UA-cam is my cable too. It's nice to see you here, Jane. My backyard, with the swimming pool is my vacation spot. My animals are better substitution than a trip to the zoo. My kitchen is my restaurant. And list goes on and on.
"If you still buy something when you will not be able to show it to anybody, then you are really buying it for yourself, not to show off" -- I like this logic so much! :-)
I find myself watching you on UA-cam all the time. I was never a truly frugal person even though I was raised in a low income family but these days I find myself getting more involved in the frugal lifestyle! Your early 20s is truly a time to grow ahaha Thank you so much for all of your advice!
Ha! I rather think of the lifestyle as they way you do things that can be a lot cheaper and get equivalent goods and services. If you get almost the same results or goods, then why not right? Thanks for watching these vids!
BeatTheBush I actually need internet when I'm out of the house and I need apps like WhatsApp and Viber to communicate with relatives back in my home country. I only ever wanted a smartphone when I realized I needed internet when outside, I didn't want one before. And now I squeeze out of it as much as I can - my dad had given me a tablet some years ago and of course I used it, but when it broke - I barely felt it, I just transfereed all I did on it on my smartphone. Now I feel the need for a laptop for school. Let's see how that'll work out in a frugal manner. :D
Me too. My coworkers were all comparing thier iphones. I jumped in and whipped out my flip phone and we got a good laugh. I use it in public and no one cares. The only ones that that may say anything or tive a look are teenyboppers that dont know shit about life
Without ads, people will not even know about the do-dads that they suddenly cannot live without. This is as opposed to organically realizing you need something and then trying to find out what the best product out there is to solve the problem you have.
I like how your video is getting deeper and still reminds practicable. I agree it is more about having right mindset toward your goal than proper budgeting. One of the best videos!
Thanks! One might still have a huge itch to spend if you do not have a proper mindset thus causing one to not feel good skimping on oneself. But if you have a reason to do it, it becomes a whole lot easier.
I've been saving for a few solid months now and I already see the benefits ... my girlfriends phone stopped working ...BAM ...I just bought her a new one... my cars AC stopped working.. BAM... got it repaired with no issue because I had more than enough money to do it and I'm continuing to save
Seriosuly im so glad I found you! I have your exact mentality and I always have family looking down on me for being"cheap" when in reality I am a very frugal person. My mom is a HUGE spender and then wonders why she never has enough. I learned from her misakes and now I see consumerism everywhere! It was hard to come to this idc mentality but now that I am here im so glad I didn't cave in to the norm !! Thank you for this video!!! It was seriously so refreshing !
=D Frugal people unite! =D Nothing better than a super efficient usage of money. When the value is there, spending $100 on dinner is actually okay but it's rare.
Obviously saving money and being frugal is about having a certain mindset, however,I think proper budgeting can really help with this too. My wife and I have a miscellaneous expense line on our monthly budget. This miscellaneous expense is our fun money. We can spend this money each month, and not feel guilty, and at the same time still be heavily investing for retirement. We try hard to limit ourselves to our "fun" money budget each month so we are not blowing large amounts of money and throwing away our future. We did not have this kind of flexibility a few years ago, however, as our careers progressed our income is much higher than it used to be. Thanks for the vid.
You're mentality seems to be already on the frugal mindset already. That is, you already are trying to save and spend the minimum for the equivalent goods and services. I think what you described is in a different video here: ua-cam.com/video/HGEVJPSZj9c/v-deo.html For a person that is not frugal to begin with, there is no concept of even wanting to budget. Some people just WANT everything even if they know they shouldn't.
Wish I had started frugality sooner. I appreciate that you do not feel you should deprive yourself. Glad to see you have "knick knacks" to make you smile.
Many good points in this video. Definately dont want to keep up with the jones because they live way beyond thier means. I want be able to retire some day. The difference is ill be relaxing on a beach with cold one in my hand while the jones are pushing a broom someplace. But they always got the newest tv or car.
The Jones are likely using a roomba though. But the frugal might also have a roomba bought very cheaply refurb and it still does the same thing but it's 3 generations older.
I like what you said about before you make a purchase to ask yourself if you couldn't tell anyone about it would you still buy it (I'm paraphrasing of course), it reminds me of the more well known frugal saying wait 30 days before you buy something if it is just a want. In today's social network society it makes sense that people could fall into the trap of competing with people on facebook over who has the coolest crap and never looking at it again after posting it. When I bought my E90 M3 it was a dream car and very expensive and hard for me to justify, but I never told anyone I bought it, it still makes me happy every time I get behind the wheel and barely anyone knows I have the car and I have had it for quite some time.
Yes I waited until I could get one for half of what they would have cost new, that's one good thing about it being a BMW it depreciates very fast initially.
Love the emphasis on balance between now and later. Because it's important, and concentrating long-term on only one or the other hurts your happiness and security.
That's really disappointing that anyone would judge based on the phone you have. Sadly, most people think this way. It's sheep mentality and they do not have the understanding of the world as you do. You can carry a flip phone, no phone, or a Nokia 3310 and I certainly would not care nor laugh at you.
Check your colleges balance sheets, I bet it is negative or minimal. All of those dollars and cents you save add up. The richest guy at my job drives a 200,000 mile car and is not at all interested about how much he can spend on a new car but rather how many miles he can get out of this car with the minimal repairs he has put in them. I can also tell you that is iphone from 3-4 models ago has cracks on the screen, he is the last person to join in the lunch order at work and I am pretty sure he doesn't give a damn about anyone else thinks. At the end of the day he is still the guy with all the money in the bank.
The joke is on them in the end. They are the ones being tricked into giving their money to big businesses for things they don't need. And you will end up richer probably.
