There's a certain minimal level everyone is used to for their standard of living. There's always creative ways to get the same thing for cheaper like knowing how to make the best coffee yourself.
my yearly expenses last year was about $14000 including housing. My house and car are paid for so those are 2 big expenses I do not have. I travel internationally maybe twice a year so I guess I am sort of a minimalist in spending. Travel is all personal not business.
Wow, that's amazingly low! Crazy. Wait, no housing payments so I see now. Yeah, that amount is a bit lower than my level but you seem to be nearly the lowest spending level other than some people who are able to get by with a bicycle rather than a car. Everyone has different requirements I'd say.
garfieldurl, It's hard to answer your question, because I travel through out the year. I'm Digital Nomadic from Chaozhou, China, but I don't live there anymore. Right now, I live in Slab City in California and it's free living! Tomorrow, I will be at Capital Reef in AZ for a month or so. Your question is very easy to answer for 99.99% of population, but it 's very hard for me. I don't know where I will be tomorrow. I might fly to Malaysia in few months or I might stay in USA.
I think that one of the problems of people who stay in debt, is that they do not realize where their money is leaking out and being wasted. They either don't think about whether they need whatever it is, or they think they need something they don't. Cutting expenditures means not always having the latest cell phones, shoes, cars or play toys to impress others. To many, cutting out the TV, the second phone, the pizza every weekend, the beer, the cigarettes and presents and gifts for others is unthinkable. Getting serious about getting out of debt is the first step, and too many do not want to do that, because it's NO FUN. I have been through it, and there is a joy in knowing that you are not having to lie awake at night wondering how you are going to pay your bills when you have no money put aside, and you just lost your job, broke your leg and cannot work, or your spouse just left and left you with all the bills. It happens a lot. It really is time to get serious about taking care of ourselves.
Likely. Too much automatic spending or spending they must have but is costing them a fortune. Financial security gives a peace of mind that likely makes you live longer from the reduced stress in itself.
This is so true. I was able to leave a job after I was offered a crappy contract because I had enough saved that could last me a while. The day when I left I felt vindicated because I knew that my choice to be frugal had put me in a position of power to not have to take crap from anyone.
That's a hilarious comment. LOL! Wow, that's a pretty expensive girlfriend. $250/week. So eat out 2-3 times a week at pretty nice places and then some to buy her stuff. I'll have to think about this one. You could change her views about this but I doubt that will work.
so what? she has no job that you have to pay for everything? you should always split the bill 50/50. you are not married but, even if you were (already fucked), she has her own money. being in a relationship does not mean you have to pay for everything the little princess wants .... a hooker is cheaper
I am a 19 year old college student from the bay area and I have been watching all of your videos ever since I stumbled on your "Uni Sashimi" video . I generally never comment on TH-cam videos but I just wanted to say that your finance and investing videos give me hope for when I get out of school with close to half a million dollars in debt. Thank you for sharing these amazing life tips Bush!
Oh the one where I opened the Uni, I remember that one. Thanks for taking the time to comment. I was like you before making videos but you'll find that interacting with the creators should be pretty fun. Wuuuut.... half million in debt? I guess you are a becoming a lawyer or doctor then? Or perhaps a pretty pricey private school, lol. You're very welcome. =D
You are not alone then. Actually, I saved more than 100%. But that happened only after some serious saving & taking risk in stock market in 2009. I am projecting to save about 165K this year if I get my actual match my projected budget this year. And I am not cutting any expense, in fact I have 20 days vacation plan to Japan.
+DB Nice! More risk more reward right? I am a bit conservative when in beating though. As I prefer to keep my pants in case anything goes awry in the market.
I absolutely agree with you. I just have one suggestion (because I did for myself and it worked really well). Buy a small house in cash (or try to pay it off as quickly as possible). I know it's hard to find in bay area, but find something little outside. And then use public commute. And I am guessing you work in tech. industry. One time will come where you don't have to be working in office. That way you can work remotely from home and you don't have to pay house rent (which is the biggest expense). And it will also protect you from any future economic disaster. God forbid, if you ever loose a job, you have a place to live and you can stay till your next job for very minimal expense. And it's a asset too. Again, it's just my opinion. Somehow it worked really well for me. For last 3 years, I didn't pay even a single $ on rent. Cheers ! Dipankar
I have worked in finance for 20 years, I have a college education and several licenses and this is some of the best advice out there. Thank for sharing!
Yup, this year I got into the part of reducing my spending. Got from the "I need a bigger salary because I am on red numbers" to "I can do 19% on my 401(k)" to "I think I might be able to retire in 12 years". So, now I am looking for ways to get more income so I can cut those 12 years to 8. So, yeah, controlling expenditure is an effort that pays well.
Yeah, it was not always this low for me. It's like a little project with experiments. You change services and try things out and see if its comfortable. If not then no problem, just switch back. The ultra low expenditure while keeping quality of life relatively the same takes a lot of skill and knowledge which I hope to spread on this channel.
Carlos Ramos Oh my gosh that’s amazing. Would you please be more specific with what things you did exactly? And some more data please (like your job(s), career and salary).
This is the first video from your channel that I've watched. I'm very money conscious but I always end up in weird moods where I want to spend money. It isn't all the time, but when the feeling hits I end up spending more money on eating out or buying something I want. Videos like these helps to put me back into saving mode and I enjoy that. I'll keep watching your videos, thanks for posting!
+TheInvisibleCactus I feel the same once in a while. I allocate a little bit of money saved to satisfy my wants. So perhaps if you set a reasonable amount to do that every month, you won't have some pent up need to go all out. My wants are pretty low cost though. Maybe a 3D printer for $200 or a box of Belgian waffle cookie for $2.
You can reduce gas by buying gas cards at raise or cardpool or any other seller. I've used Raise a lot, so I can tell you they are safe. You pay with credit card and make rewards as well.
What is the effective percentage lower you get? I assume gas cards are well sought after as they are very similar to cash since people use it so often.
Good on you for being frugal & not getting into debt. Here is an approximate breakdown of my budget. Take into account that I my income is rather low as I am on SSDS. Housing: $1500 (also in Silicon valley but have been here many years) Water & garbage: About $85 a month. Milpitas jacked their water rates up last 5 years. Car: Payed cash when I refinanced my car years ago. It's a 2000 Cel phone: My older son pays it with his home business plan. Lucky me. Land line: $17. I am old school & like a landline. TV: Cancelling my Netflix streaming not long ago. Just got Amazon prime which has movies. I spent less for the yearly membership then I did for Netflix. I also got my Amazon prime through Top cash back. I get $15 back in an Amazon gift card. Car Insurance: $43 Car maintenance: $50. My younger son works on my car for the most part when needed. Gas: $40. Don't drive a lot, no commuting Food: $300-$400 including eating out which I seldom do. I shop at my local farmers market, Grocery Outlet & some online, mostly from Vitacost. Also, I am vegan. Clothing: $100 is my guess. I buy most of my clothes at a local thrift store. I get a senior discount. They also do half off days, 99 cent t-shirt days, etc. Some clothing is new, the rest is gently used. Have found lots of nice quality & even name brand items. I like to look them up online to see the value of the nicer ones. Great selection of active wear pants. Can be tricky for me as I am only five feet. Gadjets: none Other: $200 or less. This would be dental cleaning, chiropractor, etc. Lastly, this is not an expense but a great site. I go to Hunt for freebies daily for free samples , coupons & sometimes even full size products. Hope that helps. Thanks for the great informative videos ! Great job ! :-)
I have been very fortunate not to have to pay for gas, a vehicle, maintenance, and a cell phone. For the past 9 years. I negotiated all of this in when I took on my position at work. I also have 4 properties that are all paid off. I was lucky enough to buy them between 2009 and 2011. My gross income including my rents is nearly $300k a year. But I take home about half of that after taxes. Believe it or not I still love way below my means spending only about $1800 a month. I only have to cover food utilities and fun. I plan on retiring early in the next 3 years as soon as I can collect my pension. Everything you say is very effective. I have had this mentality all my life. It has done me well.
+Building Buildercip Whoa! 300k!? That's pretty crazy! Good for you! Yeah, a few years of that and you can retire. In fact, I assume you can retire now via just collecting rent to pay for your expenses.
