Not frugal, perhaps prudent?
June 29, 2022 11:48 AM Subscribe
I love spending money. This needs to stop. I am inspired by minimalism, don't have children or a car, and I rent my home, so housing expenses are relatively low. Fortunately, I have a secure-ish job, but I haven't always, and know there are no guarantees in this day and age. I want to pay off debt and start spending more responsibly. Please do not recommend Dave Ramsey.
What modern YouTube videos and podcasts inspire you to spend less? The FIRE community is way too intense. I still want to somewhat enjoy my hedonistic life. As an example, I enjoy Ramit Sehti's book and podcast.
The Minimalists have become too preachy for me. I enjoy Courtney Carver (Project 333, Soulful Simplicity)
Realistically, I will not be eating beans and rice or peanut butter sandwiches. I would appreciate any recommendations that are a bit more measured and take a balanced approach.
What modern YouTube videos and podcasts inspire you to spend less? The FIRE community is way too intense. I still want to somewhat enjoy my hedonistic life. As an example, I enjoy Ramit Sehti's book and podcast.
The Minimalists have become too preachy for me. I enjoy Courtney Carver (Project 333, Soulful Simplicity)
Realistically, I will not be eating beans and rice or peanut butter sandwiches. I would appreciate any recommendations that are a bit more measured and take a balanced approach.
Maybe you'll want to check out The Financial Diet? It's geared towards a millennial audience but I like it too. There used to be more articles on the site but it looks like you can get that access through signing up for their newsletter. Or you can just check out the book at a library. Also, use your library for books and so much more to save money.
posted by Kitteh at 12:10 PM on June 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Kitteh at 12:10 PM on June 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
Could you afford to hire a flesh-and-blood financial planner or personal accountant? A friend of mine in a situation similar to what your sounds like had great success going that route. She helped him set up payments so he didn't have to think about them. She calculated a weekly allowance for him and any surplus went to savings and paying down debt. I don't know how much all this cost him, but he seemed happy with the arrangement.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:15 PM on June 29, 2022
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:15 PM on June 29, 2022
I think first you need to figure out why you want to spend less, especially if you are happy being childless and a renter. I for example have to spend less because I have a 60 year old house that was cheaply built in the first place, two children slowly approaching college age, my wife isn't generally that healthy, and I'm ok but aging.
Debt in and of itself is not a bad thing (you are right to have no interest in Dave Ramsey!) and if you are happy-enough with your life and future situation then you are going to have problems changing. Minimalism in and of itself is not necessarily cheaper than buying things, as cheap things can be really cheap and quality minimal things can be really expensive.
I guess my only blog advice would be Granola Shotgun and the writer is minimalist in some ways and maximalist in others, but generally frugal-ish.
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:54 PM on June 29, 2022
Debt in and of itself is not a bad thing (you are right to have no interest in Dave Ramsey!) and if you are happy-enough with your life and future situation then you are going to have problems changing. Minimalism in and of itself is not necessarily cheaper than buying things, as cheap things can be really cheap and quality minimal things can be really expensive.
I guess my only blog advice would be Granola Shotgun and the writer is minimalist in some ways and maximalist in others, but generally frugal-ish.
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:54 PM on June 29, 2022
I was going to recommend the Financial Diet too. They're great and realistic and about optimizing your enjoyment of life in a prudent way rather than living the super frugal life to work toward some hazy promise of freedom later. I also find Chelsea, the founder, very charming (in a good way!).
posted by urbanlenny at 1:43 PM on June 29, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by urbanlenny at 1:43 PM on June 29, 2022 [4 favorites]
I also recommend The Financial Diet! Death, Sex & Money may have some episodes about debt and spending that may be interesting if less about advice. Michelle Singletary of the Washington Post is tough but in a way that feels comfortable and doable.
(And ugh I’m feeling the same about the Minimalists now.)
posted by smorgasbord at 1:53 PM on June 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
(And ugh I’m feeling the same about the Minimalists now.)
posted by smorgasbord at 1:53 PM on June 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
It’s unclear if you have a spending plan (aka budget). If you don’t, figure out how much you spend on different areas in a month and then think about your goals/values and how much you would like to spend on things. I keep this very simple and all variable spending goes in one bin (groceries, gas, clothes, meals out), you may want to start with something more structured.
Reframe this from “I like spending money but I have to stop” to “I like spending money and I also like not worrying about debt and finances (or whatever) and this is a balance between those that is good for me right now.”
posted by momus_window at 3:29 PM on June 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
Reframe this from “I like spending money but I have to stop” to “I like spending money and I also like not worrying about debt and finances (or whatever) and this is a balance between those that is good for me right now.”
posted by momus_window at 3:29 PM on June 29, 2022 [3 favorites]
First - figure out where your money is going (and where it comes from, if that's more complex than regular salary).
Second - if more is going out than coming in, put that into balance at least, BUT
Third - find a way to pay more than the minimum payment on your debt, so you can reduce it
Fourth - write yourself a check to your savings every month or pay period
Fifth - after doing all of those, see if you can afford an "allowance" for yourself. This is the amount of money you spend for fun during each month or pay period.
Sixth - Outgoing money, after adjusting to pay debt faster, plus savings, plus "allowance", should be LESS than incoming because sh*t happens. Sometimes you may not be able to also have this cushion, but if after doing these things outgoing is more than incoming look at it again. If you have to reduce, reduce allowance first, then savings, then payment to pay off debt, in that priority.
posted by TimHare at 3:51 PM on June 29, 2022
Second - if more is going out than coming in, put that into balance at least, BUT
Third - find a way to pay more than the minimum payment on your debt, so you can reduce it
Fourth - write yourself a check to your savings every month or pay period
Fifth - after doing all of those, see if you can afford an "allowance" for yourself. This is the amount of money you spend for fun during each month or pay period.
