[Music] hey YouTube Alex here and in today's video I want to talk about why xat life and minimalism go hand in hand I know because I used to not be a minimalist at all this is evidence by the
storage unit I have back in the United States that I'm overpaying on this is a mistake on my part it's full of junk some valuable some sentimental items but also a ton of junk and I don't want you
to make that mistake so in today's video we're going to cover why I think xat should consider minimalism they should consider moderating their consumption and talking about the benefits of doing so but more importantly discussing the potential drawbacks
of not doing so hey YouTube I'm here in daget Philippines and I wanted to go into the question why does expat life and minimalism go hand inand I think you could call me a bit of a minimalist you
know that I don't buy tons of stuff these days I think that a lot of expats would also call themselves minimalists or at least those who wish to moderate their consumption and there's a number of reasons for this
but I picked out five that I think are the most important number one is that you can only carry so much stuff if you're moving from place to place or going from country to Country then it doesn't really
make sense to buy a bunch of furniture to buy even if you're staying in a certain place if you haven't committed to that location you're not married to somebody there then I don't know that it makes a lot
of sense to be buying a lot of high-end stuff that you can't take with you if you have to leave I think Paul puts it really well don't buy anything you can't afford to walk away from if you
got some inclement weather coming and you expect your area to be flooded if you're living in an area all of a sudden there's a Typhoon Warning there's a major storm warning and you think that your home may be
totally flooded well all of a sudden your expensive furniture may be ruined your electronics may be ruined and your insurance depending on what type of insurance you have may not cover it maybe it's not insurable it depends on
where you're at it depends on a lot of different things you may be in an inclement weather situation that totally destroys your stuff and you don't necessarily feel attached and you don't want to have to lose all that
stuff right you put your hard ear money into it and you hate to give it up like I don't want to lose these sunglasses it really bothers people when I wear these rayb bands over my regular sunglasses oh
yeah you like that how about that how do you how do you feel when I do that so all this stuff that you might accumulate may go to waste in the case of a natural disaster or you run
into some kind of issue you need to Jet out you need to leave quickly you can't pack all that stuff into your suitcase maybe you can pack some of it into your suitcase I don't think you could pack
a TV into your suitcase number two is that there are typically no social safety nets for expats living overseas if you're somebody that you're expecting to get certain kinds of assistance but you haven't attained citizenship which is the
case for most expats most expats do not acquire citizenship and so the social programs whatever they may be aren't applicable they aren't going to qualify for local Social Security Programs they may not qualify for various health insurance plans
and they're really on their own so they have to be extra careful about their finances in ways that they might not have to be back home I know that for Canadians for Brits they've got a single-payer Health Care
System they've got an NHS in the UK can't remember what the Canadian one is called but you're probably familiar if you're Canadian these systems shouldn't be taken for granted and if you're living abroad and you can't count on
those systems you need to have extra room in your budget for your health care for when you reach the age that you're no longer able to work that might require giving up certain luxuries that might require giving up
the latest iPhone every year maybe you take fewer vacations when you're preparing to move abroad and the years preceding it you want to make sure you max out your 401k plan your IRA you make sure you're making big
contributions to Social Security if you're an American and you foro some of those niceties to give yourself some extra wiggle room in your budget living overseas there's no expat that's ever said I've got too much money you'll never
hear that from anyone living overseas or in your home country for that matter but especially not overseas other people may say it but you're not going to hear somebody say that about their own home bank account extra money
is always nice you never can tell what kind of costs may come up that are unexpected you may not be legally allowed to buy a home you may not be legally allowed to own land so it may be
inadvisable to fill these things up with stuff right if I am just renting a condo and I've decided on a location to stay there for a year well maybe my feelings change over the course of the year maybe
I get some neighbors that move in that are super loud maybe I decide that I'd prefer to live in another city maybe I have Healthcare needs need to go to the main city in the country the big city
in the country all of a sudden I've need to change locations and I'm not owning it so I can't like hold on to it and rent it out to somebody else which may not be allowed based on your
Visa anyway such that you've got this Albatross that's hanging over your head maybe it's not super expensive maybe your maintenance fees aren't too bad but maybe it's this thing where you're like I really wish I didn't buy this
house if you can even buy it in other cases you can't buy it you're just a renter so it's worth consideration okay if I try it for a while and it doesn't work out what am I going to
give up what is not easily moved what can I not just transfer to my new location what's going to be expensive to ship really think about these things it seems like when xats whatever reason they need to go
back to their home country which is a more extreme scenario they've got to have a fire sale they've got to get rid of things for pennies on the dollar you hear Mike talk about this from Mike's Philippine retirement
