Consistency pays

To be fair, she did a few things right.

She was consistent in the amount she saved.

She saved regularly. Every month. Savings must not be sporadic. You will never get far this way.

Savings must be a habit. A priority.

It must be done before your lifestyle dictates what to do with the money.

Saving a fixed amount and trying your level best to stick to it is wise. It is also rather difficult.

One can always find an excuse why the savings must be less this month: a birthday gift, a wedding gift, friends down from abroad -- all these eat away into your money.

In her case, saving Rs 7,000 a month was pretty commendable. It amounted to 35 percent of her take-home salary. That means within a year, she would have accumulated Rs 84,000. A good amount, no doubt!

Now let's see where she went wrong.