I follow Shaq's advice: Take your salary, divide it in half. Put one half into your savings. Now, with the other half, divide it into halves again. Hhere's where I make it extra tolerable for those who aren't frugal: Use the first half for basic necesities. What you have left on your first half, put it in savings. The second half is your disposable. But whatever you want. It also helps having a list of spendings and a self imposed financial goal every month.
Anyhow I recommended to try various hobbies and just put yourself out there trying new things, that's how you discover what you love. You must have came across some things where you have done that you literally forgot about time and forget to eat, etc because you enjoyed doing it so much no?
Allow me to compliment you. You are a young man and are wise beyond your years. Thank you for your kind an informative video. I have been frugal on certain things but not on others. generally though a positive outcome for retirement. There are some tings you talked about that I wished that I had not bought or invested in. My retirement is comfortable but I always wondered if it could have been better. You are doing a great service.
We love to go camping once every summer. We start our trip funding every August and by the time our summer trip comes in July next year, we have enough money to spend it. This plan has helped us not to get into a debt.
BeatTheBush I am VERY frugal I have to be. Don't be shy I'm old enough to be your mom. We can just meet and just walk and talk. I need to pick your brain on the credit card stuff I always get confused.... Plus your my buddy. Your subs are getting up there I remember when you first started. You will be able to live off your UA-cam money soon and bank all your income like you did last year! I'm proud of you BTB.... I still can't figure out my editing, makes me very sad!
While it's really easy for me to be frugal, I often go overboard. I feel like it's unsafe to spend more, even though we do have an emergency fund in place. But we do have a mortgage. And, as many people know, there is a huge risk of loosing a home if one had to miss a payment if they run out of money due to too many emergencies or decrease of an income.
I see. So it's the need to be even more secure. So perhaps after you save a large enough an emergency fund than you have now, you might let up a bit and spend more to live your life a bit more.
So true, you need the confidence to go through with things like this. Until last week we had an 18 year old fridge and you could tell. When we had friends over they would give us a weird look when they took out a beer or something. We didn't care. We replaced it when it broke and not a day earlier.
Mindless spending can really drain a bank account quickly. It's really easy to walk in a store and blow 20 dollars on items that you really don't need.
Pretty much all of us can look and dress like the richest person in the world..... because that's Bill Gates , who looks like he shops at a Kmart clearance rack. :) True though, the less you care about trying to impress everyone, the less stressed you will be about money issues...
Lol, but then will people believe you are? His face is famous so no way to compare with him. I agree, if you care less then you end up spending money to care. Thus saving you a huge amount of money. I dare say a majority of money spent is to impress others these days.
One thing for shopping as an addiction or stress reliever. One way for me to compensate to at least some degree is just go thrifting once or twice a week and only spend $5-10 on essentially a surprise item. For me just the browsing and finding a surprise item is a good stress reliever, and very often I find more useful things at thrift stores than say, Wal-mart.
Shopping as an addiction... I can see that happening but I wonder where it comes from. I too would want something new but it takes months before that happens.
I don't think it's so much an addiction on some grand scale, as in like, gambling thousands of dollars, but more what you speak of as buying coffees, etc. Some is wanting the item, but imo, some is just because people are bored and also not feeling like working. Like playing a video game, etc. Some people obviously do go at it as a full fledged real addiction, but for most people I think it's that amount of "normal" addiction. For some wealthy people, they can go insane doing whatever. I knew wealthy people (well, their wives....) that would spend $100-200+ per day on lotto tickets. But for me with thrift stores, I think that's a way to turn it positive to a large degree. For example, I got my whole PC build with a newer gen i5, 16gb RAM, and motherboard new in the box for $15 at a thrift store, worth about $300. So I think in some ways, having less "targeted" kind of shopping can pay off, and thrift stores are a place for that. But then in others, having a real thing in mind, all your specs, etc, the exact item, etc, and just saving and buying for it is better as well, but sometimes you can leverage opportunity to your advantage if you know what to look for. Watched your sunglasses ep for example, and one store going out of business here sold a bunch of Foster Grant sunglasses (very good quality, btw, quite worth their $20ish MSRP) for $1-2 a pair. Of course I already knew Foster Grant, knew CPU specs, etc, so the knowledge, etc, is needed for this sort of thing.
I dont think i could ever fully retire. I would need some sort of income like from rental property or something. It would also be cool to pass on to my children, like generational wealth.
You retire when you have enough passive income to cover your expenses. But I don't believe in fully retiring either in the traditional sense of doing nothing. People are meant to do stuff or else you become stale and die. So I would keep active and do things more enjoyable but may not make that much instead.
I’m the exact opposite of being frugal, I am quite wasteful and recently I start to feel it’s a very unhealthy habit. But the thing is I buy a lot I mean A LOT of things without anyone knowing, I think it’s harder to shake off than if I am actually buying to show off and that’s why I feel it’s actually a mental health problem, like compulsive buying. Your video has helped me a lot.
Oh my... you have to wonder what happens to those things. Look at things you bought a year ago, are they still being used now? It takes practice to develop a distaste for not wanting STUFF.
Oh, I love shopping. I go to Amazon and stroll through the rows and put nice stuff in my shopping cart I'd like to have. Then I let it rest in the cart. 2 weeks later I look at the cart again. Funny how few I need of this stuff after this time...
I do know how to cook as well, as did it professionally for the millionaires here at the Hamptons...so I save money by cooking gourmet dishes for me and my bf ( like Italian , Filipino, Japanese dishes etc...) and by watching your vids I'm learning a lot...Blessings to you!💜
Love your channel. 100% agree with things you suggested. I been telling people "You Don't Need It!" Humans are animals of greed always wants and needs but to life freely and happy we really don't need clutter.
"imagine whenever you're buying something that you cannot show it to anyone, talk to anyone about it, post a pic on FB about it, would you still buy it?" instantly thumbs up
I can't agree with you more on "I don't care what people think about me mentality", since that is what I tell myself everyday. I am a frugal Engineer in Bay area too. It seems we have some similarities.
