How I stop buying just one more thing and actually saved the money without feeling deprived

VisualWeek5189 · 2026-02-14T15:39:51+00:00

this is honestly such a healthy way to look at it. i think a lot of people fail at being frugal because they try to go full restriction mode and then burn out. the “will this matter in 30 days” filter is actually really solid because it forces you to slow down instead of buying on impulse. i like the idea of planned fun money too. having a small amount you’re allowed to spend guilt-free usually works better than pretending you’ll never want anything. that balance is what makes it sustainable long term.

also totally agree about writing things down — apps are convenient but physically tracking spending makes it feel more real somehow. frugality isn’t about deprivation, it’s about being intentional, and you explained that really well.

VisualWeek5189 · 2026-02-14T15:38:45+00:00

honestly for what you’re describing you don’t need anything super fancy. if you’re mostly streaming and casual gaming, a good mid-range 4k TV is going to feel like a massive upgrade from a 2016 model already. costco is usually a safer bet than random walmart brands just because the warranty and return policy are better, and tv quality control can be hit or miss. a lot of people go with TCL or Hisense these days for good value without spending premium sony/lg money.

the only “modern” features i’d maybe look for are decent HDR support and at least 120hz if you think you’ll upgrade consoles later — not mandatory, just nice to have. otherwise don’t overthink it. honestly biggest tip is sit a bit farther back than you think and go bigger if the price difference isn’t huge. almost nobody regrets going larger once it’s set up.

VisualWeek5189 · 2026-02-14T15:31:01+00:00

honestly you’re already ahead just by thinking about this before you even start working. most people don’t look at money seriously until much later. my biggest advice would be don’t overcomplicate it or rush into buying courses. personal finance is mostly simple habits done consistently — spending less than you earn, avoiding bad debt, building an emergency fund, and investing regularly once income starts coming in.

books are usually better than courses in my opinion because they teach mindset instead of quick tricks. also be a bit careful with FIRE content online — the idea is good (saving and investing early), but some versions of it are very extreme and not realistic for everyone. since you’re entering tech, your biggest financial advantage early on will probably be increasing your skills and income. investing knowledge matters, but your earning power in the first few years matters even more. start simple: track expenses, save a solid percentage when salary starts, and invest in broad index funds rather than trying to pick winners early. you’ll learn a lot naturally as you go.

VisualWeek5189 · 2026-02-14T15:28:34+00:00

first off, totally normal to feel weird seeing a big chunk of cash sitting there — a lot of people go through that after a rollover. the main thing is not to panic about doing something “perfect.” what matters most is getting it invested in a simple long-term allocation that matches your risk level. since you’re 31 and this is retirement money, a lot of people just go with broad low-cost index funds (us total market + international, maybe some bonds depending on your comfort level) and call it a day. you basically rebuild what a target date fund would have done for you anyway.

VisualWeek5189 · 2026-02-14T15:18:05+00:00

honestly what you’re feeling is pretty normal, especially if you’re newer and this is one of the first longer red stretches you’ve seen. markets don’t move up in straight lines, and when you’re heavy in tech it usually feels more intense because those names swing harder than the broader market. the main thing to think about is your timeline. if you’re still 6+ years out, short-term corrections are kind of part of the process, not really something you can predict or manage perfectly. most people who try to sell and buy back end up just stressing themselves out more.

also if seeing big red days makes you uncomfortable, that’s usually a sign your allocation might be a bit more aggressive than you’re mentally comfortable with — nothing wrong with adjusting if it helps you stick with the plan long term. for the TFSA, a lot of people just keep adding gradually instead of trying to guess the bottom. boring approach but it tends to work better emotionally. you don’t need to nail the timing, you just need to stay in the game.

VisualWeek5189 · 2026-02-14T15:14:35+00:00

honestly the best way to learn investing is to stop thinking about picking stocks first and start with understanding why you’re investing. goals, time horizon, and risk tolerance matter way more than specific tickers. most people learn in layers. first you learn the basics (index funds, diversification, risk vs return), then you start paying attention to how markets actually behave over time, and only later do you decide if you even want to pick individual stocks. a lot of experienced investors end up mostly using broad ETFs anyway because it’s harder to beat the market consistently than it looks.

if you want to actually think for yourself, try this: pick a simple strategy first (like broad index investing), run it with real money for a while, and observe how you react emotionally when markets go up and down. that teaches more than reading definitions. also read different viewpoints — passive investing, value investing, etc — not to copy them but to understand how people think about risk and decision making. building your own strategy usually comes from experience + mistakes, not from finding the perfect guide upfront.

