Video transcript:
hey it’s your garlic cherry here and today we’re doing 50 frugal living tips it is going to be a frugal living marathon so grab your 20 cent iced coffee or 90 cent avocado toast and start watching number one is that I do not chase after the newest technology as a youtuber this can be kind of difficult because a lot of youtubers do chase after the newest camera or the newest phone because it is part of being a youtuber it can increase your efficiency to some extent but I just simply don’t see the need of upgrading my phone to like iPhone 11 right now and I also don’t see it the need to upgrade my MacBook Air since it is still operating after using it for three years the camera that I’m using right now is the Canon a DD which is kind of an old-school camera by now it shoots 1080 instead of 4k but I think it is enough for me to produce quality YouTube videos and number two similarly it’s similar with chasing after technology trends I also don’t chase after fashion trends or beauty trends so I always wait for an extended period of time until I actually buy a new product let it be an eyeliner or face cream I always stick with the classics and I don’t chase after the trend number three is that similarly I also only buy the very classy designs of everything from clothes to jewelry is to shoes I never go after trends because trends come and go like waves in the ocean so I really don’t see any need for me to buy very trendy items that can make me like the it girl for a week and then a week later I have to toss that piece of item and then chase after a new trend I really don’t see the point and honestly I am just too lazy it for that stuff number four is that what I really do need to buy something I always make sure to turn on my Ebates extension in my Google Chrome browser what Ebates does is that it gives you cash back on many many websites that you shop in they also sometimes have four times cash back or very exclusive deals that you can only see after installing this Google Chrome a plugin so I will include an invite link in the info box so you can check that out for yourself even though 3% 5% 10% may not seem like a lot at the first glance think about how much money you will save in the long run and Ebates also allow you to get those cashback even with existing discounts on the website let’s say Macy’s gives you 40% off and eBay’s can give you additional cash back on top of those 40% off you will also get $25 every time you invite a new friend to join Ebates and eBay’s will just mail you your check number five is Amazon I’m an Amazon Prime member and I saved so much gas money and also time for just ordering things from Amazon and for the majority of the times when I do price checks and price comparisons I always find that the things on Amazon cost the least this might be because Amazon does not have the same amount of overhead cost it does not have to pay rent per say so that is why the prices on Amazon tend to be a lot more affordable number six is a 30-day rule so I always give myself 30 days to decide whether or not I really need to make this one-time purchase sometimes it might be just an urge because I saw this piece of clothing like maybe these white pants look super good on this fashion blogger but do I really need white pants in my life I will give myself 30 days to think about it and nine times out of ten that urge goes away after 30 days if I don’t need that item for 30 days then why would I purchase this item number 7 is shop secondhand I buy a lot of my furniture it’s the second-hand that coffee table outside in the living room that is for sale right now I got that secondhand I also got a lot of my past furnitures the second-hand even though I sold all of them already I also get some of my clothes secondhand and I don’t see anything wrong with that because there is really a surplus of supply of second-hand clothes and not enough demand just walk into your nearest consignment store or a thrift store or secondhand store and you will see Wow all these clothes but why are they just sitting here why are people not purchasing them and number eight is sell your unused item on Facebook marketplace or Craigslist or even Facebook groups this way you can not only eliminate a lot of junk in your storage and get more space you can also get some cash out of it number nine is unsubscribed from shopping sites and I know a lot of people might be like but you’re gonna miss out on those exclusive deals and discounts but think about it how many times have you click onto a shopping site simply because it appeared in your inbox you did not even plan to shop at that place but because this discount message showed up in your inbox you clicked into it and purchase something that you never plan to purchase this happened to me at several times and I really don’t see why I should let this happen again if I really need to buy something I will go to the store myself or go to the website myself and if there is a discount I will be able to see that discount I don’t need the discount to be sent to my inbox in order to remind me that I need to buy something and another way to get around this is that you can also register a separate email specifically for shopping and you only look into that email when you need to shop for something and you keep your goals super clear so you don’t get distracted by discounts from other stores that you did not plan to shop at and number 10 is that similarly you should unsubscribe from those fashion bloggers that all they do is tell you to buy buy and buy more things a lot of fashion bloggers do this and they use really misleading titles like every girl needs this every woman needs as pair of heels or this season these are those must buy items you really don’t need these messages in your life you don’t need to buy anything to make you more or less of who you are you are who you are what you buy is not going to change who you are and most of the time these titles are so click baby because these fashion bloggers benefit directly