, trust me.

Having read about the traps, can you relate to any of them? Are you currently in one? Or did you manage to get out of all these traps? I sincerely hope that we will all escape these traps as soon as possible and get on with out journey towards an early retirement. To those that are still there, don't give up. Try again and never be afraid to ask for help. We come and go from this world alone, but for the span of time that we are in it, we are not.

As always, save more, spend less and invest wisely.
P.