Why I Can't Save Money

I hate money. Mostly, because I hate the fact that I have none. I'm constantly struggling for money, living "paycheck-to-paycheck", and feeling like I'm going nowhere in life. I try to save money, but it just seems so difficult.

I have a theory. What if it's actually harder to save money in this day and age than it used to be? I know that there's a huge difference in how much money is worth now. $10 to us could be something like $100 or more, depending on how far back you compare it to. So not only did our ancestors have more money than us, but they also didn't have such easy shopping opportunities, devices that display advertisements related to our interests, and they didn't have to deal with what I like to call the constant advertisement bombardment (CAB).

This world is a consumer world. If you live in a small town or anything bigger, every time you step outside, there's opportunity to shop. Down the street, around the corner, and then when you look down, on your smartphone. There are literally constant opportunities to spend money. Even if you go to the beach for an afternoon, there's an ice cream stand, and a place to buy drinks. Not to mention, when you want to purchase something, all it takes is a tap of the magic card. Forget your magic card? You can hook it up to your phone too.

Take a look on your phone. How many of the applications you use regularly are offering in-app purchases? Almost all of them, I bet. And then you have the online shopping opportunities, where there hundreds of thousands of online shopping websites. Most of them take credit card, or an online debit card, which a lot of us have sitting in our wallets.

Have you ever felt like your phone is listening to you? Maybe they are. One night, I was sitting in the living room and talking with my boyfriend. He mentioned a website name. A few minutes later, when I opened my phone and went on Facebook, I saw an advertisement for that same website. No, he didn't google it on my phone. He hadn't touched my phone. He only spoke near it. It kinda freaks me out, so I won't say much more than this - watch what you say.

The constant advertisement bombardment is what happens when you watch tv, go online, walk outside, do anything in your life. There are ads everywhere. From our favourite apps to our favourite shows, there are advertisements displayed that are catered to our interests. Again, I was sitting with my boyfriend. This time we were watching tv when I said, "I fell for that," when referring to a commercial on tv. I had downloaded the app before, a while back. That's when I realized how real the CAB is.

In the outside environment, you can see advertisements on billboards, on the side of vehicles, in newspapers, and in person. You have to travel pretty deep into the woods (without a phone) in order to avoid the CAB reaching you.

The moral of the story is - it's hard to save money. If you're having a hard time growing your savings, you're not alone. I struggle with this every day, and then some. If you can think of easy ways to save money in a society consumed by CAB, let me know. I'd love to share ideas and see how real this is.

Here's a fun side note: While writing this and watching tv, I looked up at a commercial and said "I want that."