In a previous video you mentioned your family is in debt. If it's unsecured debt (consumer, education, medical) I don't think your audience would mind if you put channel proceeds towards that until it's all paid off (instead of charity). Very noble of you to donate to charity and can't fault you for your generosity. Just something to consider. Take care.
Mostly a mortgage, otherwise we don't carry debt but we do want to get on the "right" side of the credit card (being able to pay it off/have the money before the bill's due rather than going from the next paycheck). However I fear that if we wait for that day, we'll never start giving!
Hi Alexa, thank you again for sharing your journey. I’m a primary school teacher and we use the first image when training new teachers on adaptive teaching. In our case it’s the teacher that gives the “boxes” to the kids according to their learning abilities to try and make sure they all acquire the knowledge. In the case of society it should be the government who makes sure that everyone gets equal chances and infrastructure for each person to live a decent life through collecting taxes and using them for the greater good of humanity. Unfortunately our governments are partly useless and are serving big corporations and powerful lobbies more than the people who elected them… So yes in my opinion we need to donate especially if we have enough disposable income to buy frivolous things,…
Not to blow my own horn but... From the first (the very first!!!) that I listened to you, I knew that you were someone I ( and others!!!) needed NEEDED to listen to! You really are special! And your channel really is important because your empathetic, careful, humane, intelligent, and life- affirming message has to be heard by just who it is reaching! Thank you for all the hard work and lovely thoughtfulness! 🙏
I always think of this graphic in regards to access to services and necessary accommodations in work and life. Not everyone needs the same help and that's ok! But those who do not need it should not make decisions to keep those who do from having it. Or deciding whether or not their claim of need is "valid". This is a huge discussion to be taking on! Lol. But there is so much within America that is not set up to support everyone equitably. I'm actually on a no buy January right now, and your channel has been the main final kick/ inspiration to do it. Thank you for your content!
When creators chase the algorithm I feel like the video suggestions I see are all the same and I get bored and wish I could just wipe the whole thing. I specifically enjoy your videos because even with the silly thumbnails I get fresh ideas that may not exactly appeal to the masses, but scratch a certain itch in my philosophy loving brain.
Putting your honest, genuine thoughts and personal journey out here is so vulnerable and brave. Honestly, it gives me hope to know that there are reasonable, considerate, compassionate, thoughtful, and inspiring people like you out there, especially amidst the often overwhelming sense of doom in the world these days. This is some of the best content I've come across, thank you so much for sharing!
On my low income, I manage to give a small amount of money through a monthly donation to an animal sanctuary. Yes it is a small amount, but doing it has no significant impact on my budget. Giving a small amount each month is easier than giving the total amount once a year. Since I’ve started several years ago, I’ve been giving much better than nothing ;))
I don't know you, but I feel incredibly proud of you. The reason why is because that donation you made was so humbling for you. I feel that every time you're tempted to buy something too expensive or that you don't need, you will think of that money as a powerful tool - one that can save lives and not to be taken for granted. I think the act of giving will help you immensely in your 2025 no buy year. You are also very authentic and good hearted ❤️. I love your content.
In society the State is supposed to administrate and tax people according with their conditions and create services, road, opportunities so that every person can get what they need according to their needs. But one of the things, among many others is that rich can legally find ways of not paying their taxes and have power to fight every time a law wants to tax them.
Indeed, I think one of the general frustrations is our limited power as individuals to "right" any possible inequities (if we trust other powers to take care of it), and that's before we get into any of the issues of the ultra-wealthy evading taxes
Charitable giving is a very fraught topic so thanks for being so vulnerable about some of the feelings it brings up! For me personally I have decided to make regular donations something I prioritise. Every year I increase the amounts as my income grows and my own financial position becomes more and more stable. I do no attempt to ‘optimise’ my donations and I choose to donate to the following causes as they speak to me: - Children - a child never chooses to be born and anything that helps mitigate the circumstances they may be in is worth it to me. This currently includes charities providing respite care, providing meals/clothes to kids in low socioeconomic schools, supporting kids with parents in prison. Related to this is supporting domestic violence refuges. - Health - your health has such a big impact on your ability to look after yourself/take opportunities and again most of the time it’s not something an individual has chosen. I support a local charity hospital which provides free medical care as well as our ambulance services. For others this will look completely different but if we all support the good we want to see, the world will be a tiny bit better!
Love these causes and your reasons. In a way I kind of view "youtube income" and "the rest of my normal income" quite differently, in that I did consciously attempt to choose a more global cause for the percentage of this revenue than I would probably choose or have chosen before for our regular earnings. These are great things to consider for how to choose what kind of giving feels best and indeed, no matter how small the positive result it's always better than no positive result!
It is a strange sort of positive loop: When I donate $$ to charity, I always seem to prosper even more myself. It's a strange phenomenon and I can't really explain it.
This is a tiny planet! Look at it from space and it looks like a beautiful marble! No wonder we as humans feel something (?) for each other! What we do with that feeling is important!
This is just one stranger’s opinion, that your thumbnails are fine. They communicate what they need to, and lower production actually comes off as more relatable to me. Disclaimer: I have zero experience in producing or analyzing thumbnails lol. But I used to spend hours and hours making digital collages and tiny user icons as a hobby in college!
Great video! Great tie in from the equity discussion to charity. This is a weird time for me as it's been a scary few days for my local community because of strong winds and wildfires, and I've seen an outpour of support and goodwill from the surrounding community.
Giving to charity is a minefield in itself as it is difficult to know how much if it actually benefits the people who need it. I see my donations to and purchases from charity shops here on the Uk, which can be quite a lot throughout the year, as helping others. As I mostly buy from charity shops less of my money is going to big organisations who could also be supporting abuses that i don’t agree with, in an indirect way through investments etc. like I sat, it’s all a minefield one way or another through global connections and if we try our best we have done something. 😊
What an interesting and vulnerable perspective. It highlights the challenge with choosing an alternative path to what is convention, with the goal to be more true and authentic to one’s philosophy of the world and humanity. I appreciate the experimental nature of what you’re doing, with the intent to learn and grow as you continue. Thank you so much for sharing so transparently what this is like for you!
Very thought-provoking. I too have struggled with the idea of there being endless need in the world, yet I’m spending money on my 6th handbag or whatever. Taken to the extreme, we’d all be ascetics. Like, if you saw the child dying right in front of your eyes,and someone popped in like “the child, or the sweater?” We’d choose the child, right? Or maybe we only think we would. What if it was “the child lives and you get a downgraded car, or you keep your nicer car, and they die?” And you had to see it? The answers to these questions, as I live them, makes me feel like a bad person. And plays around in my head with the common indulgent refrain of “it’s your money, you ‘deserve’ to spend it how you want”. Anywho, most money that we give, we give to family. But I do have a smaller line item in the budget for outside charity.
I do think the separation and relative isolation from the people in need makes a huge difference in the way we choose these things, and that it may not be reasonable to expect ourselves to be able to keep this kind of context. Not stating this as a fact or anything, just thinking out loud. Because if I knew for a fact that if I sent more money that lives would be saved, I do think it would be easier to forego the 6th handbag, or drive a downgraded car. But even with the donation in this video, I can only "hope" that lives are being saved or improved. I don't "know", and there are also many narratives out there about charities being a scam or using a lot of the money for other aspects of the organization rather than the direct aid. I do also frequently feel lucky that I was born where I was, into a family that could afford to feed me and provide everything I needed and then some, but I also have no control over that for other people, so it's not my "fault" that not everyone gets that kind of life. But it does set up some conflict for the "it's my money" feeling too - is anything ours, or is it a global resource we have temporary custody over? For me it's also similar to the awareness that we all pass - the awareness can shape our actions, but thinking TOO much about it or spending too much time dwelling on it can start skewing life to the negative
Also the awareness and feelings of people in different circumstances is an unknown? Some seem happier than we ( the middle class?) are! Maybe also less responsibility? Maybe we can only guess at their truth?
No, you are not over analyzing this image at all! I have been thinking about this image for a while. I saw it a couple years ago and it stuck in my mind that how is this even gets decided , those are my thoughts too, but you took it to another level. I am very thankful to you
At least someone is TRYING to get awareness for inequality!! They may not have totally thought out all the ramifications of their " cartoon" but at least they put something out there for people to react to! The middle class ( although sinking! ) does have the most (imo) members and therefore does have the ability to make the biggest difference? But they are beginning to resent ( or maybe just become unable?) to do what needs to be done!