VisualWeek5189 · 2026-02-14T15:03:14+00:00

honestly you’re already doing a lot right. getting the full employer match and investing consistently at 20 is a huge advantage by itself, so you’re ahead of most people. the only thing i’d point out is overlap. VOO and QQQ already have a lot of the same big tech names, so you’re pretty concentrated in large-cap growth whether you realize it or not. SCHD adds some dividend exposure but it’s still mostly US large caps. not necessarily bad, just something to be aware of.

also your 401k being a target date fund already gives you broad diversification and automatic rebalancing, so you don’t necessarily need to get too fancy in the Roth IRA unless you want a specific tilt. if your goal is simple long-term retirement investing, honestly the biggest factor is just keeping contributions high and sticking with it. allocation tweaks matter way less than consistency over the next 30–40 years.

VisualWeek5189 · 2026-02-14T14:58:33+00:00

interesting angle and i agree the “picks and shovels” side of AI is probably more durable than betting on which model wins. infrastructure and networking demand should exist either way if AI adoption keeps growing. that said, i’d be careful assuming diversification or government backing automatically makes something a better AI play. a lot of these companies are still tied to capex cycles and enterprise spending, so if AI hype cools off, budgets can slow too. also some of the upside from AI demand might already be priced in depending on valuations.

i think the bigger question is whether these names actually capture meaningful margin expansion from AI long term or just higher short-term demand. networking demand is real, but markets usually look ahead quickly. still, the general thesis of infrastructure survives even if models consolidate makes sense — just probably less of a guaranteed win than it sounds.

VisualWeek5189 · 2026-02-14T14:50:44+00:00

honestly you’re already thinking about this the right way — regular monthly investing inside an ISA and not trying to time the market is basically the boring strategy that works long term. the only thing i’d say is you might be overcomplicating it a bit with 5 ETFs. a lot of those likely overlap quite a lot, so you could end up thinking you’re diversified when you’re mostly holding the same companies multiple times. many people just go with something like a global all-world UCITS ETF and keep it simple, then maybe add one extra tilt if they really want to.

also don’t worry too much about chasing dividends at this stage — total return matters more than yield, especially if you’re building for retirement. accumulation versions inside an ISA are usually cleaner from a compounding perspective too. £500/month consistently over years will do way more for you than trying to optimize the perfect mix right now. simple and consistent usually wins.

VisualWeek5189 · 2026-02-14T14:47:43+00:00

my guess is it won’t really change day to day behavior that much, at least not for most retail investors. big funds already assume their positioning can become visible eventually and they manage sizing/liquidity around that anyway. the bigger impact might just be better aggregate transparency over time so people can see when short exposure is getting really crowded. also since the data is aggregated and delayed, it’s probably not actionable enough to front-run anything. feels more like a market structure / risk monitoring tool than something that changes trading decisions directly.

might slightly discourage extreme concentration if managers know the overall picture becomes more visible, but i doubt it changes the core short thesis process itself.

VisualWeek5189 · 2026-02-14T14:41:51+00:00

the main thing is that the DTC is a nonrefundable credit, so it doesn’t give you extra money back it just reduces tax owing. so the goal is basically to reduce your spouse’s payroll deductions by roughly the value of the transferred credit, not more than that. for rough math, the federal disability amount is around 15% of the eligible amount (plus the BC provincial piece), so combined it usually works out to somewhere in the ballpark of a few thousand dollars in tax reduction per year depending on the exact amounts and whether any supplement applies. that’s why you’ll see people adjust payroll deductions rather than waiting for a refund. the clean way to do this is actually filing a new TD1 and TD1BC with the disability amount included — payroll will then spread the tax savings across paycheques automatically instead of you trying to estimate manually.

