Transcription
Hey everyone, this video is about how I thrive and survive in what people perceive to be a challenging economy. This is a video that has been requested by several viewers in the comments section of various videos.
Now, first and foremost, I'd like to start off by saying that these numbers that I'm about to give you are based on an evolving mentality that I've developed over the years. It is not how I was in my 20s or even some of my 30s. Actually, a lot of my 30s and part of my 40s, you know, it's been uh a mentality that has been forming slowly over the years. And there have been many periods in which one I've either incurred serious expenses and I felt like I was drowning drowning in bills or there were times where I was doing just fine but I was blowing my money as soon as I got it. So just keep that in mind. This video is not made to be a form of judgment on anyone. It is just to give people an idea of how I handle my finances.
So, first and foremost, I want to say that my savings also go towards investments, but I'm not going to get into that. I am not a financial adviser. I am not going to start pursuing that line of work ever, I don't believe. But I will say that my savings also gets divided into investments. I just again, I'm just going to lump it all into savings. And second, my mindset is that money is a tool. I don't revolve my life around it. I keep my needs and wants very low. And therefore, I can live well doing work that maybe even pays far less than some people are used to. Although my current job does pay quite well for what the job entails.
So, let's get into it. Here are the numbers. I'm going to give you the percentages of my monthly net income that I spend on different categories. So, let's get into it. So, again, all of this is based on my monthly net income. That means after taxes, what I bring home. And first and foremost, I want to put it out there because people ask a lot. Even though I've said it in a few vid videos, I realize that not everyone has seen them.
So, for rent, I work in hospitality, and I have the great fortune of renting a lovely one-bedroom apartment from my employer, and the rent is extremely reasonable. It is 11.89% of my take-home pay each month. My car insurance is 2.6%. Uh gas for the vehicle is 3.29%. That is on the high end. I don't always use that much in fuel. For example, this past month, I think I used maybe 1% at best. My phone is half a percent of my monthly net income. And some people ask me all the time how I pay so little for my phone. And that is because I use US Mobile. This video is not sponsored by them. I've just had a very good experience with them. So there you are. If you are based in the United States and you would like to have a reasonable phone plan that works all over the country, they have three different networks that you could join, get a SIM card for based on your location. And that's how it goes. And I really I really have found their service to be great. And I haven't seen a big difference between that and the big company that I used before and I'm paying a mere fraction of the price. So that's how I do that.
Food. I'm going to say that this is the biggest expenditure. People always laugh at when they find out how much money I spend on food. And that's just because I buy organic food and I try to buy as much of it from local farmers as possible. And that is just my way of one supporting the local economy and two practicing preventative health care. You know, we are obsessed with treating symptoms whereas I prefer to take as good of care of myself as possible. Otherwise, whatever I may experience in the future could likely be worse than it is this way. So that's 17.83% 83% of my monthly net income. My food bill also includes usually three meals or so out and I just factor that all into the food bill of 17.83%.
Now the next categories self-care and toiletries 2.74%. Cleaning and household supplies 69%. books and entertainment 2.06% travel fund and the travel fund is usually for me to go camping or hiking in a nearby state or to a far-flung corner of this state. It also includes my snowshoe pass or it's a it's a snowshoe ski pass for a trail center and state park passes for the summer. And then again, so that travel fund is 2.74%.
So I have a shoes and clothing fund and that's 1.37%. I think one of the greatest advantages of my situation is that I don't like shopping. So it is very easy to save money if you don't like shopping. I don't even like online shopping. I only do it when I must. But I mentioned that because shoes and clothing, like for example, this jacket I'm wearing, I've had it for probably 15 years, if not longer. So yeah, I tend to buy things that are of high quality that last a long time. And then if something wears out, then I will replace it, but rarely do I buy something that I don't just need just for just on a whim. And when I do buy clothing that is new, I replace it. Whatever gets worn out, I it gets replaced with a natural fiber piece of clothing. I try not to buy synthetic stuff. Obviously, rain jackets and things of that sort are hard to avoid. They're just certain things you need for sanity purposes.