I think everyone is involved in distribution of the boxes. The short person should be able to express their needs. The medium height person should be able to express their needs and support the shortest person. The tall person should be aware they are tall and not fight for a box and understand why the others need boxes. It’s a joint effort.
I think the thing I still struggle with there, is that how and when does one become aware that they're "tall"? Compared to anyone in a less developed country I guess many Americans would be very tall, but in the context of the U.S. it's not always easy to tell, and also regarding finances specifically it becomes tricky since some of our "height status" can be the result of our own "good or bad" decisions
@@Alexas.nobuyyear I think it's pretty easy, if you really want to know. Listening to people's stories is one way to start. It's definitely easy to tell in the US. There are always conversations, books, studies, programs, and initiatives addressing the problems of inequity within the US especially when it comes to finances. I mean there are so many conversations about who gets paid what on the dollar or wealth gaps etc. Also I don't think you always have to compare oneself to others. you can believe and want to help people that are "small" without recognizing how "tall" you are. "small" people help each other and give up things all the time without being "tall".
Sure! I think my point/solution just personally, is what you said at the end there - that I'd rather skip the point of "knowing I'm tall" and just assume that because I can, I should (again for my personal moral stance, not saying this applies to everyone). I guess sometimes, one might technically have enough, but whether you can feel it and then give, based on that feeling or awareness, is up to different life experience and perception
Thank you for being so honest. I am also working on charitable giving this year. I am no where near the ten percent but have started with small increases to work through my own scarcity based anxiety.
We are not near the 10% either if we factor in our entire income, but it's a start to apply to one source of income here. Hopefully we will be able to increase as we get into a more stable financial stage ourselves!
Stock traders donating money does not make up for the problems stocks have caused. Especially since philanthropic efforts benefit the rich more than anyone. They’d be better off paying higher taxes which is more helpful to people with less.
I figure that it's not as simple as being able to say that that one scenario would cause the greatest positive impact - I do still intend to read a bit of Peter Singer to try and understand more where he's coming from, but hopefully I didn't convey unquestioning support of that idea in this video
@@Alexas.nobuyyear no I wasn't judging you or your commitment to the idea. I just recognized the concept or theory of effective altruism/longterism in that statement about stock traders and wanted to counter that statement.
The way I was taught this graphic is that the issue is not the boxes and which boxes get distributed to which people - it's actually that the whole fence needs to be removed because the fence is the problem (the fence being white supremacy culture, ableism, etc.). So I've seen it as an argument for universal design. Great video!!!
For people who state Equity as the goal, it is the government that is redistributing the boxes. And if you purchased your own box, they still think they should take your box and give it to someone else.
The Malaria Consortium is a great choice! I love how you compared your feelings about the $500 jeans to your $500 donation -- would definitely listen to a longer video about this too :)
Adding to your thoughts on the challenges of charitable giving as a part of a partnership -- I'm the bleeding heart within my partnership and would definitely want to donate more than we currently are. We've ended up at a compromise of sorts, where we have an agreed monthly donation "budget" that is lower than what I would prefer it to be, but I have full control over how that monthly budget is allocated. I also spent quite a lot of time thinking about (to use your metaphor) my box ie. Who am I to decide who is worthy of my box? Who am I to decide what box shape is best? I ended up with a solution -- a most definitely imperfect one at that -- where I think I've managed to remove most of my ego as a middle class person living in the global north dictating whether or not someone is "worthy" of a box and if so, what-shaped box they "deserve". Currently I have the budget split into three chunks: 50% donated abroad following principles of effective altruism. I ended up choosing a non-profit that gives chunks of money to people living in absolute poverty with no strings attached. The organisation I chose does have at least one incident where money intended for people living in absolute poverty was stolen, but the organisation reported about it publicly, learned from the incident, and improved their strategy. 25% donated to a national foodbank in my country of residence. My thoughts behind this are that the money allows the foodbank to buy items that are in high demand but not donated often enough. 25% donated to my local homeless shelter. Homelessness is a societal issue that I see on a daily basis in my local area, and while this money would possibly be more "bang for your buck" if spent elsewhere, I think my local shelter is a crucial part of my local community that will only really attract financial support from local community members, so I should do my part. Donating is such a complex topic, and it feels like there is no perfect solution. I would love to see how your thoughts around this develop!
What a thoughtful and important comment! This is where the middle class needs NEEDS to be! We will of course have slightly different amounts and charities but this is a great start!!!
This sounds like a really great balance. I might think about doing this or perhaps taking a percentage of non-youtube income for local causes, as that feels like it makes sense to me. Thank you for sharing! And I'm sure there will be more videos about spending and all the loaded feelings that can come with it, i.e. donating vs. treating ourselves, etc
This video had a lot to chew on, and some really great comments. Re: the donation, I feel like it's easier to conceptualize altruism locally, like it feels more impactful when you're taking care of folks close to you (as you mentioned about your multigenerational household -- I'm in a similar boat). Like it's easier for me to believe that what I did was good/worth doing when I can see it firsthand, when I take care of something for my parent or sibling, than it is seeing the impact of charitable giving. Which isn't to say giving isn't worth doing -- I think your choice was super sound, that's $500 that went toward something efficacious and impactful and it's doing something that matters. Preventing malaria is not technically difficult or expensive in the present, and failing to prevent it is devastating. And while I'm not a fan of Peter Singer or really of ethics as a philosophical discipline (I was an anthro major in college a million years ago and will die on the hill that morality and doing the right thing is situated, culturally/socially constructed, and negotiated between parties rather than arrived at as a conclusion of a thought experiment no shade to the philosophers among us), I do see the value that something like effective altruism has in helping make the argument to make donations like that in spite of that geographic/physical disconnection between donor and the folks being supported. I appreciate that reminder on my end of the screen. Also I relate so hard to your thoughts about the donation amount versus the cost of the jeans. Despite some small monthly contributions that I make and an occasional ad hoc gift, I don't give anywhere close to 10% of my income because I don't feel like I can afford it. But every once in a while I will drop 10% of my monthly income on something frivolous and inane. Or I'll nickel and dime myself to that amount on frivolous and inane crap. Why do I feel like I can "afford" that?
This is super interesting, thank you for sharing thoughts on morality - I'm currently working through a lot of this for myself right now, and I guess I tend to enjoy the thought experiments but question whether the results are actually widely applicable. I also have yet to read Peter Singer's actual material, it's on my list, and so I have yet to form my own opinions on what he proposes. One of the reasons I had for choosing the "effective altruism" pathway for this donation was simply because it IS a global rather than local cause, and the funds were a result of this youtube channel, which is also global in a way, as far as the audience watching. And so those watching from the UK or Germany or Australia wouldn't have to feel that their donation went to supporting some US organization that they may or may not have issues with that I wouldn't understand, lacking their perspective. And yes there's still a ton to unpack regarding where we put our money, why we're frugal in the areas we are vs. not in the areas we're not - I'm sure this will come up again on here😅
@Alexas.nobuyyear I'm sat for whatever thought experiments you continue to share! (I really appreciate hearing from folks who get and like philosophy because I have such a hard time with it). And you bring up another great point about having viewership outside the US and almost how it's more about stewardship in the larger sense. Maybe it's two sides of the same coin considering giving from a personal perspective versus from channel or other more community driven sources.
Well!! We are well and truly in the weeds now! That does not mean that fun can't be had! Still fashion shows and light hearted topics! But... and this is important! This channel has definitely matured! I, amount many I hope, applaud the growth! There is NO limit to where you go from here! And we can't wait to watch and learn!!!
Obviously as a formerly homeless person I live with a scarcity mindset. I’m permanently trying to build a house of things. And then a fort within the house of things. And all the things I might ever need to live in my fort of things in the house of things. I’m trying to work on this. Could you give to a homeless charity? With Jimmy Carter (a hero to many non-Americans as well as Americans) dying, I’m thinking of Habitat for Humanity. And before someone says (as they do with Goodwill et al) that their CEO is paid loads - that’s a good thing. You need the barracuda to keep the sharks away. Anyway - just a thought. Most charities are problematic, but that doesn’t mean we should stop giving.
This topic is very complicated! How stable and safe is enough? When are we free to give to others and how do we do that effectively? There are MANY pitfalls! Scams abound! An accident or layoff may happen at any moment! Fear is the enemy! Instead we should function from careful consideration!