I appreciate the honest advice and that you're not just pushing a book or a self-help product. The saddest thing is that this is also the most basic financial advice there is and many people have likely heard it before - it just seems that it has to be phrased a certain way for it to click with different people.
BeatTheBush, let me ask you a question. You mention selling your stuff on Amazon and eBay, you said stuff that you don't like after you get it or that is past the return-policy. Does this create negative cash flow? For example, you buy a portable charger for $50, it is very unlikely that you will sell it for that much, so let's say you sell it for $40 on eBay. After fees and shipping, you might get $30. Now you're upside down $20, how can you generate revenue from Amazon and/or eBay?
This is all about reclaiming value that sits idle. You are not making money most of the time since selling stuff for more than you buy is rare. What you spent already is considered past years expenses already. So this minimizes your outflow and depending on how you look at it, it could be considered limited inflow.
Is it cheaper to take public transportation since you don't have to worry about insurance, gas and car maintenance and spending like 20k to buy the car? It might depend on if your area has good public transportation.
In New York, it's about the same time considering the traffic. But then you have to deal with a transportation system that has a 100 year old infrastructure and breaks down half the time.
thanks for the perspective. nice video. I actually went through a similar exercise just before watching this video. keep at it. My youtube channel almost covered my expenses last year and it's just a silly side hobby for me.
Not being homeless is harder than you think when a really bad down turn hits. You just have to make sure you have a huge savings to help you in lean times.
@@BeatTheBush When my salary was at the low end. I've managed to save 50% of my earnings. But after more than a decade my salary increased, now I'm saving 75% to 80% of what I earn. But of course, I'm still single.
I just get one that is connected to the phone line. You can look up what types are available in your area. You might have some luck contacting customer service and asking for internet only option.
When you said you save money via gas for cash back, where I'm from The difference between cash/credit price per gallon is so vast that the 5% wouldn't be beneficial. Is it different where you're at?
Yes, it is different. Most the time, the different is about 2-3% lower for using cash. If it's 5% then there is no need other than the very good days when you get 10% cash back.
I'm also tracking my income and spending, and last year my savings-rate was 57%. But I've factored in every source of income into that. I'm not entirely sure I'll beat that this year since I've had some bigger than usual expenses, and I've had to abstain from the income from a tenant since I'm moving. But when I'm set up in the new place I'll be increasing my income from last year. I'll also be able to cut some costs this year. I'll get lower local taxes soon, my internet bill will go down slightly, I'll be without a gym membership for some time, then get a cheaper one. I'll most likely get rid of my car and rely on my bike and public transportation. And public transportation will be free as my job covers it. My new place is much better located than my current one, so I wont need a car. I'm hoping to improve the savings-rate this year, but it will probably end up about the same. But next year I think it should be quite possible to increase it to around 70%.
That is an admirable savings rate! Good job! The higher you can get it the faster you can amass wealth and hopefully become financially independent. This of course opens up a lot of doors that were not available previously. =D
it's hard to find housing less than 3-4k in the bay area! are you in the downtown or oakland? i found a rent control for around your price but it's a very tiny studio!
Bay area is like the death trap of housing, I'm certainly not in the very high cost areas as I think that's just insane to the point of putting a huge damper on building wealth. Only way is to live farther away and commute but that has the draw back of higher transport cost along with more time cost. Another point that came to mind is that a tiny studio is not all that bad IF you are able to keep a minimalist lifestyle. Or that kon-marie thing going the rounds. Why pay for storage of your junk you don't use in the form of a bigger place?
I'd totally go for that. The fact that it's temporary makes it all that much bearable. Or you allocate 100-200/mon as treat yourself fund for renting a room. Even if you have a down payment, I'd say its insanely expensive right now but that's a whole different topic.
I purchased the intelligent investor. However, I'm just trying to finish tony robbin's money. I am trying to invest rather soon so you'd recommend that beginners don't invest until they've read the book? I would love to do it sooner than later (knowing me, it'll take a while to finish)
It's healthy and very nutritional. Here's an example: th-cam.com/video/HTd_EDTB-qY/w-d-xo.html Here is another one of my favorites: th-cam.com/video/ndlZXbJOifw/w-d-xo.html
hope you are not going to start raving about soy and raw vegan... veg and lean meat are just perfect. and some fat too- which is important for hormonal balance.
Actually this month I saved around 75% of my income, from 3 different sources. Can't say about an entire year, but for sure is around 60-75%. Cool video!
Congratulations! I'm in my first year out of college and really trying to streamline my budget and save up quick. I actually spend way less on life stuff than you do on a monthly basis and have been able to reduce costs on bills and spend next to nothing on electricity. My main issue right now is housing. I pay 990 for a 500sqft studio. It's super nice, property management is fantastic, great amenities (gym and pool), I have a patio for gardening, and in unit laundry. But anything I find that's more affordable has crazy reviews about the property manager being awful, infested with cockroaches, etc. Safety is a huge factor too. I found my dream apartment; studio in a "vintage" building with a patio in downtown for only 550 a month. But my coworkers said they wouldn't let me ever live there because apparently the place is known for crimes and sex offenders. The obvious solution is to get a roommate, but I don't know anyone in my city other than folks who have families, and don't know if I should spend time in trying to find a Craigslist roommate only for it to turn out terrible. Don't know where I can throw in extra income either. It's all a learning process. But that's what I'm struggling with right now. If anyone has even read through this or has any suggestions, let me know! I'm practically living paycheck to paycheck right now and I would like to save waaaay more so I can buy a home or get a decent piece of land to start building equity and quickly pay off so I can save even more.
Saving means nothing if you're dead. So safety is worth a lot of money. I would rather get a roommate. You can find a good one with time and care. Interview them and do credit checks. Setup some rules you put before moving in and hopefully this will avoid any issues. The possibility of it turning out horrible is real but it could also work out really well. Just have an escape plan so you wont be stuck with it for more than a month if things go south.
The name of this should be "How I saved 100% of the income from my day job". Buuuuut, less people may be likely to click and watch.. ..regardless. Loved the video. Thank you for the inspiration and information! I'm now subscribed.
It gave me the idea to do what you did.. take your month to month expenses and look at how much you are spending on everything annually and see how it adds up. I think everyone should do that and they may look at their expenses differently! Like you, I live a pretty minimal lifestyle (I love how you said you are "old school" when it comes to movies haha) and I do all my own car repairs. It makes a huge difference, something that a lot of people could really benefit from! Anyway, thanks for the reply and for the great videos. Have a great day!
Yeah, sort of an unconventional lifestyle and yet pretty comfortable for me. I for one have way too much stuff STILL. So getting ride of stuff is an ongoing process. You have a great day too! =D
Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham. Remember that books is more about managing your own portfolio and evaluating companies. Most investors should be going with the less active method do dollar cost averaging and buying a mixture of index fund etfs and bond etfs.
Those are largely covered with company health insurance. It does need to be factored in and actually should be spent out of an FSA or HSA account for tax free money usage.
really depends on how you want to live your life, i used to be like this, saving everything and only buying the bare necessities. A new phone comes out? nah ill stick with my still working old phone, need new clothes? nah ill just wear the same 2$ T-shirt everyday, going out and having fun? nah i'll stay at home and play free video games, cheapest form of entertainment ever. The thing is at the age of 28, i just realized i did not enjoyed my 20s at all, all i have done is working, and saving money while others travelled, had fun, went out hang out with girls... damn i don't even know how to flirt with a girl, i feel like i just wasted 1/3 of my life. Life is short, enjoy it now, Carpe Diem
You have to understand, I am not buying bare necessities. I buy things I like and I am very comfortable. I hardly ever wear T-shirts and I go out when it's convenient. My burn rate is still $40k a year.
Living frugally has nothing to do with not talking to girls or depriving yourself of a social life. That was literally entirely your fault. You can make accommodations to not spend a fuckton when you go somewhere with friends, and even find people doing what you do. I’m living on a budget right now and still enjoying a social life, outdoors hobbies like biking and hiking, and my local library.
Fair enough. When I was in college, I used to study sometimes at the public library, as a reward for studying I would treat myself to a movie. They had a great selection too, it felt like nobody was taking advantage of the free library of movies.
