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Comment by twblalock | Hacker News Reader

Saving $5 here and there is not going to substantially improve emergency savings for the average person. However, it will make their life a little bit less pleasant.

People frequently post on Reddit's personal finance forum saying they have tens of thousands of dollars in debt, they are upside down on their car loan, what can they do? And the first responses are always things like "cancel Netflix". That doesn't really help solve financial problems of that magnitude, it just makes people more miserable.

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Well, cigarettes are a $5 subscription of sorts. $5 per week, maybe $5 per day. That could substantially improve a savings fund. Netflix on its own might not, but Netflix, Crunchyroll, and hulu, if you cancel them all that's a couple hundred bucks a year.

> if you cancel them all that's a couple hundred bucks a year

Right, that's what I mean. You go without all those things for a year and all you get is a measly few hundred dollars?

Consider someone on a $15 minimum wage, working 40 hours a week, 2080 hours a year. Their pre-tax income is $31,200. Let's say they cancel subscriptions and save $20 per month, saving $240 per year. That is how much they earn in 16 hours of work -- merely 0.77% of their annual income. I think most people would be ok blowing 0.77% of their income on streaming if they get multiple streaming subscriptions for that money.

I'm with you. People ignore the value these services bring, which at least for the consumer (even when poor) is far outsized what they are paying.

The other thing is that Netflix is cheap. How many activities can one go out and enjoy that are cheaper than Netflix, especially when the weather outside is crap?

I'm with you, but also there isn't really another way. Digging yourself out of poverty is slow, tedious, unglamorous and full of pitfalls which send you back to square one. The alternative is to be content with being poor.

They go without their subscriptions for 4 years and they have their emergency fund. Moreover, after year 1, they can then start buying more of their things in bulk and save the 10% bulk discount on everyday essential items, which can probably give them another 20-30 dollars a month. And then you have to take that time you were spending watching netflix and invest it in learning skills so you can make more than minimum wage.

I struggle with the middle class version of this question all the time. My company pays overtime at about 30/hr after tax. Is it worth it to work on Saturdays or a couple 10-12 hour days through the week in order to collect the overtime? I'll be exhausted and only pick up an extra 150-300 a week. If I do it for a year I can earn an extra 10 grand or so a year and then put it in the stock market where it will pay me $200/year in dividends (and in 45 years I will have replaced my salary).

This is why Naval says you can't trade time for money and get rich the math doesn't work. But in the beginning you have to while you develop the skills and cash reserves so that you can take the risks which can help you build real wealth.

One nuance here is someone making $31,200 is barely getting by. It might only be .77% of their salary, but 50% of their annual savings. The difference between saving $500 and $750 is substantial. E.g. if you’re trying to put together 20k for a down payment, that could be a > 10 year difference in time it takes to get a house.

If you're living that close to using all your salary every month, there are probably better things you can do to save more than cancel Netflix. I think that's what the OP is trying to say.

Netflix is really good value for money. If you want to cancel something, cancel your cable.

There's a hidden opportunity cost of Netflix though: instead of spending 10 hours a week watching Netflix, you could do something much more productive. Netflix is cheap, but it's also pretty much a waste of your time, you're not going to learn anything, and it doesn't satisfy: you always need the next series.

If you quit smoking, you will not just save the money you spent on it, you'll also get more energy, no cravings, and not spend an hour a day smoking. That adds up really quick.

Humans need entertainment, too. Mindless, low-energy entertainment sometimes - especially so when they're already exhausted from work.

I remember a time when I finally got a few hundred dollars in savings. It meant I could write the rent check without counting the days until my next payday.

A "measly few hundred dollars" means nothing to someone making 100K/year. It means everything to someone making 18K per year. Not least of which is the joy and comfort of knowing you actually have some savings.

But how is that worth the sacrifice of not having pleasure in life? Media isn't some purely extraneous feature in life, it's far more important that you're suggesting.

I didn't lack pleasure. I would play volleyball on the beach on Sundays with coworkers, I would borrow books from the library, I would go to parks and gardens. There was always OTA TV as well.

IMO suggestions like "cancel Netflix" are meant to be a little deeper than just "stop spending $16 every month". Binge-watching the same old TV shows is such an easy depression loop to get stuck in :/

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