It can't be too hard to save money, surely? It must be though as credit becomes more and more rampant and those financial gurus seem more and more concerned with our lack of saving habits.

I have a few friends who struggle with saving and are using the tax system as a saving mechanism. They happily allow their employers to deduct extra tax from their wages with the hope of being able to claim it all back once they submit their annual return. They brag to me about their supposed 'windfall' not realising that they were allowing the government to borrow their money free-of-charge for the past 12 months.

On the other hand though they now have this pool of money available to them which they probably would have struggled to save during the course of the year. Which begs the question, why is it so hard to save money? And, is forced savings a key to helping these people get ahead with their finances?