They do seem to let you borrow things other than just movies or books as well. Libraries are less popular these days it seems as people prefer to just buy the thing and have it shipped to them. Old books do have a stink to them though.
Except that the investment does not count as income if it is not realized. You can say the annual net worth gain is equal to your income. But if you do not sell your investment (and include the tax into consideration), then it's not realized. Other non-salary income sources (ebay, selling stuff, youtube, etc) have to be counted as part of the income. Good job on having no debt. That mentality makes you get ahead of many people already and set you for success at your age.
I guess that's an equivalent way of stating things but net worth also factors in the value of other assets. Btw, the investments were realized via a sale.
It's the first time I'm watching a video and I subscribe right away and comment also ! I think you know stuff and you know what you are doing and I wanna learn from you.
Holy sh*t! This guy is the Asian version of me! Even to the FreedomPop bit, except FreedomPop doesn't even get $15 a month from me. I've been with them for two years and the most they've gotten from me is $20 total. I feel kinda bad actually.
Yeah the freedompop $15 is just allocation for accidental charges. It's gone down a lot since I turn off auto reload on the LTE dongles. The phone service is less than $20 a year for me as well. I forget how much but its minuscule.
I like your advice, and I don't know why I have not found your channel before, but I am here now and that is all it matters, and to follow your advice. Thank you.
Save time to be Financially Free! And do whatever you want and not be stuck in a job you are not happy with while someone else is collecting all the gains you are producing for them! 😄
I bought this book last year using your link because you recommended it, but I haven’t read it yet because I started going back to school at the time and made the required reading a priority. I just pulled the book off my shelf today after seeing this video again, and I will make it a priority to read first this year in 2019.
I have never in my life come close to spending 40k a year. When I was in the military, I was spending about 10k a year. As a civilian, I spend about 10k more, so 20k a year due to rent and other things the military previously took care of. Even when I take nice vacations, I may spend 25k- 27k a year, but 40? Maybe I won't be moving to Cali after all. Good video though, go info that will be definitely be using.
BeatTheBush i want to say the high paying jobs are negated by high taxation as well. High salary doesn't go to far with high taxation and cost of living..
The only real advantage to being in SF is being around cool and intelligent people. You can get great weather in Vegas, low prices, huge homes, and everyone from LA and SF will visit you anyway.
If you have two sources of Income and you set-off all the expenses from one of those, the other one obviously is 100% saved! What's the point you are trying to make? Just curious!
izzi... then you generate income. a lot of people think that the only way to make money is to save. i used to think this way until someone told me that in order to make money you make income.
at what point do these other sources of income become a job? for example say i have my mon-fri 5-9 job, then on the weekends i drive uber or do something that requires more than just internet access for pocket money. does that count?
I think that questions becomes a bit philosophical. Even investment income takes a certain amount of time for research unless you are clearly letting it sit and collecting pure dividends. Uber is certainly not something most people would do if they do not have to work. So its the question of if you would do it even if you have enough money to not work and sustain your current standard of living. I.e. do you enjoy it enough to do it anyway.
They certainly do not pay teachers the most in many places so it'll take some extra effort to save more. On that kind of salary though, you can definiately live comfortably and save, it all depends on how well you manage expenses. Try this video I picked out for you: th-cam.com/video/H4nt1gNjxIU/w-d-xo.html
Different question. Since you said you invested all your income. What was the % of your income that you invested are investments you could liquidate (individual stocks, ETFs, savings accounts etc) vs long term investments which you get a penalty if you liquidate (money market, 401k, roth etc). I remember you saying you don't invest in money market
Oh you mean peer to peer I don't invest in. Well I invest money that is over and beyond my emergency savings but I'll have to punt on the specifics of the make up for privacy and identity theft reasons.
Thank you for imparting learned generational financial lessons to your TH-cam followers. The great depression in the 1930 taught that generation in America to be frugal but after that, the lessons sorta became blurry. Your Chanel is amazing!!!
Frugality is needed for most people who do not have a vast income. In a way, it allows you to free up your time and gives you more value for your life even.
you can have a free landline with OOMA!!....all you need is internet service and the only thing you pay is the tax once a year about $19.-.....and of course a one time investment of $80.- for the OOMA box (answering machine) ....I have been using OOMA since almost 10 years now...ps.: Just found your Channel.....love it and I am your new subscriber!
I do love your channel! Glad I subscribed. One nice thing about reducing what you spend on extras like restaurants or, say, a fancy coffee drink, is that when you DO go there, it's a really nice treat instead of just being something you do all the time to get food/caffeine in your belly. In other words, spending less there increases the enjoyment factor!
Thanks so much! Appreciate your comment. Its like not trying to dull your senses. I feel like that's some sort of buddist monk trick. Although Starbucks is pretty good, you can get pretty close to the quality with your own equipment and by then, you don't miss spending $5 on the coffee at all. So even if you go to the store, you get zero or negative satisfaction, lol.
If I hit Starbucks, I get it "for here" and snag a comfy chair, bring a friend or a book to read...then it can be worth $5 for a fancy-pants latte or frappe. I actually prefer my own drip coffee at home, from good beans, to that found in most cafes. I have also found the sweet spot for my restaurant visits is a mid-price-point, type restaurant, where I'm helping a small mom 'n' pop business instead of a chain (and all the better if mom 'n' pop are cooking Vietnamese, or Peruvian, or Hungarian or...).
Mid-price or even low price has pretty high value. Its rare you get 2x the enjoyment from paying 2x more. As long as they know how to make good food, the enjoyment factor is high already. Of course, heping the mom n pop is another plus. Lol.. that's how I look at Starbucks too. It's like renting a place to sit rather than buying the coffee.
It's actually $0 for the last 4 months at least. I put that there in case of overages but it seems like it will be zero for the next 12 months also. More info on my plan here: th-cam.com/video/W7CKRKiZx4I/w-d-xo.html
I just use the regular stuff. Sometimes the coolant leaks then you're leaking expensive gold on the floor if the evans stuff is more expensive than regular?
Just found you on TH-cam and really like your content. What investment book did you mention that you read? I apologize in advance if you mentioned it already. :)
holy cow! 200/month only on food, so cheap! I mean the only time I was able to also do that during my university days, but not anymore, was due to consuming mostly potatoes, bananas, canned beans, mac and cheese, and noodles. These days I spent a lot on meat, fruits and vegetables, and from time to time alcohol gets in my groceries. Your spreadsheet is better than mine except for rent and gas, every item you have at low cost is amazing.
here, let me make a fellow boxster owner a bit richer by subbing. you don't count your amazon, ebay sells, and youtube earning as incomes? they're not gonna send you a 1099 this month?
I notice that a chunk of my expenses go into "aesthetic services" that I can't avoid using, such as eyebrow waxing, facial hair removal, etc (I go for the least costly ones, mind you, I'm a graduate student that eats ramen for dinner). I try to do it on my own (hi scanty eyebrows) but it makes everything worse for me (sensitive skin+idk wtf I'm doing)- any suggestions, fellow peers?
Sounds like you really need those services. Try taking on a job during the summer outside of your school work to pay for it all. Internships pay wayyy more than what you would qualify for with a high school diploma. Depends on the major of course.
I get my hair done at beauty schools from students who are about to graduate. They even do facials. They are supervised by a professional to make sure they are done right.Call a local beauty school and check prices. I wax my own eye brows after watching a tutorials on you tube. I buy all my products at a beauty supply store to cut on costs for my manicures and pedicures too.
For the lay-person, S&P index funds. If you think you are an investing genius then you might want to try my Investing videos. First one here: th-cam.com/video/UCjka4lQigw/w-d-xo.html
I really wish that more young people like you understood the time-value of money. In addition to Graham's famous book, I'd suggest that you read "A Random Walk Down Wall Street" and, perhaps, anything by John Bogle and/or Charles Ellis. Always remember the mathematical miracle of compound interest.
Hi how did you pay only $15 and sell phone what line do you use I live in California also and my bill for three people in my family is averaging $300 a month! Totally totally need to cut this right but I'm in a damn contract. Do you have any advice or tips please
$300! yeah.. they charge $100 a month if you're using a smartphone with the latest iPhone 7. I use Freedompop. It's a hassle to use so you get what you pay for. I estimate the average cost is $15 from overages but it really is $0. It's a VOIP phone with 1G of data per month. Voice quality is terrible unless you have more than 3 bars. Like I said, you get what you pay for.