where your best deals on stuff are often going to come from guys who they've got to get out of town they've got a month left and they need to go back to their home country and they're willing to
take a modest sum of money for their motorbike for their TV for kitchen appliances for a washer dryer whatever it may be that they thought man I'm going to get a lot of use out of this maybe they
give up after a year maybe it doesn't work out after a year and they really got to try to get something back as opposed to just giving it away if they can it's more expensive to go back home
than it is to come over here now I know in some places some people will say oh my girlfriend can own a home or my boyfriend can own a home my husband can own a home my wife can
own a home can you own a home if you can't own a home you really need to be prepared that you may not be able to hold on to it depending on the circumstances now I don't wish tragedy
on anyone I don't wish hard times on anyone but I have heard a lot of horror stories and I've even seen a few myself unfortunately I want to and I don't want any of these bad Fates to befall
you now this one doesn't apply to younger xat as much but it definitely applies to xats who are longer in the tooth you may no longer be in your Peak earning years so if you overspend if you overdo
it which happens some expats they come over here oh I've got this budget they blow it out of the water they go way overboard now they're rushing back home to try to get back into work they might not
be capable of earning what they were earning in the past they might struggle to get a job wow sir you're wanting a job here but you don't have any experience for the last 3 years we've developed this new
technology and you don't have any familiarity with it so I think we're going to move forward with another candidate or maybe the work dries up maybe your industry was booming when you left and you go back and it's
in a decline it's not doing as well and you're struggling to get back on the ladder maybe a health issue came up when you were living abroad and you're no longer able to work the same number of hours
maybe you have some kind of injury I know some guys unfortunately get in a motorbike wrecked and their health and Mobility is permanently impacted there's no telling what could happen you some people call them black swans I think
Donald Rumsfeld is famously quoted is saying there're the things we don't know we don't know and you never know what could happen so you may be in a position where you're not capable of earning what you could earn
before you left and many of us would benefit from having a more minimalist perspective and consuming less because we may have to go back to work something could come up and for us younger guys we don't know exactly
what that looks like we want to have some padding in our budget for a soft Landing as opposed to a hard landing and I've experien both of those things going back home from abroad it's much nicer to be
to have your first month's rent your deposit a vehicle and some couches you can crash on rather than landing and being like okay where am I you're going through culture shock you forgot what your home country was like
you're stressed out because your quality of life is probably not as good back home as it is abroad or you wouldn't have gone abroad in the first place and so this is a big reason why I think minimalism
can be so can be so important is that if you're not in your Peak earning years or you haven't had the career growth that you would have had if you'd stayed working in those years inflation has probably done
a number on your home country's economy and so your prices are higher and you haven't seen your income go up with that I have friends that have worked in the US and so while everything for them has gone
up 50% they've also had their income go up 50% so they haven't gotten ahead but they also haven't fallen behind if you're not making the big bucks anymore then there's no need to live like that I found that
in many countries outside of the US people are less materialistic doesn't people it doesn't mean people are not materialistic at all but I think their expectations are lower than what you would expect in the US finally you do
not want to play status games around people who are struggling a lot of expats there are substantial number of expats want to play high roller they want to live in the high-end Community they want to drive a big
car a big truck they want to have the latest iPhone the latest electronics and to each their own right I'm not here to judge people I'm not here to say oh don't buy this don't buy that I know
a lot of guys have worked really hard for what they have they've put in a lot of time and effort they want to enjoy their time in later years but when you're going around saying I'm a high roller
I make this much money I'm a big shot I'm a high status Guy this is potentially really problematic in some countries in Colombia they have this phrase no Dar papaya which means don't show your valuables if you are
an expat living abroad and you have heard about the unfortunate circumstances or situations in Colombia then you're all too familiar that there are guys that go down to Colombia and they're wanting to show off their High status they're
wanting to stay in the high-end places they're wanting to die in the finest establishments and to entertain all kinds of random ladies and this put a big Target on their head some of them have woken up missing all
of their valuables and in some cases had their health impacted by the events that they were not that they were not mentally present for I've got to be careful about what I say but you get the gist right
I mean if you're thinking I'm going to show off I'm going to show these people how awesome I am this neoc colonialist attitude this attitude or idea that everybody needs to bow down to me because I'm the greatest
thing ever you're going to attract a lot of desperate people in some countries now I know it differs by countries some countries are safer than others some have less issues than others but depending on where you go you
