All of us know that we need to save money for future needs. This could be for buying a house, for education of children, for retirement and so on. Even otherwise money needs to be saved, as we all know, for the rainy day. This saving has to come from our regular income. But even as we are aware of this fact, many of us fail to save enough. If you think you are not saving enough, there could be a few reasons behind it. Let us take a look:

1. You do not have a budget

This means that you do not have an idea where you are spending your hard-earned money. Not having a budget implies that you have no idea if you are spending beyond your limits in certain areas and hence there is no way you can cut down on it too. Without a budget it is very difficult to save money because you will end up spending it all and be living from pay-check to pay-check every month. In such a situation, you will never be able to save enough.

2. You give in to impulsive purchases

It is normal to want the latest gadget or luxury items, but if you are prone to making too many impulsive purchases, you will end up spending more than you should and eventually not save enough. Now anything that you want to buy is available on EMIs, so it may seem like a manageable expense but several EMIs add up and put a stress on your finances. One way of resisting the temptation of such purchases is to give it some time before you make an impulsive purchase. In some cases you may decide that you really don’t need the product and end up not buying it.

3. Not automating your savings

It is easy to spend, but difficult to save. One sure way of saving is to first save and then spend whatever is remaining. If that is not done, you would end up spending all your money, also your extra income, if any. The smartest way to do that is to automate your savings. For example Rs 20,000 may be deducted from your salary every month for investment in different mutual fund schemes. This auto-debit ensures that you never miss out on your savings. Set these auto-debit dates just after your salary comes in, so that your investments are automated. Not automating your savings and investments is one reason why you never save enough.

4. Not having an emergency fund

If you do not build an emergency fund of a few months of your expenses, you may be caught on the wrong foot when there is an emergency requirement of money. Such a situation may not only jeopardise your regular savings, in some cases it would also mean digging into your existing savings.

5. Not having specific goals

Sometimes when you do not have specific goals, there is not enough incentive to save. For example, when you know you are saving for a vacation after two years, you will have more reason to save. Once your goals are mapped out and you are saving for them specifically, there is more incentive to save for your goals. Also you can track your progress towards those goals in a regular manner and make adjustments if necessary.

If any of these reasons is not letting you save enough, you know what to do. It is never too late to start!