8 Ways Boomers Saved Money That Millennials Ignore

hey guys what's up I'm Aaron and welcome back to the channel I recently ran across this video from Money Talks news titled eight ways Boomer save money that Millennials ignore and being that the theme of the past couple years has really been rising costs because of inflation and people struggling to find room in their budget to save and invest I thought maybe it'd be worth looking at the list and maybe we could get some advice from previous generations on how we could save money but before we dive into the list make sure you take a moment to hit the like and sub subscribe button cuz it really does help the channel number one on the list is cook at home more often and no doubt about it cooking at home can absolutely help you save money it's estimated that a restaurant meal costs five times the typical home-cooked meal cooking at home can be a great way to save money and I do think people tend to eat out more nowadays than they did in previous generations a lot of that probably comes down to accessibility we can order food on our phones there's more delivery options than ever before and food is tradition addtionally the third biggest line item in people's budgets right behind housing and transportation so if you can find ways to save here it can definitely make a big impact on your budget buy quality items meant to last I think when it comes to buying quality items this is where you get the distinction between being Frugal and being cheap cheap is simply looking for the lowest cost item regardless so that means maybe you end up buying an item of poor quality which could end up costing you more money down the road if you have to replace this item more frequently whereas if you're Frugal you're tending to look for ways to save money overall maybe that means you spend a little bit more on a quality item today but it lasts for longer so you end up saving money in the long term I think buying quality items items made to last really can save you money in the long run but I also think this is where you have to focus on Timeless pieces when it comes to your high-use furniture think your sofa your table or maybe some staple pieces in your wardrobe focusing on that Timeless aspect often means that you say no to current Trends so you buy a piece that looks great today as well as 5 years from now and maybe even 10 years from now so for example if you want to buy a sofa maybe you buy that Timeless piece that looks good no matter what phase of life you're in but if you want something trendy and stylish rather than making it the loud sofa maybe you buy crazy pillows that way if you change your mind down the road you can just replace the pillows for say $15 living below your means in general is something that everyone should absolutely be doing it's only by living below your means means that you actually have room in your budget to save and invest and build a wealthier future living in a modest starter home and driving a used car can absolutely be great financial advice especially if you're just getting started but I think we have to consider the situation let's look at starter homes for a minute my mom who neatly falls into this Boomer category paid $10,000 for her first home it was a trailer then a few years later she upgraded to a modest two-bedroom brick home it was $32,000 and that was in the mid '70s even if we run an inflation calculator that $32,000 home would be more like $180,000 home today and finding homes that are in the $180,000 range today is pretty difficult especially if you're in a metro area it might be impossible generally speaking home prices have increased at a rate that far outpaces the rate of inflation I remember when my husband and I first started looking for our starter home I genuinely wanted to find a home that was around $200,000 but that was not possible where we lived starter homes in our area wor $350 or $400,000 it was definitely scker shock and so we ended up renting for a few additional years not to mention that actually finding a starter home these days is incredibly difficult compared to with say 50 years ago 50 years ago you could find a two-bedroom small home nowadays homes are built larger inevitably that makes them more expensive so really finding this true starter home is much more difficult today ultimately my husband and I decided to go with a town home because that greatly reduced the cost if you go with a town home or a condo those are often much more affordable than say a freestanding home but you do have to be careful because they often have monthly dues and those can add up quite quickly pay with cash now there is actually science to this study after study have found that when you pay with cash you tend to spend less because it's more painful to actually part with physical cash compared to Simply swiping a debit or a credit card it just feels more real to physically have the cash leave your hands and when it comes to cash it's pretty impossible to overspend you either have the cash or you don't that's not necessarily the case when it comes to a card that's why when you hear people say they try an all cash spending plan that they tend to spend a lot less if you've never tried it I highly recommend it I've definitely done it before and I can 100% say it is harder to part with those dollars than it is to Simply swipe that card when I was on a all cash diet I definitely found myself putting some items back in the grocery store because I didn't want to part with that much cash limit credit card usage I certainly think that baby boomers used credit cards a lot less when they were young adults compared to how frequently credit cards are used by young adults today but I also think that credit card usage has increased across the board for all age groups we have to remember that credit cards weren't widely accepted at all places until really the 80s or even into the '90s so much so that when Burger King started accepting credit cards it actually made the news cash your credit what the home of the Whopper is offering cash or credit I just hope it doesn't slow things down at the cash cash and carry that people are going to be having to call New York and get get the confirmation or you know whatever it is cuz when I want to Whopper I want it now just another way to spend money I'm sure it'll work for people on vacation when they don't have to do something but I can't imagine it working on a day-to-day basis here so yes I'm sure they used their credit cards a lot less but credit cards weren't as popular then they weren't widely accepted by all merchants and they weren't the most popular payment method like they are today and there weren't things like online shopping and apps where you can pay with simply clicking a button so yes if you aren't using your credit card wisely it can certainly get you into financial trouble make coffee at home oh the good old latte factor I think the latte factor is an