Yes! I think the "no reasonable excuses" point may be the 3-6 month emergency fund...but, everyone's 6 months of expenses will be a different amount. Even in the same lifetime - before I had a family, 6 months of expenses might have been closer to what 1-2 months is right now, since acquiring a house, husband and children😬😆
Just a little something that a friend works in non-profits once told me, that I hope might be helpful as you think more about giving: a smaller amount of money, given more regularly, is typically more useful to a non-profit than one donation given in a lump sum. IE: a non-profit typically prefers $10 once a month, every month, for $120 total, rather than $150 at the end of the year. This smaller regular giving allows the non-profit to better plan their budgets and capabilities. Of course there are exceptions (emergencies, big pushes, etc), but as a rule of thumb, that's what she told me. From a personal perspective, it also feels less painful to give that smaller sum on a monthly basis as part of my *own* budget, rather than a once a year big "unexpected" expense. I know that youtube is not exactly predicable for how much money it will make each and every month, but maybe a small monthly donation and then an additional medium one at end of year to balance to 10 percent could work better for you and your family? Just a potential option as you think more about how you would like to give going forward!
Interesting - thanks for letting me know! Maybe I could adjust to do a monthly model, it actually would be easier in some ways because it could be done upon actually receiving the payments each month and the calculation is the same regardless of month-to-month or yearly, if I reserve a certain percentage for possible taxes and then use 10% of the rest. Or perhaps I could do quarterly. Unless you're referring to a "monthly subscription" type of payment, which also makes sense (for the organization's planning) but may be a bit more difficult to plan as far as the unpredictability of youtube revenue - but, something to think about, for sure! If it looks like I have a minimum of this year's donation of $500 by halfway through the year, I can start by doing a $40/monthly contribution (roughly 500 divided by 12) and like you said, do an extra at the end of the year to make up the difference. Sorry for the thinking out loud here, but just trying to make sure I really understand how it's most helpful to do!
@@Alexas.nobuyyear Absolutely no worries for thinking out loud, it helped me realize I needed to clarify. I was talking about maybe setting up a monthly subscription donation, something like $20-30 a month, which can be more helpful for a non-profit. Also psychologically, from my standpoint at least, $30 a month feels way more reasonable than $360 in one go, and I don't have to make the decision and go through the process month after month of "am I donating this month? If so, how much am I donating, let me pull up the math, let me find the credit card, go to the website, etc etc". Set it and forget it. About $30 also seems in the rough ballpark of 10% this year (not going to be over, not super under), if that makes sense. Then at the end of the year, if the subscription donation of $360 is $60-$100 short of 10% of your overall yearly earnings, you could donate extra to make up 10% to the same cause, or maybe do a one-off donation to support another cause. If you're worried about 2025 RUclips earnings fluctuating more than that/potentially being lower than 2024, maybe $10-20 a month, and then just have a bigger catch up at the end of the year? Ultimately, if you're giving to a non-profit that does good work (Charity Navigator can be a good resource if you want to do more research on specific orgs, if you're not already familiar with that website), any money donated is good. I just find that generally, for both doing the *most* good and for personal ease reasons, the monthly subscriptions works better for me.
Hi Alexa! Love your videos. I'm just curious about the Members First thing. It's a little ironic because I want to watch these as soon as you release them to help me but I'm on a no spend right now. I'm really not on board with this membership thing. I guess I'm a bit surprised about this. Also, if you don't pay, you don't get your questions answered?
So I'm not 100% sure I'm totally on board with it either, but I decided to try it out and see what it actually entailed, since I was totally new to the system at the time and had also never been a "member" of anyone else's channel. I thought that it might show the thumbnails of "what's coming" which might help viewers decide if they are interested in/want to watch what's coming up, but I have learned that they only show at all for members - I initially thought it might provide a helpful "weekly agenda" of the content on this channel depending on how "ahead of schedule" I am. I might be able to do that with community posting, but then I also do not want to appear to be advertising memberships or encourage people to sign up, which might be how that looks if I post the "upcoming topics" that are already edited and available to members. I also figure that it kind of evens out since I never do extra content for members and the only real "perk" is to see content a week early - and I can't just post all the videos I have edited without losing the "consistent posting schedule" that I'm aiming for as far as spacing things out. As you'll see when you get this response, too, I am still able to acknowledge 100% of the comments on this channel and intend to maintain that for as long as reasonably possible! and prioritize questions (there's a feature that allows filtering comments for questions asked). So I will ALWAYS answer any questions that pop up here, as long as I am able to. This weekend I'm doing a community post to seek general questions from everyone, to be answered in-video at the end of January. A compromise I'm strongly considering for the future (maybe this summer when I have more time to set up a "new" system) is to start a Patreon with a free tier (and probably still no additional content behind the "paywall"). That way no one has to pay unless they feel like it, to access the content I have, but also I don't get penalized by "not posting consistently" for RUclips. I don't create FOR the algorithm, but I also don't want to be "ignored by the algorithm" for something silly like inconsistent spacing of videos. My hope is that by also having an alternative platform, everyone can avoid watching the ads that are on the videos here. Let me know if you have further thoughts - it's something I have grappled with quite a bit so I'm always open to hearing more opinions!
i think a buy me a coffee could work in parallel to a channel membership/pateron. full disclosure i wouldn’t pay for either especially in my current situation (uni student) but a one off payment feels less risky?? as in it’s only a one time thing unlike subscribing. however i think that it’s still worth having the subscription option as i don’t think you can ignore the closer feel it probably produces with the people who want to pay (parasocial stuff aside)
I agree that a one-off payment feels better for me as a possible supporter of someone's content too! One of the big reasons I'm looking at patreon is to have a free level where people can access these videos without having to watch ads having to support youtube, if they're trying to get off of social medias. If that can easily be done over there, I might "launch" that over summer.
I have used Patreon and have adjusted my payments as I have wanted! Several times I raised or lowered and also stopped some. The application is about wonky but I like the flexibility.
Tax-wise, you probably file your taxes jointly with your husband? The amount of money you've made probably wouldn't even affect your total tax return, especially after deducting allowed business expenses. Maybe wait until you've consulted with your tax preparer before calculating a donation amount. You can deduct your charitable giving to a qualified charity on 2025's return (I'm guessing you're making your donation this year, but if you've made it in 2024, you can deduct in on 2024's return). Thanks for sharing your thought process. Great work! 🙂
Dare I admit that we don't consult a tax preparer? Maybe it's time to start though. You're right that we do file jointly, just not sure of the practical ramifications of the self-employed income vs. the W2's - and didn't figure I had the time to do that research if I wanted to get this video out there and the donation done! Next time!
For self employed 35% is reasonable. When you are employed you paid taxes and deductions on your pay check and your employer pay too. When you are self employed you need to pay both part. So you can look on a pay stub and see both part, usually devise the percentage amount it represents and use that. It’s hard to be more precise because it will vary depending where you live.
I never heard of that before. I don't think it would be legal to discriminate on the income source, at least not in the United States. Best to double check that info. with a legitimate information source (IRS, State Tax Dept.) or a qualified tax preparer.
To clarify - I didn't mean "yes" as in I have heard it is taxed differently, but rather "yes I'll have to find out how/if it affects things for us this year". Presumably it has to be some kind of 1099 form just like any other self-employed income, but I will find out/be reminded, when I get it!
@mikelobrien of course she will definitely have to check. Just another finance youtuber I watch at one point said youtube income is taxed a bit differently (slightly higher) than a traditional self employement. So she was being conservative and saving 30-35%. Its always better to be safe anyway and see how it pans out with an accountant.
I have a topic: do you find it painful to get rid of things Because you have to deal with the pain/guilt of coming to terms with how much $$ was wasted? I have so much stuff I don’t want anymore but dealing with the regret is killing me. I know I would feel Much better if I threw it all out and got a fresh start
The positive side of this is, once it's gone, you never have to look at it again and regret the purchase. Sometimes I do think of the more expensive things I have donated, and I think maybe I should have sold them instead, to recoup some of the money. But in the end, I'm always just relieved they are gone and I don't have to deal with them anymore.
When I donate stuff I think of it as having spent money on things for charities or other people. It was like a light going in when I thought of it like that and it’s helping me to declutter.