I love this video ,,,,, I try to be a little frugal but I also buy things good quality items, when I need them, so I don't have to keep buying them when they breakdown ,,when I buy a cheap item it will only last a short time ,so I need to buy another one and spend time to shop for the item again , I like to buy good quality and buy once only ,,hope this makes sense ....cheers
Buying quality could quickly fall into buying the most expensive. It is buying the lowest cost to own per year that really saves you money. Often times, it'll be the quality items that are slightly higher price but watch out for those very very high price items where you have to use it for 2 lifetimes to make up for the cost.
I just realized - I've never really wanted to buy anything that I wouldn't want to if it wasn't for others. Unless the "others" are what's fun about it - e.g. I like watching movies, but I prefer to watch them comfortably at home. Pnce or twice a year though I go to the cinema with friends - the friends part is what's really fun about it. (Maybe a little bit also that it's generally a different experience than watching at home.) But for such things I don't feel like I'm buying a thing, rather than I am paying for an experience. So in that sense - yeah I do get influenced by others sometimes. But when it comes to ITEMS I don't really. I just want what I want.
I'm the same. When it comes to social interactions, I tend to be less strict about it. However, if it's one of those $100+ night outs then I might shy away from it.
Savements are just another kind of income. And without all the things around us we don´t need to clean so much. Things can steal a lot of time. Great video!
You have given me some ideas to think about.I was a saver growing up but now a spender...on restaurants(I live in the restaurant district) and my friends socialize this way. I must change. I am also a sugar addict and I developed diabetes bec of this.I just gave my credit card to my friend to get thru and pass by this poor choice of spending money and creating poor health.
Where to begin, to get myself out of the credit card debt/PTSD/despairing hole that I'm in.... You have great suggestions, but I'm still looking for where to start.
Where to start? Depends on your income level. If's is very low, you can start by getting more education or getting promoted or making side income. Reducing expenses that you currently have specially when its not needed.
I really enjoy your videos. By the way, how do you prepare to talk in front of the camera so eloquently. Do you prepare detailed script beforehand or TelePrompter? I want to learn how to be a better speaker on youtube. Thank you in advance.
Thanks! If you watch my early videos, I am terrible at it. It's the result of practice over doing 430 videos. I make an outline but never word for word.
Just subscribed to your channel man - love the content! Do you have a video on college loans? Fed vs private. I'm debating if I should switch over to sofi or stick with my fed loans.
Trying to decide to either buy a home or continue to save. What to do? Saving has pdoven very succesful. What to do??? Any suggesgions? All family members and freinds are home owners but, they have limited savings. I feel like I'm not in the home owners club. What to do?? Please advise. Thank you, Martha V California
I cant decide that for you. There is elevated risk right now for buying but if you're buying for long term of 10+ years, then it might be okay. Short term might see some dips though. I guess only those that can see the future will know what to do in this situation. I for one even consider selling and renting for a while. If you did that at the right time on '07, you would've made it out like gang busters. Of course, talking after the fact always seems so easy. It's so hard to decide now.
Hey BtB, off topic but I wanted to ask your opinion in general about extended warranties and in a specific case too. So usually I don't go for extended warranties because I usually think that if something is wrong with the product it will show during the normal warranty and after that I just take good care of my stuff. But in this case I'm having a hard time deciding. You see, this is a sporting equipment, an arisoft gun to be precise, but this type, the GBB, is more problematic than the AEG type. You can repair it yourself but parts are harder to come by and pricier compared to AEG parts. So I can buy it where it's cheaper and get 6 months warranty or from another store where it's 14% more expensive but with 2 years of warranty (but of course you have to pay for shipping if it breaks). I don't know if the following should affect the decision but there are two more things to know, airsoft guns depreciate very much, after 1 year they loose like 40% of their value (or if it breaks and you sell it as parts you hardly get any money) but they don't really get obsoleted, if you still like it there's no reason not to use it until it falls apart.
I generally never get extended warranties because I'm the DIY type and I can fix almost everything myself. Warranties are sort of like insurance where they make money on average. So if you are not the average case and hit a stump and have a failed part, then you win. However, if you did not, then you lose. It's hard to predict this. It has to do with failure rates. If you know it fails a lot, perhaps it might be good to get the warranty. For me, if I know the failure rate is high, I just wouldn't get it thus never buying extended warranties.
So yeah, I would normally agree with you, but in this case I though about it some more and I will go for the extended warranty. There is a good reason why but it takes long to explain and I'm pretty sure you're not that interested. And about the failure rates, well, for GBBs it high because they have similar mechanisms as a real gun but with weaker internals (some are even plastic) but there's no explosion inside just an expanding green gas. I guess I could buy another electric gun for close quarters battle too but what's cool about that? We're talking about what you called in another video "fun money", and electric guns are more like RC cars then guns (they definitely sound like RC cars) so that's my justification to myself.
Perks of renting a room, utilities included for me. I get free WiFi. I hate TV so no TV for me but now YT has ads 😐 I agree on showing off. I don't ever care what others are wearing so I doubt others pay attention to what I'm wearing. I gave up shopping. Shopping is too much work for me, trying on clothes. I have a favorite flannel I wear everyday which I post on my Snapchat daily, doubt anyone really cares I wear the same thing 🤗 great vid! Curious how Ice bat stays in the corners like that 😅
That's such a good point. I bought a hair trimmer and it paid for itself in about 2 haircuts! It's a great way to save money if you don't need a really complicated and fashionable haircut all the time.
I want to cut expenses. Right now we spend a lot of money on cable TV. I want to find a service that is cheap but also good. We do watch a lot of TV. Streaming service maybe ?? What do you recommend ??