What apps or programs do you use to sell your stuff? I've been thinking a minimalist approach to living would be beneficial to myself, I have too much stuff.
What investment books did you read? I really want to have multiple streams of passive income, but I'm overwhelmed with all of the information that's out there and unsure where to start.
Thanks for your support. Banks/unions are so plentiful that I don't know them all. I generally do really look for a particular Credit union to join but join a bank that has an ATM closest to me. If I pass by it everyday, I'll join it for usage of ATM. Any monies over my normal usage goes to a high interest rate online savings bank.
my monthly expenses are : utilities(electricity, water, internet, etc...) - $70-$120 depending on a season food - $150 i live in my own apartment and my yearly property tax is $100 so lets take the worst monthly scenario, which is $270 and multiply it by 12, which equals to 3240... now add $100 property tax and we get $3340 unavoidable yearly expenses... i make anywhere between $400 and $1000 a month freelancing, but lets count it as $600 a month, which means i make $7200 a year, just from that... that is more than double the cost of my essential, unavoidable expenses.... and i did not even have to rely on my salary
i do not live in the usa, that is why my expenses are low... we have public healthcare where i live that is funded from taxes, so you do not have to pay unless you wanna go to private hospital
I think normal people don't realize how much paying cash for a car saves. I live on about 8-12k a year in so cal and people don't believe me. The biggest key is having the paid for cars. Even with major repairs every few years I'm still way way way ahead. I use a two car system so if one needs repair I just use the other. Even my $500 car with all the repairs it needed was equivalent to 6 months of car payments and insurance for a new car. Insurance is $550 a year for my two paid for cars. Most people spend that in a couple months for one car. Anyway, get rid of your car payment!!
Maybe they do, maybe not. I think it's more of a new car buyer want the car and only looks at the monthly payment. I never had a car payment myself and wouldn't ever want one. Many look at affording only if they can support the monthly payment. The better way to look at it is if you can pay the full price. That's really affording it.
I think that's a great idea! =D Have to get creative sometimes and sometimes it takes some work and learning extra knowledge to even be able to reduce costs.
Not perfect list but wow, i feel like many of the things you do are things i've learned to do as i do. This is me and my wife's monthly "typical" monthly spenditure. But of course Housing 850 Trash 0 Gym membership 20 Gas/electric 0 School Loan 0 Car payment 0 Cell phone (google phone) 30 Land line 0 Cable 0 Car insurance 50 Car maintenance 100 Gas 0 Food expenses 400 Restaurants 200 Clothing 30 Gadgets 100 Others(vitamins and such) 200 Our expenses come to around 2000 a month. My wifes income covers this, and mine is completely saved, and partially invested. I'm learning more ways of optimizing my current state from your channel. Thanks man!
I should make a video of how I spent 100% of my income!👍😁
Lol, actually, I think more than half of the US population does this.
Arizona 🤣🤣🤣I feel like I found my soul mate lol.. I shop, I eat, coffee only I spend $300 a month. I couldn't eliminate any of my expenses. 😫
There's a certain minimal level everyone is used to for their standard of living. There's always creative ways to get the same thing for cheaper like knowing how to make the best coffee yourself.
BeatTheBush I've thought about trading in my house for a van down by the river, but my wife says no!😁
LOL! Seems like the wife is who knocks some sense into otherwise extreme frugality.
Legends say that whiteboard ended up on Ebay.
my yearly expenses last year was about $14000 including housing. My house and car are paid for so those are 2 big expenses I do not have. I travel internationally maybe twice a year so I guess I am sort of a minimalist in spending. Travel is all personal not business.
Wow, that's amazingly low! Crazy. Wait, no housing payments so I see now. Yeah, that amount is a bit lower than my level but you seem to be nearly the lowest spending level other than some people who are able to get by with a bicycle rather than a car. Everyone has different requirements I'd say.
My expenses is lower than yours. I'm on permanently vacation and travel far and wide, since I 'm 35 years old.
BeatTheBush, your expenses is too high! I make 6 figures salary and in 10 years, I 'm millionaire! You are good, but not good enough.
TrueFreedom, he's from the Bay Area so it's expensive there. Where are you?
garfieldurl, It's hard to answer your question, because I travel through out the year. I'm Digital Nomadic from Chaozhou, China, but I don't live there anymore. Right now, I live in Slab City in California and it's free living! Tomorrow, I will be at Capital Reef in AZ for a month or so. Your question is very easy to answer for 99.99% of population, but it 's very hard for me. I don't know where I will be tomorrow. I might fly to Malaysia in few months or I might stay in USA.
I don't know if i skipped it but don't you have internet that you need for youtube?
I do have internet. I guess I clumped it with 'others' I pay about $50/month
I think that one of the problems of people who stay in debt, is that they do not realize where their money is leaking out and being wasted. They either don't think about whether they need whatever it is, or they think they need something they don't. Cutting expenditures means not always having the latest cell phones, shoes, cars or play toys to impress others. To many, cutting out the TV, the second phone, the pizza every weekend, the beer, the cigarettes and presents and gifts for others is unthinkable. Getting serious about getting out of debt is the first step, and too many do not want to do that, because it's NO FUN. I have been through it, and there is a joy in knowing that you are not having to lie awake at night wondering how you are going to pay your bills when you have no money put aside, and you just lost your job, broke your leg and cannot work, or your spouse just left and left you with all the bills. It happens a lot. It really is time to get serious about taking care of ourselves.
Likely. Too much automatic spending or spending they must have but is costing them a fortune.
Financial security gives a peace of mind that likely makes you live longer from the reduced stress in itself.
This is so true. I was able to leave a job after I was offered a crappy contract because I had enough saved that could last me a while. The day when I left I felt vindicated because I knew that my choice to be frugal had put me in a position of power to not have to take crap from anyone.
I thought saving 90% of my income every year was impressive, but you saving 100% is just CRAZY. Good job man
Thanks! Possible if you make a bit of money on the side. =D
BeatTheBush I wish
Girl Friend cost $1000 a month, how do I deal with this !! Please make a video about this !! Thanks advance
That's a hilarious comment. LOL! Wow, that's a pretty expensive girlfriend. $250/week. So eat out 2-3 times a week at pretty nice places and then some to buy her stuff. I'll have to think about this one. You could change her views about this but I doubt that will work.
LOLLL you should add a separate expense category for girlfriend?
dump her! and get one who is low maintenance and not after your money.
i suggest a boyfriend. sometimes they even provide
so what? she has no job that you have to pay for everything? you should always split the bill 50/50. you are not married but, even if you were (already fucked), she has her own money. being in a relationship does not mean you have to pay for everything the little princess wants .... a hooker is cheaper
I am a 19 year old college student from the bay area and I have been watching all of your videos ever since I stumbled on your "Uni Sashimi" video . I generally never comment on TH-cam videos but I just wanted to say that your finance and investing videos give me hope for when I get out of school with close to half a million dollars in debt. Thank you for sharing these amazing life tips Bush!
Oh the one where I opened the Uni, I remember that one. Thanks for taking the time to comment. I was like you before making videos but you'll find that interacting with the creators should be pretty fun. Wuuuut.... half million in debt? I guess you are a becoming a lawyer or doctor then? Or perhaps a pretty pricey private school, lol. You're very welcome. =D
You are not alone then. Actually, I saved more than 100%. But that happened only after some serious saving & taking risk in stock market in 2009. I am projecting to save about 165K this year if I get my actual match my projected budget this year. And I am not cutting any expense, in fact I have 20 days vacation plan to Japan.
+DB Nice! More risk more reward right? I am a bit conservative when in beating though. As I prefer to keep my pants in case anything goes awry in the market.
