My Monthly Expenses | Harvard, MIT, Investments, Internships, ...

My Monthly Expenses | Harvard, MIT, Investments, Internships, ...

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I personally own 36 credit cards Yes, these are actual real physical credit cards and I have around 5 virtual cards,  leading to a total of over 40 credit cards In 2020 alone, I invested around $50,000 $35,000 $15,000 IRS, please don't arrest me! I mean I I do have ... like ...  bank accounts in Switzerland... and ... like ... I mean, I have money on them but like it's it's not like ... you know ... All right guys – today I'm  gonna talk about a topic which,   at least where I come from, is a complete taboo Since the age of 18, I kept track  of every single dollar that I spent I'm going to use this video to share  with you exactly what I spent my money on All the lessons that I learned along the way and obviously all the terrifying moments  where I thought that I would lose  absolutely everything that I own For the past 9 years, I kept track  of every single dollar that I spent using an app called "spending tracker" After almost one decade of using it, I  think this app is really outdated nowadays so you should probably look  for a more modern alternative But the principle is still really great! Whichever method you choose, just make sure  that you can always enter everything you spend from your phone within a few seconds Why? Well, think about it this way If you're not able to enter every single expense  that you have immediately as you spend it you'll have to wait until, let's  say, you get home and then, you know you have to enter that $3 coffee cup that you had  in the morning into some old-school Excel sheet and, I mean, there's just no way that  you will always remember everything Also, whichever app you choose, please make  sure that you have some kind of cloud backup because if you want to consistently  keep track of your spendings for many many, years, or even decades ideally there's just no way that you  will never lose your phone,   or have all of your data erased at some point Also, since I'm really old-school and I've  been using the same app for about 10 years I'm really curious about  what new apps are out there so why don't you comment down below, first of all,  how you personally keep track of your spendings and also what kind of apps or  technology you use to do so Consistency is absolutely key here! Because, if you cannot keep  track of your spendings for at least several months or even years there's just no way to observe  short and long-term trends These short and long-term trends are exactly what  will help you develop better financial habits and plan your future in a much smarter way Speaking of consistency, you can hit the like  button, subscribe to my channel down below so YouTube keeps consistently  recommending you my videos so you can learn something new every  two weeks, when I post new videos Also, when it comes to some kind of banking  apps, I don't recommend relying solely on them they may have some great  statistics, and all of that but unless you plan on having the same bank  and same credit card for the next 10 years there's just no way you're  going to have consistent data I personally owned 36 credit cards Yes, these are actual real physical credit cards I'm sure I have your attention now! And I have around 5 virtual cards,  leading to a total of over 40 credit cards I got large amounts in Swiss bank accounts Okay no no no no no This is not true! I don't have large amounts in Swiss bank accounts IRS please don't arrest me! I mean, I I do have like bank  accounts in Switzerland and like ... I mean, I have money on them, but  like it's it's not like, you know... Is it getting really hot  in here? Or is it just me? So initially the thought about publicly  talking about my own personal expenses and my money made me really uncomfortable Maybe it's because of my German roots Because in Germany it's a really taboo topic or maybe it's just because, well, I don't  want the harsh judgment of the internet but either way, I think it's really  important to talk about money Because money really matters! You know, money isn't everything – obviously –  but it's a very important factor in your life And if everybody keeps their  own finances completely secret I think it sometimes makes it really hard  for young people to actually understand how to handle their own money, since they  don't have any example of someone else doing it Having lived in over 6 different  countries during my studies I really figured out you know how  much it costs to live in certain areas and how to really make your dollar,  or whatever other currency, stretch Alright guys, so without any further do Let's. Talk. Money.