Yes. Alas we just need to do better going forward. Get rid of the things responsibly, have your pity party about it, and get back up, and be conscious going forward.
I might revisit this in a dedicated video! But for now - I find it painful to get rid of things, but for a much more selfish reason - it's just so inconvenient to figure out how to pass items on in a way where they won't be wasted. So I try to resell a lot and it takes a lot of time. I tend to very much "live in the moment" and not contemplate too much the wasted money or effort or time that I can no longer have any impact over, since it's all in the past - I think especially since reading Eckhart Tolle's "the power of now" I really believe that the present is all we have in a way, and so, to spend TOO much time regretting in the present is the current waste of time/energy/possibly even $. I personally try to "feel the regret" as much as it will inform better decisions for me in the present and future, and then let it go. I've actually found that doing these kind of "video-journals" about how bad it does feel, also helps me to "let it go" after writing and talking about it, so maybe a journal entry could be helpful for you too!
I can understand this - I didn't really go into the details of how scarcity mindset specifically did motivate a lot of purchasing, and also the types of purchases for me, expensive, influenced, etc. I think it can manifest in different ways for different people. Wasn't intending to mislead with the title, but my focus in relation to scarcity mindset in this video was trying to feel more okay with the giving aspect, in the hopes that it may assist in feeling that I truly do have enough - rather than trying to save or spend money only on things for myself out of that fear that I won't have enough. When I looked up a definition of "Scarcity mindset" (I do try to be careful/intentional when I title these things, even if it's not perfect!) the main point I saw was that it's a fear of "not having enough", so it seemed to make sense.
@@Alexas.nobuyyear Thank you for detailed answer, Alexa. Sorry I meant my own "scarcity mindset": trying not to buy anything expensive because I am afraid to spend too much. But strangely, your interpretation describes me too: I buy stuff "for future" as if all the products will perish in the future and I will have to walk naked.
It is! When I referred to taking out a tax percentage it was to cover the taxes on the "youtube revenue" that I'll have to pay, I would guess that the donation amount will be tax-deductible against my total household income. I'm not exactly sure how it will break down since this is my first year with youtube revenue at all, but I figure since the donation was rounded up anyway I hopefully covered any minor miscalculations. I also guess that since I made the donation in January 2025, any deduction will apply to the 2025 tax year, not the return from 2024 (the income-generating year).
You figure the self employment tax on your net profit, income minus business deductions. The self employment tax rate is 15.3% because you are paying both sides of social security & Medicare vs your employer paying one side of it.
There is a reason why airline attendants ask that parents put on their oxygen masks first before putting them on their children. We do need to care for our own selves as well as others. But once we are in pretty good shape ( it doesn't have to be perfect?) We should be able to at least THINK about helping others!
You said you feel guilty for not havubg given more. I can understand that feeling. Do you also feel guilty for earning, saving, and keeping money because ita inherently feels unfair in this world? I ask because Ive struggled with that. I'm not sure guilt is the best emotion to run our lives on. Its5made me incredibly vulnerable to influence and control. And giving away what I need. Woah just blew my own mind 😂
I guess I don't necessarily feel guilty for earning and saving, partly because we don't have a lot saved and partly because as a musician and/or teacher, I'll never personally be in the upper tiers of income and I knew that when I chose to do that as a career. Hopefully I don't continue to NOT-save because of this, but I don't think it's been a conscious part of it thus far 😅 I do wonder if the awareness that some people have much less is also a reason why I don't lose sleep at night NOT having the emergency fund. I do get some comments about how people could never not have savings and they'd stop ALL spending until having a 3-6 month emergency fund. But for us, worst case scenario, we'd sell the house and cram into a cheap rental/apartment, one of us could work hospitality/retail or whatever job we could get and we'd scrape by. We've lived in cheap rentals on much less before. I suppose that does beg the question of how we now live in relative opulence compared to that, and not feel guilty about it. But I guess it always does come back at the end of the day to the "well, we're working-class" mentality, so we're squarely in the middle as far as American income demographics. My next "budget" video is actually going to discuss this, not exactly the guilt aspect but how the "average" income is actually pretty high these days, so it's easy to NOT feel like we have a lot when actually, maybe we have enough.
1:53 I first saw this graphic in relation to your kids. Not every child needs new shoes at the same time, not every child needs the same thing emotionally even etc so it's the parent who decides. So i think it depends on the situation. I'm sure your question wasn't literal but I think this graphic is inherently for someone in a leadership position, the parent, the boss etc Oh and in relation to charity, please, be careful where you pick. Most charities are just a scam. Look into what the CEO makes, look into general salaries. Your money will likely just go to the people who run it, not the people who actually need it. I have a family member who was high up in the red cross, charity is not what everyone thinks. It seems peoples want to be generous and helpful to those in need gets taken advantage of. You think you're helping with your monthly donation, but really 1% is going to the actual cause. Non profits are so dodgy in my experience.
Makes sense! The context the graphic was presented to us at our work meeting was related to more general society I think, it was specifically a meeting to address diversity, equity and inclusion and involved discussions about personal biases for each member there (regardless of level at the company) , so I was perhaps partly taking it within that context. If we extrapolate it to apply to the "leaders of equity in society" I do also think the question becomes complicated or multi-layered, because even with governing entities leading society we don't always see them supporting the causes we care about or that we personally see the inequities in. So are we supposed to resign ourselves to watching governments make policies to varying degrees of success in addressing inequity, or, do we try to take a more active role among ourselves? Agreed about trying to be careful about charities - it's so tricky and I think most of the general public is not necessarily experienced in "vetting" charity organizations, myself included. So I can only hope that the organization I chose in this case is not a scam, and I do plan to choose different ones in future so that if one is sketchy, at least the effort has been spread around!
I think you are a good example for humanity, it is a good chunk of money you want to donate. And as of a cause, maybe you would give some to mother earth? In favor of biodiversity or such, like WWF or planet wild or....? Just a suggestion.
@@Alexas.nobuyyear WWF does not promote or support hunting generally, and is opposed to hunting that threatens species or habitat sustainability. At the same time, WWF recognizes that communities use wildlife and these uses include hunting and fishing. As a leading conservation organization, WWF is concerned mainly with illegal or unsustainable exploitation of wildlife. Within this framework, WWF accepts or supports hunting in a very limited number of contexts where it is culturally appropriate, legal and effectively regulated, and has demonstrated environmental and community benefits. {from the website, I had to look it up. It is true that they accept hunting when it is part of a local tradition. But they are against trophy hunting for ivory and a like}
But really an explorer of the former middle class, who are now working class, soon to be in the dreaded underclass thanks to technological advancement…
UNICEF's executive director (Catherine Russell) is married to the chairman of Blackrock, which holds millions of dollars worth of investments in arms deals - be that military contractors or weapons, including nuclear weapons. So Catherine Russell works to get donations from regular people to help people in warzones while her husband actively funds those warzones. An example - UNICEF currently has campaigns for Palestine while Blackrock invests millions in the weapons supplied to and used by Israel. And that's just one example.
In a previous video you mentioned your family is in debt. If it's unsecured debt (consumer, education, medical) I don't think your audience would mind if you put channel proceeds towards that until it's all paid off (instead of charity). Very noble of you to donate to charity and can't fault you for your generosity. Just something to consider. Take care.
Mostly a mortgage, otherwise we don't carry debt but we do want to get on the "right" side of the credit card (being able to pay it off/have the money before the bill's due rather than going from the next paycheck). However I fear that if we wait for that day, we'll never start giving!
Hi Alexa, thank you again for sharing your journey.
I’m a primary school teacher and we use the first image when training new teachers on adaptive teaching. In our case it’s the teacher that gives the “boxes” to the kids according to their learning abilities to try and make sure they all acquire the knowledge.
In the case of society it should be the government who makes sure that everyone gets equal chances and infrastructure for each person to live a decent life through collecting taxes and using them for the greater good of humanity. Unfortunately our governments are partly useless and are serving big corporations and powerful lobbies more than the people who elected them… So yes in my opinion we need to donate especially if we have enough disposable income to buy frivolous things,…
Not to blow my own horn but... From the first (the very first!!!) that I listened to you, I knew that you were someone I ( and others!!!) needed NEEDED to listen to! You really are special! And your channel really is important because your empathetic, careful, humane, intelligent, and life- affirming message has to be heard by just who it is reaching! Thank you for all the hard work and lovely thoughtfulness! 🙏
Aw, thank you!
