Negotiate rent? My yearly choices are agree to the rent increase or move. There are TONS of people looking… tenants are easy to replace today. And usually the landlord gets more money.

Them: free shipping if you spend $1000! Me: I guess I can find something else worth $890

1- 1:27 Just putting money into a retirement account does not mean you are investing 2- 2:28 You can be financially independent even if you don't own a home 3- 3:57 savings should be something you do passively, not actively 4- 4:57 investing should not mean picking individual stocks 5- 6:17 spending less is not the same thing as saving 6- 7:30 budgeting is not the opposite of spending 7- 8:40 restricting your spending will not allow you to build wealth as much as bringing in more money 8- 10:03 keeping a running credit card balance is not good for your score 9- 11:11 almost everything is negotiable, including debt 10- 12:45 you shouldn't necessarily aim to get a tax refund 11- 13:50 even if you make a lot of money, your spending still matters

Budgeting being more "permission" than "restriction" is so true. I only started budgeting (rather than expense-tracking) in May and I already notice how much less stress I have over spending. I already budgeted $100 into my clothing category for the month in preparation for an upcoming trip - so spending that money doesn't even feel like spending it. It feels like I already spent it when I budgeted it - and I budgeted it under a lot less stress, and with the bigger picture in mind. When the bills roll in and I just send out the money that was already put aside, there is zero stress involved.

Literally took me a year of putting money into my IRA to realize I needed to actually DO STUFF with it

One way to help fight against lifestyle creep is to go through your credit card statements line by line, at least once every two weeks. I noticed that I went out to eat a lot, which made sense since I'm busy, but a lot of restaurants have increased in price. Was that meal really worth $60 in how much I loved it? Seeing it on my statement makes me double-think that. "Oh wow, I get tea lattes out a lot. Do I really enjoy them, or am I getting them as something to do?" Usually I don't cut out these things, but I end up cutting back on them. And as a bonus, when I cut back on them, when I actually do go out for that $60 meal with a friend, I enjoy it more because it feels more like a special treat when I have it less often.

I think you may need updated research on negotiating rent. Depending on where you live, for example, a very corporate apartment complex, rent is not at all negotiable.

Yeah, I'm going to push back on the keeping people thing. I have literally never found that to be the case with anyone. I have been fired for requesting a raise after a stellar review, I've been threatened with eviction for trying to negotiate a lower rent increase, and have been shown the door when very politely countering a ridiculously low salary offer after jumping through tons of hoops to get a job offer. So, no, not everything is negotiable.

Hearing about how complicated retirement funds are in the US makes me grateful for the super fund setup we have here in Australia. That would be annoying having to move your fund every time you change jobs.

Yep. Needed this guidance today. Thank you for helping me put on my proverbial Adulting pants about my money.

My work from home job gives out raises every year and I use that opportunity to pay off debt and save. I recently paid off my medical debt and now working on the car loan. I enjoy budgeting and giving myself permission to plan, save money to the side for an experience in the future is a rewarding feeling.

Every single attempt at negotiation i've tried, debt in collections, rent, internet bills, has just failed immediately upon request. These are not things they negotiate on. Landlord Agencies can get hundreds more per month by getting a new tenant at market rate, it's not worth the time of ISP to argue with someone who doesn't have an alternative choice, my hospital just sent my debt to collections which had a no negotiation policy. Heck, even negotiating for raises is an absolute nightmare when a suit knows they can make the books look better by replacing any FTE with a permanent contingent worker.

I totally choose to overpay on taxes every year and get a refund instead of having to pay. I don’t depend on the refund as like a bonus, just want to make sure I’m not paying a bill I know I would have forgotten about. My brain has a hard time processing “bills” that only come once a year. Working to get there one day so that I don’t overpay on taxes and can invest that money though 😅

Dude I think about your "a sale is still just spending money" all the time but it made it that much sweeter when there was a buy one get one %50 off on one of my toiletry essentials bc it really did feel like saving bc I needed to get it anyways! (I was completely out). It was so exciting bc it felt like I really saved and it was genuinely just luck

The point you made about realising how underpaid you are is so true. I recently got a new job and my salary is very nearly double what I was earning at my old job.