from you purchasing with the links they put in the info box I also used to do a lot of fashion content but I really try not to push people to buy things because I simply don’t believe in just blindly buying I believe in buying quality products Prague’s that lasts you a lifetime or at least a very long time and products that have great value retention this is something that I mentioned over and over again on my channel and number eleven might also go against a lot of other frugal bloggers tips and is that do not buy things and bulk simply because as cheaper cost per unit it’s not worth it sometimes I find myself buying maybe a hundred cup noodles for example do I really need a hundred cup noodles in my life am I really going to finish those a hundred cup noodles probably not but then because it is so cheap per unit I tend to buy things in bulk that I don’t actually need or finish so that is why you should consider beyond the cost per unit and actually think about what what’s the likelihood of you finishing this bulk of things if it’s something like toilet paper that you will finish sooner or later and it has no clear expiration date then I guess yeah you can buy them in bulk from Costco but if it’s something like some food that is cheaper in bulk or some seasoning that is cheaper in bulk but you know you won’t finish it then why buy them in bulk and number 12 is buy generic brands just look into the ingredients generic brands are not different from name brands when you start buying generic brands you will start to realize that it is cheaper and the content is also the same a lot of the generic branded things out there actually were made from the same factory that produces the name-brand things they just swap the packaging and make it more expensive for the name-brand things whereas you get the exactly same thing with the generic brands number 13 is use towel instead of paper towel and this is just a more specific way of saying if you can buy something that can be reused over and over again don’t buy the disposable ones because disposable things are always more expensive in the long run especially if you know you’ll be using this thing over and over again something as simple as paper towel using towel instead of paper towel it can save you so much money in the long run number fourteen is that I use credit cards for cashbox and I have successfully dashed the payment of several of my credit cards because I simply applied my credit card points for cash bag and I used it for my credit card balance number fifteen is that I use my credit cards for budgeting and expense tracking for my budgeting I have made several blushing videos since March of 2019 showing you exactly at what my budget looks like how much I spend every month down to the penny and it is super fast and easy for me to do this because I simply look at my credit card statements and I can pinpoint exactly where these money went where I spent these money on and since I use each Craig heart for different categories for example I use the American Express rose gold card specifically for dining out and it’s super easy for me to categorize my spending within those credit card categories each and every month it only takes me around 20 minutes to figure out my spending for the entire month number 16 is automate your bills from water to gas to electricity just automate it this will save you so much time and you can use that time to produce more value and earn more money number 17 is credit card churning which is the act of signing up for different credit cards in order to get their points some credit cards can give you credit card points that are valued at several hundred dollars and for some other credit cards that give you direct cash back for your purchases the most recent credit card that I sign up for and opened is the Bank of America world MasterCard and it gave me two hundred dollar cash bag for my first 1,000 dollar purchases and past three months and for the one thousand dollar purchases I did not buy anything that I did not plan for I already wanted to get a cat litter robot before I got this cart and getting this card just gave me a two hundred dollar discount all my purchase number 18 is bank account turning so some lurch of credit card turning bank account turning also gives you a cash bonuses when you open up new bank accounts the advantage to bank account turning is that they do not pull up your credit score so you do not have to worry about having a ding in your credit score because of opening a new bank account these are just direct cash backs and in order to find out more at bank account turning opportunities I have actually made a master list of all the credit card and bank account turning with their cash awards with their application links and a Google sheets I will leave the link in my info box and number-19 is no cabl I stopped paying for cable since high school actually I never really paid for cable because I was living with my parents back then so I never found the need to have cable especially with YouTube and Amazon Prime movies I really don’t find the need to get cable anymore I can almost get anything that I want to watch from the internet and number 20 is cut down on phone cost your phone bills ass around and price compare and even as your frugal friends what service do they use because paying 60 to 100 bucks every single month for a phone bill is pretty absurd number 21 is that I don’t use subscription services such as Netflix or SoundCloud or its Spotify the only subscription service that I use as Amazon Prime which for my lifestyle actually saves me more money so that’s why I keep on using it but I don’t have any monthly subscription service number 22 is Aaron stay an Aaron stay for me as a way for me to increase my efficiency by just bulking all my chores together I have also automated a lot of my chores such as getting my litter robot and also getting of knocking robot this way I can save so much more time and focus my energy and time on the things that really