6 “Necessities” I No Longer Need Since Moving To Europe | Making it Work
In this video essay, one woman shows us how moving to Europe made her reevaluate the "necessities" she was constantly spending money on, and American spending priorities in general. Here are more insane American money habits: .
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Video by Grace Lee
Based on an essay by Jessica Hator
Read the original essay here:
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Video narration by Natalie Van Sistine
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imagine thinking you have to move to a whole nother country just to live like this
0 she didn’t really need to cut back on necessities at all. and yes these are necessities, car, house, AC, etc. and before you go “it’s not needed” people in 3rd world countries technically survive without much food and without clean drinking water and vaccines so by your own logic those aren’t needs either? Europe is just a second world nation and that’s why they don’t realize they need this stuff yet
@@LucasFernandez-fk8se Ah yes, the “You don’t need a house to survive” argument… If everything you need is in walking distance you don’t need a car as it just costs extra money, If the climate is rather balanced you don’t need an AC as the temperatures are always on a good level. And why do you need your own house? When living in a city it is way cheaper to own a flat in europe than buying a house. Houses are way more expensive in europe than in the US. Also, If we are a 2nd world continent then why do we have higher standarts of living than the US?
@@LucasFernandez-fk8se if Europe is the second world then USA is the third.
As an Australian I find America’s obsession with climate control strange. We have AC here, but in Summer we only turn it on a few days a week when it gets over 30-35c ish. That’s how I thought everyone used AC, waited till it was really hot then turned it on. But I’ve travelled to the USA twice now and was surprised that every house I visited seem to have some form of climate control running 24 hours, 7 days a week all year round. That’s crazy to me, here we limit our AC and heating use to prevent high power and gas bills, but there they seem to just be running them all the time.
NotCroutons same. The only time it ever makes sense to me is for heating during the winter months in places where it gets absurdly cold. I’m Australian too (South East Queensland) and I don’t even have an air conditioner. Too expensive to purchase/install/run, they f with my sinus system and like … fans exist for a reason
I’m American, and we never grew up with AC you usually have to be pretty wealthy to have AC. I remember when I was young and visiting people’s houses with AC thinking that they were rich.
It gets up to 46 C where I live in the states and stays at 36 C for close to two months. On top of that anything over 30-ish C I start having asthma flares depending on the humidity, which is also consistently high because of the Gulf of Mexico. It’s a health thing for me. People need to stop assuming different places and people have the same climates and ability to deal with the heat. They really don’t.
Not for the poor, at least for most families where I live. We just crack the door open. And I live in Florida, where it can be 89-103.
Where in America? That makes a big difference. In Texas people die from heat.
This seems more like suburb life vs. city life than America vs. Europe. I’m American and
1. Go without makeup all the time
2. Have never owned a car (29)
3. Window A/C units only in a room I am in
4. Not much meat
5. Can get to a farmers market somewhere in town every day of the week
6. No house aspirations
In USA it’s muuuch more common to see people with makeup than in there parts of the world, that doesn’t mean that everybody feel the need to wear it, but that is something that call your attention at the beginning.
You are right, but the states is more likely to be a suburban society.
Exactly she just needed to move from suburban Maryland to nyc to learn this.
I agree 100%. How she lived in MD is how Europeans live in rural areas and how she lives in Europe is how people in cities in the US live as well.
“window a/c units only in a room I am in” lol so you still use a/c
“Just take public transit” is great in theory, but many American cities don’t have the infrastructure for that. I live in a large metropolitan area and have a 15 minute drive to work, but there is no bus route connecting my home and work. When I search on our transit app it just says “not possible”, which is something I have yet to run into while traveling in European countries.
Then you haven’t been in European suburbs.
Labas Labas right you are! I’ve spent very little time in suburbs in Europe. I do remember there being a surprising number of bus stops in the middle of nowhere in the Scottish highlands, but I don’t think service is frequent enough to be super useful.
Then build the infrastructure im America. If everybody just keeps saying “ohh that’s just not possible in America” it will never change.
That is happening in many large American cities (and certainly some smaller ones). While infrastructure is being built and citizens advocate for their needs, there is still a present lack of ability to use public transit for many commuters.
We don’t have the population to sustain public transit to that degree.
i do like this channel and feel like i’ve learned a lot, but i wish we could get more of the lower class perspective on here. someone who came from truly desperate situations and worked to find their own financial success. that would be a lot more helpful to people like me. sometimes i watch your videos about “things to stop spending on” or this one, and i can’t learn much at all because the things you guys have frivolously spent on are things that are obvious luxuries to me and that i have never been able to have.