important thing to consider when it comes to personal finances I don't specifically look at this as being related to Coffee itself but rather the more broad generalization that little daily expenses that you're doing on a regular basis can add up while I do think it is important to watch those small expenses because if you're doing them on a daily basis they certainly can add up I do think it is more important to focus on your bigger expenses like housing or Transportation because making tweaks in this area will have a bigger impact on your budget than simply say giving up a latte now about making coffee at home yeah it's probably true Boomers weren't out there spending $5 a day on a latte back in their young adult years but a lot of this probably comes down to availability yes coffee has always been very popular but coffee culture as we know it today really started to evolve in the 9s with Starbucks leading the way and it's not just coffee it's basically those Frappuccinos and the drinks with the swirls and the whips and really the Franken coffees I actually did my undergrad at Northern Michigan University which is the same College Howard Schultz former CEO of Starbucks graduated from and because it was his Alma moer we were actually the first University to have a Starbucks on campus and I remember at the time it was huge news and that was back in 2007 I want want to say moral of the story is when was the last time you were really excited when a new coffee shop opened up probably not for a long time because there's probably so many around you that wasn't the case in the 70s and truly if you're spending money on coffee every single day just make sure it fits in your budget look at your budget cut out any unnecessary expenses even those little ones because they do add up make sure you're spending your dollars intentionally but don't forget to address those big expenses because they matter more maintain Vehicles properly I do think this is solid advice vehicles are incredibly expensive and making sure you maintain them properly helps you get the most out of them I don't know if people are maintaining their vehicles less these days I guess it's just not really something I know about but I do think you should maintain your vehicle properly and try to make it last as long as possible in 1975 the average new vehicle cost about $5,000 as of January 2024 the average non-luxury vehicle costs about $44,000 so the price of a new vehicle has definitely increased at a rate faster than in infation because a $5,000 vehicle in 1975 would be like buying a $113,000 vehicle today and you're probably not going to find a new vehicle these days in that price range but I do think there is a small Silver Lining here in that the new vehicles today are built to last longer certain Vehicles these days are advertised that they have an engine built to last two or even 300,000 miles and while most people certainly aren't driving their vehicles this long if you did that would go a long way into saving you money a few decades ago cars were only built to last around 100,000 M or so so while cars these days are definitely more expensive they should last longer so that can help to mitigate the price a bit avoid impulse purchases depending on the survey you look at it seems that Americans are spending about $300 a month on impulse purchases and I guess it really depends on what you consider an impulse purchase is an impulse purchase something that you pick up that wasn't on your list when you're walking through a store or is it an that you click Buy on when you're mindlessly scrolling through Instagram it kind of varies a bit but if you are spending around $300 a month on impulse purchases like the average that would add up to about $3,600 a year that's a significant amount of money if that money could be better used elsewhere in your life on the surface level I do tend to agree that we probably spend a lot more nowadays on impulse purchases especially compared to previous generations but again I think it comes down to availability I think there's just a lot more stuff available the these days a few decades back they didn't have things like smartphones mobile tablets things like that even if we Discount Electronics there were really less options everywhere clothing stores only changed out their clothes seasonally maybe four times a year these days they add new items on what seems like a weekly basis same with home wees or even look at the increased selection in food items in a grocery store so if we go a few decades back I think there was less stuff available and I also think you were marketed too less heavily but I do think people were still prone to impulse shopping case in point my Grandma had a fat jiggle machine I'm not sure how wise of a purchase that was and no judgment because we have all made regrettable purchases my most noteworthy one was this stupid crystal rock salt that was supposed to work as a natural deodorant and I even said to my husband as I was using it that this is either going to work and it's going to be magic or I'm a fool who's rubbing a rock on her body guess what I was the fool who was rubbing a rock on her body because it didn't work at all so if you would take a moment share your best worst purchase that you've wasted money on so we can all get a laugh I really do think having less options available led to less impulse shopping and I think marketing these days has a huge impact because with our phones companies can Market directly to us multiple times a day and they truly know how to strike that I need it now feeling the best way to combat that is I put things in my cart and then I use what I call the 24-hour rule I don't actually hit purchase it might sit in the cart and if if I still remember the next day and I still want it I'll hit purchase most of the time I find that I actually forget about this item and I never go back to my cart so was it easier for previous generations to save money maybe but if you want to save money it comes down to one thing and that is living below your means and you do that by either cutting your expenses or increasing your income or a combination of the two what are your thoughts who do you think had the easiest time of saving and investing leave it in a comment down below I posted videos every single week if you got anything at all out of this one please give it a like if you're new here please consider subscribing or if you know of someone who might get something out of this type of content please consider sharing I'll see you soon bye

Channel: Erin Talks Money

Views: 100,106

Keywords: personal finance, wealth building, investing, saving money, budget, cash, cash budget, credit card, cash stuffing, wealth, how much money, how much money to save, best ways to save, baby boomer, millennial money, save money better, better way to save money

Id: yAY-YgXjUzI

Length: 12min 16sec (736 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 18 2024