I always think of this graphic in regards to access to services and necessary accommodations in work and life. Not everyone needs the same help and that's ok! But those who do not need it should not make decisions to keep those who do from having it. Or deciding whether or not their claim of need is "valid".
This is a huge discussion to be taking on! Lol. But there is so much within America that is not set up to support everyone equitably.
I'm actually on a no buy January right now, and your channel has been the main final kick/ inspiration to do it. Thank you for your content!
Yes! There are other interpretations of this
" cartoon" which may be important?
When creators chase the algorithm I feel like the video suggestions I see are all the same and I get bored and wish I could just wipe the whole thing. I specifically enjoy your videos because even with the silly thumbnails I get fresh ideas that may not exactly appeal to the masses, but scratch a certain itch in my philosophy loving brain.
That is also true, the videos DO get very similar when trying to optimize for the algorithm
Absolutely agree with you on that one!
Putting your honest, genuine thoughts and personal journey out here is so vulnerable and brave. Honestly, it gives me hope to know that there are reasonable, considerate, compassionate, thoughtful, and inspiring people like you out there, especially amidst the often overwhelming sense of doom in the world these days. This is some of the best content I've come across, thank you so much for sharing!
Thank you!
On my low income, I manage to give a small amount of money through a monthly donation to an animal sanctuary. Yes it is a small amount, but doing it has no significant impact on my budget. Giving a small amount each month is easier than giving the total amount once a year. Since I’ve started several years ago, I’ve been giving much better than nothing ;))
I don't know you, but I feel incredibly proud of you. The reason why is because that donation you made was so humbling for you. I feel that every time you're tempted to buy something too expensive or that you don't need, you will think of that money as a powerful tool - one that can save lives and not to be taken for granted. I think the act of giving will help you immensely in your 2025 no buy year. You are also very authentic and good hearted ❤️. I love your content.
Thank you! And yes, it is something that helps give a lot of perspective
this week I returned a fancy table cloth that I purchase in December and it felt great.
In society the State is supposed to administrate and tax people according with their conditions and create services, road, opportunities so that every person can get what they need according to their needs. But one of the things, among many others is that rich can legally find ways of not paying their taxes and have power to fight every time a law wants to tax them.
So how come the milk of human kindness seems to just curdle in the rich ( not all)?
Indeed, I think one of the general frustrations is our limited power as individuals to "right" any possible inequities (if we trust other powers to take care of it), and that's before we get into any of the issues of the ultra-wealthy evading taxes
Charitable giving is a very fraught topic so thanks for being so vulnerable about some of the feelings it brings up!
For me personally I have decided to make regular donations something I prioritise. Every year I increase the amounts as my income grows and my own financial position becomes more and more stable.
I do no attempt to ‘optimise’ my donations and I choose to donate to the following causes as they speak to me:
- Children - a child never chooses to be born and anything that helps mitigate the circumstances they may be in is worth it to me. This currently includes charities providing respite care, providing meals/clothes to kids in low socioeconomic schools, supporting kids with parents in prison. Related to this is supporting domestic violence refuges.
- Health - your health has such a big impact on your ability to look after yourself/take opportunities and again most of the time it’s not something an individual has chosen. I support a local charity hospital which provides free medical care as well as our ambulance services.
For others this will look completely different but if we all support the good we want to see, the world will be a tiny bit better!
Love these causes and your reasons. In a way I kind of view "youtube income" and "the rest of my normal income" quite differently, in that I did consciously attempt to choose a more global cause for the percentage of this revenue than I would probably choose or have chosen before for our regular earnings. These are great things to consider for how to choose what kind of giving feels best and indeed, no matter how small the positive result it's always better than no positive result!
It is a strange sort of positive loop: When I donate $$ to charity, I always seem to prosper even more myself. It's a strange phenomenon and I can't really explain it.
This is a tiny planet! Look at it from space and it looks like a beautiful marble! No wonder we as humans feel something (?) for each other! What we do with that feeling is important!
This is just one stranger’s opinion, that your thumbnails are fine. They communicate what they need to, and lower production actually comes off as more relatable to me.
Disclaimer: I have zero experience in producing or analyzing thumbnails lol. But I used to spend hours and hours making digital collages and tiny user icons as a hobby in college!
I had no idea that those were art forms ( I should have!!) Sounds really intriguing!
Great video! Great tie in from the equity discussion to charity. This is a weird time for me as it's been a scary few days for my local community because of strong winds and wildfires, and I've seen an outpour of support and goodwill from the surrounding community.
Giving to charity is a minefield in itself as it is difficult to know how much if it actually benefits the people who need it. I see my donations to and purchases from charity shops here on the Uk, which can be quite a lot throughout the year, as helping others. As I mostly buy from charity shops less of my money is going to big organisations who could also be supporting abuses that i don’t agree with, in an indirect way through investments etc. like I sat, it’s all a minefield one way or another through global connections and if we try our best we have done something. 😊
What an interesting and vulnerable perspective. It highlights the challenge with choosing an alternative path to what is convention, with the goal to be more true and authentic to one’s philosophy of the world and humanity. I appreciate the experimental nature of what you’re doing, with the intent to learn and grow as you continue. Thank you so much for sharing so transparently what this is like for you!
Yes! She is showing us all the way!
Thank you for being along for the experiments!
Very thought-provoking. I too have struggled with the idea of there being endless need in the world, yet I’m spending money on my 6th handbag or whatever. Taken to the extreme, we’d all be ascetics. Like, if you saw the child dying right in front of your eyes,and someone popped in like “the child, or the sweater?” We’d choose the child, right? Or maybe we only think we would. What if it was “the child lives and you get a downgraded car, or you keep your nicer car, and they die?” And you had to see it? The answers to these questions, as I live them, makes me feel like a bad person. And plays around in my head with the common indulgent refrain of “it’s your money, you ‘deserve’ to spend it how you want”.
Anywho, most money that we give, we give to family. But I do have a smaller line item in the budget for outside charity.
Yes! Giving to family should be recognized as quite a substantial charitable giving category!
I do think the separation and relative isolation from the people in need makes a huge difference in the way we choose these things, and that it may not be reasonable to expect ourselves to be able to keep this kind of context. Not stating this as a fact or anything, just thinking out loud.
Because if I knew for a fact that if I sent more money that lives would be saved, I do think it would be easier to forego the 6th handbag, or drive a downgraded car. But even with the donation in this video, I can only "hope" that lives are being saved or improved. I don't "know", and there are also many narratives out there about charities being a scam or using a lot of the money for other aspects of the organization rather than the direct aid.
I do also frequently feel lucky that I was born where I was, into a family that could afford to feed me and provide everything I needed and then some, but I also have no control over that for other people, so it's not my "fault" that not everyone gets that kind of life. But it does set up some conflict for the "it's my money" feeling too - is anything ours, or is it a global resource we have temporary custody over?
For me it's also similar to the awareness that we all pass - the awareness can shape our actions, but thinking TOO much about it or spending too much time dwelling on it can start skewing life to the negative
Also the awareness and feelings of people in different circumstances is an unknown? Some seem happier than we ( the middle class?) are! Maybe also less responsibility? Maybe we can only guess at their truth?
“The way you help heal the world is that you start with your own family.” Mother Teresa
No, you are not over analyzing this image at all! I have been thinking about this image for a while. I saw it a couple years ago and it stuck in my mind that how is this even gets decided , those are my thoughts too, but you took it to another level. I am very thankful to you
At least someone is TRYING to get awareness for inequality!! They may not have totally thought out all the ramifications of their " cartoon" but at least they put something out there for people to react to! The middle class ( although sinking! ) does have the most (imo) members and therefore does have the ability to make the biggest difference? But they are beginning to resent ( or maybe just become unable?) to do what needs to be done!
I think everyone is involved in distribution of the boxes. The short person should be able to express their needs. The medium height person should be able to express their needs and support the shortest person. The tall person should be aware they are tall and not fight for a box and understand why the others need boxes. It’s a joint effort.