I absolutely agree with you. I just have one suggestion (because I did for myself and it worked really well). Buy a small house in cash (or try to pay it off as quickly as possible). I know it's hard to find in bay area, but find something little outside. And then use public commute. And I am guessing you work in tech. industry. One time will come where you don't have to be working in office. That way you can work remotely from home and you don't have to pay house rent (which is the biggest expense). And it will also protect you from any future economic disaster. God forbid, if you ever loose a job, you have a place to live and you can stay till your next job for very minimal expense. And it's a asset too. Again, it's just my opinion. Somehow it worked really well for me. For last 3 years, I didn't pay even a single $ on rent. Cheers ! Dipankar
Well of course! Lol, have a house paid for and live in it? I'm all for that. Except I'm not too keen on a long commute.
Great job!!!!
DB hope you had a blast
I have worked in finance for 20 years, I have a college education and several licenses and this is some of the best advice out there. Thank for sharing!
Yup, this year I got into the part of reducing my spending.
Got from the "I need a bigger salary because I am on red numbers" to "I can do 19% on my 401(k)" to "I think I might be able to retire in 12 years".
So, now I am looking for ways to get more income so I can cut those 12 years to 8.
So, yeah, controlling expenditure is an effort that pays well.
Yeah, it was not always this low for me. It's like a little project with experiments. You change services and try things out and see if its comfortable. If not then no problem, just switch back. The ultra low expenditure while keeping quality of life relatively the same takes a lot of skill and knowledge which I hope to spread on this channel.
Yeah, that balance point between pleasures for your present self and security for your future self.
Carlos Ramos Oh my gosh that’s amazing. Would you please be more specific with what things you did exactly? And some more data please (like your job(s), career and salary).
How could you max your 401k,IRA, HSA for 8 years and are able to retire in 8-12 yrs. Someone please help me on this!
This is the first video from your channel that I've watched.
I'm very money conscious but I always end up in weird moods where I want to spend money. It isn't all the time, but when the feeling hits I end up spending more money on eating out or buying something I want.
Videos like these helps to put me back into saving mode and I enjoy that.
I'll keep watching your videos, thanks for posting!
+TheInvisibleCactus I feel the same once in a while. I allocate a little bit of money saved to satisfy my wants. So perhaps if you set a reasonable amount to do that every month, you won't have some pent up need to go all out. My wants are pretty low cost though. Maybe a 3D printer for $200 or a box of Belgian waffle cookie for $2.
What about ISP? How are you making TH-cam videos with no isp?
You can reduce gas by buying gas cards at raise or cardpool or any other seller. I've used Raise a lot, so I can tell you they are safe. You pay with credit card and make rewards as well.
What is the effective percentage lower you get? I assume gas cards are well sought after as they are very similar to cash since people use it so often.
Good on you for being frugal & not getting into debt. Here is an approximate breakdown of my budget. Take into account that I my income is rather low as I am on SSDS.
Housing: $1500 (also in Silicon valley but have been here many years)
Water & garbage: About $85 a month. Milpitas jacked their water rates up last 5 years.
Car: Payed cash when I refinanced my car years ago. It's a 2000
Cel phone: My older son pays it with his home business plan. Lucky me.
Land line: $17. I am old school & like a landline.
TV: Cancelling my Netflix streaming not long ago. Just got Amazon prime which has movies. I spent less for the yearly membership then I did for Netflix. I also got my Amazon prime through Top cash back. I get $15 back in an Amazon gift card.
Car Insurance: $43
Car maintenance: $50. My younger son works on my car for the most part when needed.
Gas: $40. Don't drive a lot, no commuting
Food: $300-$400 including eating out which I seldom do. I shop at my local farmers market, Grocery Outlet & some online, mostly from Vitacost. Also, I am vegan.
Clothing: $100 is my guess. I buy most of my clothes at a local thrift store. I get a senior discount. They also do half off days, 99 cent t-shirt days, etc. Some clothing is new, the rest is gently used. Have found lots of nice quality & even name brand items. I like to look them up online to see the value of the nicer ones. Great selection of active wear pants. Can be tricky for me as I am only five feet.
Gadjets: none
Other: $200 or less. This would be dental cleaning, chiropractor, etc.
Lastly, this is not an expense but a great site. I go to Hunt for freebies daily for free samples , coupons & sometimes even full size products.
Hope that helps. Thanks for the great informative videos ! Great job ! :-)
I have been very fortunate not to have to pay for gas, a vehicle, maintenance, and a cell phone. For the past 9 years. I negotiated all of this in when I took on my position at work. I also have 4 properties that are all paid off. I was lucky enough to buy them between 2009 and 2011. My gross income including my rents is nearly $300k a year. But I take home about half of that after taxes. Believe it or not I still love way below my means spending only about $1800 a month. I only have to cover food utilities and fun. I plan on retiring early in the next 3 years as soon as I can collect my pension. Everything you say is very effective. I have had this mentality all my life. It has done me well.
+Building Buildercip Whoa! 300k!? That's pretty crazy! Good for you! Yeah, a few years of that and you can retire. In fact, I assume you can retire now via just collecting rent to pay for your expenses.
Hi add me unique_tamu@yahoo.com
What kind of work do you do?
Who displays their income on TH-cam? Fake or crazy!
I'm new to your channel. This is a very informative video
Thanks! Welcom Ana!
heyy...... you wanna boom boom?
Ana Perez welcome!
*Niklas Münch:* He also needs to change his name to "I Am A Teenage Boy"!!!
Hi Ana!
I appreciate the honest advice and that you're not just pushing a book or a self-help product. The saddest thing is that this is also the most basic financial advice there is and many people have likely heard it before - it just seems that it has to be phrased a certain way for it to click with different people.
Lol, people have been asking me to write one though so that might come later from demand rather than from having it and creating demand.
You are a bright guy and you work hard. I believe your heart is in the right place. Wish you well! I subscribed :)
Thanks! Hope my vids will also help you improve your finances as well. Specially true through increasing cash flow.
He is bright for sure, definitely needs some tanning.
BeatTheBush, let me ask you a question. You mention selling your stuff on Amazon and eBay, you said stuff that you don't like after you get it or that is past the return-policy. Does this create negative cash flow? For example, you buy a portable charger for $50, it is very unlikely that you will sell it for that much, so let's say you sell it for $40 on eBay. After fees and shipping, you might get $30. Now you're upside down $20, how can you generate revenue from Amazon and/or eBay?
This is all about reclaiming value that sits idle. You are not making money most of the time since selling stuff for more than you buy is rare. What you spent already is considered past years expenses already. So this minimizes your outflow and depending on how you look at it, it could be considered limited inflow.
Is it cheaper to take public transportation since you don't have to worry about insurance, gas and car maintenance and spending like 20k to buy the car? It might depend on if your area has good public transportation.
But then what you save in transportation you pay back greatly in time. Sometimes, it takes 2-3 times to go to the same place.
In New York, it's about the same time considering the traffic. But then you have to deal with a transportation system that has a 100 year old infrastructure and breaks down half the time.
Which investment book did you read?
Intelligent investor.
Just downloaded it
thanks for all the help! I love how honest you are even when talking about making money on your viewers. keep up the good work!
=D Thanks! Will do!
Love this guy
=D Thanks for watching! =D
Eddie Gonzalez ??????
Gay
thanks for the perspective. nice video. I actually went through a similar exercise just before watching this video. keep at it. My youtube channel almost covered my expenses last year and it's just a silly side hobby for me.
Ahhh look at that! You have a huge channel! =D
MattV2099: Guns & Food holy sheit its matt lol I was randomly surfing the web
BeatTheBush
You should send this to Cooter. Maybe he can get a life and stop being so creepy.
MattV2099: Guns & Food
I'm subbing to this guy so when I'm 18 I can know how to live on my own haha
I would say if you are watching these videos at your age, you care much about your finances so you should do fine. =D
Thank you BeatTheBush. I just really don't want to be homeless.
Not being homeless is harder than you think when a really bad down turn hits. You just have to make sure you have a huge savings to help you in lean times.
@@BeatTheBush When my salary was at the low end. I've managed to save 50% of my earnings. But after more than a decade my salary increased, now I'm saving 75% to 80% of what I earn. But of course, I'm still single.
I would check out mr money mustache
how do you pay for internet service? I want to cut my cable service, but it is through the internet.
I just get one that is connected to the phone line. You can look up what types are available in your area. You might have some luck contacting customer service and asking for internet only option.
What book did you read about investments? I haven't been the luckiest on the stock market.