I have a hard time parting with my saved money, but we have a car loan that I can payoff. We are paying more interest than we make and I don't like that. We are not too concerned with credit scores because we already have what we need and will cash flow our home in 10 years. Should I just pay off the loan? ($16,000)
That means everyday, you loose money to the car interest. If you will have more than your comfort level of emergency savings after paying it off then you should do it. Or pay it down partially until you are at your emergency fund lower limit.
so I am frugal but I spend a lot of money on electronics, i.e. arduino, rasp pi, esp8266, and similar stuff. I usually order the Chinese clones through AliExpress so they are ridiculously cheap. I'm an engineering student so it's not hard for me to justify and my plan is to set up a website and resell these items to my engineering peers to gain a profit, I'm working on the website. What are your thoughts?
Why is buying your hobby electronics unjustified? I see it as perfectly justified to pursue your interests. You can just sell them off when you don't want them anymore on ebay.
Well for starters Im a college student, so I dont have income but Im also not paying for college myself. Buying these items is a stress reliever for me, some might consider it an addiction but most would say its a hobby. Most of these electrical parts dont have a practical application, they are more of a learning tool. I tend to order more parts than I can use at one time because the parts take a long time (>1month) to arrive, that way if Im working on a project and I need a part I wont have to wait that long period to receive it, or spend extra to order from a supplier in the US such as Amazon or Adafruit. Its just a lot of overhead, more than $300, less than $600
What an awesome, yet concise, message!!! It remind's me of Dave Ramsey's daughter's book "Live Your Life, Not Theirs", which is on my to-read list. Thank you for sharing your tips - you are very inspiring! =)
I swear you're the smartest guy on UA-cam. You sharing financial tips is the best thing ever.
I'm glad you can get something out of it. And if you weren't frugal before but turned frugal, that would be really awesome. =D
Levonte Williams Yes
Don't watch commercials...don't spend on cable...youtube is my cable!!
UA-cam is my cable too. It's nice to see you here, Jane. My backyard, with the swimming pool is my vacation spot. My animals are better substitution than a trip to the zoo. My kitchen is my restaurant. And list goes on and on.
=D I guess UA-cam still consumes time but at least its much cheaper than cable.
A Decade To Freedom - Check out hoopla digital. 😀
UA-cam definitely has commercials too
We are the UA-cam money saving squad!
"If you still buy something when you will not be able to show it to anybody, then you are really buying it for yourself, not to show off" -- I like this logic so much! :-)
=D Something that makes you think because showing things off is an endless cycle of one-up-man-ship.
Books
I find myself watching you on UA-cam all the time. I was never a truly frugal person even though I was raised in a low income family but these days I find myself getting more involved in the frugal lifestyle! Your early 20s is truly a time to grow ahaha Thank you so much for all of your advice!
Ha! I rather think of the lifestyle as they way you do things that can be a lot cheaper and get equivalent goods and services. If you get almost the same results or goods, then why not right? Thanks for watching these vids!
I appreciate this channel so much man. You are my mentor.
=D You're welcome! Thanks for your support! =D And thanks for watching! =D
0:51 Bare minimum is food, shelter and internet. he's right
I forgot water, but we usually have water in urban areas.
No electricity, No internet.
I still have my flip phone and everyone thinks im weird or they feel sorry for me. Its a choice, a frugal one. Great video!!
If it weren't for the apps I would consider using a old nokia bar phone.
BeatTheBush I actually need internet when I'm out of the house and I need apps like WhatsApp and Viber to communicate with relatives back in my home country. I only ever wanted a smartphone when I realized I needed internet when outside, I didn't want one before. And now I squeeze out of it as much as I can - my dad had given me a tablet some years ago and of course I used it, but when it broke - I barely felt it, I just transfereed all I did on it on my smartphone. Now I feel the need for a laptop for school. Let's see how that'll work out in a frugal manner. :D
sharon neufeld Me too! It's hilarious to see the looks sometimes....LOL....I save a lot of $$$....so doesn't bother me a bit..
Me too. My coworkers were all comparing thier iphones. I jumped in and whipped out my flip phone and we got a good laugh. I use it in public and no one cares. The only ones that that may say anything or tive a look are teenyboppers that dont know shit about life
ME TOO!!!
Your point about the ads is so true. Ads are everywhere. But if we have self confidence, we won't need most things just to keep up with people
Without ads, people will not even know about the do-dads that they suddenly cannot live without. This is as opposed to organically realizing you need something and then trying to find out what the best product out there is to solve the problem you have.
Chris Dom l
I like how your video is getting deeper and still reminds practicable. I agree it is more about having right mindset toward your goal than proper budgeting. One of the best videos!
Thanks! One might still have a huge itch to spend if you do not have a proper mindset thus causing one to not feel good skimping on oneself. But if you have a reason to do it, it becomes a whole lot easier.
I've been saving for a few solid months now and I already see the benefits ... my girlfriends phone stopped working ...BAM ...I just bought her a new one... my cars AC stopped working.. BAM... got it repaired with no issue because I had more than enough money to do it and I'm continuing to save
Having a little of buffer money really helps you save even more. Just be careful not to go BAM too much and spend your buffer fund to zero.
I really like your confidence and how your brain works. And your incredible ability to convey your understanding :-)
Awww shucks. =D Thank you!
One of your best videos yet
Thanks! I can never tell if one is good or not. I just keep on making them. =D
Seriosuly im so glad I found you! I have your exact mentality and I always have family looking down on me for being"cheap" when in reality I am a very frugal person. My mom is a HUGE spender and then wonders why she never has enough. I learned from her misakes and now I see consumerism everywhere! It was hard to come to this idc mentality but now that I am here im so glad I didn't cave in to the norm !! Thank you for this video!!! It was seriously so refreshing !
