Comments by "SmallSpoonBrigade" (@SmallSpoonBrigade) on "Save Money By Avoiding The Idiot Tax (6 Examples)" video.

  1. The neighbor should learn to make it him or herself. If you just want a mocha, those are extremely inexpensive to make for yourself. $50 worth of gear gets something that's largely indistinguishable from the real thing. But, even if you want the real thing, you can buy a machine for about $500 these days and it would likely be paid off within a few months at that rate. I got a mechanical frother off Amazon for about $20 and use it in the microwave for the milk. And I use a ninja coffee maker to brew strong coffee. But, for a more budget friendly option, you can get an airpresso. Those sell for about $20 last I checked and so for just a bit over $50 you can get the equipment, milk and coffee to have at least a week's worth of coffee. After the second week, you're saving money. So, it's not even a case of having to do without the lattes, the neighbor could still have the lattes, it's just that they'd be homebrewed.
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  2. My credit union will transfer increments of $50 from my savings account to my checking account for a $3 fee. It's still not a good deal, but it's a lot less than what I'd pay if it bounced. Which can easily be not just $35 at some banks, but also the money the merchant charges on their end. Which is crazy, these things should only be charged on one end, not both.
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  3. @Olivia P Switch to a credit union. What I personally do is keep $500 of my emergency fund in a savings account at the bank I use for paying for things. The credit union charges me $3 to transfer the money needed to cover the overdraft in $50 increments. So, it's still terrible to have an overdraft, it's a lot less expensive than it would be if I were being dinged $35 per item. And in practice, if there were a number of small checks that were being overdrafted, I might only pay once.
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  4.  @tramaynethomas3960  Yes, the only thing that works is switching to a credit union where the profits go back to the customers who are also owners. There is a wide variety of fee structures, so one credit union might be a better deal for a particular type of customer than another, but there's far less incentive to have confusing fees when the money they make has to be returned to the customers minus the operating expenses.
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  5.  @GAMINGNOMAD1  Check out US treasury bills. If you can afford to not have access to the money until next month you can get a much better interest rate than what any of the banks will give you. Which is perfectly fine for your emergency fund if you've also got enough credit card capacity to put things on the cards while you wait to access the funds from the t-bills.
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  6. When it comes to the lottery, you're generally right. But, spending a couple dollars when the pot increases beyond the cost of the ticket * the odds of winning can be a reasonable thing to do. But, you're probably still better off putting that dollar in the bank.
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