The next is my auto repair fund. I will say that this also includes uh maintenance and registering the vehicle and paying for its inspection. and that's 4.11% of my monthly net income. The next thing is medical, dental, and vision. That is 8.23%. And I should mention that I am not like most people in the United States. I don't have health insurance. In fact, I pay out of pocket. And so, I go to the dentist twice a year and I maintain my dental care regularly. And so I pay that out of pocket and I actually get a cash discount. I get a 10% cash discount for doing so. I don't go to the eye doctor that often. I probably go once every 5 to 7 years. So I don't know. I I'm not super invested in it. I just need my glasses to drive and I can still see clearly. So I'm sticking with it. Medical. Again, I pay out of pocket. So if something happens, I just have this fund, a syncing fund where that money goes into and I draw from it as needed. Now, if I can't afford something, I set up a payment plan. Plain and simple. That's it. And from my experience, those are 0% interest.
So donations, I donate to various organizations. They're usually ones I've been giving to for quite some time and that's 3.29% although during the holidays it goes up significantly but just on a regular month it's 3.29%. Now I want to just say that there is one thing I am not factoring into this and I will explain it after I give you my totals here.
So, my total expenditures of my monthly net income based on the percentages I just gave you add up to be 68.5%. Which means a savings of 31.5%. Again, if I don't spend everything that is allotted for each of those um those items, those topics, those funds again, they go into a seeking a syncing fund and that money remains there. At the end of the year, if I don't foresee any major expenses coming up, then I just dump it all into savings and start a fresh. So, that's where we're at.
I will say that the one thing that I am not including in here are my grad school loans. They are currently in limbo because of the changes that Congress has made to the student loan plans. They've eliminated student loan plans, but yet we don't have to leave them because of lawsuits and various things. But also I should point out that I want to change to the new payment plans that Congress has has passed into law. However, they have not officially established them. So we can't actually move loans into those new payment plans. My guess is that they will be of my of my monthly net income. they'll probably be or of the current monthly net income. Life's changing quickly, so I'm going to fill you in on that. It's uh 5.8 to 8.23%. And that's a long long calculation, but I wanted to put it out there just so people understand that these are the numbers, but the numbers are backed up by a mentality. And that mentality is not something I've always had for a long time. And that is that money is a tool. and I don't need much to be happy. I think that is the benefit of having traveled so much with and lived abroad and not really accumulated a lot of things because of all that movement and that is that you don't need a lot to be happy. Most of the things that I love doing are free or cheap. Hiking, swimming outdoors. I don't really go to gyms. I've got nothing against them. I just don't I don't know. I like fresh air. Uh, maybe I could benefit from a gym. I don't know. I love surfing. Again, that's a aside from getting your hands on a board and buying some wax for the board, you're all set. I don't really need to, you know, I don't need much. Also, I would say that another thing I enjoy is reading. So if the library doesn't have a book that I want to read, then I buy a very nice, very good conditioned used book and I leave it at that. Keep it simple.
So that's everything. I wanted to say a few things about the economy and our perspectives on money. First and foremost, everything is a choice. And our choices culminate in the reality that is our life. So if you need more to be happy, you are going to have to work more. You are going to have to take jobs that you don't necessarily like. You a lot of people confuse needs with wants. People think that if they have children, they need a four-bedroom house. Do they really? Why can't the children share share a room? I don't know. Why can't you use those early years for them to for you to save money and for the children to share a room? This used to be normal way back when. And by way back when, I mean just a few decades ago. Again, in the United States, we have definitely lost sight of what needs are and what wants are. You don't need a $100 phone bill when you could switch to a carrier like I have that's costing me what was it half a percent of my monthly net income. So there are options. There are total options. The more you find joy in nature, the more content you become with yourself, the less you need to have fun, the less vices you have. I don't drink. I don't smoke. I don't do drugs. So all of that money stays in my pocket and I also feel better as a result. But again, the more you think you need, the less free you are. And so even though the economy may be challenging, I can still afford everything that I need to afford because I need so little and my expenses are low. And also, I have made the choice to participate in a line of work in which I can get housing through my employer at a really good rate. And it's nice. I will maybe show you. Well, I'm in the middle of packing, so it's not going to look the way it did when I set up, but the apartment itself is beautiful. And I just we need to think totally outside the box. And again, as I said in another video, just throw the box away and start a fresh. Don't even think outside it. Just ignore it and just look at what you can do that is unconventional if you are having trouble getting by. If you need further insights and information, I do have a video on this and it has the thumbnail that says travel jobs. If you need to start a fresh, I recommend you give that a try. It's good for single people and couples. Rarely are these opportunities available for families, but it doesn't hurt to look. If you have any questions, just ask in the comments section, and I look forward to seeing you in the next video. Take care.