=D Frugal people unite! =D Nothing better than a super efficient usage of money. When the value is there, spending $100 on dinner is actually okay but it's rare.
Obviously saving money and being frugal is about having a certain mindset, however,I think proper budgeting can really help with this too. My wife and I have a miscellaneous expense line on our monthly budget. This miscellaneous expense is our fun money. We can spend this money each month, and not feel guilty, and at the same time still be heavily investing for retirement. We try hard to limit ourselves to our "fun" money budget each month so we are not blowing large amounts of money and throwing away our future. We did not have this kind of flexibility a few years ago, however, as our careers progressed our income is much higher than it used to be. Thanks for the vid.
You're mentality seems to be already on the frugal mindset already. That is, you already are trying to save and spend the minimum for the equivalent goods and services.
I think what you described is in a different video here: ua-cam.com/video/HGEVJPSZj9c/v-deo.html For a person that is not frugal to begin with, there is no concept of even wanting to budget. Some people just WANT everything even if they know they shouldn't.
I still drive my 97 Honda Civic & i also don't care what people think.
I bought a very ugly but mechanically sound truck out of a junk yard. It was a great deal and pulls my horse trailer. Win win
Wish I had started frugality sooner. I appreciate that you do not feel you should deprive yourself. Glad to see you have "knick knacks" to make you smile.
oh boy... sometimes if I show the stuff I have people complain saying I spend too much, lol. Other times, I am spending too little.
Best 6 min video I've watched, thank you!
Thanks for watching! =D
I love how your reasoning includes everything you need to know to considerate the matter from an appropriate and wide enough perspective.
Cover all the what ifs .... =D
Icebat is creepily staring into my eyes. Will it stab me if I'm not frugal?
I think it was just curious who I'm talking to. =D
VV VB ha ha haaaaaa
Many good points in this video. Definately dont want to keep up with the jones because they live way beyond thier means. I want be able to retire some day. The difference is ill be relaxing on a beach with cold one in my hand while the jones are pushing a broom someplace. But they always got the newest tv or car.
The Jones are likely using a roomba though. But the frugal might also have a roomba bought very cheaply refurb and it still does the same thing but it's 3 generations older.
Jamesthacoolcat99 great point
I like what you said about before you make a purchase to ask yourself if you couldn't tell anyone about it would you still buy it (I'm paraphrasing of course), it reminds me of the more well known frugal saying wait 30 days before you buy something if it is just a want. In today's social network society it makes sense that people could fall into the trap of competing with people on facebook over who has the coolest crap and never looking at it again after posting it.
When I bought my E90 M3 it was a dream car and very expensive and hard for me to justify, but I never told anyone I bought it, it still makes me happy every time I get behind the wheel and barely anyone knows I have the car and I have had it for quite some time.
Nice! You truly truly bought that for yourself. Hope it was a few years used when you got it. =D
Yes I waited until I could get one for half of what they would have cost new, that's one good thing about it being a BMW it depreciates very fast initially.
Whoa... nice! Half.. imagine that. =D =D
First video, I really like your attitude, I'm gliene to watch more!
Love the emphasis on balance between now and later. Because it's important, and concentrating long-term on only one or the other hurts your happiness and security.
Everyone has a optimal point. Some might spend a little bit more to be comfortable. But certainly not one or the other in extreme.
thumbs up! I'm looking forward to your next video
Love it. Very down to earth and meaningful. Thanks Beatthebush!
You're welcome! =D
people at work and my friend all laugh at me because I don't have the newest iPhone or Samsung. but u know what I don't care...
That's really disappointing that anyone would judge based on the phone you have. Sadly, most people think this way. It's sheep mentality and they do not have the understanding of the world as you do. You can carry a flip phone, no phone, or a Nokia 3310 and I certainly would not care nor laugh at you.
Check your colleges balance sheets, I bet it is negative or minimal. All of those dollars and cents you save add up.
The richest guy at my job drives a 200,000 mile car and is not at all interested about how much he can spend on a new car but rather how many miles he can get out of this car with the minimal repairs he has put in them. I can also tell you that is iphone from 3-4 models ago has cracks on the screen, he is the last person to join in the lunch order at work and I am pretty sure he doesn't give a damn about anyone else thinks. At the end of the day he is still the guy with all the money in the bank.
The joke is on them in the end. They are the ones being tricked into giving their money to big businesses for things they don't need. And you will end up richer probably.
I can hardly believe there are people who actually do that. Wow! What stupidity!
I know people who do this too, its good natured but I still explain why I still use my phone from 2012.
you made a lot of good points!, great video
Thanks! =D
I follow Shaq's advice: Take your salary, divide it in half. Put one half into your savings. Now, with the other half, divide it into halves again. Hhere's where I make it extra tolerable for those who aren't frugal: Use the first half for basic necesities. What you have left on your first half, put it in savings. The second half is your disposable. But whatever you want.
It also helps having a list of spendings and a self imposed financial goal every month.
Congratulations on 200,000 subscribers!
Thank you!
I really appreciate these videos. Thank you! They're VERY helpful! Good luck with reaching your goals as well.
Thanks! =D
Beat the Bush You're so great with everything that you preach! TY so much..Happy New Year 🍾🍾🍾⭐⭐⭐
Have a great new year! =D
my favourite youtuber by far! Always great videos 💫
+ToyFunShyShy Thank you!
love this video. I'm stuggling with the last tip for confidence building. can you please make a video on how to find your passion/life purpose?
Wow, that's a pretty deep question no? I'll have to do some research on how to help you on that one.
Anyhow I recommended to try various hobbies and just put yourself out there trying new things, that's how you discover what you love. You must have came across some things where you have done that you literally forgot about time and forget to eat, etc because you enjoyed doing it so much no?