These old school style videos are gold! I love the quick hits!! 💚

Elon wasting $44 billion on Twitter is one of the greatest cautionary tales of 'Your spending matters no matter how much you earn' .

Chelsea, I know this is a bit off topic, but I wanted to say how good your recently released novel is. I've long be a fan of your channel and your outstanding and insightful financial advice. Your clip on how things that occurred about 50 years ago ruined our economy irredeemably - well that was spot on from a historical perspective. I was stuck by your novel. its hard to pull off a novel. As a non fiction writer myself, I doubt I could do it. I was inspired by the fact that you published a novel and its your first and its oustanding.

Since i bought my apartment people keep telling me about it being a great investment and they are happy i stopped wasting my money. I bite my tongue or else I'd rudely tell people that I when i rented i got what I needed which was a roof over my head and that if i couldn't afford to invest in the stock market as a home owner, i wouldn't have bought. As a matter of fact, my housing cost was around $400 less when i rented.

I would love a whole video on sale scams and things stores do to get you to spend more money! . . . Because I need it 🤣🤣

I agree with 90% of the advice given on this channel but I have to disagree with the career coach suggestion. As someone who has changed career tracks dramatically more than once (always for the better) I would say there is nothing a career coach can tell you that you cant get for free from google and KZfaq.

The American tax system is so weird. Why do you need to figure out how much do you have to pay yourself? Same about the pension saving/investing

I have to debate renting Vs buying. Ideally I’d get a cheap rent controlled place, lol. But buying means I get to paint the walls. And I’ve wanted to paint since childhood.

I max points and digital coupons for two grocery stores. One offers $5 -10 off $50 at least twice a month, the other offers fuel points (.10/per gallon for every $100 spent) plus really good digital coupons. We cook at home 18 - 19 meals per week so groceries are a staple for us and save money from eating out. Focusing on two stores and keeping an eye on discounts / coupons for items we use the most, we save ~$80 a month plus $4-6 in gas. It's not a huge savings but adds up over the year on a basic necessity like food. I just set up an auto transfer to my savings, thanks for the reminder of saving on autopilot Chelsea!😊

I love a good refresher video!

ok but how do you negotiate with a landlord or company landlord? the general consensus right now is that tenants are replaceable

I was confused by whether the titles of sections were supposed to be true or false.

My portfoliio of $750k is down to $492k, How can I profit from the present market" , I mean I've heard of people making upto $250k in couple weeks during this crash and I'd like to know how.

A Perfect Vintage is so good. I am in the middle of reading it right now and am loving it!

As a manufacturer... there is no such thing as negotiating pay. You are given a starting pay, and then as you progress, you are given raises based on performance and attendance. If you find a different company to work for and they're also manufacturing... same thing. A lot of people don't leave my job because the insurance benefits are better than the other plants.

I’m not even going to tell you how long I had my money in my Roth IRA without knowing that I had to invest it myself. 😳

As a single person in a VHCOL area, renting is the best option for now.

This video literally came at the best time!!! 📖📚🥰

Omg, #9. Collections is the fucking worst. ... But you can use this to your advantage. The person who is calling you is calling people all day, every day. People aren't typically happy to hear from them either. So a little politeness from you goes a long way with them. They're looking to get that debt paid at all. Doesn't matter how close to the original dollar amount it is, they paid pennies on the dollar for your debt. If it's $1,000 debt, they'll probably come at you out of the gate with something around $600. It's not too hard to get that down to $400, in my experience.

Yay, new video!

You are in good ❤❤ thanks for the video

Thank you

I overpay on taxes to get a return because if I had more money in my pay check, I might spend it. Every year I take the return and pay a lump sum towards my student loan, car, or mortgage debt.

Have to personally disagree with number 3. In some ways, there’s something quite fulfilling, satisfying with actively moving money. Kind of like the financial equivalent of digital books vs physical books, i.e. the tactile satisfaction we derive from seeing in our hands how far we’ve come along in a book. Same idea for me with money. There’s something visually satisfying thereby encouraging about moving a chunk from my checking acct to my savings acct with every paycheck. May not be the same for some or most people but I just don’t think there is a right or wrong way to save.

