Speaker 1: Hey y'all, welcome back to my channel and today we are going over things I no longer purchase as a college student If you're new I like to make videos about college and lifestyle, but i'm slowly transitioning into personal finance real estate investing Let's get this bread career thing So definitely subscribe gently tap the like button because that I guarantee you is free and let's get started Okay, first things first. I no longer purchase water bottles at restaurants I know this sounds weird, but I am kind of a water snob I grew up in southern california where the tap water is not the best taste And I promise I'm not snobby in other things, but I am so picky about the taste of water and tap water So I oftentimes find myself buying the water bottle whether it's three dollars four dollars some places It's like six dollars for a water bottle at a restaurant So I started bringing around my own water bottle when I went to restaurants. This would save me so much money I don't know if that's weird or inconvenient or is that disrespectful to bring my own water bottle into a restaurant? I don't think so. It's just water. I don't know how they mark up so much money for something That's a commodity like water, but let me know if you also agree with this and on top of water I also don't purchase drinks because I personally just like water the best if anything I might order a black tea if you're also a water snob Maybe you can relate and number two is coffee and college students love their caffeine and coffee I feel like getting coffee and drinking coffee and posting about drinking coffee is part of your Personality and back when I was on campus because a lot of us are back home because of virtual college I would spend anywhere from five to six dollars on a really nice Specialized latte Phil's coffee was right by which I loved a great local place at honey oat milk latte Which I also loved and that quickly adds up data shows that college students spend on average anywhere from $20 to $100 a month on Coffee, I'm sure some of us will spend more if you go every day I definitely had friends who went every single day, but I will say this is a simple fix I make all my coffee drinks at home in last year. I did not buy a single coffee drink, especially once coming home I do have an espresso machine which I absolutely love I use in all my vlogs and videos and with the capsules I think the expressos itself turns out to be around a dollar dollar fifty and then with the honey and oat milk That's all I use they end up still coming out under two dollars, which is a great deal It is no Graham Stephan 20 cent iced coffee, but it is better than five six dollars on each drink So I absolutely recommend that I also make any of my teas and milk teas bobas everything at home because those things add up So quickly from five to six dollars and all it takes you just buy it and then have your own rock sugar Honey at home, and that's it you just save so much money It's that simple and the next thing is getting your nails done This can definitely add up because nails can cost anywhere from $40 to $120 every three weeks depending on how fast your nail grows I can actually count on one hand or five nails how many times I've gotten my nails done I've always been pretty good at painting my own nails ever since I was little that's just a habit and trade that has saved me so much money, you can actually buy gel manicure kits that cost anywhere from $50 to $100. Honestly, using it one time pays off getting your nails all ready, so I highly recommend people get that, and if you struggle with painting your other hand, you can always ask friends, your mom, your sister, your brother, anyone who wants to help you out, and it's just a great tool to have, and maybe you can start painting your friends' nails and charging them money. That's a good move too. And you can buy glitters and design and little gemstones all on Amazon or Etsy stores, super affordable because those nail salons will charge like $10-$20 per piece of sparkly edition so you can have your own custom nails, use Pinterest as inspiration for nails, and stop spending money on nails. Maybe once in a while for a special occasion. The next thing is brand new technology. I've talked about this in my other videos as well, but if you really want to save hundreds if not thousands of dollars, buy used technology. You can either buy it from friends, Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, also a different university group's free and for sale buy pages. are all places people will sell their old technology or buddy up with someone that is definitely a big Apple fan so they buy every single new Apple drop that way you can just buy their old stuff that might be what I do but this way you are saving hundreds of dollars and you can also go to the website and buy refurbished things like on Best Buy, Canon. I actually bought this camera refurbished from the Canon site and it comes with I believe a year warranty and they do look at it and fix it up. Anything from my iPad, my old MacBook, my iPhone I also bought all used from a friend so I highly recommend that you are gonna save so much money And if you're don't need to get the next new thing every single second that it drops That's a great way as well. Just make sure if you're buying from strangers They still have Apple care or proof of purchase or they're demonstrating in front of you or something like that Just so you don't get scamming is cheap or even expensive jewelry This is just a personal taste, but I am the worst with jewelry. I fidget. I play with it I lose them, but also I have super sensitive skin, so I need to get nice things But then I don't want to lose nice things but trendy things tend to be cheap But then trendy nice things are expensive So I've decided I will no longer be investing in touching jewelry not until at least I get better with it rings bracelets They just bother me when I work and type and live my life So that's just a personal thing, but it does save me a lot of money If you do like jewelry, and if you want to get nice quality jewelry I know there's websites and stores that actually Repurpose old gold and silver and make it into nice cute trendy pieces a lot of times designer pieces are not even real silver or 100% gold which is mind-boggling to me that you're paying $1,000 and it's only gold-plated and those things wear off So definitely look for alternatives where you can get good quality pieces. So instead of jewelry I'm more looking into investing into handbags, but that is a different video So this next one I feel like this is a hard one to give up But it is buying excess makeup, lipsticks, skincare products, soaps, especially body soaps, body