Allow me to compliment you. You are a young man and are wise beyond your years. Thank you for your kind an informative video. I have been frugal on certain things but not on others. generally though a positive outcome for retirement. There are some tings you talked about that I wished that I had not bought or invested in. My retirement is comfortable but I always wondered if it could have been better. You are doing a great service.
Cant get them all I think. But it:s good to start now and refining your methods.
The education system should hire you. What you teach is valuable in life.
Very clear ,Great talk.More people should here you.
=D Hope so! =D
We love to go camping once every summer. We start our trip funding every August and by the time our summer trip comes in July next year, we have enough money to spend it. This plan has helped us not to get into a debt.
Does camping cost that much? I guess if you go long enough right?
I always take your advice to heart and try to apply it to my daily life. Thanks dude keep those videos coming.
This one is a good one as it allows you to save that much more while sort of kinda keeping up appearances, lol.
My wife and I work hard and save, we take at least 2 vacations a year because we want to live life but also save for our retirement.
2 Vacations is a good amount to have. The cost of course depends on the distance or if its international or not.
Your videos inspire me so much! That's right it's who you are inside not what you have!
Are you really not frugal? You sound like you are already frugal!
BeatTheBush I am VERY frugal I have to be. Don't be shy I'm old enough to be your mom. We can just meet and just walk and talk. I need to pick your brain on the credit card stuff I always get confused.... Plus your my buddy. Your subs are getting up there I remember when you first started. You will be able to live off your UA-cam money soon and bank all your income like you did last year! I'm proud of you BTB.... I still can't figure out my editing, makes me very sad!
Just found your channel - great videos, thank you!
+R.P. McMurphy Thank you! :D
While it's really easy for me to be frugal, I often go overboard. I feel like it's unsafe to spend more, even though we do have an emergency fund in place. But we do have a mortgage. And, as many people know, there is a huge risk of loosing a home if one had to miss a payment if they run out of money due to too many emergencies or decrease of an income.
I see. So it's the need to be even more secure. So perhaps after you save a large enough an emergency fund than you have now, you might let up a bit and spend more to live your life a bit more.
So true, you need the confidence to go through with things like this. Until last week we had an 18 year old fridge and you could tell. When we had friends over they would give us a weird look when they took out a beer or something. We didn't care. We replaced it when it broke and not a day earlier.
It takes confidence indeed. Many people say why don't you get it's only . That's because most people follow the drum of the marketing machine.
I love your channel, I am learning so much!.. Thank you so much!
Mindless spending can really drain a bank account quickly. It's really easy to walk in a store and blow 20 dollars on items that you really don't need.
Pretty much all of us can look and dress like the richest person in the world..... because that's Bill Gates , who looks like he shops at a Kmart clearance rack. :)
True though, the less you care about trying to impress everyone, the less stressed you will be about money issues...
Lol, but then will people believe you are? His face is famous so no way to compare with him.
I agree, if you care less then you end up spending money to care. Thus saving you a huge amount of money. I dare say a majority of money spent is to impress others these days.
Can't afford 5. Can't afford 1.
Plus what you said. If you can't show it off Facebook Instagram.
2 great advice.. Love it
One thing for shopping as an addiction or stress reliever. One way for me to compensate to at least some degree is just go thrifting once or twice a week and only spend $5-10 on essentially a surprise item. For me just the browsing and finding a surprise item is a good stress reliever, and very often I find more useful things at thrift stores than say, Wal-mart.
Shopping as an addiction... I can see that happening but I wonder where it comes from. I too would want something new but it takes months before that happens.
I don't think it's so much an addiction on some grand scale, as in like, gambling thousands of dollars, but more what you speak of as buying coffees, etc. Some is wanting the item, but imo, some is just because people are bored and also not feeling like working. Like playing a video game, etc. Some people obviously do go at it as a full fledged real addiction, but for most people I think it's that amount of "normal" addiction. For some wealthy people, they can go insane doing whatever. I knew wealthy people (well, their wives....) that would spend $100-200+ per day on lotto tickets.
But for me with thrift stores, I think that's a way to turn it positive to a large degree. For example, I got my whole PC build with a newer gen i5, 16gb RAM, and motherboard new in the box for $15 at a thrift store, worth about $300. So I think in some ways, having less "targeted" kind of shopping can pay off, and thrift stores are a place for that. But then in others, having a real thing in mind, all your specs, etc, the exact item, etc, and just saving and buying for it is better as well, but sometimes you can leverage opportunity to your advantage if you know what to look for. Watched your sunglasses ep for example, and one store going out of business here sold a bunch of Foster Grant sunglasses (very good quality, btw, quite worth their $20ish MSRP) for $1-2 a pair. Of course I already knew Foster Grant, knew CPU specs, etc, so the knowledge, etc, is needed for this sort of thing.
I dont think i could ever fully retire. I would need some sort of income like from rental property or something. It would also be cool to pass on to my children, like generational wealth.
You retire when you have enough passive income to cover your expenses. But I don't believe in fully retiring either in the traditional sense of doing nothing. People are meant to do stuff or else you become stale and die. So I would keep active and do things more enjoyable but may not make that much instead.
it's so true about the advertisements that influence you to buy things...they're everywhere. great video!
Even when most will deny it affects them, it really do work on you after a while.
I’m the exact opposite of being frugal, I am quite wasteful and recently I start to feel it’s a very unhealthy habit. But the thing is I buy a lot I mean A LOT of things without anyone knowing, I think it’s harder to shake off than if I am actually buying to show off and that’s why I feel it’s actually a mental health problem, like compulsive buying. Your video has helped me a lot.
Oh my... you have to wonder what happens to those things. Look at things you bought a year ago, are they still being used now? It takes practice to develop a distaste for not wanting STUFF.
Your financial tips are very useful. Thank you.
