In this video I want to tell you about
how I save and how I spend money
and how for the last five years
I have survived living alone in a foreign country
on part-time wage.
But I wanted to start with something very important first
and that's why our time is worth so much more than money.
Our relationship with money has become a focal point in society
and that takes away from the importance
of well-spent time
and happiness on a personal level.
Because when we equate our finite lifetime
to monetary gains, we often underestimate
the importance of our own enjoyment.
Focusing on our time can be an investment
in new experiences and rewarding
life and career opportunities.
It could lead the way to us making a living
doing what we love and perfecting and honing our talents.
And how much is that worth to you?
So the first thing that I did was, of course, move to Germany.
I didn't move here to make money. I love Germany,
but the fact is that I can make much better living working part-time in Germany
than I could in my home country.
The next thing I did that I'm not always super proud of
is that I chose computer science, which is a well-paying major
so that my part-time job pays well enough
that I can cover my expenses and still do
creative work in the rest of the time.
The next thing that I did was, when I came here
I left a lot of things behind. A lot of my previous lifestyle was left behind.
Which was not lavish by any means, but I did have a car, for example.
I came here and for the last 7 years
I have not had a car. I have been riding on the train,
I have been riding on the bus
and that has saved me a lot of money.
The next thing I had was more than one room
for the first 3 years in Germany,
I had one tiny 12 sq. m. room.
And it felt a bit confining at times, but
I learned to live with less. And I think that was really
the beginning of my minimalism journey.
As I found out that I cannot have as many
things as I had before.
So that changed for me. I realized, I don't need a nice place to live
and when I had to move out of my dorm
I moved into another place, which costed 400€
and it was really an old house. It was not the best.
No balcony or anything like that, but it allowed me
to keep saving money.
It took five months of studying on my own after classes
and I got my first job. It gave me
about 600€ per month.
Now, in the beginning I had a bit of help from my parents.
In the very beginning I had
800€ per month, when I came to Germany.
And then, when I got my first job, it was a little bit rarerer,
a little bit less
It wasn't paying that well, but it was teaching me a lot.
So I was there for 2 years and in that time I was just studying.
I wasn't traveling much, so I saved from travel as well.
I was travelling maybe to home
and once per year somewhere else.
Of course, no car, so I was going on free train rides
around my university town, because you couldn't get much further for free
I was always buying very little of clothes and make-up.
Only when I wanted to give myself a gift for something.
I was studying, for example, for a math exam
for one and a half years, very hard.
And I remember, when I passed it, I gave myself a 40€ backpack.
That's it, that made me really happy.
I don't think I needed that much more. But compared to then
it was still spending a lot of money.
Now, in the meantime I have realized that
I don't even need these things,
because already have a lot of things.
So this year I have only purchased one T-Shirt,
I only had planned to go on one vacation
where I would stay there for the whole month.
And that means that I don't have to pay much for the plane tickets
I don't have to pay much for hotels, because
monthly AirBnB stays are much cheaper.
Now I work 2 days per week, sometimes 3 days.
And I feel so incredibly happy
to be able to use that time,
not only for going out in nature,
but also for discovering myself.
But making videos takes a lot of time
and I would never have that time, if I would be working.
(full time)
So to me that's worth much more than money.
Life has not passed me by, of course,
I know that nobody depends on me.
I cannot have a child right now, I cannot buy a house right now
and I don't feel like I have to,
because I am not in a place, where I feel like
I am a master of my own life yet.
Also, small city -
I moved to a very small city when I first came to Germany.
I live in a 100,000 people city.
Things are not as pricey here.
Food is not as pricey, cafes are not as pricey.
Partying is not as pricey, although I don't go to party.
I like to party in people's houses.
They can come over to my house, I can go over to their house.
This is also a way to save money.
But there is one things that I splurge on. That is FOOD!
It was my mom who taught me that
you should spend money on food like NOTHING ELSE,
because your body,
your health, is the way that you experience the world.
So if you are eating cereal and toast
in order to survive - please don't do that!
Because if there is no you, there will be no nice time,
there will be no nice experience.
Now I want to tell you something, and that is why I didn't instantly find a part-time job
or any job when I came to Germany,
which was on advice from my parents.
I realize, I am incredibly lucky, to have supportive parents,
to live in Germany and to have a computer science degree.
But there is also something else.
When I came here first, I wanted to help them instantly,
so I wanted to work as a barista.
And my mom said no.
"Spend time, spend time meeting friends, learning German!".
And I felt bad for not helping for the first 2 years
But it was so incredibly good,
because, had I went as a barista and studied at the same time,
I never would have went to get some courses in web development,
which is where I work now.
And would have never discovered that, that makes me happy and that I like doing that.
And probably I wouldn't have gotten the better job
that now allows me to live quite okay, working 2 or 3 days a week.
And let me address what "quite okay" means, because
I'm sure some of you might also be interested in the actual numbers.
So if you're interested in the actual numbers,
I make about 1.300€ per month (before tax).
Sometimes less, probably now less,
because I have converted to only working 2 days, so I can spend more time on this here.
And I'm gonna be even more frugal with my spending.
But, with 1.200€,
I don't spend anything on clothes
I do have 1 or 2 subscriptions like Spotify and music for my videos.
I've cancelled pretty much any subscription that I could think of,
any service that I don't need, any entertainment that I can live without.
I have cancelled that and now my living expenses are
a little bit below what I make, so I do save money.
I pay rent and house things like electricity and things like that
maybe 600 to 700€.
And then I buy really nice food, whatever I want.
I'm paying off my laptop for editing, that's something that I felt that I want to spend money on.
And I would rather not go on vacation than not have a good editing laptop.
So that was definitely worth it.
So I'm paying off my laptop slowly but surely,
I bought a new camera and.. yeah!
So find what makes you feel happy: buy it, don't buy it
Just be..
free.
I really hope you enjoyed this video! It is honestly so strange to talk about money,
but it is such an important topic!
I don't think any of this would be possible without minimalism or downsizing,
so I just want you to know the things you can do
if you choose to go for that path.
And please don't ever feel like you are rushed for time, because there are no timelines!
