This is where a little knowledge can go a long way. Assuming a ~10% interest rate (just to make the math easy, and is approximately what you'd expect in the stock market), it takes ~6.5 years of constant savings before your saved money earns more than the amount saved each year.

In other words, you can give future you (6.5 years in the future) a raise over 100% of your current income by beginning to save some percentage of it (e.g. 10%). At 6.5 years, the 90% you can spend will be greater than your 100% from 6.5 years prior, and you get to continue to save 10%, further increasing both your income and your nest egg.

The thing is.. when you refuse endure this temporary pain, the natural consequence is that the rest of your life will be filled with more pain.

Sadly for some of us (myself included at many times in my life), we just can't make those decisions as easily as we hoped. Willpower and determination seemed so easy when I was young.