Thanks! Glad it could help!
Oh, I love shopping. I go to Amazon and stroll through the rows and put nice stuff in my shopping cart I'd like to have. Then I let it rest in the cart. 2 weeks later I look at the cart again. Funny how few I need of this stuff after this time...
I'm glad I don't feel the social pressures. I'm better of than all the people who've talked down on me for petty reasons.
Very smart video. Thank you.
I do know how to cook as well, as did it professionally for the millionaires here at the Hamptons...so I save money by cooking gourmet dishes for me and my bf ( like Italian , Filipino, Japanese dishes etc...) and by watching your vids I'm learning a lot...Blessings to you!💜
Love your channel. 100% agree with things you suggested. I been telling people "You Don't Need It!" Humans are animals of greed always wants and needs but to life freely and happy we really don't need clutter.
=D We do need some things just a lot less than what the average person buys.
"imagine whenever you're buying something that you cannot show it to anyone, talk to anyone about it, post a pic on FB about it, would you still buy it?"
instantly thumbs up
=D It really makes you think who you are buying it for. =D
I was looking at your skin! Going to watch that video! Keep up the good work!!
Thanks! =D
You are so right! Eye on the prize! Not living paycheck to paycheck and a nest egg for starters!
I can't agree with you more on "I don't care what people think about me mentality", since that is what I tell myself everyday. I am a frugal Engineer in Bay area too. It seems we have some similarities.
I love this video ,,,,, I try to be a little frugal but I also buy things good quality items, when I need them, so I don't have to keep buying them when they breakdown ,,when I buy a cheap item it will only last a short time ,so I need to buy another one and spend time to shop for the item again , I like to buy good quality and buy once only ,,hope this makes sense ....cheers
Buying quality could quickly fall into buying the most expensive. It is buying the lowest cost to own per year that really saves you money. Often times, it'll be the quality items that are slightly higher price but watch out for those very very high price items where you have to use it for 2 lifetimes to make up for the cost.
Thank you ! I really like your channel !
You're welcome!
I just realized - I've never really wanted to buy anything that I wouldn't want to if it wasn't for others. Unless the "others" are what's fun about it - e.g. I like watching movies, but I prefer to watch them comfortably at home. Pnce or twice a year though I go to the cinema with friends - the friends part is what's really fun about it. (Maybe a little bit also that it's generally a different experience than watching at home.)
But for such things I don't feel like I'm buying a thing, rather than I am paying for an experience.
So in that sense - yeah I do get influenced by others sometimes. But when it comes to ITEMS I don't really. I just want what I want.
I'm the same. When it comes to social interactions, I tend to be less strict about it. However, if it's one of those $100+ night outs then I might shy away from it.
Savements are just another kind of income. And without all the things around us
we don´t need to clean so much. Things can steal a lot of time. Great video!
Agreed. Just cleaning it 30 times and not even using it once will make you want to get rid of it. =D
Good stuff man
=D
You have given me some ideas to think about.I was a saver growing up but now a spender...on restaurants(I live in the restaurant district) and my friends socialize this way. I must change. I am also a sugar addict and I developed diabetes bec of this.I just gave my credit card to my friend to get thru and pass by this poor choice of spending money and creating poor health.
Omg... that's some situation to make you wake up. Gotta watch out for the sugar, sodas, smoothie, bread, pasta, for your diabetes.
Thanks. That really helped.
What a fantastic advice video.
Thanks! Glad you liked it! =D
I like the approach
+Lord of the Jungle :D
Another awesome video, thanks. Yeap I dont like going to the mall or stores cause something will always try to follow me home.
Follow you home, lol. I find it hard to buy anything at the mall these days. The prices feels so marked up.
Great video!!!
Thanks!
Where to begin, to get myself out of the credit card debt/PTSD/despairing hole that I'm in.... You have great suggestions, but I'm still looking for where to start.
Where to start? Depends on your income level. If's is very low, you can start by getting more education or getting promoted or making side income. Reducing expenses that you currently have specially when its not needed.
Holy shit great video man.
=D
I really enjoy your videos. By the way, how do you prepare to talk in front of the camera so eloquently. Do you prepare detailed script beforehand or TelePrompter? I want to learn how to be a better speaker on youtube. Thank you in advance.
Thanks! If you watch my early videos, I am terrible at it. It's the result of practice over doing 430 videos. I make an outline but never word for word.
Just subscribed to your channel man - love the content! Do you have a video on college loans? Fed vs private. I'm debating if I should switch over to sofi or stick with my fed loans.
There are a lot of things to consider when you consolidate to private. Here's a vid on that here: ua-cam.com/video/zLSRZeQ9BYU/v-deo.html
It's who you are that matters ❤
Trying to decide to either buy a home or continue to save. What to do? Saving has pdoven very succesful. What to do??? Any suggesgions? All family members and freinds are home owners but, they have limited savings. I feel like I'm not in the home owners club. What to do?? Please advise.
Thank you,
Martha V
California
I cant decide that for you. There is elevated risk right now for buying but if you're buying for long term of 10+ years, then it might be okay. Short term might see some dips though.
I guess only those that can see the future will know what to do in this situation. I for one even consider selling and renting for a while. If you did that at the right time on '07, you would've made it out like gang busters. Of course, talking after the fact always seems so easy. It's so hard to decide now.
Hey BtB, off topic but I wanted to ask your opinion in general about extended warranties and in a specific case too. So usually I don't go for extended warranties because I usually think that if something is wrong with the product it will show during the normal warranty and after that I just take good care of my stuff. But in this case I'm having a hard time deciding. You see, this is a sporting equipment, an arisoft gun to be precise, but this type, the GBB, is more problematic than the AEG type. You can repair it yourself but parts are harder to come by and pricier compared to AEG parts. So I can buy it where it's cheaper and get 6 months warranty or from another store where it's 14% more expensive but with 2 years of warranty (but of course you have to pay for shipping if it breaks). I don't know if the following should affect the decision but there are two more things to know, airsoft guns depreciate very much, after 1 year they loose like 40% of their value (or if it breaks and you sell it as parts you hardly get any money) but they don't really get obsoleted, if you still like it there's no reason not to use it until it falls apart.
