My barriers towards saving money.....

1. Not working.
2. Expenses. (especially food and anything car-related)
3. My Gran. (I send her the occasional cheque as a contribution towards her bills)
4. Negligence. (e.g. Wrecking my left wing mirror and having to pay 168 for it and also having to pay an additional 40 for fixing the spare wheel which buckled)

Rena, How old are you children? One of the first lessons our girls learned was the difference between "wants" and "needs". If they really needed something, of course we'd get it for them . However we had a say as to what they got. For example, if one needed a backpack for school , we'd get it. However, if she wanted a "my little pony " one thta was made of plastic, she had to buy it. We'd get her one from L L Bean who promises to replace anything if it breaks.
We lived very frugally; never had cable or those things that "all the other kids on the island have". Because we lived this way, we were able to sent the kids to college . We got financial aid , but the girls didn't have to take out loans, so they graduated with no debt.

Now my barriers to saving?

1. Not supported in any way by my husband. I buy my own food and anything else you can think of. ( I can't afford a divorce,but the thought is always present)
2. Being disabled due to multiple head injuries. I get 500 dollars a month, but it goes quite fast due to lack of support and also having to pay car expenses and the house heat. ( I allow 100 dollars a month for food )

I am managing to save a little bit each month ; I do without things so I can put 20 or 30 dollars away. I'm doing this because I can foresee a day I'm not with Mark, so will have to have some money.. A sad reason to save, but those are the facts.

yeah my children are 14/9/6 the oldest is going to be 20 at the end of this month and hopefully on her way to becoming self sufficient. Idk though.
I live very frugal at points I have my downfalls, like my truck, I need it in a sense, its my livelihood, but I think I dug my own rut there. But I will get out of it.
Its the "needs v wants" that I struggle with. But we are working on it.

First step is knowing you have a problem :)
My barriers:
Huge student loan debt.
Eating out.

We have cut down on alot. Student loans are the price of a small house. Im afraid I wont be able to send my daughter to college bc I still will be pay my debt.

Hey, I'm new around here.

My barriers:
- having to pay back money that the government gave me as an error
- compulsive spending as a means to cope with anxiety
- living alone (high rent, no sharing of expenses, relying on going out for social life)
- behind in bills.
- credit card debt

I can relate to what you are experiencing, but I believe there is hope that things could turn around. I know the concept of spending less than what is taken in, but I'm still struggling to get there; but at least it's a goal that I'm hoping to reach some day.

I have been out of work since March 2008? Was "forced" to take FML due to back problems and potential surgery. Had Surgery _____. Didn't have a job to go back to. Applied for unemployment but was denied because of same employer. Finally applied for disability. Have been denied 3x? Next court date July 2013. We have gone beyond being able to juggle things around. Can no longer rob Peter to pay Paul. Have spent several thousand dollars on new "specialist", meds, gas, lunch for me and driver. Lost our home that we had just bought in 20??. Moved in with my parents to help take of them somewhere around this time. Lost our car that we only owed about 6 pmts on. Husband had major heart attack in Nov 2001? then another hospitalization in Feb 2012?. Because of some of my medical issues ther have been several mistakes in both checking accounts. Trying to set things up so that bills are paid automatically and that has messed up several times. We had a water leak that wasn't detected until we had had several over 200.00 or more water bills. Money needed to fix it cause it was underground between house and meter, Son and DIL moved in for a couple weeks which has been I don't know how long. No money from them because son is in jail and we don not even want to go there. That is another story. He was really done dirty. So...... We are truly at our wits end.