Nevermind!
Here's it is anyway. It's called intelligent investor that focuses on value invested. Review here: th-cam.com/video/q_jZb7O6Luo/w-d-xo.html
BeatTheBush
When you said you save money via gas for cash back, where I'm from
The difference between cash/credit price per gallon is so vast that the 5% wouldn't be beneficial. Is it different where you're at?
Yes, it is different. Most the time, the different is about 2-3% lower for using cash. If it's 5% then there is no need other than the very good days when you get 10% cash back.
I'm also tracking my income and spending, and last year my savings-rate was 57%. But I've factored in every source of income into that. I'm not entirely sure I'll beat that this year since I've had some bigger than usual expenses, and I've had to abstain from the income from a tenant since I'm moving. But when I'm set up in the new place I'll be increasing my income from last year. I'll also be able to cut some costs this year. I'll get lower local taxes soon, my internet bill will go down slightly, I'll be without a gym membership for some time, then get a cheaper one. I'll most likely get rid of my car and rely on my bike and public transportation. And public transportation will be free as my job covers it. My new place is much better located than my current one, so I wont need a car. I'm hoping to improve the savings-rate this year, but it will probably end up about the same. But next year I think it should be quite possible to increase it to around 70%.
That is an admirable savings rate! Good job! The higher you can get it the faster you can amass wealth and hopefully become financially independent. This of course opens up a lot of doors that were not available previously. =D
Thank you so much! Tried skipping ahead but found myself rewinding...didn't want to miss a thing you said.
Your videos are cool man i really appreciate what you're doing here. Subscribed!
Thanks! Thanks for your sub!
it's hard to find housing less than 3-4k in the bay area! are you in the downtown or oakland? i found a rent control for around your price but it's a very tiny studio!
If you go down to San Jose or the South bay, you can find a single bedroom apartment for about $2200
Bay area is like the death trap of housing, I'm certainly not in the very high cost areas as I think that's just insane to the point of putting a huge damper on building wealth. Only way is to live farther away and commute but that has the draw back of higher transport cost along with more time cost.
Another point that came to mind is that a tiny studio is not all that bad IF you are able to keep a minimalist lifestyle. Or that kon-marie thing going the rounds. Why pay for storage of your junk you don't use in the form of a bigger place?
BeatTheBush I agree. I did find a room in a house for 900 only! :) thinking how much that'll save for a home can get anyone excited..
I'd totally go for that. The fact that it's temporary makes it all that much bearable. Or you allocate 100-200/mon as treat yourself fund for renting a room. Even if you have a down payment, I'd say its insanely expensive right now but that's a whole different topic.
I purchased the intelligent investor. However, I'm just trying to finish tony robbin's money. I am trying to invest rather soon so you'd recommend that beginners don't invest until they've read the book? I would love to do it sooner than later (knowing me, it'll take a while to finish)
food expense $200? what do you eat? I can't believe it's heathy or nutritional...
It's healthy and very nutritional. Here's an example: th-cam.com/video/HTd_EDTB-qY/w-d-xo.html Here is another one of my favorites: th-cam.com/video/ndlZXbJOifw/w-d-xo.html
To be honest, some roasted fat chicken and brussels sprouts and simple shabushabu are not nutritional
hope you are not going to start raving about soy and raw vegan... veg and lean meat are just perfect. and some fat too- which is important for hormonal balance.
You can do vegan at 100$ a month with some planning and foresight. Doesn't get healthier than that.
Actually this month I saved around 75% of my income, from 3 different sources. Can't say about an entire year, but for sure is around 60-75%. Cool video!
That's pretty impressive and it sounds like you wont be working much longer! =D
link to your spreadsheet?
Great idea. I really need to have a shareable location with files you can grab. Will work on this.
google sheets?
Congratulations! I'm in my first year out of college and really trying to streamline my budget and save up quick. I actually spend way less on life stuff than you do on a monthly basis and have been able to reduce costs on bills and spend next to nothing on electricity. My main issue right now is housing. I pay 990 for a 500sqft studio. It's super nice, property management is fantastic, great amenities (gym and pool), I have a patio for gardening, and in unit laundry. But anything I find that's more affordable has crazy reviews about the property manager being awful, infested with cockroaches, etc. Safety is a huge factor too. I found my dream apartment; studio in a "vintage" building with a patio in downtown for only 550 a month. But my coworkers said they wouldn't let me ever live there because apparently the place is known for crimes and sex offenders. The obvious solution is to get a roommate, but I don't know anyone in my city other than folks who have families, and don't know if I should spend time in trying to find a Craigslist roommate only for it to turn out terrible. Don't know where I can throw in extra income either. It's all a learning process. But that's what I'm struggling with right now. If anyone has even read through this or has any suggestions, let me know! I'm practically living paycheck to paycheck right now and I would like to save waaaay more so I can buy a home or get a decent piece of land to start building equity and quickly pay off so I can save even more.
Saving means nothing if you're dead. So safety is worth a lot of money. I would rather get a roommate. You can find a good one with time and care. Interview them and do credit checks. Setup some rules you put before moving in and hopefully this will avoid any issues.
The possibility of it turning out horrible is real but it could also work out really well. Just have an escape plan so you wont be stuck with it for more than a month if things go south.
The name of this should be "How I saved 100% of the income from my day job". Buuuuut, less people may be likely to click and watch..
..regardless. Loved the video. Thank you for the inspiration and information! I'm now subscribed.
Yes, I do hope the underlying information is helpful and gives some perspective. Thanks! =D
It gave me the idea to do what you did.. take your month to month expenses and look at how much you are spending on everything annually and see how it adds up. I think everyone should do that and they may look at their expenses differently! Like you, I live a pretty minimal lifestyle (I love how you said you are "old school" when it comes to movies haha) and I do all my own car repairs. It makes a huge difference, something that a lot of people could really benefit from! Anyway, thanks for the reply and for the great videos. Have a great day!
Yeah, sort of an unconventional lifestyle and yet pretty comfortable for me. I for one have way too much stuff STILL. So getting ride of stuff is an ongoing process. You have a great day too! =D
What is the title of the investment book you read that turned your life around you were saying?
Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham. Remember that books is more about managing your own portfolio and evaluating companies. Most investors should be going with the less active method do dollar cost averaging and buying a mixture of index fund etfs and bond etfs.
How about medical? Dentist, yearly exams etc.
Those are largely covered with company health insurance. It does need to be factored in and actually should be spent out of an FSA or HSA account for tax free money usage.
How's your porsche boxster? has it been reliable? good job on the savings!
Doing pretty good still. 150k miles! Thanks!
really depends on how you want to live your life, i used to be like this, saving everything and only buying the bare necessities. A new phone comes out? nah ill stick with my still working old phone, need new clothes? nah ill just wear the same 2$ T-shirt everyday, going out and having fun? nah i'll stay at home and play free video games, cheapest form of entertainment ever. The thing is at the age of 28, i just realized i did not enjoyed my 20s at all, all i have done is working, and saving money while others travelled, had fun, went out hang out with girls... damn i don't even know how to flirt with a girl, i feel like i just wasted 1/3 of my life.
Life is short, enjoy it now, Carpe Diem
You have to understand, I am not buying bare necessities. I buy things I like and I am very comfortable. I hardly ever wear T-shirts and I go out when it's convenient. My burn rate is still $40k a year.
And I also ride a plane once or twice a year.
Living frugally has nothing to do with not talking to girls or depriving yourself of a social life. That was literally entirely your fault. You can make accommodations to not spend a fuckton when you go somewhere with friends, and even find people doing what you do. I’m living on a budget right now and still enjoying a social life, outdoors hobbies like biking and hiking, and my local library.
Can you make a video on purchasing insurance, particularly life insurance?
Noted, thanks for your suggestion!
Save even more money by renting movies from the library for free instead of redbox
I would if I lived close to a library but good point.
Fair enough. When I was in college, I used to study sometimes at the public library, as a reward for studying I would treat myself to a movie. They had a great selection too, it felt like nobody was taking advantage of the free library of movies.
They do seem to let you borrow things other than just movies or books as well. Libraries are less popular these days it seems as people prefer to just buy the thing and have it shipped to them. Old books do have a stink to them though.
