---
title: 'If You''re Going to Spend Money, Buy These 10 Things First'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=QvIpSaq_UA4'
video_id: 'QvIpSaq_UA4'
date: 2026-08-05
duration_sec: 1178
---

# If You're Going to Spend Money, Buy These 10 Things First

> Source: [If You're Going to Spend Money, Buy These 10 Things First](https://youtube.com/watch?v=QvIpSaq_UA4)

## Summary

The video presents a list of ten items to prioritize purchasing when you have extra disposable income, emphasizing high return on investment and long-term value. The creator argues that strategic spending on tools, financial products, and health can lead to significant savings and improved quality of life.

### Key Points

- **Good Chef's Knife and Pan** [00:16] — Investing in a good chef's knife and nonstick pan can save money by cooking at home. Average American spends $350/month eating out; cooking saves $15 per meal, leading to $2,300-$3,100 annual savings with a $150-$200 investment.
- **Cashback Credit Card** [02:28] — Using a cashback credit card like Citi Double Cash or Chase Freedom can earn 1.5-2% back on all purchases. Average household spends $77,000/year, so 2% cashback yields $1,540/year. Must be financially responsible to avoid debt.
- **Roth IRA Contributions** [04:50] — Opening a Roth IRA is a top priority for those in their 20s-40s. Contributions are after-tax, and withdrawals in retirement are tax-free. Maxing out at $7,500/year in your 20s could grow to $1.94 million by 65 (assuming 8% return).
- **Track Subscriptions with Rocket Money** [06:31] — Rocket Money helps identify and cancel unused subscriptions, lowering bills. The creator found random subscriptions like a weather app and flight tracker, which added up over time.
- **Buy a Reliable Used Car** [07:56] — Instead of a new car averaging $50,000, buy a 3-year-old Toyota Camry, Honda Civic, or Mazda 3 for $18K-$22K. Financing a used car saves thousands in interest and insurance costs.
- **Invest in a Good Mattress** [10:00] — Since we spend about 25 years sleeping, a quality mattress improves sleep, energy, and health. Avoid cheap mattresses that cause back pain; test in-store before buying.
- **Desk Setup for Productivity** [11:47] — An external monitor, standing desk, and ergonomic chair boost productivity and health. Better work output can lead to higher earnings over time.
- **Invest in Education** [13:08] — Learning new skills has asymmetric upside. A $500 Google certificate could lead to a $10K-$20K salary increase, a 20X return. Education compounds over a lifetime.
- **Personal Finance Books** [14:53] — Reading books like 'The Millionaire Next Door', 'The Psychology of Money', and 'I Will Teach You to Be Rich' improves financial literacy, potentially saving thousands.
- **Proactive Health Spending** [16:13] — Preventative care (dental, physical therapy, mental health) is cheaper than treating issues later. ER visits cost over $18,000 on average, so prevention is key.
- **Quality Everyday Shoes** [18:11] — Investing in comfortable, durable shoes ($100-$150) prevents foot and back problems, avoiding the fast fashion cycle of cheap replacements.

### Conclusion

Prioritize purchases that offer long-term value, such as tools for cooking, financial products, and health investments. These choices can lead to significant savings and improved well-being.