Sixth - Outgoing money, after adjusting to pay debt faster, plus savings, plus "allowance", should be LESS than incoming because sh*t happens. Sometimes you may not be able to also have this cushion, but if after doing these things outgoing is more than incoming look at it again. If you have to reduce, reduce allowance first, then savings, then payment to pay off debt, in that priority.
posted by TimHare at 3:51 PM on June 29, 2022
Response by poster: Hi everyone, thanks for taking the time to respond. I’m looking for media suggestions rather than advice.
posted by Juniper Toast at 4:33 PM on June 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Juniper Toast at 4:33 PM on June 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Have you already read "The Millionaire Next Door"?
posted by dum spiro spero at 5:25 PM on June 29, 2022
posted by dum spiro spero at 5:25 PM on June 29, 2022
It looks like you’re trying to strike a balance in enjoying life and paying down debt. I found the following helpful:
Personal Finance Club - this fellow has a following on instagram and has practical advice on how to live within your means, pay down debt, and take advantage of index funds to build a long term nest egg. He now has a site with community board and I find he has solid advice. his instagram account is full of real-people examples of folks who have paid off debt and grown their net worth.
Elizabeth Warren published a book with her daughter on financial best practices rooted in simple principles. They recommend dividing your expenses into 3 categories; must-haves, wants, and savings (50%, 30%, 20%) and the rationale for this. Ultimately, it’s about striking a balance so you can achieve some longer term objectives while enjoying life today. Not a YouTube series but you can find the audiobook and there are a bunch of YouTube videos reviews and folks who share their experience adopting these recommendations.
posted by hampanda at 6:17 PM on June 29, 2022
Personal Finance Club - this fellow has a following on instagram and has practical advice on how to live within your means, pay down debt, and take advantage of index funds to build a long term nest egg. He now has a site with community board and I find he has solid advice. his instagram account is full of real-people examples of folks who have paid off debt and grown their net worth.
Elizabeth Warren published a book with her daughter on financial best practices rooted in simple principles. They recommend dividing your expenses into 3 categories; must-haves, wants, and savings (50%, 30%, 20%) and the rationale for this. Ultimately, it’s about striking a balance so you can achieve some longer term objectives while enjoying life today. Not a YouTube series but you can find the audiobook and there are a bunch of YouTube videos reviews and folks who share their experience adopting these recommendations.
posted by hampanda at 6:17 PM on June 29, 2022
NPR's podcast Life Kit covers multiple topics, one of which is money & personal finances. I've enjoyed them and felt they took a nuanced and realistic approach to managing one's money.
The Luxe Strategist is a blog rather than a podcast that is good at providing quality financial planning resources in a friendly way. Like the name of the blog implies, it's written by someone who enjoys her strategic splurges while maintaining a budget. Not actively updated but the archives are excellent.
posted by Goblin Barbarian at 9:13 PM on June 29, 2022
The Luxe Strategist is a blog rather than a podcast that is good at providing quality financial planning resources in a friendly way. Like the name of the blog implies, it's written by someone who enjoys her strategic splurges while maintaining a budget. Not actively updated but the archives are excellent.
posted by Goblin Barbarian at 9:13 PM on June 29, 2022
You may like Christina Mychas on YouTube. She does a kind of comfortable minimalism.
posted by Enid Lareg at 10:41 PM on June 29, 2022
posted by Enid Lareg at 10:41 PM on June 29, 2022
I developed a want-not-need shopping bug when I started on antidepressants.
A big part of stopping that was recognizing when I had an "urge" and developing habits of sending a link of what I want to impulse-buy to another email (work email) so I can delete them and not obsess over something the next day.
The identification of need/ want helps, too. And thinking of dumpster diving - or the avoidance of - in my old age.
I do indulge myself every so often, buying shit's fun and rewarding when you (initially) get the thing(s).
posted by porpoise at 1:17 AM on June 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
A big part of stopping that was recognizing when I had an "urge" and developing habits of sending a link of what I want to impulse-buy to another email (work email) so I can delete them and not obsess over something the next day.
The identification of need/ want helps, too. And thinking of dumpster diving - or the avoidance of - in my old age.
I do indulge myself every so often, buying shit's fun and rewarding when you (initially) get the thing(s).
posted by porpoise at 1:17 AM on June 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
Paging MeFi's Own JDRoth and Get Rich Slowly.
Not sure what the community at Get Rich Slowly is like now. I'm sure there's a reddit community that would be helpful; a surprising number of individual subreddits are non-toxic.
posted by theora55 at 12:09 PM on June 30, 2022
Not sure what the community at Get Rich Slowly is like now. I'm sure there's a reddit community that would be helpful; a surprising number of individual subreddits are non-toxic.
posted by theora55 at 12:09 PM on June 30, 2022
What modern YouTube videos and podcasts inspire you to spend less?
For inspiration, I really love the Samurai Matcha YouTube channel. He's an extreme minimalist, but he just shows you what his day is like, and his attitude and genuine happiness are very inspirational.
posted by moons in june at 2:50 PM on August 12, 2022
For inspiration, I really love the Samurai Matcha YouTube channel. He's an extreme minimalist, but he just shows you what his day is like, and his attitude and genuine happiness are very inspirational.
posted by moons in june at 2:50 PM on August 12, 2022
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posted by Dansaman at 12:07 PM on June 29, 2022 [2 favorites]