I have a trick with medical bills. I have an HSA so I pay nothing in office and get a bill later. I let the bills go to collections. As soon as I get the collections letter I call them, politely ask for a discount if I pay in full and generally they offer a 20% discount and I take it. You have to stay on top of your bills and mail so that you don’t get reported to the actual credit bureau but that generally takes a few months. Speaking of HSA’s, if you have one and can max out your yearly contribution it’s a great tax right off. I’ve been able to leave the funds in the HSA acct and not use them for medical stuff (I consider myself lucky to be able to do this). So our HSA is just another retirement plan, one we can access tax free if we have medical expenses that we need to use it for. Some people hate an HSA but I kinda love mine. It’s all about working the system to your benefit!

I got slammed on my taxes last year due to taxes not being taken out correctly initially, so now I am always making sure that I am paying more into it my taxes - I would much rather get a refund than owe.

Would you consider doing a more in-depth video on career coaches? I have a feeling this is an area with a lot of scammers.

Can you make a video about starting a business ? Thankyou x

Would love to see what Chelsea and TFD think about BlackRock and Fidelity filing for a Bitcoin ETF?

Hi! Do you think you could interview Caleb Hammer for a future Financial Confessions?

As a US citizen living in France I just found out that only money that can't be excluded for US taxes can be contributed to any form of IRA if you're living abroad, but here's the thing, almost nobody living abroad makes enough that can't be excluded, lol, it's crazy, the US ran system has made it almost impossible for citizens living abroad to save extra money for retirement or to have passive income, I feel the most sorry for accidental Americans who have never lived in the US, they're only option is if their country has a pretty good pension system which is not always true

The thing about needing to invest the money in a 401k worries me…if my money goes into an employer-matched target date indexed retirement trust fund at Principal, does that mean it’s being invested?

I didn't know about the tax refund thing, I think that honestly it's better for me to have that overspending thing for budgeting reasons on my end at this point in time but once I have a more stable income I'll consider budgeting to not rely on that as much. Also the almost everything is negotiable thing is helpful advice although realistically I don't know how much it's worth to negotiate what. All I know is that I have to negotiate and refinance some debt soon.

@4:25 “likely,” not liable.”

Wow. I never knew that 30% provision. I pay off my credit card every month but I charge everything for both convenience and points (PC Optimum points are my one form of Cryptocurrency 😆). I have a relatively low limit as I’ve never needed more. But I will be requesting they raise my limit or get a second card.

Is there any channel like this for Canadians

How often should you negotiate your salary if you're planning to stay like 3 years in a company?

Where can I invest in an index fund? Can you please walk us through those steps.

I have to be honest though as you earn more you're also pay more out in taxes and sometimes you're not coming out as far ahead especially with cost-of-living increases at the same time.

Sincerely, I’m really concerned about how the current economic crisis and rising inflation have really taken a toll on my portfolio. It's becoming quite worrisome, especially at my age.

What are your thoughts on investing in sparkly things like jewelry? Designer vs gold from saudi arabia or japan 😅😅😅😅

Wait, I don't get it. Why is it not necessary to keep a running balance of your credit card?

I really like your videos and approach, but I have to say something which has been bugging me for a while. Money and spending in the US is unbelievably complicated. Here you pick a pension scheme or your employer has one and that’s it. Most people get taxed at source. Credit scores aren’t really a thing. If you have health insurance you just submit expenses instead of running around trying to find out if a provider is covered by your company etc. I’m glad your channel exists and all, but the system seems amazingly difficult to navigate if you aren’t financially literate. Or rich…

3:20 Real Estate is the only way the average person can make a leveraged investment. So taking my current situation, I have 33% down with a 2% mortgage note. My expected rate of Return on Investment (since I put 1/3 down) is (3 x 5.3%) -(2/3 x 2%) = 14.57%. AND...I have to live somewhere, don't I?

This was a great video! However I’d love to see a more honest conversation about “lifestyle creep.” Most people don’t realize that they are taxed more once they reach their dream income. Additionally a lot of what people spend more on is things that they actually needed but could never afford. Going to the dentist, getting their car fixed, paying for school or paying down loans etc… too often we focus on the superficial aspects

yup... a 201 through a 410 class are needed. in fact where is the graduate level class on this topic?