To be completely upfront with you, I  grew up in a not so wealthy household my parents moved from Germany to Croatia  when I was just around 5 years old started working for some NGO, so we never  really had any money for some kind of luxuries so we were living a very  normal, and basic lifestyle I was taught from a very early age on that I  should save every single dollar that I have and never spent anything and I  really took that lesson to heart So whenever I would get some money for my  birthday or maybe something from my grandma I would just put it in some  kind of old school piggy bank and I would keep it there for many years and by the time I was around  18 years old and, you know I really couldn't do a lot of fun  stuff because I was saving so much I had a total of $1,000 saved So, depending on where you live, that  probably doesn't sound like a lot of money But for me, you know, saving literally  cents at the time this was a lot So, personally, when I look at this  now $1,000 isn't a lot of money Given that I live in an area very $1,000  can't even get you through a full week So, I personally now wish  that would have had more fun before I was 18 and just you know spend  that money on some occasional fun activities trips with friends, going to the  cinema, or something like that but I can't really change it  and I don't really regret it because I do think that I  learned a valuable lesson Alright, so it was around 2014,  I just turned 18 years old and, as I said, I had $1,000 in savings and that was exactly the day when I  started keeping track of all of my expenses So let's start with that! After getting rejected by MIT  for my undergraduate studies which was of course very devastating for me I really wanted to study at my dream  University ETH Zürich in Switzerland I got admitted, but unfortunately  life in Switzerland was so expensive that there was just no way for me to study there So, unfortunately and sadly, I had  to study at the University of Zagreb because it was my only option I moved out of my parents' house for  my first year of undergraduate studies Finally! Freedom. Right? Well, except now I had to  actually finance my own life which wasn't exactly easy during my first year of  undergraduate studies in Zagreb I lived in a flatshare together with a friend The apartment was literally falling apart There were cracks on the walls, mold all  over the ceiling the bathroom kitchen It was really horrible and there were  little cockroaches all over the place So this lovely little apartment  cost us $80 per month per person The only positive thing about this  apartment was the fact that the location was directly next to the university so it took me only around 5  minutes every morning to commute During that year I spent around  80 cents per meal at my university which was heavily subsidized by the government And, as you can imagine, you  don't really get much for 80 cents But at least I didn't spend a lot of money! In total, it cost me around $60 per month for food At that time I was still super active at triathlon so I spent around $25 per month  for the triathlon membership and around $20 per month on protein powder which, relatively speaking,  was very expensive at that time So, what does this all add up to? It's in total $80 per month for  rent, $60 per month for food around $10 per month for some fun activities,  such as going to the cinema with my friends I wasn't doing much obviously,  since I was very busy and a total of $96 for other stuff,   which includes triathlon, protein  powders, and occasional expenses In total, that adds up to $250 per month As I won three medals at the International  Physics Olympiad (IPhO) in high school I won a really nice scholarship, which  covered pretty much all of these expenses And it really had to because –  remember – I only had $1,000 of savings and my parents weren't sending me any money In 2015, which was the  second semester of my studies I suddenly received a much better  scholarship, that paid around $500 per month This was a huge upgrade,  and actually a lot of money given that the average salary in Croatia,  at that time, was only around $650 per month This then finally allowed me to get  a better room – with no cockroaches! It cost me $135 per month On top of that I spent another  $126 on average for food $100 for occasional fun stuff, like  weekend getaways or going to the cinema $115 dollars for other stuff, such  as utility bills, sports, etc. In total, that added up to $476 per month And I also spent about 10%  of my income on donations which I will not include in the  future in any kind of expenses because I consider it to be a bit private but I personally think the  donations are really important because my parents really  relied on them as NGO workers I think it's just a nice gesture to put some  of my income apart and give it to other people All right, let's fast forward to summer 2015 I got my very first internship,  which I was really excited about I started working as a climate scientist  in Denmark, at Niels Bohr Institute and I was really proud to get that,  because it took me a very long time and emailing a lot of professors  and reaching out to a lot of groups until I finally found a place where I could work On top of that, they even offered me a  $400 stipend per month for accommodation which, if you know Copenhagen,  obviously isn't enough I mean, even if you lived under  a bridge with $400 per month you would barely be able to buy food So, luckily through some friends, of friends,  of friends I managed to get a free room They let me stay there without  paying anything per month and in total, I only had to pay for my food Alright, altogether this adds  up to $0 per month for rent $350 per month for food and around  $50 for occasional fun stuff I was working around 80  hours per week at that time so I didn't really have time to spend  any money on really anything else I really had to work so hard  because I wanted to publish a paper my very first paper, because I saw  this as a great chance to prove myself and then hopefully leave Croatia for a better life and after this very productive summer  in Copenhagen and went back to Croatia and continued spending around  $467 dollars per month on average And then something really crazy happened! Something that completely changed my life A friend of mine told me that there exists  a hedge fund called the D. E. Shaw & Co.