I think the thing I still struggle with there, is that how and when does one become aware that they're "tall"? Compared to anyone in a less developed country I guess many Americans would be very tall, but in the context of the U.S. it's not always easy to tell, and also regarding finances specifically it becomes tricky since some of our "height status" can be the result of our own "good or bad" decisions
@@Alexas.nobuyyear I think it's pretty easy, if you really want to know. Listening to people's stories is one way to start. It's definitely easy to tell in the US. There are always conversations, books, studies, programs, and initiatives addressing the problems of inequity within the US especially when it comes to finances. I mean there are so many conversations about who gets paid what on the dollar or wealth gaps etc. Also I don't think you always have to compare oneself to others. you can believe and want to help people that are "small" without recognizing how "tall" you are. "small" people help each other and give up things all the time without being "tall".
I have heard that low income are MORE generous!
Sure! I think my point/solution just personally, is what you said at the end there - that I'd rather skip the point of "knowing I'm tall" and just assume that because I can, I should (again for my personal moral stance, not saying this applies to everyone).
I guess sometimes, one might technically have enough, but whether you can feel it and then give, based on that feeling or awareness, is up to different life experience and perception
This is so brave and admirable
Thank you for being so honest. I am also working on charitable giving this year. I am no where near the ten percent but have started with small increases to work through my own scarcity based anxiety.
We are not near the 10% either if we factor in our entire income, but it's a start to apply to one source of income here. Hopefully we will be able to increase as we get into a more stable financial stage ourselves!
A reasonable stance! Especially for a family with kids!
Stock traders donating money does not make up for the problems stocks have caused. Especially since philanthropic efforts benefit the rich more than anyone. They’d be better off paying higher taxes which is more helpful to people with less.
I figure that it's not as simple as being able to say that that one scenario would cause the greatest positive impact - I do still intend to read a bit of Peter Singer to try and understand more where he's coming from, but hopefully I didn't convey unquestioning support of that idea in this video
@@Alexas.nobuyyear no I wasn't judging you or your commitment to the idea. I just recognized the concept or theory of effective altruism/longterism in that statement about stock traders and wanted to counter that statement.
Great video. Thank you.
💟✊ you are doing such a great job, thank you. in solidarity, xoc
Your videos inspired me to do No Buy January!
The way I was taught this graphic is that the issue is not the boxes and which boxes get distributed to which people - it's actually that the whole fence needs to be removed because the fence is the problem (the fence being white supremacy culture, ableism, etc.). So I've seen it as an argument for universal design.
Great video!!!
Aha, another compelling take!
It's a good thing you are doing donating to those in need. Right now the ACLU is an organization people are going to need.
Yes! Lots of lawsuits! 😔
I don't know this one, I'll have to look!
For people who state Equity as the goal, it is the government that is redistributing the boxes. And if you purchased your own box, they still think they should take your box and give it to someone else.
Malaria prevention is a great cause.
The Malaria Consortium is a great choice! I love how you compared your feelings about the $500 jeans to your $500 donation -- would definitely listen to a longer video about this too :)
Adding to your thoughts on the challenges of charitable giving as a part of a partnership -- I'm the bleeding heart within my partnership and would definitely want to donate more than we currently are. We've ended up at a compromise of sorts, where we have an agreed monthly donation "budget" that is lower than what I would prefer it to be, but I have full control over how that monthly budget is allocated. I also spent quite a lot of time thinking about (to use your metaphor) my box ie. Who am I to decide who is worthy of my box? Who am I to decide what box shape is best?
I ended up with a solution -- a most definitely imperfect one at that -- where I think I've managed to remove most of my ego as a middle class person living in the global north dictating whether or not someone is "worthy" of a box and if so, what-shaped box they "deserve".
Currently I have the budget split into three chunks:
50% donated abroad following principles of effective altruism. I ended up choosing a non-profit that gives chunks of money to people living in absolute poverty with no strings attached. The organisation I chose does have at least one incident where money intended for people living in absolute poverty was stolen, but the organisation reported about it publicly, learned from the incident, and improved their strategy.
25% donated to a national foodbank in my country of residence. My thoughts behind this are that the money allows the foodbank to buy items that are in high demand but not donated often enough.
25% donated to my local homeless shelter. Homelessness is a societal issue that I see on a daily basis in my local area, and while this money would possibly be more "bang for your buck" if spent elsewhere, I think my local shelter is a crucial part of my local community that will only really attract financial support from local community members, so I should do my part.
Donating is such a complex topic, and it feels like there is no perfect solution. I would love to see how your thoughts around this develop!
What a thoughtful and important comment! This is where the middle class needs NEEDS to be! We will of course have slightly different amounts and charities but this is a great start!!!
This sounds like a really great balance. I might think about doing this or perhaps taking a percentage of non-youtube income for local causes, as that feels like it makes sense to me.
Thank you for sharing! And I'm sure there will be more videos about spending and all the loaded feelings that can come with it, i.e. donating vs. treating ourselves, etc
This video had a lot to chew on, and some really great comments. Re: the donation, I feel like it's easier to conceptualize altruism locally, like it feels more impactful when you're taking care of folks close to you (as you mentioned about your multigenerational household -- I'm in a similar boat). Like it's easier for me to believe that what I did was good/worth doing when I can see it firsthand, when I take care of something for my parent or sibling, than it is seeing the impact of charitable giving. Which isn't to say giving isn't worth doing -- I think your choice was super sound, that's $500 that went toward something efficacious and impactful and it's doing something that matters. Preventing malaria is not technically difficult or expensive in the present, and failing to prevent it is devastating. And while I'm not a fan of Peter Singer or really of ethics as a philosophical discipline (I was an anthro major in college a million years ago and will die on the hill that morality and doing the right thing is situated, culturally/socially constructed, and negotiated between parties rather than arrived at as a conclusion of a thought experiment no shade to the philosophers among us), I do see the value that something like effective altruism has in helping make the argument to make donations like that in spite of that geographic/physical disconnection between donor and the folks being supported. I appreciate that reminder on my end of the screen.
Also I relate so hard to your thoughts about the donation amount versus the cost of the jeans. Despite some small monthly contributions that I make and an occasional ad hoc gift, I don't give anywhere close to 10% of my income because I don't feel like I can afford it. But every once in a while I will drop 10% of my monthly income on something frivolous and inane. Or I'll nickel and dime myself to that amount on frivolous and inane crap. Why do I feel like I can "afford" that?
This is super interesting, thank you for sharing thoughts on morality - I'm currently working through a lot of this for myself right now, and I guess I tend to enjoy the thought experiments but question whether the results are actually widely applicable.
I also have yet to read Peter Singer's actual material, it's on my list, and so I have yet to form my own opinions on what he proposes. One of the reasons I had for choosing the "effective altruism" pathway for this donation was simply because it IS a global rather than local cause, and the funds were a result of this youtube channel, which is also global in a way, as far as the audience watching. And so those watching from the UK or Germany or Australia wouldn't have to feel that their donation went to supporting some US organization that they may or may not have issues with that I wouldn't understand, lacking their perspective.
And yes there's still a ton to unpack regarding where we put our money, why we're frugal in the areas we are vs. not in the areas we're not - I'm sure this will come up again on here😅
@Alexas.nobuyyear I'm sat for whatever thought experiments you continue to share! (I really appreciate hearing from folks who get and like philosophy because I have such a hard time with it). And you bring up another great point about having viewership outside the US and almost how it's more about stewardship in the larger sense. Maybe it's two sides of the same coin considering giving from a personal perspective versus from channel or other more community driven sources.
Well!! We are well and truly in the weeds now! That does not mean that fun can't be had! Still fashion shows and light hearted topics! But... and this is important! This channel has definitely matured! I, amount many I hope, applaud the growth! There is
NO limit to where you go from here! And we can't wait to watch and learn!!!
Next video will include a fashion show actually, this weekend😄
They are an integral part of the great experience!
🦋
Obviously as a formerly homeless person I live with a scarcity mindset. I’m permanently trying to build a house of things. And then a fort within the house of things. And all the things I might ever need to live in my fort of things in the house of things. I’m trying to work on this.
Could you give to a homeless charity? With Jimmy Carter (a hero to many non-Americans as well as Americans) dying, I’m thinking of Habitat for Humanity. And before someone says (as they do with Goodwill et al) that their CEO is paid loads - that’s a good thing. You need the barracuda to keep the sharks away.
Anyway - just a thought.
Most charities are problematic, but that doesn’t mean we should stop giving.
Yes! Often a really effective CEO is worth it! They can generate amazing support! These decisions can be tricky but a good charity figures them out!
I will make a note of this, thank you!
