My Free Budgeting App WizeFi. https://yt.gbult.co/wizefi

Remember kids, when a product is free, you are the product.

As long as people keep buying at these prices, nothing changes. Our spending habits matter more than we think.

I miss the old days where I could go to McDonalds, get filled up on $5, then feel like crap, but at least be happy that I only spent $5.

Old-ish Canadian woman here, someone who's been frugal by necessity all her life.  Material expectations have escalated dramatically during my lifetime.  I know, I know, this is one of those "when I was a kid" comments, but people should think about this.  I had one stuffy and I adored it.  At Christmas we would get a book or two and some chocolates.  Sometimes I would spend my tiny allowance on a comic book and a pop, which was bliss, but mostly I saved it up so I could buy birthday and Christmas presents for the family, and I loved the satisfaction of saving.  Our family went to a restaurant no more than twice a year, on special occasions, and we looked forward to it enormously.  We took a summer vacation every other year, when we went camping and occasionally stayed in a cheap motel.  It was wonderful.  We had very few clothes, but they were respectable.  Trips to the library were positively magical.  Etc.  I think I enjoyed my childhood more than kids today, who are overwhelmed with STUFF but certainly no happier for it.  Also, fortunately, we had no smartphones to make us anxious and depressed.

Most restaurant food has gone up 25-50%, while the quality and service has gone down 25-50%.

In the 70s, my dad was a Sears employee, so we all wore “Toughskins” jeans instead of Levi’s.  It was a total humiliation at school.  Then my dad told me that Toughskins were made by Levi’s, in the same factory, then rebranded with a different label.  I begged my dad to tell the Sears buyers “just leave the Levi’s tag on!” LOL

1. Doordash
2. going to restaurants
2. buying a brand new car
3. Expensive vacations
4. Streaming sites
5. fancy weddings
6. fast food
7. premium kitchen gadgets
8. fancy furniture
9. mobile phone games etc.
10. branded cleaning products
11. subscription boxes
12. didn't watch the rest

Even when coffee was $4 - $5 it was overpriced

I am 70  and bought my car 23 years ago. So excited to celebrate the 25 year point. Still works great!! Had someone hit my front side fender on passenger side, was not happy, we pulled into a vacant parking space, (we were in a mall area). My car had a tiny scratch and the other new cars front end was falling off and crumbled like a crumpled paper bag.  I will keep my car, no computer crap, I dont need GPS, I know were I am. I dont do vacations anymore, I use that money to make my house and land a place of sancuary. Clothes very little but high quality that they last for years. As far as food, I do my own growing and coffee, I make my own french pressed high quality with or without adds at home. I live on less than 2 thousand a month. No debt, own house and happy. Drop the spending and be content

It's important to vote with your wallet. Never  use an ATM that charges you a $4:00 surcharge.

Our wedding: 1.went to hotel and booked a large family party (no bridal table, food was buffet style),
2. went to florist the week before the wedding and was told I needed to meet with wedding planner. I said let me see your catalog and I ordered centerpieces for tables and my bouquet.
3. Had a friend take photos as their gift to us
4. Went to bridal store and picked out a beautiful mother of the bride gown and ordered it in white.
The day after the wedding my husband and I were sitting in the hotel lobby and the manager said he could tell our marriage would last just by how we planned the wedding. He said so many couples sit in his office and literally curse at each other while planning the wedding.
That was 25 years ago.

As an old person, every thing you have brought forth is true and valuable.
What I would add as an old guy.
1. Separate needs and wants
2. Furnishings, buy the highest quality you can afford that will last both in style and construction
3. Life in 3 stages, acquire, stable, and getting rid of  I am in that last stage. I so wish I had not purchased so much that I didn’t use very often. Now if I make a purchase for a semi durable good. What will my friends be burdened with disposing of said item.
4. Experiences over stuff. Travel if you can, movies, hiking, walking if you can’t.

Ive realized I like stuff, but I like money in my savings account even more.

maybe times are shifting back in a way. When I was a kid, if my parents said we were going to go get a hamburger, we would lose our minds. It was such a treat. Now after having burgers having been cheap, they are expensive again, and we just eat at home like my parents did when I was small .

I was stationed in West Germany back in the 80s. I was on a budget and yet did so much. Visiting tourist spots is great, but being able to live their and visit small towns, small restaurants, meeting the locals is so much fun and inexpensive.

I stopped buying coffee from the coffee shop and started making it at home. I’m now a millionaire (true story)

I agree with everything except the kitchen gadgets. If you’re like me and cook everything from scratch, kitchen gadgets will make things easier

That's because that's not coffee, it's dessert.

Spending $9 for a fancy coffee when you can make one at home for about 40 cents  is properly mental