Which, if you know I submit my CV and  apply, they would fly me to London Nice plane, nice hotel, and let me interview there I had no idea at that time what a hedge fund was but a free trip to London really sounded amazing because it was something that, let's  face it, I couldn't really afford So I just said yes and submitted my CV Long story short, during the interview process they asked me all of these  combinatorics and probability questions which I totally aced, given that I had gone  to so many math and physics competitions And then, two weeks after I flew home,  the manager called me and made me an offer I legitimately almost dropped my phone when I  heard how much money they would be paying me $15,000 per month for an internship! If you're curious about the whole  internship experience, which is really crazy you can watch my video they're  made specifically about this It just sounded like way too many zeros in the end I mean $15,000 was really 30 times as much as  I had ever spent in a given month until then This internship was definitely  a life-changing event for me not just because I suddenly had  more money on my bank account but because it completely rewired  the way I thought about money In good, and in bad ways When I arrived in London my brain  was still completely wired to that "don't spend a single cent of your money  unless you absolutely have to" mindset So, I started searching for the  cheapest possible accommodation and with a lot of luck, some  friends of my parents' neighbors were kind enough to let me stay free  of charge, again just like in Denmark, in their apartment in central London It's crazy how kind some people are! And on top of that, partially because I was still  shocked by how much more expensive London was compared to my hometown in Croatia I spent almost no money in the first two  months, saving around 90% of my salary I remember really well having a discussion  with my boss at D. E. Shaw & Co. talking about our colleague who,  had just spent $20,000 on his sofa In my mind I was just completely incomprehensible I mean it's a sofa you, sit  on it, and that's it right And my boss just looked at me and smiled and said   well Samuel give it a few months  and you're gonna understand it And man he was so right During my time in London I spent a total of zero  dollars in rent given that my gym membership and food in the office was already covered by  the company I didn't have to spend much on that So in total I just averaged around 300 dollars  per month on extra food weekends and evenings and I spent around 550 on  some occasional fun trips,   to for example. Oxford,  Cambridge to visit some friends and a total of 433 on average  per month on other stuff In total this adds up to 1,283  dollars per month on average Have to admit I wasn't really immune to this  change so even though I started off in London trying to save every single dollar that I could,  very soon I started spending more and more money So for example after two or three months I went  on a business trip to the New York headquarters where I ended up spending around  one thousand dollars per day Even though this wasn't really my  fault because, well, they put me   in an expensive plane, business class  ticket, nice hotel review in Manhattan and overall they paid for everything so it  didn't really include anything in my expenses And just after my internship I went in a really  beautiful vacation to Monaco and Saint-Tropez. ended up spending around 3,000 dollars in total This also wasn't included in  the London expenses obviously and yeah I feel a bit embarrassed  about this because you know I started   off saving so much money then I  ended up spending so much more And I think that's a really valuable lesson  to learn just because you got a raise or a great new job you shouldn't really  increase your spendings proportionally Rather use this as a chance to save more money After my time in London ended I went back  to Croatia to do my third year of undergrads and I noticed that my brain had  really been rewired because you know I started spending a lot more  money than I actually had to   and at some point this even annoyed me so much because you know spending money  also takes time because you know you go on weekend trips, you do all these fun  things, which on its own isn't really a bad thing, but I realized it was kind of a distraction  for all the goals for my career that I had So I decided to donate a very large chunk  of the money that I had made in London so that I could focus and  go back to my normal life Anyways even though I donated  a lot of money there was just   no way to going back to my previous lifestyle where I just spend, if you remember  250 dollars per month in my first year,   and 450 per month in my second year But luckily since Croatia, at least at  that time, was relatively inexpensive Even my rather extravagant lifestyle for  these standards wasn't that crazy expensive So in 2017 I went from spending  just 450 dollars per month on   average to spending around 1,720  per month on average in Croatia Depending on where you come from this  may not sound like a lot of money But keep in mind that this  was almost twice as much as   the average mid-career Croatian worker would make The good news was that around that  time I also started receiving a much better scholarship from abroad which was  adjusted to cost of living in other countries which are way more expensive even though  I didn't really need that in Croatia Getting good deals was always  something that I was really good at so after searching for a new apartment I  managed to get a once in a lifetime deal on the former residence of  the Ukrainian Ambassador I managed to negotiate down the rent to just 450   dollars which even for Croatia was just  a third of how much it should have cost My direct neighbor who had the mirror image   of my penthouse apartment was paying  around two thousand dollars per month So how did I get this deal?  