This topic is very complicated! How stable and safe is enough? When are we free to give to others and how do we do that effectively? There are MANY pitfalls! Scams abound! An accident or layoff may happen at any moment! Fear is the enemy! Instead we should function from careful consideration!
Yes! I think the "no reasonable excuses" point may be the 3-6 month emergency fund...but, everyone's 6 months of expenses will be a different amount. Even in the same lifetime - before I had a family, 6 months of expenses might have been closer to what 1-2 months is right now, since acquiring a house, husband and children😬😆
Just a little something that a friend works in non-profits once told me, that I hope might be helpful as you think more about giving: a smaller amount of money, given more regularly, is typically more useful to a non-profit than one donation given in a lump sum. IE: a non-profit typically prefers $10 once a month, every month, for $120 total, rather than $150 at the end of the year. This smaller regular giving allows the non-profit to better plan their budgets and capabilities. Of course there are exceptions (emergencies, big pushes, etc), but as a rule of thumb, that's what she told me.
From a personal perspective, it also feels less painful to give that smaller sum on a monthly basis as part of my *own* budget, rather than a once a year big "unexpected" expense. I know that youtube is not exactly predicable for how much money it will make each and every month, but maybe a small monthly donation and then an additional medium one at end of year to balance to 10 percent could work better for you and your family? Just a potential option as you think more about how you would like to give going forward!
Interesting - thanks for letting me know! Maybe I could adjust to do a monthly model, it actually would be easier in some ways because it could be done upon actually receiving the payments each month and the calculation is the same regardless of month-to-month or yearly, if I reserve a certain percentage for possible taxes and then use 10% of the rest. Or perhaps I could do quarterly.
Unless you're referring to a "monthly subscription" type of payment, which also makes sense (for the organization's planning) but may be a bit more difficult to plan as far as the unpredictability of youtube revenue - but, something to think about, for sure! If it looks like I have a minimum of this year's donation of $500 by halfway through the year, I can start by doing a $40/monthly contribution (roughly 500 divided by 12) and like you said, do an extra at the end of the year to make up the difference.
Sorry for the thinking out loud here, but just trying to make sure I really understand how it's most helpful to do!
@@Alexas.nobuyyear Absolutely no worries for thinking out loud, it helped me realize I needed to clarify. I was talking about maybe setting up a monthly subscription donation, something like $20-30 a month, which can be more helpful for a non-profit. Also psychologically, from my standpoint at least, $30 a month feels way more reasonable than $360 in one go, and I don't have to make the decision and go through the process month after month of "am I donating this month? If so, how much am I donating, let me pull up the math, let me find the credit card, go to the website, etc etc". Set it and forget it.
About $30 also seems in the rough ballpark of 10% this year (not going to be over, not super under), if that makes sense. Then at the end of the year, if the subscription donation of $360 is $60-$100 short of 10% of your overall yearly earnings, you could donate extra to make up 10% to the same cause, or maybe do a one-off donation to support another cause. If you're worried about 2025 RUclips earnings fluctuating more than that/potentially being lower than 2024, maybe $10-20 a month, and then just have a bigger catch up at the end of the year?
Ultimately, if you're giving to a non-profit that does good work (Charity Navigator can be a good resource if you want to do more research on specific orgs, if you're not already familiar with that website), any money donated is good. I just find that generally, for both doing the *most* good and for personal ease reasons, the monthly subscriptions works better for me.
Hi Alexa! Love your videos. I'm just curious about the Members First thing. It's a little ironic because I want to watch these as soon as you release them to help me but I'm on a no spend right now. I'm really not on board with this membership thing. I guess I'm a bit surprised about this. Also, if you don't pay, you don't get your questions answered?
So I'm not 100% sure I'm totally on board with it either, but I decided to try it out and see what it actually entailed, since I was totally new to the system at the time and had also never been a "member" of anyone else's channel. I thought that it might show the thumbnails of "what's coming" which might help viewers decide if they are interested in/want to watch what's coming up, but I have learned that they only show at all for members - I initially thought it might provide a helpful "weekly agenda" of the content on this channel depending on how "ahead of schedule" I am. I might be able to do that with community posting, but then I also do not want to appear to be advertising memberships or encourage people to sign up, which might be how that looks if I post the "upcoming topics" that are already edited and available to members.
I also figure that it kind of evens out since I never do extra content for members and the only real "perk" is to see content a week early - and I can't just post all the videos I have edited without losing the "consistent posting schedule" that I'm aiming for as far as spacing things out.
As you'll see when you get this response, too, I am still able to acknowledge 100% of the comments on this channel and intend to maintain that for as long as reasonably possible! and prioritize questions (there's a feature that allows filtering comments for questions asked). So I will ALWAYS answer any questions that pop up here, as long as I am able to. This weekend I'm doing a community post to seek general questions from everyone, to be answered in-video at the end of January.
A compromise I'm strongly considering for the future (maybe this summer when I have more time to set up a "new" system) is to start a Patreon with a free tier (and probably still no additional content behind the "paywall"). That way no one has to pay unless they feel like it, to access the content I have, but also I don't get penalized by "not posting consistently" for RUclips. I don't create FOR the algorithm, but I also don't want to be "ignored by the algorithm" for something silly like inconsistent spacing of videos. My hope is that by also having an alternative platform, everyone can avoid watching the ads that are on the videos here.
Let me know if you have further thoughts - it's something I have grappled with quite a bit so I'm always open to hearing more opinions!
i think a buy me a coffee could work in parallel to a channel membership/pateron. full disclosure i wouldn’t pay for either especially in my current situation (uni student) but a one off payment feels less risky?? as in it’s only a one time thing unlike subscribing. however i think that it’s still worth having the subscription option as i don’t think you can ignore the closer feel it probably produces with the people who want to pay (parasocial stuff aside)
I agree that a one-off payment feels better for me as a possible supporter of someone's content too!
One of the big reasons I'm looking at patreon is to have a free level where people can access these videos without having to watch ads having to support youtube, if they're trying to get off of social medias. If that can easily be done over there, I might "launch" that over summer.
A free patreon definitely sounds interesting however you deserve to have a life outside of content creation too!
I have used Patreon and have adjusted my payments as I have wanted! Several times I raised or lowered and also stopped some. The application is about wonky but I like the flexibility.
Tax-wise, you probably file your taxes jointly with your husband? The amount of money you've made probably wouldn't even affect your total tax return, especially after deducting allowed business expenses. Maybe wait until you've consulted with your tax preparer before calculating a donation amount. You can deduct your charitable giving to a qualified charity on 2025's return (I'm guessing you're making your donation this year, but if you've made it in 2024, you can deduct in on 2024's return). Thanks for sharing your thought process. Great work! 🙂
Dare I admit that we don't consult a tax preparer? Maybe it's time to start though. You're right that we do file jointly, just not sure of the practical ramifications of the self-employed income vs. the W2's - and didn't figure I had the time to do that research if I wanted to get this video out there and the donation done! Next time!
For self employed 35% is reasonable. When you are employed you paid taxes and deductions on your pay check and your employer pay too. When you are self employed you need to pay both part. So you can look on a pay stub and see both part, usually devise the percentage amount it represents and use that. It’s hard to be more precise because it will vary depending where you live.
I know plenty of short people with boxes, who can also afford tickets! It's okay to do well and for those who need help, to go get it.
Ive also heard youtube income is taxed a bit differently (higher) than typical self employment. So glad youre being conservative.
Yes, it'll be an interesting tax year 😅
I never heard of that before. I don't think it would be legal to discriminate on the income source, at least not in the United States. Best to double check that info. with a legitimate information source (IRS, State Tax Dept.) or a qualified tax preparer.
To clarify - I didn't mean "yes" as in I have heard it is taxed differently, but rather "yes I'll have to find out how/if it affects things for us this year". Presumably it has to be some kind of 1099 form just like any other self-employed income, but I will find out/be reminded, when I get it!
@mikelobrien of course she will definitely have to check. Just another finance youtuber I watch at one point said youtube income is taxed a bit differently (slightly higher) than a traditional self employement. So she was being conservative and saving 30-35%. Its always better to be safe anyway and see how it pans out with an accountant.
