Ask HN: What's the most frustrating part about saving money?

2 points by jmaccabee 9 years ago | 2 comments

A few months ago I asked the HN community what their favorite way to save money is. People really seemed to engage with the topic, so I'm revisiting saving money from a different angle this time.

I read last week that something like 50% of American households don't have enough cash readily available for a $500 emergency. This seemed crazy to me, but it definitely seems like there's a real problem relating to saving money these days.

So - what's the most frustrating part about saving money??

Jaruzel 9 years ago |

The most frustrating part about saving money, is that you need spare money before you can save it. It's a catch-22 situation. People who struggle to have to spare cash tend to spend it immediately, thus preventing them from saving it.

There have been many studies on this, but basically humans are addicted to their instant gratification monkey. It's FAR more satisfying to spend that bill in your pocket on something nice and shiny, than it is to store it out of sight for a rainy day.

Ok here we go, the URL to which I refer:

http://waitbutwhy.com/2013/10/why-procrastinators-procrastin...

It's not about 'money' per se, but does explain the gratification issue which is why we're all mostly useless at doing things that don't instantly pay off.

HerpDerpLerp 9 years ago |

All the shiny things that want to be mine but I have to say no too!