Well maybe it was charm or maybe I was just dealing with the most  incompetent realtor of all time Probably was the latter Compared to the previous places  that I had lived in in the first and second year of my undergraduate  studies this place was a real dream It was a three bedroom top floor apartment with  jacuzzi and view over the entire city of Zagreb Alright so in the third year  of my undergraduate studies I spent 450 dollars per month  on rent, 200 per month on food,   480 dollars per month on fun  stuff such as weekend trips Notice that this was almost five  times as much as in the year before 590 dollars per month on other things  which included physical therapy for my knee injury which I had before,  but just couldn't afford physical therapy and it total this adds up to  1,720 per month on average At the end of the third year of my  undergraduate studies I decided to drop out because I simply didn't see the value  of the program that I was in anymore and I managed to get a research  fellowship position at UC San Diego So I packed my stuff and moved to sunny California During this time period, I was extremely busy,  working around 80 hours per week in the office because, well, I want to get as  much research done as possible I worked on machine learning  research for low power electronics If you're curious about that  you can watch my TedX talk California just like London was extremely  expensive for someone coming from Croatia so I decided to get the cheapest room possible  and spent around 650 dollars per month for my room I also averaged around 685 dollars per month for  food and around 100 per month for entertainment Even though I had crazy working hours,  I didn't want to miss a chance to surf from time to time and have some fun Even though for most of the  time I didn't really spend   a lot of money for fun stuff and entertainment, when I was done with my research  appointment in California,   I decided to go on a one month road trip I rented a Ford Mustang convertible,   had an amazing time, and I spent  around 8,000 dollars in one month So if you divide these 8,000 dollars by four we  get around 2,000 dollars per month on average So we can add this to the entertainment cost Overall it was a lot of money but  honestly it was totally worth it In total this adds up to 3,950 per  month on average for my stay there California was all good in fun but as I came  back to Croatia I still had one major problem Namely, I was still a college dropout  and even though I had some savings from working for the hedge fund in  London, without having a completed bachelor's degree I just couldn't start  a master's or PhD program anywhere Despite everything I had accomplished in my  life my situation seemed kind of hopeless I couldn't get a job without  a university degree and also   couldn't go for a master's  or PhD program as I wanted to And after months of desperation, I finally  managed to convince EPFL in Switzerland, which is ETH Zurich's sister university,  which is just French speaking to admit me to their master's  program as a college dropout So allegedly I heard that this was the very  first time in the history of the university that they ever admitted someone without a degree To my great surprise I even won the only   scholarship for the entire  Physics department of EPFL covering a major part of my living expenses I managed to get a room for just 500 per month  and I spent around 600 per month for food I also averaged around 350 dollars  per month for fun stuff even though as you can probably imagine, given  how expensive Switzerland is, that just meant that, you know, every  few months I would go on a fun trip but other than that that was really just  working day and night in Switzerland I got involved in so many different projects  and organizations that I was super busy, so my friend Alexander and I decided  to together hire a personal assistant to help us clear up our schedule,  take over all the small tasks,   so that we could focus on all  the important things in life In total, together, with all  the other expenses that I had   this cost me around 1,880 per month on average Which leads to a total of 3,330 dollars per  month on average for living in Switzerland After my first year in Switzerland I got really   interested in this topic called  Quantum Artificial Intelligence and yeah, I know it sounds very buzzword and cool, and I started talking to the National University   of Singapore about maybe joining  them for a research fellowship Interestingly, Quantum Artificial Intelligence is   currently also the topic of  my PhD research here at MIT and I made a really fun video, so if you  haven't watched it already you can check it out They offered me a 700 per month  scholarship to work in Singapore and well if you know Singapore, you're probably aware  that 700 per month doesn't really get you too far Somehow I forgot to respond to their last  email, so after two weeks I got really lucky because they thought that I'm not interested  anymore and they made me a new offer which was usually reserved  just for visiting professors And on top of the salary, they  even agree to pay for my room   which was amazing so I decided to accept the offer When I arrived in Singapore  I was really stunned to see   the most beautiful apartment  complex that I'd ever been in It had a pool at a spa,   even breakfast included and everything  so when I got the key at the reception I just walked up and when I found  my room number I opened the door and behind the door there was a  beautiful three-bedroom luxury apartment I was a bit confused so I went back  down to the reception and asked the receptionist, hey so which of these  rooms is mine, and just looked at me and smiled and said well  the whole apartment is yours So yeah, I had an amazing time in Singapore  but with the exception of one spontaneous trip to Vietnam I was still working around 80 hours per   week on a research paper which  I just published a few days ago Alright, so the breakdown of my  expenses in Singapore looks like this I spent zero dollars in rent even  though the market value of the apartment that was in was probably  over 7,000 dollars a month Then I averaged 595 dollars per month for food,   700 per month on fun stuff such  as the spontaneous trip to Vietnam which, I by the way, highly recommend, and  around 805 dollars on average for other things which included sports, protein  powder again, and utility bills In total that adds up to 2,100 dollars per  month on average for living in Singapore After coming back to Switzerland  from Singapore I was was really busy