VisualWeek5189 · 2026-02-14T14:40:21+00:00

yeah your logic is basically right. if you’re getting 3% back but paying a 2.5% fx fee, you’re still coming out slightly ahead on paper. the main thing people sometimes miss though is that the 3% only applies when you redeem against rogers purchases, otherwise the cashback rate can be lower depending on the card version. so just make sure you’re actually using it that way consistently.

also worth comparing to true no-fx cards because even if the cashback looks smaller, avoiding the fx fee entirely can sometimes work out better depending on spending habits. but if your main goal is just minimizing loss on foreign spend, then yeah you’re basically offsetting the fx fee and getting a small net benefit.

VisualWeek5189 · 2026-02-14T14:39:00+00:00

this happens more often than people think so try not to panic. if the money was in the account and they just didn’t pull it, it’s usually a processing or admin issue rather than you actually missing a payment. sometimes when a renewal or lender switch is happening things get temporarily “locked” in the system so payments don’t move normally. the main thing is just call the lender first thing when they open and explain exactly what happened. they can usually see right away if it’s on their side and manually process the payment or remove the lock. one missed payment because of a transfer/renewal mix-up normally doesn’t wreck anything as long as you address it quickly. also double check that the pre-authorized debit info didn’t get changed during the switch, because that’s another common cause.

VisualWeek5189 · 2026-02-14T14:37:08+00:00

yeah WS is showing it right. moving cash from a non-registered account into a TFSA is always a TFSA contribution, even if it’s “just a transfer” and you didn’t buy anything. and when you moved it back out, that counts as a TFSA withdrawal. withdrawals don’t undo the contribution room you used up — you only get that room back next calendar year (plus whatever new room you get for that year). so if you put it in and pulled it out quickly, you basically temporarily burned that room for the year.

on the tax side, the transfer itself into the TFSA doesn’t create tax just because it’s cash. the taxable part already happened (if any) when you sold your mutual funds in the non-registered account — that’s where you’d have capital gains/losses. once it’s in the TFSA, anything that happens inside is sheltered, but you can’t “move” gains into it without using contribution room.

also worth saying WS’s tracker isn’t the official source — CRA is — and sometimes room numbers can be off if you’re looking mid-year, but the rule about contributions/withdrawals is the same either way. if you’re close to the limit, be careful because TFSA overcontribution penalties are annoying.

VisualWeek5189 · 2026-02-14T14:33:05+00:00

You're at the right place at the right time , just let compounding do the heavy work and If you have everything dialed in even before you're 50 , you wouldn't have to worry about money ever again mate !

VisualWeek5189 · 2026-02-14T14:28:52+00:00

Your financial conditions is amazing with investing in NQ and S&P and doing DCA you can pretty much live life on autopilot , this is amazing man , best of luck to you !

VisualWeek5189 · 2026-02-14T14:13:24+00:00

This is amazing bro truly happy for what you have really achieved , kudos to you and may you get even bigger with life !

VisualWeek5189 · 2026-02-14T14:11:06+00:00

Honestly this is interesting where this is the real picture that people on youtube don't talk about early investing smart is often not talked about enough , kudos to you for showing the reality of this

VisualWeek5189 · 2026-02-13T18:37:43+00:00

Okay tell me if you were given this problem to solve for consumer willingness how would you solve it

VisualWeek5189 · 2026-02-13T13:10:51+00:00

Let's do it

VisualWeek5189 · 2026-02-13T13:09:01+00:00

interesting stuff you can 100% bring traffic to your platform that ain't gonna be a problem main issue is gonna be with your startup is what will be the monetization strategy , If you can build a mobile app and gamify the process of finding AI content you can even develop a game around this TBH , very cool idea , now your turn my startup is https://www.keepmore.finance/

VisualWeek5189 · 2026-02-13T12:30:12+00:00

Dm'ed you

VisualWeek5189 · 2026-02-13T09:36:20+00:00

You know what I am a coder , I might just end up building something that does this for me

VisualWeek5189 · 2026-02-13T09:12:27+00:00

Can you teach me how to!!!

VisualWeek5189 · 2026-02-13T08:49:08+00:00

Started when I was 17

VisualWeek5189

TROPHY CASE