I like the smell of old books.
Yo ho yo ho, a pirate's life for me. Don't even have to leave my house for free movies
Except that the investment does not count as income if it is not realized. You can say the annual net worth gain is equal to your income. But if you do not sell your investment (and include the tax into consideration), then it's not realized.
Other non-salary income sources (ebay, selling stuff, youtube, etc) have to be counted as part of the income. Good job on having no debt. That mentality makes you get ahead of many people already and set you for success at your age.
I guess that's an equivalent way of stating things but net worth also factors in the value of other assets. Btw, the investments were realized via a sale.
It's the first time I'm watching a video and I subscribe right away and comment also !
I think you know stuff and you know what you are doing and I wanna learn from you.
Wow wow wow! First comment ever? I know how that is before I started making videos. Thank you for your first comment! Welcome to my channel! =D
Breaking into detail is helpful and makes it more real than abstract and therefore psychologically easier to put into action.
+कुरूकुल्ले शेर्प My purpose exactly.
Nevermind
Ok
Search for Uhuru lol
I like to carry a large pocket knife because its work it not to get involved.
Really enjoy your financial videos! I did discover you, however, through your Porsche videos... (I have a 986S). Keep up the great work!
Hmmm... I guess get ahead financially and then buy that GT4!
Holy sh*t! This guy is the Asian version of me! Even to the FreedomPop bit, except FreedomPop doesn't even get $15 a month from me. I've been with them for two years and the most they've gotten from me is $20 total. I feel kinda bad actually.
Yeah the freedompop $15 is just allocation for accidental charges. It's gone down a lot since I turn off auto reload on the LTE dongles. The phone service is less than $20 a year for me as well. I forget how much but its minuscule.
I like your advice, and I don't know why I have not found your channel before, but I am here now and that is all it matters, and to follow your advice. Thank you.
=D Welcome very much!
So I'm guessing you're not saving up to buy a Lambo?
That is very low on my priority list. I'm saving up to buy more time.
Time?
BeatTheBush thyme?
that's exactly what smart people do. Save for years and years to buy a car that could be stolen or wrecked in an hour.
Save time to be Financially Free! And do whatever you want and not be stuck in a job you are not happy with while someone else is collecting all the gains you are producing for them! 😄
Can you further explain what you said about paying car insurance?
Asian. Math Must be right. Will follow!
I wonder why that is. But my math is pretty good actually.
BeatTheBush How did you add up to 34k for the typical person spenditure (without housing). Time to do a math 2.0 addition course?
@@MarcoLiedekerken housing is included
I bought this book last year using your link because you recommended it, but I haven’t read it yet because I started going back to school at the time and made the required reading a priority. I just pulled the book off my shelf today after seeing this video again, and I will make it a priority to read first this year in 2019.
Hmmm... so long ago? I know the feeling. It's hard to get to anything with little free time left.
I have never in my life come close to spending 40k a year. When I was in the military, I was spending about 10k a year. As a civilian, I spend about 10k more, so 20k a year due to rent and other things the military previously took care of. Even when I take nice vacations, I may spend 25k- 27k a year, but 40? Maybe I won't be moving to Cali after all. Good video though, go info that will be definitely be using.
It's mainly though the sky high housing in California. You have to pay for the nice weather and the abundance of high paying jobs.
LazzyJames 99
LazzyJames
BeatTheBush i want to say the high paying jobs are negated by high taxation as well. High salary doesn't go to far with high taxation and cost of living..
The only real advantage to being in SF is being around cool and intelligent people. You can get great weather in Vegas, low prices, huge homes, and everyone from LA and SF will visit you anyway.
The link for the Audio book doesn't work :(
Really? Did you click it in the video description? I just checked and it works still.
If you have two sources of Income and you set-off all the expenses from one of those, the other one obviously is 100% saved! What's the point you are trying to make? Just curious!
Point is how you can do this for yourself by example.
I have just one source of Income. Then what?
izzi... then you generate income. a lot of people think that the only way to make money is to save. i used to think this way until someone told me that in order to make money you make income.
at what point do these other sources of income become a job? for example say i have my mon-fri 5-9 job, then on the weekends i drive uber or do something that requires more than just internet access for pocket money. does that count?
I think that questions becomes a bit philosophical. Even investment income takes a certain amount of time for research unless you are clearly letting it sit and collecting pure dividends. Uber is certainly not something most people would do if they do not have to work. So its the question of if you would do it even if you have enough money to not work and sustain your current standard of living. I.e. do you enjoy it enough to do it anyway.
I just feel like I am drowning... I am a teacher I have a masters degree...I should not feel this broke.
They certainly do not pay teachers the most in many places so it'll take some extra effort to save more. On that kind of salary though, you can definiately live comfortably and save, it all depends on how well you manage expenses. Try this video I picked out for you: th-cam.com/video/H4nt1gNjxIU/w-d-xo.html
Just because you have a masters do not mean you are financially responsible
Different question.
Since you said you invested all your income. What was the % of your income that you invested are investments you could liquidate (individual stocks, ETFs, savings accounts etc) vs long term investments which you get a penalty if you liquidate (money market, 401k, roth etc). I remember you saying you don't invest in money market
Oh you mean peer to peer I don't invest in. Well I invest money that is over and beyond my emergency savings but I'll have to punt on the specifics of the make up for privacy and identity theft reasons.
What's your day job? You seem like the engineer/analyst type!
You are correct! I'm an engineer, lol.
BeatTheBush What type of engineer?
I bet he is a software engineer since he lives in the bay area 😂
I'm going to keep it vague until later.
I agree there are very few options. Hope you understand, I'm slowly giving more info as I get used to being on TH-cam.
Thank you for imparting learned generational financial lessons to your TH-cam followers. The great depression in the 1930 taught that generation in America to be frugal but after that, the lessons sorta became blurry. Your Chanel is amazing!!!
Frugality is needed for most people who do not have a vast income. In a way, it allows you to free up your time and gives you more value for your life even.
you can have a free landline with OOMA!!....all you need is internet service and the only thing you pay is the tax once a year about $19.-.....and of course a one time investment of $80.- for the OOMA box (answering machine) ....I have been using OOMA since almost 10 years now...ps.: Just found your Channel.....love it and I am your new subscriber!
White Kita thank you so much you are generous to share info
Hey, great videos, thanks a bunch!
Im curious to know the tax info.. did your streams of passive income pay for the tax as well?
No, I'm only comparing to after tax income. So it is not saving 100% of before tax income.
hey man, i been livin in tokyo 6 years, we should friends, hmu! i am a talented English, teacher, one of my future goals is to open a hoikuen.
Tokyo cool! Oh I guess you went there to teach English but then how are you able to stay for so long?
I do love your channel! Glad I subscribed. One nice thing about reducing what you spend on extras like restaurants or, say, a fancy coffee drink, is that when you DO go there, it's a really nice treat instead of just being something you do all the time to get food/caffeine in your belly. In other words, spending less there increases the enjoyment factor!
Thanks so much! Appreciate your comment. Its like not trying to dull your senses. I feel like that's some sort of buddist monk trick. Although Starbucks is pretty good, you can get pretty close to the quality with your own equipment and by then, you don't miss spending $5 on the coffee at all. So even if you go to the store, you get zero or negative satisfaction, lol.
If I hit Starbucks, I get it "for here" and snag a comfy chair, bring a friend or a book to read...then it can be worth $5 for a fancy-pants latte or frappe. I actually prefer my own drip coffee at home, from good beans, to that found in most cafes. I have also found the sweet spot for my restaurant visits is a mid-price-point, type restaurant, where I'm helping a small mom 'n' pop business instead of a chain (and all the better if mom 'n' pop are cooking Vietnamese, or Peruvian, or Hungarian or...).
Mid-price or even low price has pretty high value. Its rare you get 2x the enjoyment from paying 2x more. As long as they know how to make good food, the enjoyment factor is high already. Of course, heping the mom n pop is another plus.
Lol.. that's how I look at Starbucks too. It's like renting a place to sit rather than buying the coffee.
Great video. I'll get the book.
Do they have 'investing' as a major? Lol. If there is, I think this would be the first book.
So glad I came across your channel! Subscribed!