Involved in so many research projects  that it was very hard for me to keep up with all the different classes  and courses and exams that I had at EPFL For some very silly administrative reason  I ended up losing my scholarship with EPFL which was a huge issue given that  suddenly I had no more income and at the same time I had only savings that would  last me for at most three months in Switzerland I was really terrified because now I  thought that very soon I would have to drop out of a university and I  would not graduate in the end Luckily, just around the time I connected  with a professor from Harvard University and I started working with  her on Quantum algorithms This was a paid position taking  care of all of my financial problems So on February 14, 2020, together with my friend  Alexander, we moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts and this is where things become really interesting I started my appointment at Harvard University  and half a year later I started my PhD at MIT And once arrived in Cambridge I decided to  completely change the way a view and handle money So instead of saving every single dollar  that I made, I tried to spend and invest as much as possible in different  entrepreneurial projects So some of these projects were  mostly for fun and experimental and others were a bit more serious One of the really fun projects that I did   was I started trading airline  miles together with a friend I think over a period of two years we must  have made around 2 million airline miles which allowed us to purchase over a hundred   thousand dollars for the first  class and business class tickets so every time since then we fly between  Europe and the US we always find first class We would have a private limo that drives  us around the airport in Frankfurt and the caviar and champagne that we  have on board obviously isn't too bad especially given that we paid the  miles and not actual real money In 2020, alone I invested around 50,000  dollars into my own startup called Assist-o I even had to take personal loans to finance  all of this which in hindsight was a huge risk It almost bankrupted me at One occasion I also invested around  35,000 into a small real estate business that I'm running on the side Funny enough, this paid itself  back in less than one year It has been probably the best in  investment I ever made because since then I'm making quite a decent amount  of money every month from it I also invested around 15,000 dollars plus a  lot of time and energy into this YouTube channel Hopefully that will have been a good investment You can help me by liking the  video and subscribing to my channel Excluding the 100,000 dollars in  business investments that I made here's how much I spent on average  living in Cambridge, Massachusetts Over the past two years, I spent an  average of 1,620 per month for rent even though I'm currently paying a lot more,  around 2,000 dollars per month for my bedroom because I live in a really nice flat  share directly next to Harvard University I also pay around 880 per month on food, 290  of these are for restaurants and take out I usually prepare my food for  roughly five days in advance I just eat chicken with rice and potatoes I know it's not very creative but it's  very simple and saves me a lot of money But as a bodybuilder I still have to eat so  much that in the end it still adds up to, well as you can see quite a lot of money on top of that I spent roughly 390  dollars per month on entertainment maybe occasional trips, and I spent around  190 dollars per month for utility bills I also average around 230 dollars per month  for clothing, mostly Ralph Lauren shirts I know this sounds like a lot but let me explain so you might be thinking that bodybuilding   is expensive because you have  to have a nice gym membership But I can promise you that's just a tiny,  tiny portion of the overall expenses Food is super expensive  because you have to eat so much But what is really the most expensive out  of everything for bodybuilding is the fact that once you get bigger and bigger you  constantly have to keep buying new clothing because the old ones will  just become too small for you I also spend around 260 dollars per month for  occasional trips if I cannot cover them with miles and around 670 dollars per month on other  expenses that I haven't accounted for In total this adds up to 4,160 dollars per month For living as a PhD candidate in Cambridge,  Massachusetts this is also roughly equivalent to how much a computer science PhD makes at MIT Compared to all of the places that I  have lived so far Cambridge is by far the most expensive when it  comes to cost of living, even more expensive than London  and Singapore which are already   among the most expensive cities in the world I know some of this comes down to my  personal choice such as wanting to live in the nicest part of Cambridge  right next to Harvard University Some of my friends really managed  to bring down their housing costs by well either living further away or just living   in some houses that are a lot  older and haven't been renovated Also I do have to emphasize that if  you get admitted to MIT or Harvard for undergraduate degree or for your PhD  you will always be guaranteed funding So if you're doing a PhD you will  always receive a salary or as an undergrad if your parents cannot  afford it then Harvard and MIT will always support you financially  and give you free housing All right, that was it, these were  all of my expenses since the age of 18 The main takeaway of this video is  keep track of all of your spendings, log every single dollar that you spend  consistently for many years of your life because it will make your financial  planning for the future so much better If you would like to watch my  TedX talk about machine learning   for low power electronics you can do so over here To watch my video about Quantum  Artificial Intelligence, which is my PhD research,  you can watch it over here And if you want to watch my Day in  a Life video you can do so over here Thank you so much for watching  don't forget to subscribe to my   channel and like this video  if you learned something new See you next time, goodbye

2022-10-14 21:54

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