Little is Too Little When it Comes to Spending Less Money?

Saving is important but is rarely done in the United States in our society today. In the earlier part of the 20th century, saving money was a well honored tradition, but it has fallen to the wayside over the past few decades. This is due to credit mainly. If you want to buy something and don't have the money you can just charge it, whereas 50 years ago, you would have to wait to buy it until you had enough saved.

Credit has become a problem for many of us because it has put us in debt. Saving money is a foreign term to many Americans. Luckily, some people have been turning around. If you search the web, you can find many blogs and sites devoted to saving money and eliminating debt. It has been somewhat of a revolution that has swept the internet, and hopefully affected the lives of many families and individuals.

It's great to see someone focused on saving money. They want to save money for college, to build an emergency fund, to buy a new house or car, or to invest and prepare for retirement. These are great goals to achieve and can only be done with diligent saving. Still, problems sometimes do arise. When you begin to save, you may get caught up in it. Are you saving beyond your own comfort level? Are you affecting the people around you and your own well-being by saving too much?

Yes, it is possible to save too much, but not in the sense that you save so much you don't know what to do with it. You can save too much by being too frugal or, dare I say, stingy. If you deprive yourself of everything just to save a buck, you are saving too much. Do you stay home and read books or talk to yourself instead of going out because you can't spare a few dollars for a dinner with friends once in a while? Have your parents forgotten what you look like because you refuse to take the 35 minute extra drive to their house for fear of wasting too much money on gas? Are you wearing the same worn clothes you've had the past 5 years because you can't part with your cash?

You have to balance your life. Spend money where you can afford it and only on things you truly need and will truly enjoy. Give yourself some spending money in your budget, and if you have trouble spending it, make it a requirement that you have to spend that money on things you want.

If you are in heavy debt and need to get out of it, I recommend throwing everything you can at it. In this case, be stingy! Hopefully it will only take a year or two and then you can transition to a more comfortable lifestyle.