Welcome! =D Thanks for the sub!
Your cell phone bill at $15/mo, is that a family share plan ? That is gr8-- my cell phone bill is $67 and I thought that was good. :(***
It's actually $0 for the last 4 months at least. I put that there in case of overages but it seems like it will be zero for the next 12 months also. More info on my plan here: th-cam.com/video/W7CKRKiZx4I/w-d-xo.html
My phone bill is $6/mo
Corporal Lette How please ahare
try evans waterless coolant =) lasts the life of the car, can save a few bucks there too!
I just use the regular stuff. Sometimes the coolant leaks then you're leaking expensive gold on the floor if the evans stuff is more expensive than regular?
I'm surprised you're not maxing out a 401k or similar tax-deferred plan to minimize taxable income. It adds up fast !
I consider savings into retirement part of saving because to me, that is your money still.
Just found you on TH-cam and really like your content. What investment book did you mention that you read? I apologize in advance if you mentioned it already. :)
holy cow! 200/month only on food, so cheap! I mean the only time I was able to also do that during my university days, but not anymore, was due to consuming mostly potatoes, bananas, canned beans, mac and cheese, and noodles. These days I spent a lot on meat, fruits and vegetables, and from time to time alcohol gets in my groceries. Your spreadsheet is better than mine except for rent and gas, every item you have at low cost is amazing.
I live in the Bay Area too so I can relate
Housing is ridiculous!
What kind of phone service do you have which charges $15/month?
I used freedompop. More info here: th-cam.com/video/W7CKRKiZx4I/w-d-xo.html It's actually $0 per month but customer service is horrible.
here, let me make a fellow boxster owner a bit richer by subbing.
you don't count your amazon, ebay sells, and youtube earning as incomes? they're not gonna send you a 1099 this month?
They do count for tax purposes. Just that I don't count it as the primary income. Side income is pretty different to me.
I notice that a chunk of my expenses go into "aesthetic services" that I can't avoid using, such as eyebrow waxing, facial hair removal, etc (I go for the least costly ones, mind you, I'm a graduate student that eats ramen for dinner). I try to do it on my own (hi scanty eyebrows) but it makes everything worse for me (sensitive skin+idk wtf I'm doing)- any suggestions, fellow peers?
Sounds like you really need those services. Try taking on a job during the summer outside of your school work to pay for it all. Internships pay wayyy more than what you would qualify for with a high school diploma. Depends on the major of course.
I get my hair done at beauty schools from students who are about to graduate. They even do facials. They are supervised by a professional to make sure they are done right.Call a local beauty school and check prices. I wax my own eye brows after watching a tutorials on you tube. I buy all my products at a beauty supply store to cut on costs for my manicures and pedicures too.
Woah.. very impressive.
Thanks although, I feel I have a pretty low spending level which makes things easier.
Thanks for the new ideas
You are a good teacher. Thank you for putting this information out there.
Thanks! You're welcome. =D
How much you pay for internet? I couldn't find it on the sheet.
$50/mon part of others.
Got some money. Where and what should I invest?
For the lay-person, S&P index funds. If you think you are an investing genius then you might want to try my Investing videos. First one here: th-cam.com/video/UCjka4lQigw/w-d-xo.html
I really wish that more young people like you understood the time-value of money.
In addition to Graham's famous book, I'd suggest that you read "A Random Walk Down Wall Street" and, perhaps, anything by John Bogle and/or Charles Ellis. Always remember the mathematical miracle of compound interest.
Or the value of time even. Nice suggestions, I'll have to look those up. =D
Hi how did you pay only $15 and sell phone what line do you use I live in California also and my bill for three people in my family is averaging $300 a month! Totally totally need to cut this right but I'm in a damn contract. Do you have any advice or tips please
$300! yeah.. they charge $100 a month if you're using a smartphone with the latest iPhone 7. I use Freedompop. It's a hassle to use so you get what you pay for. I estimate the average cost is $15 from overages but it really is $0. It's a VOIP phone with 1G of data per month. Voice quality is terrible unless you have more than 3 bars. Like I said, you get what you pay for.
Silly question, which bill did you include your ISP in? Great video, thanks.
I think I just lumped it in with others. Someone always find something I left out.
What apps or programs do you use to sell your stuff? I've been thinking a minimalist approach to living would be beneficial to myself, I have too much stuff.
How you filmed 1080 Px?
What investment books did you read? I really want to have multiple streams of passive income, but I'm overwhelmed with all of the information that's out there and unsure where to start.
I suggestion start here: th-cam.com/video/q_jZb7O6Luo/w-d-xo.html This book gives a solid background and many including warren buffet swears by it.
what is the title of the audiobook for investments?
Intelligent investor by Benjamin Grapham. =D
As an alternative to Redbox, you might want to visit your local library. There, you can borrow DVDs for free.
Nice one. Unfortunately, that doesn't work for me since my library is very far away.
What do you do for health insurance? My husband wants to get a cheap plan just to avoid the IRS penalty.
At the time of this video, it is paid by my employer. If you are self-employed, you need to just buy it without subsidy from your employer.
How would you approach a budget, when you are in a relationship?
How do you get Internet? I didn't see it listed...even for a frugal person it's a necessity :)
It fluctuates but right now I pay about $40/month
Been here since the beginning and love watching your channel grow! What are some good banks/unions to open a checking acct for college students?
Thanks for your support. Banks/unions are so plentiful that I don't know them all. I generally do really look for a particular Credit union to join but join a bank that has an ATM closest to me. If I pass by it everyday, I'll join it for usage of ATM. Any monies over my normal usage goes to a high interest rate online savings bank.
What about internet connection costs? How do you upload your TH-cam vids on your cell phone?
It's about $50/mon clumped together with 'others' I upload with a regular connection and not via cellular.
my monthly expenses are :
utilities(electricity, water, internet, etc...) - $70-$120 depending on a season
food - $150
i live in my own apartment and my yearly property tax is $100
so lets take the worst monthly scenario, which is $270 and multiply it by 12, which equals to 3240... now add $100 property tax and we get $3340 unavoidable yearly expenses...
i make anywhere between $400 and $1000 a month freelancing, but lets count it as $600 a month, which means i make $7200 a year, just from that...
that is more than double the cost of my essential, unavoidable expenses....
and i did not even have to rely on my salary
You expenses are unusually low. I guess you do not own a car or have to buy insurance. What about health insurance?
i do not live in the usa, that is why my expenses are low... we have public healthcare where i live that is funded from taxes, so you do not have to pay unless you wanna go to private hospital
I think normal people don't realize how much paying cash for a car saves. I live on about 8-12k a year in so cal and people don't believe me. The biggest key is having the paid for cars. Even with major repairs every few years I'm still way way way ahead. I use a two car system so if one needs repair I just use the other. Even my $500 car with all the repairs it needed was equivalent to 6 months of car payments and insurance for a new car. Insurance is $550 a year for my two paid for cars. Most people spend that in a couple months for one car. Anyway, get rid of your car payment!!
Maybe they do, maybe not. I think it's more of a new car buyer want the car and only looks at the monthly payment. I never had a car payment myself and wouldn't ever want one.
Many look at affording only if they can support the monthly payment. The better way to look at it is if you can pay the full price. That's really affording it.
Excellent video! It inspires me to make a monthly spreadsheet on my expenses so I can see where I can cut cost.
I think that's a great idea! =D Have to get creative sometimes and sometimes it takes some work and learning extra knowledge to even be able to reduce costs.
what about wifi do u pay for that, u must since you uploaded this video right?
Yeah $50/month add to others
Not perfect list but wow, i feel like many of the things you do are things i've learned to do as i do.
This is me and my wife's monthly "typical" monthly spenditure. But of course
Housing 850
Trash 0
Gym membership 20
Gas/electric 0
School Loan 0
Car payment 0
Cell phone (google phone) 30
Land line 0
Cable 0
Car insurance 50
Car maintenance 100
Gas 0
Food expenses 400
Restaurants 200
Clothing 30
Gadgets 100
Others(vitamins and such) 200
Our expenses come to around 2000 a month.
My wifes income covers this, and mine is completely saved, and partially invested.
I'm learning more ways of optimizing my current state from your channel.
Thanks man!