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And I'm still in the office, because I'll never be able to film in my home again. That's my American Margaret Thatcher. No, I'm still in the office because we have construction going on.

It's a whole thing. But I'm looking at my phone because today we have a very exciting little video. It's been a while since I've done a just straight up reaction video.

The most recent one I think I did was with the homie a Big Joel a.k.a. Medium Henry, who was sitting right in this very room and we were reacting to some money videos from his personal favorite PF channel, honestly top five for me as well. Alux, which is a very dystopian and seemingly AI generated personal finance channel that is somehow popular with millions of people who take it literally and seriously.

But today, I wanted to do some reacting to videos from TikTok, specifically, because I now dabble-- every now and again I have I've been known to make a talk every now and again for the TFD account. I do scroll it from time to time. I don't post anything on TikTok myself personally just because I feel like my mental health just can't support the weight of another social media platform, so I'm trying to keep that partition up a little bit.

But I am familiar with the concept, and pretty familiar with what is popular on TikTok. And I have to say, there is some good stuff in terms of financial advice on TikTok, but there is also a lot of true garbage. And especially, I feel like there's a lot of stuff, and we've talked about it before on our page of just really, really dangerous like get rich quick advice and stuff that seems to border on tax fraud and all kinds of real estate hacking that, first of all, 99% of people are never going to have the startup cash to do, but also is often super unethical.

And even if you're able to do it, I guess, quote unquote "ethically," often would leave you so insanely overleveraged that one tiny market downturn and you'd be wiped out, as happened with a lot of people during COVID who had those big like Airbnb portfolios. But suffice to say, there's just a lot of really [BLEEP] advice on TikTok. In addition to the very dubious advice, there's also a very pervasive kind of YOLO mentality about money, which is somewhat understandable in the sense that the majority of TikTok users are on the younger side, which is a time at which, I mean, listen it would be really hypocritical of me to say that I was not also YOLO-ing with the best of them when I was 23 or 24 financially.

But I also wasn't diffusing that advice to millions of people as some sort of life mantra. So it's a little bit of a back and forth there. But also, because a lot of Zoomers are rightfully a bit dispossessed about the economy that they're entering in to and their prospects for future wealth accumulation.

But I do worry that just leaning into the nihilism of it all, and just treating your life as if you will never, ever be functional financially and may as well not even try is probably not going to help the situation and will only really hurt you in the short, medium, and long term. So all of that is to say, I have scooped up a few TikToks which I feel really typify what I'm talking about here. And we're just going to go in we're going to react.

We're going to see what comes off the dome, as they say, so let's get into this. So there's a really popular trend of like you can like earn back money but you'll never be 22 on a boat again, which I don't even know is technically true. I've been on a boat multiple times when I was 22.

OK, so this guy is saying I'll make my money back, but I'll never be in my 20s spinning around on a plane. And he's indeed spinning around on a plane. He did not oversell that.

He's upside down on a plane. And this has 1.6 million likes. The caption is, are you alive or just existing, hashtag flying, hashtag plane.

I would love to the person who's looking through the plane hashtag and finds this one. Yeah, I mean, this one's hard because it's so deeply unrelatable to me. Not only would I not pay money to spin around on top of a plane, you could not pay me money to spin around on top of a plane.

So I don't understand this. But what I'm getting from Eric Sierra's TikTok is that he's a bit of a thrill seeker and also he's doing a lot of things that seem like they must cost quite a lot of money, a lot of really sort of aspirational travel videos, no evidence of a job what to speak of. Just kind of living that very, very sort of nomadic aspirational lifestyle.

We're on a boats a lot. We're on yachts. We're in Paris.

We're on top of a plane. We're overlooking some waterfalls. We're in an infinity pool.

And I just do think that a lot of these TikTok accounts, the sort of undisclosed reality here is that all of these people, or a lot of these people probably have undisclosed generational wealth, because I don't know how old this guy is. He looks to be in his early 20s, and he's doing things that I still can't afford at the age of 33. Like I'm not in Bali in an infinity pool overlooking a cliff.

Like the math isn't mathing. So this girl says, I'll get my money back, but I will never be 23 hiking a Swiss mountain with such stunning views again. Now, there's something here that I really resent, and it's not because I'm an old, although I'm sure that's part of it.