## Transcript

have to spend some money and what you spend it on really matters. This is to make money or you've recently gotten a raise and you now have more disposable money, there are 10 things that I think you should buy before anything else. So,
prerequisites or items that are going to give you the best return on your investment. Starting with number one, a good chef's knife and a pan. So, if you if you're someone like me who's been eating out most of their life, this is
you can make right now. You don't have to go out and buy a six-piece knife set definitely want to have at least one good chef's knife and one good nonstick pan and that's pretty much it. The average American spends about $350 a
month eating out and that comes out to roughly $4,200 a year on restaurant meals alone. I know for me personally, I was spending close to $600 or $700 a month if not more in San Francisco. Now, before I had a good chef's knife and a
mostly go to local takeout spots in my area would mostly get chicken over rice because I'm a creature of habit and it turns out I just really enjoyed chicken and rice. But, I was thinking to myself, do I really need to spend $18.16
every time I get chicken over rice? That's the price of it in San Francisco. consider you can buy the equivalent amount of chicken and rice at the grocery store for about $4 to $5 in ingredients. So, if you can find a solid
chef's knife, something like the Victorinox Fibrox or the Mercer Renaissance for around $50 to $100, I think that's probably a high ROI Japanese one that I bought from Williams-Sonoma. I don't really know the
from a local cookware store. In terms of pans, I personally use an all-in-one nonstick pan from this brand called Our Place, but you don't have to use that. You can find any nonstick pan that runs you about $30 or maybe even up to $100
show you the math here. If you can save $15 per meal by eating at home and cooking yourself instead of eating at a restaurant and you do that say three to four times per week, that means you're saving between $45 and $60 a week. It
course of a single year, that means you're going to save between $2,300 to $3,100. And all of that was from an investment of about $150 to $200 for a good chef's knife and a pan. Now, if you don't know what to cook in a single pan,
pan meals, and there are so many websites dedicated to making you solid dinner recipes with just literally one knife and one pan and some ingredients. better at this year, and if you're also trying to get better at cooking, please
item that I think you should get immediately if you're starting to spend more money is simply a cashback credit card. Now, technically, you're not buying anything here, and that's the point. This is just a prerequisite, but
any of the things that we're talking about in today's video, you want to make people, especially younger people, are still using a debit card for everything, you can't get into debt with a debit card. That's because they only allow you
bank account, so I think that's definitely a pro of having a debit card. However, every time you buy an item with a debit card, you are going to be cashback credit card, something like the Citi Double Cash or the Wells Fargo
Active Cash or the Chase Freedom, they can get you anywhere from 1.5 to 2% cashback on everything that you buy. The one caveat here is that since they are credit cards, you need to be financially responsible. Since a credit card allows
actually have in your bank account, you really need to make sure that if you are can pay it off in full at the end of every month. Now, if you are able to stay responsible here, then you can get rewarded with the 2% cashback on all of
your spend. The average American household will spend about $6,400 a month or $77,000 per year. So, if you're getting 2% cashback on that, that's an extra $1,540 per year coming straight back into your wallet. And this is just
the basic tier of credit cards. There are also fancier credit cards that to you much higher percentages back. So, me personally, I have a Chase Sapphire earned over 89,000 points. And while this isn't exactly cash back, the
conversion works out to roughly being 100 points is the equivalent of about 1 at how much in equivalent dollars I've received from just spending as I normally do, I've probably earned anywhere between $897 to $1,800 in value
in credit card rewards points. And those are rewards that I would not have gotten Now, premium cards like this one, you need to know the details of the card really intimately because they usually have annual fees and points multipliers.
just want to keep it simple, I would just say grab a straightforward 2% cash a long way. Now, if you're someone that doesn't think they can be financially maybe you just stick to the debit card
video, I assume you're a little bit more financially savvy and responsible than some others. And so, this is an item that I think can definitely help your within reason. Moving on to number three today, which is contributing to your
Roth IRA every single year. Okay, so this isn't a purchase that you can hold in your hands, but I wholeheartedly believe that if you're in your 20s, 30s, or even your 40s, and you haven't opened up a Roth IRA yet, that this should come
before any other purchase that you make. A Roth IRA is an individual retirement account that lets you invest money that you've already paid taxes on, and then That means when you pull that money out in retirement, you don't owe a single
that's a really big deal when you think about the compounding effect money invested in stocks or the market over the next 30 to 40 years. If you're in your 20s and you're able to max out your Roth IRA at $7,500 per year, and you
invest those contributions consistently in a low-cost index fund, well, by the time you retire at the age of 65, you would have roughly $1.94 million, and that would all be tax-free. If you're wondering where I got that 8% average
annual return is from, that's basically from the average return of the S&P 500 after accounting for inflation. And the S&P 500 is just an index that tracks the top 500 US companies. The other thing that's great about the Roth IRA is that
contributions. Now, not the gains, but the money that you originally put in. penalty-free, and that means your money is not completely locked up. And I think comfortable and more flexible for a lot of people contributing to it. I
personally opened up my Roth IRA when I was the age of 26, but I really wish I started when I was 21 because I did the math, and just that 5-year difference alone could have amounted to over $70,000 in tax-free growth at my current
