Why Most People Can't Save Money

You can't save money because you're not only poor, but you also want to show off

This year when I went home for the New Year, I discovered a magical phenomenon
My relatives at home earn three to five thousand a month
But they've accumulated two to three hundred thousand in savings
Yet they're all talking about changing cars, and they're all looking at cars over 200,000
I asked them if their old cars couldn't be driven anymore
They said they could, but now that they have money, they need to get a better one to save face
With only 300,000 total, they're taking 200,000 to buy a big metal box
This is what I call poor person's style showing off

Many people can't save money because they believed that nonsense
"Earning money is meant to be spent, you should learn to reward yourself"
Finally scraped together 100,000, immediately buy a purse
Finally scraped together 500,000, immediately change a car
You've destroyed your principal, zeroed out your ability to withstand risk
What is true reward?
It's using this money to make more money, to buy assets, to build passive income
Only when passive income can cover your consumption
Then you can buy cars and purses, that's what I call a reward
Right now, the money you're spending is all buying liabilities
It only makes you sink deeper into the pit of working

Some people also say consumption determines status
I drive a 500,000 car, then others will respect me
Come on
In that small-town community where everyone knows each other, everyone knows exactly what your family is worth
Even if you drive a Rolls-Royce, everyone knows you borrowed money to buy it
It's the truly rich people
Even if they wear big shorts, drive a broken Jetta
As long as they have money in their pockets, who would dare look down on them
Face is earned through strength, not propped up by cars

When you're still overdrawing your future for the sake of so-called face
Rich people are laughing at your bank statement
A 500,000 car and a 200,000 car have no difference when stuck in traffic
But having 300,000 in cash versus having nothing
When facing unemployment, illness, or accidents
That's the difference between heaven and hell

300,000 in cash lets you live with dignity for three years without a job
It lets you not have to beg for money with a low voice when your parents get sick
This is true peace of mind
Don't sacrifice true security for a moment of vanity
Stop making yourself so fragile

Saving money is against human nature
It requires you to resist desire, resist vanity, resist consumerism's brainwashing
But only saved money is your moat in this cruel world
Don't wait until the storm arrives
Before discovering you can't even afford to buy an umbrella

Let me give two most intuitive examples
I once watched the movie "Beijing Meets Seattle"
The character played by Tang Wei was a mistress covered in luxury brands
When her sugar daddy ran into trouble, she had no money to live
She had to take those Hermès bags that cost tens of thousands of yuan and sell them on the street

But nobody wanted them even for a few hundred yuan
That's when she understood
These so-called luxury items are worthless in the face of survival
If she had saved the money spent on bags back then, even if she only saved half
She wouldn't have fallen to that state

Now look at young people today
Making five thousand monthly salary, dare to buy a 10,000 phone, dare to eat 500 per capita Japanese food
Usually looks quite glamorous
Once facing layoffs or landlord raising the rent
Immediately panic, can't even scrape together next month's food money

But that colleague who is usually stingy, only wears Uniqlo
Can calmly pull out a resignation letter and say
I quit, going home to rest for half a year
Because their card has two years of living expenses

You see, this is backbone
Saving money isn't about being a miser
It's about giving you the guts to face a shitty life and say
I'm not afraid
When you have savings
Your backbone is straight, your choices are free
When you have no savings
You can only beg on your knees