But here's the thing. Unless you die, chances are if travel is a priority for you, you will be doing things like hiking in Switzerland again. Like the idea-- it's not just the money thing that really bothers me about this, because I do think that there's obviously that really strong sort of immediate short term gratification thing that almost always ends up screwing you over in the long term, of like-- and this is how I used to handle my money, right?

I used to be like, I'm never going to be like-- I would literally be, I'm never going to be on the rooftop of this amazing bar in New York City cheersing with my friends, and I was literally doing it two weeks later. Like obviously you can recreate those circumstances. But also embracing this feeling of I should spend money on it because it's never happening again is really detrimental to your longer term finances, obviously, but it also really reinforces this very sort of sad and unnecessary ideal that I think is very pervasive in American culture, which is just that you stop living life and enjoying yourself after your 20s.

You're like, college was the best time of my life, which means you peaked by the age of 22, which is very dark if you're living to be like 80 or whatever. But also really encourages this mentality that once you reach a certain age, you shouldn't have adventures, you shouldn't learn new things, you shouldn't do exciting stuff or even spend money on your own personal happiness and fulfillment, all of which I think is very untrue. I would like to say this as-- I know as a 33-year-old, my life is way better in my 30s and way more full of adventure and way more exciting and interesting than it ever was in my 20s, and a lot of that is because I practice healthy financial management that allows me to have a lot more financial freedom and flexibility in my 30s, which is something that you won't have if you're YOLO-ing yourself into credit card debt at 23.

But again, for this girl it's like literally you're I'll never recreate this is walking on a hill. Like we can get back to that hill, girl. I'll get my money back, but I'll never be 26 drinking coffee on my balcony in Paris and running around the city with my best friend.

I don't even know what to say about this. I like, I did that a month ago, [BLEEP].. You're not special.

Sorry. Now I'm just being an old hater. So there's also a fairly popular trend, which I was blissfully unaware of until it was brought to my attention, of people who do like what I spend in a weekend as a financially irresponsible person, usually like a younger person.

So this person is doing a Pilates class for $89 a month, which is actually not a bad price for Pilates class, $89 a month. Going to lunch for $30. This person is 23, also worth noting. $45 therapy, that is a steal.

Two $20 margs, plus a $27 Uber, $7 Starbucks. $70 brunch. This could not have been me at 23. Weed.

Barnes and Noble books $44. Sephora, 34. That's actually pretty cheap at Sephora.

Dinner, $50. More Starbucks for 7. Afternoon tea.

Yeah, I mean, the thing about this, grand total 450 in a weekend. $450 in a weekend at 23 years old. Now, the thing is that I don't know if I ever had enough money to have been doing that to quite that level at the age of 23. But as anyone who watches this channel knows, I was famously quite financially irresponsible in my early 20s.

And I do think what's worth noting about this specific type of spending is that I actually feel like there are certain things in your life that spending a little bit more on is ultimately very worth it in the long run, and you really do feel like, oh Wow, I really remember that. Spending on tickets to go visit my best friend that I haven't seen in years, or taking myself to go see a play on Broadway that I've been dreaming about since I was a little girl, or those kind of experiences that really are maybe blowing up your budget a little bit but truly last with you and truly change you or mark you in some way, like those I think are great. And that to me is really the definition of the spend on experiences not things maxim, which there is some data for that people generally do get more fulfillment when they're spending on things that are more experiential.

But generally what that means when they're saying that is things that foster connection, things that improve you, things that expand your horizons, that really fulfill you. And the kind of spending that this person is doing, which often was the kind of spending I was doing in my early 20s, like that is to me the ultimate bastardization of the spend on experiences not things that has become very prevalent, especially in this era, where we're now not just doing the things but constantly documenting the things. Like I thought it was bad when I was in my 20s and people were just taking a picture of their brunch before they ate it.

Now I have been seated at restaurants next to Zoomers, like head to toe hype B, supreme, Balenciaga-type Zoomers, and they're literally-- I'm sure it's all SHEIN. But literally at this restaurant, everything they order, video. Everything they're doing, they take one bite, like mmm, one bite like that.

They go around the table and all the girls are like, you know, whatever. And they are truly making [BLEEP] documentaries out of everything they do when they're going out and spending money. So it's not just having to do the thing.