yet, I would just definitely open up one of these this week. You can go to any brokerage like Fidelity, Schwab, or Vanguard, and it takes about 15 minutes. After starting my Roth IRA, I realized that I wanted to put as much money that
needed to start actually tracking and paying more attention to what I was came to recurring costs. I was actually shocked to find out how many random subscriptions I was still paying for like a $10 subscription to a weather app
or a $5 per week subscription to track my flights. None of these costs feel too big on their own, but over time, it really adds up fast, and then suddenly thought on services that I don't even use. And that's where today's sponsor,
is an all-in-one personal finance app that helps you lower your bills, cancel where your money is going. Once you connect your bank account, Rocket Money place so you can see what's active instead of digging through statements
definitely don't remember signing up for. From there, it's really easy to just a few taps. And what I found is that Rocket Money also gives me a much actually going. Like, for example, I was spending way too much money on sushi,
spending until I broke it down. So, while it was very delicious, I was a little bit embarrassing because of how out of control I let it get. So, I like keep tabs on everything so I don't end up in a situation like that again. If
to rocketmoney.com/humphrey to get started for free. You can also description. You can also unlock even more features with premium, so that's to get started for free, and thanks to them for sponsoring this portion of the
video. Number four on our list today goes into the automobile world, and that lot of people, when they start to earn more money or they get that first real just to go ahead and buy a brand new
nice car. But these days, the average new car sells for around $50,000 MSRP, and the new average car payment in 2026 is $750 a month. Meanwhile, a a Toyota Camry, a Honda Civic, or a Mazda 3, you can find those between 18K
and 22K basically all day. These are the cars that have already taken the biggest first two to three years of ownership, but they still have a ton of life in are usually pretty reliable, and if they're well-maintained, they can last
you up to 150,000 or even up to 200,000 miles and upwards. And let me show you Let's say you buy a 3-year-old Toyota Camry for $20,000 instead of financing a brand new one, which costs you $35,000 over 72 months at a 7% interest rate. On
$597 a month for 6 years, and by the end of the loan, you've paid roughly $7,960 in interest. That means in those total 6 years, you actually paid close to $43,000 for that new Toyota Camry. With a used car, though, at a $20,000 price
point, even if you don't have the cash on hand, if you finance it, you're still amount, and it will end up saving you a lot of money and interest. Using the same exact terms that a new Toyota Camry, your payment is $341 a month, and
yes, you will still pay interest, but it comes out to $4,551 than the new scenario. The other thing people don't think about is insurance. significantly more expensive than on a used one, so we're talking potentially
up to 100 to $200 more per month depending on what car and your location. So, that adds up to a lot of money. That could be $1,200 extra per year that you're spending just because you wanted the newer model. When it comes to buying
your research and look for cars that are known for reliability and low maintenance costs. The point isn't just to buy a beater car off Craigslist, it's to buy something that can take you from point A to point B without draining your
bank account every single month. Number five is going to be a good mattress. particular because we spend so much time sleeping. One of the craziest statistics years old, you've actually spent about 25 years of your life sleeping. And
think about it, if you're 80 years old, you would think that you have actually experienced 80 years of life when in reality you've experienced about 55. And as zero to about eight, so maybe you've even experienced a little bit less, like
47 years. But, either way, the point remains, if you're going to spend that want to make sure that the thing that you're sleeping on is the best that it can be. When I was in my 20s, I definitely had the cheapest mattress I
mattresses off Amazon or different websites, and when they arrived, I would my back would hurt the next morning, or I just wouldn't sleep well, and I was actual email that I sent to a company in 2014 where I bought one of their
mattresses sight unseen, and I actually had to return it because it gave me back pain. The messed up part about returning a mattress is that sometimes they can't going to take it back and sell it to somebody else because you've used it
does instead is they just send someone to pick it up either to take it to the dump or for donation. It just felt like such a waste to me, and so for my next responsible thing. I went to the store, I tested it out, and then I bought a
poor sleep is that you don't really know what poor sleep feels like until you that I noticed once I bought a nicer mattress was that I just slept really well. This in turn gives me more energy, my body feels a lot better, and I think
day. What I've also noticed is that a lot of people won't think twice about buying the new iPhone for, let's say, $1,200, but instead will think twice good mattress. So, if you are going to spend money, I would say buy a nice
expensive one in the store, but just get something that actually supports your difference immediately. The sixth item that I would look at buying first is definitely having a great desk setup, especially if you work from home or
computer. One of the biggest unlocks for me personally was simply buying an external monitor or having two monitors. I feel like not only do I get more work estate, and I'm a lot more productive with the extra monitors. If you're able
work, think about what that means for your career and your earnings over a more work done, and you're producing better work, and then you're not going and a headache by hunching over and looking at a 13-in laptop screen for 8
is a standing desk as well as a nice desk chair. Cleveland Clinic has noted mood levels, increase your productivity, reduce rates of obesity. They increase
also help you reduce lower back pain. Then, I think having a nice desk chair mattress, if you're going to spend 6 to 8 hours a day doing something, you might for your body. It's really hard to put an exact dollar amount on this, but I
their desk setup, they're going to tend to out-earn those people who don't over a long period of time. Number seven today is investing in your own education necessarily mean back to school or getting an extra degree, but I think if
