9 signs you aren't saving enough money

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Earning a lot of money doesn't necessarily make you rich.

At the end of the day, no matter what your paycheck reads, you still have to save and invest your money if you want to accumulate wealth.

Are you setting aside enough? To help you evaluate, we've rounded up nine red flags to watch out for.

You can barely pay your bills each month

Are you just meeting your obligations each month? This is known as "living paycheck to paycheck," and makes it nearly impossible to build up significant savings.

How to improve: You have two options: Earn more money, or spend less. If you go the first route, take a look at lifestyle changes to make if you want to earn more, steps to negotiate a raise, and ways to make extra cash while working full-time.

If you're aiming to spend less, check out lifestyle changes to make if you want to spend less and saving strategies from everyday people who retired before 40. You may also want to think about reducing your largest costs, like your rent or transportation, on top of spending less on a daily basis.

You tell yourself you'll save more when you start making more

This is one of the most common "money lies" people tell themselves, Patrice C. Washington, author of "Real Money Answers for Every Woman," told Business Insider.

"How you manage $100 is likely how you'll manage $100,000," she says. "You're the same person with the same attitude, and the same behaviors and habits. It's not about getting more money. It's about being more disciplined with the money you have."

Plus, she adds, "when I earn more" isn't a date of action. "Someday is not a day on the calendar. We really have to do a better job of buckling down and saying 'I'm ready to take action.'"

How to improve: Don't wait until the new year, after graduation, for a birthday, or when a tax refund arrives in the mail to start saving.

Think about your savings as a fixed cost — something you must pay every month, like rent and your cell phone bill — before you spend on dinners out and other "wants." Next, consider setting up a recurring automatic transfer from your checking account to a savings account — this way, you'll never even see the money and will learn to live without it.

You haven't started saving for retirement

Saving for retirement can't wait, no matter how far off it may seem.

If you're putting it off, you're not alone: A third of Americans have $0 saved for retirement, according to a 2016 GOBankingRates.com survey. Moreover, the survey found, 56% of Americans have less than $10,000, and approximately 75% of Americans over 40 are behind in their savings.

How to improve: Saving for retirement can take a few different forms — a company-sponsored 401(k) or an IRA are two of the most popular savings vehicles — but no matter how you choose to save, the best thing you can do is start early.

Many experts recommend setting aside at least 10% of your income. That being said, if you're only comfortable with setting aside 1%, it's better to start there than not get started at all.

There's a lot of advice on saving for retirement out there: Check out the seven questions to ask yourself before deciding you're ready to retire, ways to guarantee you won't save enough money to retire, and how much money you'd need to save every day to become a millionaire by 65.