I generally never get extended warranties because I'm the DIY type and I can fix almost everything myself. Warranties are sort of like insurance where they make money on average. So if you are not the average case and hit a stump and have a failed part, then you win. However, if you did not, then you lose. It's hard to predict this.
It has to do with failure rates. If you know it fails a lot, perhaps it might be good to get the warranty. For me, if I know the failure rate is high, I just wouldn't get it thus never buying extended warranties.
So yeah, I would normally agree with you, but in this case I though about it some more and I will go for the extended warranty. There is a good reason why but it takes long to explain and I'm pretty sure you're not that interested.
And about the failure rates, well, for GBBs it high because they have similar mechanisms as a real gun but with weaker internals (some are even plastic) but there's no explosion inside just an expanding green gas. I guess I could buy another electric gun for close quarters battle too but what's cool about that? We're talking about what you called in another video "fun money", and electric guns are more like RC cars then guns (they definitely sound like RC cars) so that's my justification to myself.
Love you btb
This is really helpful thank you. :)
You're welcome!
Perks of renting a room, utilities included for me. I get free WiFi. I hate TV so no TV for me but now YT has ads 😐 I agree on showing off. I don't ever care what others are wearing so I doubt others pay attention to what I'm wearing. I gave up shopping. Shopping is too much work for me, trying on clothes. I have a favorite flannel I wear everyday which I post on my Snapchat daily, doubt anyone really cares I wear the same thing 🤗 great vid!
Curious how Ice bat stays in the corners like that 😅
Yeah the Ads might in a way make you spend more but I'd like to think it doesn't affect me. Certainly the mansion ads are absolutely not affecting me.
All my clothes were free and my life clothes the rule is if it's more than a dollar at the thrift store I don't buy it
Fresh haircut 💁🏽♂️
=D Ha! You noticed. =D
I'm still waiting for the video on how to cut your own hair.
That's such a good point. I bought a hair trimmer and it paid for itself in about 2 haircuts! It's a great way to save money if you don't need a really complicated and fashionable haircut all the time.
Ben's Vlogs
I worked at a barber shop through university, I can assure you this is not a good idea 😬
She’s keen!
Would you address this topic: how does being frugal affect your romantic/family life?
Ha ha ha... I really should. I have some details on that one.
I want to cut expenses. Right now we spend a lot of money on cable TV. I want to find a service that is cheap but also good. We do watch a lot of TV. Streaming service maybe ?? What do you recommend ??
Excellent!
=D
Thanks man. Great vid :)
You're welcome! =D
Great video
Thanks! =D
I have a hard time parting with my saved money, but we have a car loan that I can payoff. We are paying more interest than we make and I don't like that. We are not too concerned with credit scores because we already have what we need and will cash flow our home in 10 years. Should I just pay off the loan? ($16,000)
That means everyday, you loose money to the car interest. If you will have more than your comfort level of emergency savings after paying it off then you should do it. Or pay it down partially until you are at your emergency fund lower limit.
You got some bars 👌🏻
Bars?
so I am frugal but I spend a lot of money on electronics, i.e. arduino, rasp pi, esp8266, and similar stuff. I usually order the Chinese clones through AliExpress so they are ridiculously cheap. I'm an engineering student so it's not hard for me to justify and my plan is to set up a website and resell these items to my engineering peers to gain a profit, I'm working on the website. What are your thoughts?
Why is buying your hobby electronics unjustified? I see it as perfectly justified to pursue your interests. You can just sell them off when you don't want them anymore on ebay.
Well for starters Im a college student, so I dont have income but Im also not paying for college myself. Buying these items is a stress reliever for me, some might consider it an addiction but most would say its a hobby. Most of these electrical parts dont have a practical application, they are more of a learning tool. I tend to order more parts than I can use at one time because the parts take a long time (>1month) to arrive, that way if Im working on a project and I need a part I wont have to wait that long period to receive it, or spend extra to order from a supplier in the US such as Amazon or Adafruit. Its just a lot of overhead, more than $300, less than $600
What about the first type of people you described?
Financial doom as spending cuts into their earnings too much and they are not saving.
What an awesome, yet concise, message!!! It remind's me of Dave Ramsey's daughter's book "Live Your Life, Not Theirs", which is on my to-read list.
Thank you for sharing your tips - you are very inspiring! =)
That sounds like a fun one to read. If you already are living your life then no need to read it. But if you are not, then that can help.
BeatTheBush I’m of the mindset that there’s always more to learn from others! Thank you for all of the great tips and insight that you share!
Holy shit am I glad I found your channel, so much useful information!
Cool video! I'm more on the YOLO side but now learning to make some adjustments haha :)
Lol... yeah... it'll take a huge amount of adjustment. Unless of course you suddenly get it. =D
thanks man helped alot !!!!!!! :)
You're welcome! =D
Any frugality tips for someone in Bulgaria ?
Not in particular, I've never been there but I think the tips are pretty universal as people always try to look rich everywhere.
#Truth 👏 Thank you
Great video!
Thanks! =D
BeatTheBush You're welcome.
🙏 I enjoy higher frequency content I'm happy I stumbled across your channel. 😊
Such a great vid.
=D
Curious how much you spend on haircut + tip and how often you get one?
I spend $0. I cut my own hair. I cut it when it's too long. =D
What shaver do you use? My sideburns are always reason I get haircuts 2x a month lol