Frugal Hack #4: Find Free Video Lessons (For Darn Near Anything)

(Welcome to the fourth post in my new Frugal Hacks series. Frugal life tips which take very little time to implement, but could conceivably save you a ton of money every year.)

Do you spend endless hours surfing YouTube videos? It can definitely provide hours of entertainment, but these days I have been using YouTube to learn how to play the guitar. Completely free. But it doesn’t stop at guitar lessons. There are literally thousands of how-to videos and lesson videos for just just about anything you can imagine. This includes all musical instruments, DIY home projects, auto repair, how to train your dog, how to trim your cat’s nails, and the list goes on and on.

Below is a screenshot of my favorite guitar instructor, Marty Schwartz (YouTube Channel):

The Pros:

~ Price (FREE) - The is obviously the big one. Sticking with the guitar example, local lessons in my area run $20 for a 30 minute session. Over the course of a few months that can really start to add up to some substantial savings by learning to play with YouTube lessons. When it comes to home repair projects, you can save a ton of money by finding a video on YouTube to help you solve your problem without having to call a professional.

Ladies reading this: You have to check out my buddy Beth Allen of DIY HIP Chicks (YouTube Channel) – she specializes in “empowering women by providing knowledge and skills to tackle the Do-It-Yourself challenges of home ownership”. She provides great videos and tutorials for all DIY’ers, not just women (in my opinion).

~ Flexibility - YouTube lessons are available 24/7 so you can easily fit them into your schedule. Wake up at 2 in the morning and can’t go back to sleep? Go learn a new chord or song on your guitar. Gotta love technology sometimes!

~ True Experts - The quality of the videos being produced is really outstanding. Yes, you’ll find a stinker every once in a while but those get weeded out pretty quickly. Many highly talented instructors and industry experts are now using YouTube to grow there fan base.

The Cons:

~ No Immediate Feedback - If you have a specific question, you obviously can’t get immediate feedback from an instructor on YouTube. But you can ask your question in the comments section of the video you are viewing. TIP: Be sure to read through the comments as a lot of times your question will have already been answered.

~ Less Motivation - When you are taking lessons with an instructor in your town you typically have more motivation to practice so you can impress them with your progression. But for many this wouldn’t matter because if you want to learn to play the piano or guitar you’re going to practice no matter if you are learning on YouTube or driving to see an instructor every week. It all comes down to self-motivation.

Have you tried this frugal hack before? If so, what did you learn to do via YouTube?

7 Responses to “Frugal Hack #4: Find Free Video Lessons (For Darn Near Anything)”

1. John @ Frugal Rules on January 16th, 2013 10:30 am

   We’ve done this a few times ourselves. We used one recently that helped us fix our Kitchen-Aid. It was quite helpful and saved us a good bit of money.
   John @ Frugal Rules recently posted…Reader Question: Should I Invest in Mutual Funds or ETFs?

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2. Kyle on January 16th, 2013 10:36 am

   @ John, that is awesome. Glad YouTube saved you some money.

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3. DC @ Young Adult Money on January 16th, 2013 11:10 am

   I definitely have learned a ton online, especially when it comes to technical things like Excel. I compliment the online “how-tos” with books that give a more comprehensive reveiw of a topic.
   DC @ Young Adult Money recently posted…5 Lessons Learned from Freelancing

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4. The Happy Homeowner on January 16th, 2013 11:56 am

   I’ll definitely be checking out Beth’s channel–I LOVE DIY projects!
   The Happy Homeowner recently posted…Renovate and Organize Your Home Office on a Budget

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5. Kyle on January 16th, 2013 12:59 pm

   @ THH – I think you’ll love her. I have talked to her on the phone before and her passion in helping DIY’ers, especially women, is really awesome!

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6. Money Beagle on January 16th, 2013 1:15 pm

   I’ve never gone through anything so dedicated as an actual series, but I look up how to do stuff all the time. I was re-hanging a coat rack that fell out of the wall and needed to see how a replacement anchor was supposed to work, and a quick three minute video, and I was all set. It was re-mounted (much more securely) within five minutes.
   Money Beagle recently posted…Do You Prefer Instant Or Delayed Gratification?

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7. Kim@Eyesonthedollar on January 16th, 2013 6:17 pm

   YouTube helped me a ton when I was setting up this blog. I am super dumb when it comes to technical stuff, but other people must be also because there is a video for everything!
   Kim@Eyesonthedollar recently posted…My Child Needs Glasses, Now What?

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