move the needle in terms of saving money and making money number 23 is that I don’t wash my car all right I know you might think I’m like super dirty and everything I do vacuum the inside of my car before the outside of my car I just don’t see the need to wash it sometimes when I get my gas refill I do clean the windows of my car but I really don’t see the need to get a car wash like every single month because it’s gonna get dirty and especially because I do park outside at work and also at home it’s an outdoor parking spot I don’t see the need to keep going back to the car wash and just get my car dirty again when I park at home number 24 is get a free library card and you can get access to a lot of free resources such as audiobooks free Internet and also of course traditional books number 25 is just a personal habit I always make sure I turn off all the electronics all the lights all the a/c all the fans before I leave the house number 26 is that I don’t have an a/c installed in my room I just use a fan and partially it is because I make YouTube fears and having an a/c would just be way too loud for my videos so I don’t even turn the a/c on for most of the time so why would I get a portable a/c if I film for so much of my life and I don’t use the a/c when I film living and Santa Monica I can say you can tolerate living without a/c and I do have AC in the living room just not in my bedroom I will also link the fan that I use in the info box so you can check that out I think it’s a pretty great fan it’s only 20 bucks I mean what more can you ask for it’s 20 bucks number 27 is that I don’t use my dishwasher I just hadn’t wash my dishes and also I don’t use that much dishes anyway so I don’t have that many dishes to wash we just use the dishwasher like a drying rack like most Asian households number 28 it’s that I don’t use the point op dryer and washer I actually I wash my clothes since a lot of my clothes are made with silk and delicate materials I just find that it gives me a peace of mind when I hand wash my clothes I also like to hand wash my undergarments because I find that way it is more sanitary I will link the detergent that I use for my silk items in my info box number 29 is that I always pregame before partying I really don’t find the need to pay 8 to 15 bucks on a single drink when you go out this can really add up in the long run I know a lot of people who spend upwards to two hundred dollars just in one night that is a lot of money and that is also money that can be put into your investments so that is why I always pregame before I go out and number 30 is that I find free events on meetup.com and this is one great way to not be judged because you’re being frugal a lot of the free events will explicitly say that they’re free in the title so you don’t even have to be worried about being judged by your friends because you’re so frugal and you want to go to a free event number 31 is cut back on meaningless social activities I’m pretty sure you have felt the times when you don’t want to go to a party but you’re just going for the sake of going you’re just going for a sink of some of your not so close friends want you to go and you go to a party and then you end up buying a lot of drinks or food and spending a lot of money and it makes you feel really unhappy as I grow older and wiser I learned to eliminate these meaningless social activities and these people are not my true friends and these are just my social friends which in Chinese we call it chill roll pony ole if that is the case then why do I have to attend these meaningless social interactions and activities they not only drain my energy but also drain my wallet number 32 is resist the temptation of buying a food or drink just for social reasons sometimes at social events we can feel so awkward and we feel like we have to hold a cup in our hands in order to feel less awkward well see of tip to not go to these meaningless social events but even when you’re out there just resists the temptation of holding a drink in your hand it’s really not necessary and if you really want to hold something just get a free glass of water number 33 is drive a used car the current car that I’m driving is used is a 2014 car but if I were to rewind back to the day when it purchased this car I’d probably get a car that’s even older and I’ll also do extensive research on where it is the bottom of the depreciation curve aka what year of what car I should get to get the most bang of my book number 34 is don’t get those bundle deals on special car component insurance or maintenance because most of the time these are just ways for the car dealership to make extra money and most of the time these bundles are pure junk I know this from experience these car dealerships they have this like listed price but then they encourage you to get these extra bundles they make it sound like a great deal and they make it seem like you have to get this to protect your car no you don’t because almost almost every single time I just hear people talk about this as a complete waste of money and I probably wasted like almost 10k on these bundles that I never used ever throughout the life of me driving so what is the point number 35 is that I cut my own hair and this has saved me so much money for so many years I even tried cutting my own bangs which I will include the video link so you can check that out that was me a couple years ago so I probably look pretty different but I cut my own hair and I only get my hair professionally cut when I get my hair colored professionally which is not that often number 36 is I also dye my own hair so this is also something that I do all my own with bubble hair dye Japanese bubble hair dye are seriously so easy they are in foam form bubble form so you just need to put it on your hair kind of like when you wash your hair with shampoo and the color distributes really really nicely and evenly my current hair is not done with bubble hair dye because I did want to get highlights I didn’t want to get