make yourself more valuable, I think that's always a good decision. Gaining going to be an asymmetric upside investment, and so what I mean by that might save you a few thousand dollars per year, and a reliable used car that
might save you tens of thousands of dollars, but in both of these instances, the savings are capped. Now, if you increase your skills via education, then income trajectory of the rest of your life, and I think that has way more
probably save from the first two respective purchases. So, let me give you an example. Let's say you make 55K a year at your job right now, and you decide to spend $500 on a Google certificate course in data analytics,
courses that usually take a few months to finish and are widely recognized by a certificate helps you land a role that pays you 65K a year or 75K a year, you
just basically earned a 20X return on that $500 certificate. Not to mention, that is now your base salary. So, if your base salary is then 65K a year, maybe a year or two, and that will just
sometimes these courses, they don't even cost money, either. I was able to find this Google data analytics professional certificate for free on Coursera. The point I'm trying to drive home even after you leave school, that's not when
think that if you can be more curious to new technologies, you are going to be ahead of others when it comes to maybe that means you set aside $500 a year for your own development and try to
improve some skills, like I mentioned earlier, because a lot of people, quickly on things that they're going to forget about in the next month. So, some money and you're spending it on yourself, I always think that's a good
today, and I think this is much more specific, but I think everyone should have at least one great personal finance book as one of their first purchases. My are probably The Millionaire Next Door, The Psychology of Money by Morgan
Housel, and then I Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit Sethi. Now, I wish I could say that I have a personal finance book that you could buy. Now, maybe one day I will, but for now, I think these three books are just really amazing in terms
According to the National Financial Educators Council, the average American lost over a thousand and fifteen dollars in 2024 due to a lack of financial literacy. That could either be from bad debt decisions, unnecessary fees, or
part of the reason is that financial literacy is just not taught in schools, another reason is that the way you learn about personal finance usually comes aren't financially literate enough, or if they have bad habits around money,
you might inherit those unintentionally, and they could cost the long run. So, a watch personal finance videos like this one here on YouTube, which you're doing right now, so thank you, but it's also to buy a book on personal finance that
different commutes, or just to have in your house so that you can read it over instill great values for yourself. A single book like this one could cost $30, but it could help you maybe avoid a
case, then the book would have already paid for itself. All right, number nine today is spending money on your health proactively. When you spend money it's going to cost you way more. Let's say you never put any sun protection on
your skin or your face, one day you might get diagnosed with skin cancer, going to be way more expensive than if you just try to prevent it in the first place. In addition, the cost of emergency room visits here in the United
over $18,000. insurance and was able to get a lot of it adjusted, but it just goes to show you that visiting the ER is going to be a lot more expensive than preventative
that I would try to prevent issues going forward are things like getting an twice a year, or even just getting a few preventative physical therapy appointments. A physical therapy session might cost you $75 to $150, but they
muscle imbalance, or perhaps you use certain muscles in a way that might Another category of your health that you can spend money on proactively is simply mental health, and I think that this is one that people skip a lot because going
to therapy is not cool and or people don't think that they really need it. health can show up in all phases of your life. So, in your relationships, in your productivity at work, or even in the decisions about money. And that's that's
Let's say you have a problem with losses. You invest in stocks and chase those losses and you try to win them back. In this way, you kind of have investing. Now, if you don't treat that, that could actually just cost you
thousands of dollars or even more money over the rest of your life. So, in this way, I think therapy isn't a luxury at this point if you have that tendency. I think it's a necessity, especially if it's costing you money right now. If you
that the American healthcare system is designed to treat you after you are sick proactive about something, you really need to speak up for yourself and really just not going to get that care. All right, the 10th thing in today's video
everyday shoes. Hopefully, you notice the theme in this video, which is that if you spend a lot of time with your body doing something, you absolutely that this sounds simple, buying a good pair of everyday shoes, but a lot of
people just don't do it. They might just buy a $40 pair of shoes from some fast fashion brand, or they buy it on Amazon. And to some people, shoes are just shoes. But here's the thing, cheap shoes are going to fall apart. They can also
knees, and sooner or later, you're going to have to just go shopping for a new pair, and then you end up in this fast fashion cycle where you're buying four So, I would say just spend the money on comfortable shoes, something like New
Balances, On Footwear, ASICS, or just a solid pair of white sneakers that are actually invest in their materials, and while a good everyday shoe might run you $100 to $150, at least they will last quite a while. Especially true if you do
your feet, you want to make sure that your feet feel good because when your when your legs feel good, your your feels good, and then your whole body definitely worth your money. So, that's it. Those are the 10 items I would buy
spend money in 2026. Of course, I'm sure that you might have your own list and comments if you agree or disagree with mine. If you're interested in watching things no longer worth your money, you might want to check this video out right
thank you to Rocket Money for sponsoring a portion of this video. I'll see you guys in a future video from me. All right, peace.