It would be nice to get a lower class perspective. But that’s unlikely to happen. Most lower class people in America stay poor their whole life. The myth of “just work hard and get rich” is a fairytale that middle class people tell themselves to justify looking down on people with less than them. Hence the “poor ppl are all lazy” stereotype.
You can’t get a high paying job or even a job that just pays everyday expenses unless your family can afford to send you to an overpriced college and then pay your rent while you take unpaid internships to get enough experience to gain an entry level job.
This makes it damn near impossible for lower class people to improve their financial situation without working around the clock to the detriment of their health and sanity.
Isn’t being poor in America fun?
@@brabbit330 I am immigrant, didn’t go to an expensive college in the US. Been living here for 15 years and I got a good job. The US is the land of opportunities, unlike my home country.
Also, I came with $900 and a bag, so not rich
@@brabbit330 I was able to get a master’s degree and a good job with zero financial support from anyone. I worked full time and went to school full time for 7 years, but I did it. I have some student loans but all in all, I see myself growing from this point so I am not too worried about it. I’m just saying, you can do it. It’s not easy, but you can!
Martina Sandoval Which country did you come from?
You didn’t have to go to Europe to realize this!
Yeah just go to a lower class area in the USA
How else is she going to let us know that she has the privilege to move to Europe and learn a basic lesson?
lisa young But it is all more enjoyable in Europe than in life draining violent USA.
The point is that these things are the norm in most of Europe, and not in the US. She’s trying to spread the word, because americans clearly need it!
Did it even cross your mind that she saved up to move to Europe. I dunno about Americans, but saving up is common for many people in Europe if they want to achieve something. So stop judging her for moving to a different continent because you’re jealous that you can’t. That’s all this is, jealousy and it’s frankly rediculous. If you’re not happy with your life and you’re jealous of someone else’s, maybe you should look at how to improve your life and not critizise someone because they supposedly have a beter life than you. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. You don’t know what she struggles with, so you cannot judge her based on her moving to a different continent. Just like you can’t judge me because you don’t know me.
So please just stop these rediculous mean comments.
“I basically moved to Europe (Spain) to gain some common, practical sense.”
Oh yeah Spain with some of the highest levels of unemployment and corruption. My family is from there. Hope that sense works for you
lol
@@rc9272 Like US is not corrupted and governments aren’t taking account of big corporations’ interests, like *cough* military industries…
Buen Perro Depende
@@rc9272 America has the highest employment since the 60s and our productivity is DOWN. Do you know how badly you have to manage things to accomplish that? This administration is the worst thing to happen to America.
Ummmmmm I live in europe and these are just personal life choices like they have nothing to do with the fact you’re in europe.
Yes, but living like she did perviously is less common in europe. Most people commit to the lifestyle and life choices like she does now here in europe, since it’s a more common way of living here. Culture and life choices are more intertwined than you could think.
And in the intro she also said she was used to drinking bottled water. In some parts of the US you just have to, whereas everywhere in Europe I have been tap water was at least drinkable, although abroad often not up to the standard I’m used to in the Netherlands.
Petra Koelewijn tap water is drinkable in most places in America but bottled water is for on the go. Like if your going somewhere like a road trip or a day trip you buy a 36 pack of water from Costco and put it in the back of the SUV for if you get thirsty. Also in Europe they don’t have free water at restaurants so I don’t get why you guys don’t use more bottled water than us
@@LucasFernandez-fk8seMy main point of reference for water quality is Flint, so that probably skewed my perceptions a bit. But when we’re going on trips we just put tap water in bottles. And in the video she said they always had bottled water in the house didn’t she?
Lucas Fernandez water is free at all restaurants in Europe – you ask for tap water. You have the option of paying for bottled water but most people ask for a jug of tap water that the table share.
This video should be titled “Common Sense” instead of this nonsense.
vsenan TFD has become garbage
@@pugjudy7868 I wouldn’t call it poorer. Most europeans, especially in the countries she lived are definetely not poor and can afford the “American way of life” (exept the suburbs, we are too many people for that and it really wouldn’t suit us). More makeup, meat and air conditioning really wouldn’t be a problem for the majority of us. We also usually own a car and the whole “ordering you food” is something we also could do (and which we often do). It just is that we choose to not have those things. Also, less makeup, really isn’t a bad thing.
@@pugjudy7868 Well, not every place in Europe is cold. And for how up north Europe is, it is surprisingly warm. And I do agree with you, cycling in the winter is a bad idea. But public transport is an ok alternative for the cities. And while Americans do pay less in taxes, their taxes cover less things and so they have to spend their money there(generally, there are obviously exeptions). Also, it is important to remember that Europe has a higher poppulation density than the US, which is lart of the reason regarding suburbs being rare and renting more expensive.
