1. What are current and long-term consequences of not saving?

If you don’t pay your rent or cell-phone bill, the consequences are immediate. If you fail to stash money in savings as soon as you start earning a paycheck, you probably won’t notice the damage right away. But the long-term fallout can be devastating if it limits your choices—whether that’s buying the house you want, sending your kids to a top college, or deciding when (or even if ) you can retire.
Say you’re 25 years old and you put $500 into a mutual fund that earns 8% a year, and you add $100 each month. You’ll wind up with more than $335,000 by the time you’re 65, excluding taxes. If you wait until you’re 35, invest $2,500 and then add that $100 a month, all else being equal you’ll have only about $167,000 by age 65.
Pay yourself first. If you skim savings off the top of each paycheck, the cash will disappear before you have a chance to miss it. With a 401(k) retirement plan at work, for example, your employer pulls the amount you designate from each paycheck. For other savings, you can schedule automatic transfers from your checking account.
You may want to set up multiple savings accounts if that helps you track progress toward each goal more easily.