The number one reason why you'll start saving

People often ask how they can start saving money and wonder if it is even possible to save. If you weren't raised in a home where saving was a culture there will only be one reason that will make you to save your money.

                  

The other day I was asked a question of what would encourage a person to save. I went home and I thought about it. And then it came to me.

A crisis, that is what will cause most of us to save.

Life has the ability to smack us now and then but the smacks come with different degrees of pain. First it will smack us and we'll just shrug it off, and move on. Then life smacks us again, only this time we see stars. But still we just wipe the tears and move on. Then life smacks us so hard that we stumble, fall, crumble and pass out.

And then when you wake up, everything you've ever worked for has disappeared, and you have nothing left. And you have to start from scratch, with nothing, zero, zilch, nada.
This is usually the time that you also learn to appreciate and understand the value of money. Because it will be gone.

Then and only then as we start recovering from that financial disaster, do we start changing our ways. And then we start saving.

When we look in front of us all we see is this big mountain, and just as we want to take the first step to start climbing the mountain, the ground shakes again and we are going even deeper, to find ourselves in a hole. While we are crying in that hole, with seemingly no way out, we became aware of a tiny ant next to us.

The mountain is our debt; the hole, our emotions while we are struggling with debt; and the ant is our salary to cover our debt.

You are not alone. You will get through this. 

Usually a crises bring about change. And it is possible to start saving in the midst of a mountain of debt. Taking that first step will empower you in a way that you can not imagine. Once you realise the power of saving, you will realise that you can conquer your debt as well. One step at a time. One day at a time. One goal at a time.

Photo by Bich Tran from Pexels