@@pugjudy7868 choosing public transport because you don’t have to worry about parking, and because it’s more eco-friendly, or biking because it’s also more healthy, adapting to the weather unless it’s actually cold enough to require heating or hot enough to require ac, those things are just being aware and not mindlessly wasting time and natural resources. I have a car and when I go to a place where 30 more people are going, I’d rather we all go in one vehicle, than having 31 cars wasting and pulluting.
It’s not that any European country is the epitome of eco-friendliness, but definitely, the “American way” seems just reckless to me.
I’m not even American and even I’m like “okay lady calm down that’s a stretch” it’s called growing up.There are people in the U.S who took it even further than you.Some do not buy any products packaged with plastic and are working on reducing the need for plastic.
What you just discovered is REALITY.
At least for more than 80% of people on earth. Welcome.
So apparently France and Spain is the whole of Europe. People, just say the country’s name, Europe is not a country!!!
YES!
Exactly hahah
Well Europe is so diverse
That’s true, but the things said in the video are true for the most countries and areas in europe
E6le well Europe is a monoculture where they all have the same culture and values but made up a bunch of different languages and the metric system to confuse Americans for leaving in 1776. Europe is basically the same culture though
@@LucasFernandez-fk8se No… it is not the same culture in all of Europe. It’s that when we colonised the Americas, there was so much more land to build houses and cities on, so that’s why it’s so big in the USA, and why it is so wasteful.
As a “European” (German) I find it kind of funny how people from the US refer to Europe like it’s a country with one and the same culture. Like, Italy is vastly different from the Netherlands , for eg.
They do the same with ‘Africa’
Actually, Americans are very different as well. Southerners are different from New Yorkers and California is nothing like Washington D.C.
I don’t think Americans are confusing the cultures. Western Europe is very small comparatively and it’s much easier and certainly much cheaper to travel between countries than it is state to state in the US.
Exactly what i thought. It is so diverse it’s kind of funny people think of it as one big country with one culture
I live in Europe (the Netherlands) and if i drive 1 hour from my house i can go to 2 other countries were they speaking a different language, have different traditions and a different culture. Even in the country i live in you can drive 30 minutes and the dialect changes so much its hard to understand them.
Find out what money habits you should avoid based on your personality type: https://youtu.be/8mW1r0a9zyk
You’ve just described life as a lower income person in America.
Beverly Button – Don’t women below the poverty line still wear makeup everyday? It seems that way since you’re judged otherwise.
Beverly Button She mentions the middle class thing in the video. But mainly, depending on where you live in America, public transit isn’t a widely viable option. I could never make it to my job reliably if I didn’t have a car because of the way my city is set up.
I was looking for this comment. She basically described our life as lower-middle class Americans. One income teacher salary for 5 people.
@@thisismylovehandle it is a healthy way of life. Long lasting research conducted over 30 years followed a number of children growing up in different classes. The ones that, as adults, coped with life problems in a best way were people who grew up in low-midlle social settings. Poor and rich families children came out predominantly emotionally unstable.
@@thisismylovehandle it is not entirely the same. If spending is similar, there are big differences:
In Europe are health and higher education included, as it is social housing and longer financial support if neaded.
Low-midlle class population in usa doesn’t seem to have those as a rights.
I moved to Spain 8 years ago. I discovered meat steaks, bought my first Air Con, fast fashion (Zara), started to put on makeup and became a owner. 😂 Just the opposite! Yes I am originally from China.
✨i wish i knew growing up poor in america that i was just living a “european” lifestyle…probably would have raised my self-esteem a tad…✨
Clorox Tree Certainty true for too many but the fast food thing is actually something you guys do something about. We have a massive indoor outdoor farmers market now that started off for food stamp recipients but now it caters to everyone and working poor benefits from it more. Fast food places haven’t closed shop but having options have made a huge difference.
fr -.-
The europoors have it worse if it makes u feel better
I lived that lifestyle in Nebraska during high school and college
🤣🤣🤣
“I was a privileged American and I moved to a place where my American privileges weren’t common”
Aka “I moved to a poorer place”.
@@canaldofred2366 France and Spain in general aren’t poor
@@finthechat5257 Poorer than America in terms of GDP per capita and buying power.
@@canaldofred2366 have you ever been outside of the US?
@@ScheveSneeuwSchuifSchep I’m using data instead of my personal opinion.
Actual title: “Woman becomes an adult and has to manage her money”
It goes beyond that.
I agree with the op
I was expecting something like “I don’t use a drier anymore” since they’re less common in European countries, “My place has a bidet so I used it for the first time and it was fun” or even “I’m getting into the mediterranean diet and I love it” but it seems like I was very wrong xD