(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?