I have a topic: do you find it painful to get rid of things Because you have to deal with the pain/guilt of coming to terms with how much $$ was wasted? I have so much stuff I don’t want anymore but dealing with the regret is killing me. I know I would feel
Much better if I threw it all out and got a fresh start
The positive side of this is, once it's gone, you never have to look at it again and regret the purchase. Sometimes I do think of the more expensive things I have donated, and I think maybe I should have sold them instead, to recoup some of the money. But in the end, I'm always just relieved they are gone and I don't have to deal with them anymore.
When I donate stuff I think of it as having spent money on things for charities or other people. It was like a light going in when I thought of it like that and it’s helping me to declutter.
Yes. Alas we just need to do better going forward. Get rid of the things responsibly, have your pity party about it, and get back up, and be conscious going forward.
I might revisit this in a dedicated video! But for now -
I find it painful to get rid of things, but for a much more selfish reason - it's just so inconvenient to figure out how to pass items on in a way where they won't be wasted. So I try to resell a lot and it takes a lot of time.
I tend to very much "live in the moment" and not contemplate too much the wasted money or effort or time that I can no longer have any impact over, since it's all in the past - I think especially since reading Eckhart Tolle's "the power of now" I really believe that the present is all we have in a way, and so, to spend TOO much time regretting in the present is the current waste of time/energy/possibly even $.
I personally try to "feel the regret" as much as it will inform better decisions for me in the present and future, and then let it go. I've actually found that doing these kind of "video-journals" about how bad it does feel, also helps me to "let it go" after writing and talking about it, so maybe a journal entry could be helpful for you too!
I came to comment on your "scarcity mindset" but the Video is different 😊
You were saying that many expensive purchases were influenced, that is not "scarcity mindset" 😅
I can understand this - I didn't really go into the details of how scarcity mindset specifically did motivate a lot of purchasing, and also the types of purchases for me, expensive, influenced, etc. I think it can manifest in different ways for different people.
Wasn't intending to mislead with the title, but my focus in relation to scarcity mindset in this video was trying to feel more okay with the giving aspect, in the hopes that it may assist in feeling that I truly do have enough - rather than trying to save or spend money only on things for myself out of that fear that I won't have enough.
When I looked up a definition of "Scarcity mindset" (I do try to be careful/intentional when I title these things, even if it's not perfect!) the main point I saw was that it's a fear of "not having enough", so it seemed to make sense.
@@Alexas.nobuyyear Thank you for detailed answer, Alexa. Sorry I meant my own "scarcity mindset": trying not to buy anything expensive because I am afraid to spend too much. But strangely, your interpretation describes me too: I buy stuff "for future" as if all the products will perish in the future and I will have to walk naked.
I thought charity is tax-deductable in the states 🤔
It is!
When I referred to taking out a tax percentage it was to cover the taxes on the "youtube revenue" that I'll have to pay, I would guess that the donation amount will be tax-deductible against my total household income. I'm not exactly sure how it will break down since this is my first year with youtube revenue at all, but I figure since the donation was rounded up anyway I hopefully covered any minor miscalculations. I also guess that since I made the donation in January 2025, any deduction will apply to the 2025 tax year, not the return from 2024 (the income-generating year).
You figure the self employment tax on your net profit, income minus business deductions. The self employment tax rate is 15.3% because you are paying both sides of social security & Medicare vs your employer paying one side of it.
Thank you! I think I'll feel more comfortable with it (and know what to expect, etc) after having had one "tax-year" under my belt
There is a reason why airline attendants ask that parents put on their oxygen masks first before putting them on their children. We do need to care for our own selves as well as others. But once we are in pretty good shape ( it doesn't have to be perfect?) We should be able to at least THINK about helping others!
You said you feel guilty for not havubg given more. I can understand that feeling.
Do you also feel guilty for earning, saving, and keeping money because ita inherently feels unfair in this world? I ask because Ive struggled with that.
I'm not sure guilt is the best emotion to run our lives on. Its5made me incredibly vulnerable to influence and control. And giving away what I need.
Woah just blew my own mind 😂
I guess I don't necessarily feel guilty for earning and saving, partly because we don't have a lot saved and partly because as a musician and/or teacher, I'll never personally be in the upper tiers of income and I knew that when I chose to do that as a career. Hopefully I don't continue to NOT-save because of this, but I don't think it's been a conscious part of it thus far 😅
I do wonder if the awareness that some people have much less is also a reason why I don't lose sleep at night NOT having the emergency fund. I do get some comments about how people could never not have savings and they'd stop ALL spending until having a 3-6 month emergency fund.
But for us, worst case scenario, we'd sell the house and cram into a cheap rental/apartment, one of us could work hospitality/retail or whatever job we could get and we'd scrape by. We've lived in cheap rentals on much less before. I suppose that does beg the question of how we now live in relative opulence compared to that, and not feel guilty about it. But I guess it always does come back at the end of the day to the "well, we're working-class" mentality, so we're squarely in the middle as far as American income demographics. My next "budget" video is actually going to discuss this, not exactly the guilt aspect but how the "average" income is actually pretty high these days, so it's easy to NOT feel like we have a lot when actually, maybe we have enough.
The " take care of ourselves" really is important! If we don't, we just add to those who aren't making it and that is just not smart!
1:53 I first saw this graphic in relation to your kids. Not every child needs new shoes at the same time, not every child needs the same thing emotionally even etc so it's the parent who decides. So i think it depends on the situation. I'm sure your question wasn't literal but I think this graphic is inherently for someone in a leadership position, the parent, the boss etc
Oh and in relation to charity, please, be careful where you pick. Most charities are just a scam. Look into what the CEO makes, look into general salaries. Your money will likely just go to the people who run it, not the people who actually need it. I have a family member who was high up in the red cross, charity is not what everyone thinks.
It seems peoples want to be generous and helpful to those in need gets taken advantage of. You think you're helping with your monthly donation, but really 1% is going to the actual cause. Non profits are so dodgy in my experience.
Makes sense! The context the graphic was presented to us at our work meeting was related to more general society I think, it was specifically a meeting to address diversity, equity and inclusion and involved discussions about personal biases for each member there (regardless of level at the company) , so I was perhaps partly taking it within that context.
If we extrapolate it to apply to the "leaders of equity in society" I do also think the question becomes complicated or multi-layered, because even with governing entities leading society we don't always see them supporting the causes we care about or that we personally see the inequities in. So are we supposed to resign ourselves to watching governments make policies to varying degrees of success in addressing inequity, or, do we try to take a more active role among ourselves?
Agreed about trying to be careful about charities - it's so tricky and I think most of the general public is not necessarily experienced in "vetting" charity organizations, myself included. So I can only hope that the organization I chose in this case is not a scam, and I do plan to choose different ones in future so that if one is sketchy, at least the effort has been spread around!
I think you are a good example for humanity, it is a good chunk of money you want to donate. And as of a cause, maybe you would give some to mother earth? In favor of biodiversity or such, like WWF or planet wild or....? Just a suggestion.
a good idea for next year!
WWF are pretty awful - very pro-hunting.
also noted! I'll be sure to research before the next time
@@Alexas.nobuyyear WWF does not promote or support hunting generally, and is opposed to hunting that threatens species or habitat sustainability. At the same time, WWF recognizes that communities use wildlife and these uses include hunting and fishing.
As a leading conservation organization, WWF is concerned mainly with illegal or unsustainable exploitation of wildlife. Within this framework, WWF accepts or supports hunting in a very limited number of contexts where it is culturally appropriate, legal and effectively regulated, and has demonstrated environmental and community benefits. {from the website, I had to look it up. It is true that they accept hunting when it is part of a local tradition. But they are against trophy hunting for ivory and a like}
Are you sure you aren’t Pandora?
Aka an explorer of the pain of all
But really an explorer of the former middle class, who are now working class, soon to be in the dreaded underclass thanks to technological advancement…
Yes, a scary thought! I'm sure I'll continue exploring regardless of how the status of everything shifts around us
Smart to function out of protection without fear! Fear just disables with no good outcome!
@@bthomson fear that inspires considered action may not be a bad thing, as anyone with a toddler knows ;)
Consider UNICEF.
UNICEF's executive director (Catherine Russell) is married to the chairman of Blackrock, which holds millions of dollars worth of investments in arms deals - be that military contractors or weapons, including nuclear weapons.
So Catherine Russell works to get donations from regular people to help people in warzones while her husband actively funds those warzones. An example - UNICEF currently has campaigns for Palestine while Blackrock invests millions in the weapons supplied to and used by Israel. And that's just one example.
Nothing is simple!