lotions All these things expire so quickly. I learned quite recently in my life that every product especially cosmetics They have that little sign that says how many months it can stay open before it starts to go bad and bacteria Dust things that you don't know are growing in there And it's not showing so especially with eyeshadow and lipstick when it's the last time you've actually finished an eyeshadow palette or an entire lipstick I am now very picky about the eyeshadow palettes. I buy I know a lot of us have palettes We've had since junior high, but we need to let them go be picky about the palettes and even lipsticks I find that drugstore lipsticks are really great So there's no longer need to buy high-end luxury lipsticks because one they expire and two you can get really good Colors at the drugstore and same thing with lotions and soaps. You don't want to open a whole bunch at a time So stop mass buying them and also just buy one at a time and finish when you have started Okay, I know the brunch stands are gonna come for me But I no longer buy brunch and this is obviously talking about before the pandemic But I made a conscious effort to not buy brunch anymore or go out for brunch because it is so overpriced That is capitalism at its finest that we've convinced people that it is appropriate and okay to pay $10 for avocado toast or $12 for an egg scramble with pico de gallo Avocado cheese and rice and beans when you can make all this at your own house for under $5 I absolutely love to do brunch days with my girlfriends. I had a waffle machine someone else had a panini maker So we scrambled our own eggs, did berries, waffles, bananas, savory waffles, egg, toast. We did the whole thing and it's so much more affordable and actually so much more fun. There is no need for you to be paying at $12 for a breakfast burrito. I love breakfast burritos. So I've actually started creating my own at home. Get a nice tortilla, eggs, cheese, pico de gallo. I make it all at home and avocado you could have it for under $5 and it is chef's kiss very very delicious and I know half the experience of brunch is getting bottomless mimosas so I recommend going out to your grocery stores Trader Joe's Costco buying a white sparkling champagne and then grapefruit orange juice mango like there's like so many great citrus flavored juices now that you can get so you can make it yourself have your own bottomless make multiple pictures for you and your friends and let's make this year the year we cancel brunch okay this one I am calling out all my college friends, stop booking airline tickets the last minute for the holidays. We all know every time we're gonna have winter break, spring break, summer vacation, back to school, and Thanksgiving, stop booking them last minute because you are wasting hundreds and thousands of dollars. Each school you can actually look up the academic calendar, you can look up the dates, when your holiday is gonna be in years in advance, so maybe as soon as you get your syllabus that first week of school, you see your exams, your quizzes, your homeworks, you book a flight immediately. This way it's still that two, three month range, so sometimes if you If you book a flight too early, it's like super expensive. Last minute, it is super, super, super expensive as well. So these companies know that college students are flying back home and they take advantage of us. So don't get taken advantage of, book ahead of time, and don't forget to join a airline reward system point, system club, whatever that is, and consistently stick to one max two airline so you can get maximum points, aka free flights. I got a lot of free flights because I used Southwest religiously and they do have two free check bags, which is absolutely the best. I know sometimes Southwest has slightly more expensive prices, but I've never had issues with flights, going on time, weird cancellations. So they are reliable, and for me, that is worth the money. And free cancellations at any time, and the credit is yours forever. So for me, as a college student where plans can change last minute, I feel like Southwest is really good because they're not gonna ding me and make me pay the moving fee, and then the difference fee, they just make me pay the difference of the flights, no cancellation fee at all. And if you really want, you can even get the credit card. I have a Southwest credit card and it's my favorite because I got a lot of points when I signed up and also a lot of points when I buy tickets and they have special deals and rewards and purchases and I just love using it. I know it does have an annual fee but it's actually already paid off immediately. I would suggest looking into your airline and if they have a credit card. This was a good alternative for the Chase Sapphire Reserve which is a great traveling credit card but it is a little hard to get and I do have a low credit history because I am still pretty young and eventually I do wanna switch over to that card and use that as my main traveling credit card. But that could be a different video. I'll link my referral link below if you wanna sign up for your Southwest credit card, although we have nowhere to be traveling. If eventually you do, definitely use my link below. Lastly, this is gonna save you a lot of money and to stop buying trendy, fast fashion pieces. If you want it for a night out or an Instagram photo, I totally get that. And if that's so, check out Depop, Thrifting, Rent the Runway, ThredUp. There's a lot of these online places where you can even borrow clothes and thrift and get the trendy pieces as well. I would also check your university free and for sale marketplace because I see a lot of girls selling their clothes as well. So super trendy game day outfits, wigs, like those like fun party things. Stop buying it at a high price. If you have to buy something trendy, whether if it's from like a Zaful or Shein or a Princess Polly, I highly recommend looking at the material of stuff so you can get some good quality or as best as you can. Look for cotton, nylon, spandex. Try to avoid polyester because basically it's plastic and it doesn't really keep you warm. And hopefully that way you can buy more things that are gonna last you a longer time and maybe you can even resell and recycle as well. Thank you so much for watching. Don't forget to gently tap the like button, subscribe. Let me know in the comments below what you've stopped buying or you're gonna try to stop buying or which of these things you don't wanna stop buying. Whether you are a millennial or Gen Z or just someone trying to do better with their finances, I'm definitely here with you and trying to figure it out. I will see you all in the next video.