It's having to document the thing, having to look like you're doing the thing. And so I do think that we've gotten to this place of spend on experiences not things has been expanded to include experiences like spending $70 on what looked like an extremely mediocre brunch. And that's the kind of experience, like one of the biggest tips that we give when going through your budget is, and trying to get a hold of your money, is go back through your last 30 days of spending and highlight everything that you don't remember, or that you wouldn't spend on again.

And you would be shocked at the amount of things that your former self was like, hell yeah, swipe that card, that you're like, what, I don't even know what that was. And that's the kind of spending that makes me kind of sad honestly to see people blowing their money on, especially when they don't have it and are not doing things like saving up for a home, or really any goals or even an emergency fund, is like, OK, blow up your budget if it's worth it, girl, but like not for two $20 spicy margaritas. Like Jesus.

This person says, I might be financially irresponsible, but I still have a Porsche. The Porsche is telling her that she's still financially unstable. But it's a cool car.

I'm really biased on this one, because I just don't like cars and I haven't driven in 10 years. But the truth of the matter is that we can debate all we want about things that are and aren't worth buying. But literally there is almost no purchase that is more of a terrible idea than a new expensive car.

People might debate me in the comments about cars like Porsches potentially being a good investment if they're eventually going to be sold as like classic vintage collectible style cars, which is a big if, depending on what this person's plans are, how they're using it, how they're maintaining it, et cetera. But in general, spending on a fancy car is one of the worst places you can put sums of money like that. New cars do nothing but depreciate the second you drive them off the lot, and they are massive, massive daily expenses that only erode your finances.

And there are a lot of things like that, but few of them are as expensive as a car. So if you're going to be extremely YOLO about your money, at least be YOLO with something that has a chance of appreciating. And lastly, we have this person who's saying, this is why I'm broke, and showing their extremely fancy faucet demonstration.

And honestly, I can't say [BLEEP].. I'm hemorrhaging money to have a really nice kitchen. So this is relatable, and honestly, work.

I love that sink. I would have all of these conveniences. They look great.

TikTok made me buy it. Well, honestly, for once, TikTok maybe made you buy something good, because this stuff looks like a really-- and honestly, why I really can't hate on this particular sink set up is that it seems like a very, very economical use of space, which I think is rare in America. And this person seems to be very focused on maintaining a clean, organized kitchen space.

And I can't hate on that. And I also can't say that I'm not spending quite a bit of money on my kitchen as well. All of this is to say, I totally understand the very 20-something concept of YOLO-ing your way through your finances.

I'm sure the kids won't even say YOLO anymore. What do they say? Who knows?

Zooting your way through-- I don't know. What do kids say? Like BAE?

I truly don't know what anyone says anymore. It's lit. Bussin'.

I've heard that. Bussin' their way through their finances. Anyway, I know-- listen, I was your age once.

I spent money like it was no tomorrow and I would never, ever have to worry about aging or having goals or eventually owning property or just being able to cover my expenses in the event of emergencies. And I can say that it left me in a really, really bad space. And honestly, the most important lesson I would want to take away from this little chat we've had here is that the mentality that life is meant to be lived in your 20s and then paid for for the rest of your life is extremely dark, and is what leads to people truly feeling like they peaked in their 20s, or like, God forbid, they peaked in college, which is just no way to live a life that's so much longer than that.

It's literally a quarter of your life, if that. The idea should be that you get to live this amazing life throughout every decade. And it's different in each decade, but it improves and it changes in quality, and you learn new things, and you're a totally different person who gets to take different things out of them.

Like I enjoy things way more at 33 than I did at 23, partially because I'm not doing a bunch of tequila shots during those things, but also because I just feel a lot more secure in who I am and what I actually want to be spending my time on. But if you treat your finances like that, if you treat it like you have nothing to save for and there's no point in planning for the future, you are almost guaranteeing yourself to have a [BLEEP] future, one where you're financially unstable, one where you can't do all of these things that you really love to do in your 20s, and one in which you may never again be walking on a hill in Switzerland. That's a very real possibility if you treat your finances like a trash can.

Take it from someone who did that and then switched up their strategy to prioritize financial health and long term wealth building, and now can do things at 33 like walk on a hill in Europe, or even be on a boat from time to time, but also do things like renovate the kitchen and the apartment that she owns, which is currently my waking nightmare, but will soon result in the kitchen of my dreams. As always, guys, thank you for watching, and don't forget to hit the Subscribe button and to come back every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday for new and awesome videos. Goodbye.