could attract attention from the wrong people who don't have a problem trying to take what's yours I get that this video could be perceived of as negative and I think minimalism and the financial Independence Movement are generally positive
things but there are push factors and I think about the things that have pushed me away from living in the US and I think about the unfortunate circumstances that could pull me back and I want to avoid those
in regards to struggling there's a lot of struggling in a lot of places post pandemic inflation has done a number on a number of economies some people have found that their standard of living has declined so be very
careful when it comes to trying to be a show off there's no need to impress anyone the right people will like you regardless whether you have a fancy car or you don't have a fancy car you don't want
to attract the wrong kind of attention what are some of my tips for minimalism well one get a minimalist partner find somebody who's not super materialistic somebody who's happy with a moderate consumption lifestyle there's plenty of people in
the world that are like that especially these days that will not push you to spend above your means to spend above your budget be patient take some time to vet these people out don't just marry the first person
you meet because you're so lonely back home you're willing to commit to somebody who due to their spending habits may enable you to ruin your expad dream I would say number two don't overcommit when it comes to housing
don't go and sign a lease for a mansion for a year a week after you arrive take some time to vet out different places check out different neighborhoods see what you like see what you don't like like stay
outside the city stay on the outskirts of the city stay inside the city try different parts of the city to figure out okay I like this about here I like this about here I don't like this about here
I don't like this about here try different cities even if you like small towns try different small towns even if you like big cities try different big cities there's something for everyone in a lot of these countries but
in my opinion it's worthwhile to do some digging so you don't overcommit to a certain location make Financial commitments that you don't want to keep up and waste money that could be better spent enjoying your life number three
start moderating your consumption before you even go overseas start selling off stuff you don't need you got a boat get rid of it you got three cars and you only need one get rid of a couple you have
a big house wait until you get closer to the end date to get rid of it you're I don't know about the liquidity in your area or when you're watching this video but start to to reduce your consumption
before you come because then you're going to be more accustomed to a modest standard of living you're going to be more accustomed to being Frugal to being Thrifty and it's not going to be such an extreme drop off
of oh I went from a high roller to now I'm trying to pinch pennies that way it can be a gradual decline and you can get used to a more and more modest standard of living number four watch
Channels like mine that talk about a modest lifestyle overseas there's there's plenty of other channels that also provide insight into how you can live abroad on a modest budget educating yourself is a big part of living a minimalistic
lifestyle and working toward a more financially free way of living you may have not done a lot of that in the past right I think a lot of us are uncomfortable about money we don't want to talk about
it we don't want to think about it approaching the topic headon just you know bearing the brunt of it getting over our anxieties about money our insecurities our frustrations or stresses will help you to better understand what makes
you happy for me owning my own time makes me happy doing what I want working on my business working on my business having that freedom gives me far more happiness than any kind of material thing number five don't
pick up any new status symbols if you know you're moving abroad in a couple of years don't buy that new boat hold on to your truck don't go out and upgrade your house that's a mistake that I made
when I was trying to initially learn about Financial Freedom is I thought oh I'll buy this thing and then I won't buy anymore no each purchase I made forced me to buy more stuff I couldn't just buy the
video game console I had to buy the new video games I couldn't just buy the computer I had to buy the microphone I couldn't just buy the new camera I had to buy all the accessories to go along
with it it feels like each purchase we make nowadays comes with a subscription service so avoid those new purchases as tempting as they may be as much as you want to get this or that see if you can
put it off okay think about if I still want in a month or I still want in 2 months maybe then I'll buy it but right now I need to focus on my goals I need to moderate my
consumption because what I'm aiming for will bring me far more fulfillment than any short-term joy that I could get from buying this thing or that thing let us know down below what kind of tips do you have for
people looking to moderate their consumption looking to live a more minimalistic lifestyle were you a BigTime consumer like I used to be when I was younger have you moved toward making more financially sound decisions I'd love to get
your feedback and the audience would benefit from your contribution as well so let me know what you think down in the comments below do you agree with these sentiments do you disagree do you think some of these are
overblown let us know which country you're interested in living in if you feel comfortable sharing that I get it if you don't are you a minimalist I see myself as a minimalist curious if you feel as same way
give us a thumbs up if you want to see more content like this and finally if you enjoyed this content you want to see more content like it please subscribe to the channel down below [Music] [Music]