Your retirement plans in America are so complicated. 😢 Too many accounts, too many roll outs and too much work.

Hey I need subtitles

I have to say, I used to fall for those “buy 1 get 1 free” traps for all the reasons you mentioned. It’s actually bc of your previous videos that I realized how those are all scams; I’m *starting* to become a more conscientious shopper. Thanks Chelsea!

I hope everyone learned their lesson the last 3 years. Yea, ur Home value increased by 20%, but so did every other home and so did the price of EVERYTHING else! All ur home did was rise with inflation. Add the costs of ownership (maintenance, repairs, the time u spend making those repairs, cutting the grass, watering the grass). Ur not even breaking even. Oh by the way, yours was not the only home that "went up in value", every other house did. And so in theory if u sell ur overvalued house right now, all ur gonna do is throw ur money away and buy another overvalued house!

Almost all good except for the negotiation portion. Aside from debt negotiation, where you do have some leverage, almost all of the other scenarios you're nearly powerless as an individual and utterly replaceable for another consumer that will pay the asked for price. Housing for one is notorious for evicting people who attempt to negotiate their rental agreements, there's such a shortage in affordable housing that landlords will look for any excuse to evict a tenant in order to relist the dwelling at a higher rate, including a tenant who has the temerity to negotiate their rent. Maybe that'll work for the empty-nester family that's renting out their mother-in-law apartment or something, but anything corporate owned will just boot you out and book another more compliant tenant off their wait list. Jobs too are similarly fraught for individual action (which is why unions are so important), aside from a very small collection of highly skilled jobs, an office drone or service worker (like retail or food service) asking for a raise may well be fired on the spot and replaced. There's no negotiation power there, the cost to replace one individual is microscopic vs. the perceived cost of setting a precedent of allowing workers to better themselves. Even things like consumer services aren't very negotiable above a certain point. Sure, there's the trick of calling comcast every six months or so and threatening to cancel service to re-up the intro pricing but that's exhausting and not credible if comcast is the only provider in the area. Negotiation in the face of a monopoly is impossible, and there are TONS of de facto monopolies out there. Organizing labor unions, advocating for consumer protection laws, and electing officials who will prosecute anti-trust laws are the better solutions here.

Agree on the homebuying point. I've known people whose property's value decreased by the time they sold, or in the case of housing booms, the original price was overinflated and didn't recover. That's how people end up with mortgages that are more than the house is worth, so even if they sold, they'd still be paying. Also, as a homeowner, your costs aren't fixed and things like to break. This should go without saying, but if you want better chances with negotiating, make sure you're a stellar employee/tenant/customer, etc. Doesn't always work, but a landlord is going to be less flexible if you don't have a good relationship. A coworker negotiated hers down because she'd lived there a long time, and my old landlord had a tenant who was frequently behind on rent but offered to do projects around the property to make up for it. Conversely, the tenant who causes a unit to flood because they didn't clear the drain, not as likely.

Wow Chelsea, you git far. What happened?

I disagree with your comment about actively saving being a bad thing. It’s really dependent on your view of money. I actively save a specific amount each pay by moving it into a savings account and have no problem with it. I view it as a bill that is required so there is no afterthought about wanting to spend it. On a zero-based budget, every dollar has a place and I get a sense of achievement moving my money to their various accounts each pay. I couldn’t imagine passively allowing my money to be dispersed without me seeing or actively doing it. Where is the sense of accomplishment there?

Timestamps: 1:27 - Just because you're putting money into a retirement account, doesn't mean you're investing 2:29 - You can be financially independent even if you don't own a home 4:00 - Saving should be something you do passively, not actively 4:56 - Investing should not mean picking individual stocks 6:16 - Spending less is not the same thing as saving 7:26 - Budgeting is not the opposite of spending 8:40 - Restricting your spending will not allow you to build wealth as much as bringing in more money 10:02 - Keeping a credit card balance is not good for your score 11:10 - Almost everything is negotiable (including debt) 12:44 - You shouldn't necessarily aim to get a tax refund 13:49 - Even if you make a lot of money, your spending still matters

Is it only me that get triggered by Chelsea's glasses? I love her but her mismatched glasses gives me anxiety