a rose gold color but I have used bubble hair dyes for several times and each time I was not disappointed the good thing about using bubble hair tie is that it is completely possible for you to do it on your own without anyone’s health number 37 is that I do my own gel nails and I will also show you exactly how I do my gel nails in a future video doing your nails on your own not only it saves you a lot of money but of course also time because you no longer have to wait in line often times for the popular nail salons even after I make an appointment I have to sit there for like half an hour or more just to get their nail technician to work on my nails the time wisdom can easily be used for more productive projects such as filming YouTube videos so that is why I decided to do my own nails so I can control exactly what my nails look like I can control exactly at what time I do my nails and I can control exactly how many jumps I want to put on my nails to blame them up number 38 is that I do my own lash extensions I will also include a video a tutorial of me doing my own individual lash extensions the good thing about this is that this can save you so much money a lash extension appointment can the lowest one I found is $100 and a refill is like $60 but you still need to pay tip and by doing lash extensions on your own you probably only need to spend like 20 bucks 20 bucks for a full kit that you can use for several months for nail appointments no appointments usually range from 25 bucks to 200 bucks and you can easily spend that 25 bucks on a nail art kit and you can use this kit for so many times I want to say at least 30 times with just those 25 bucks initial investment and number 39 is I wash my own clothes especially the silk ones and the delicate material clothes so that I can make my clothes last much longer and number 40 is that I do a monthly purge of a very specific area of my apartment every single month it can be really overwhelming doing a purge of everywhere in my apartment but I like to do a purge of a very specific cabinet for example at my apartment so I can know exactly what it’s in there what I can sell and what I can stop buying because sometimes we buy something we forget they exist and we keep buying the same item over and over again because we keep forgetting that we have purchased them in the past by doing a purge you not only find those duplicate items you can also find which are some items that you never reach for you never use so that you can sell those items number 41 is that I travel with miles I stopped paying out of pocket for plane tickets simply because it is just so much more cost-effective to purchase your tickets with miles the miles I use are from like miles which is part of the Star Alliance they work with a lot of Airlines under Star Alliance and my most recent solar ship to Panama was also purchased with miles my round-trip ticket including a business class ticket from Panama to la la to Panama round-trip was only 600 something dollars number 42 is booked Airbnb and stuff hotel because it is not only cheaper but it also gives you a very authentic experience of the local life number 43 is that I walk instead of uber for a lot of Torcy things that I do when I travel number 44 is that I buy my flights early I always purchase my tickets at least a month or two before my actual travel date so I can get the best deals in the market number 45 is that I pack energy bars with me whenever I do touristy things in a foreign place because oftentimes the touristy places saw really expensive and overpriced food and I also don’t want to stop for an extensive amount of time just for eating just for filling my stomach I’d rather spend that time exploring the new country exploring the new city so I always pay energy bars with me whenever I do a lot of walking and Torcy places so I can fill up my stomach in no time with minimum cost number 46 is that I have a reusable water bottle whenever I travel and whenever I do sports and this can save me so much money in the long run because if you buy plastic water bottles individually they can cost anywhere from a bug to five bucks depending on which brand you get and by packing your own water bottle that cost is zero because I can just drink filtered tap water number forty-seven is that I also use a mug at work so I can eliminate producing waste and also take advantage of my office’s free coffee number 48 is that I practice zero food waste especially when I dine out I always ask for the leftovers four to go even though some people might look at this as a really cheap thing to do it actually saved me so much money sometimes my one meal can be split into three different meals just because I packed to-go boxes and if you’re worried about your environmental footprint you can also bring your own boxes and just pack the leftovers into your own boxes number forty nine is that I never buy coffee or tea never ever the only time I buy a drink is probably boba which I do not make on my own but of course it is possible to make bova on your own it just takes a long time but I never buy coffee tea or pretty much anything that I can make on my own I always make my own coffee and tea I will also link some late footman’s that I use in my info box and number fifty which is very crucial is that I don’t order drinks at meals because drinks at meals can be so expensive especially if there are alcoholic drinks a glass of wine can cost twelve to fifteen bucks depending on what wine it is and honestly I cannot tell the difference between the wine they serve at restaurants Wein I can get from TJ’s what is the point spending so much money for a glass of wine when you dine out that’s a lot of cost added together cumulative Li so these are my fifty frugal living tips I hope you guys enjoy this video and I will see you in my next personal finance video if you enjoy this video please give me a thumbs up and subscribe and hit that Bell for more videos like this
Read More: Qantas American Express Ultimate Card Guide
