(Psst: The FTC wants me to remind you that this website contains affiliate links. That means if you make a purchase from a link you click on, I might receive a small commission. This does not increase the price you’ll pay for that item nor does it decrease the awesomeness of the item. ~ Daisy)
By the author of The Ultimate Guide to Frugal Living and What to Eat When You’re Broke
Times are tight, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have any fun. The internet provides a lot of wonderful ways to stay entertained, fit, and healthy with nothing more than the cost of your monthly wifi bill. There is a ton of free stuff on YouTube that can help!
YouTube? Yeah – for real. It’s truly amazing to have one place where so many people can create content to share with the world. Obviously, it’s a great resource for how-to and instructions. But it goes way further than the encyclopedia content. I use it regularly for music, entertainment, meditation, exercise, and relaxation, just to name a few things.
You can use free stuff on YouTube on your computer, your phone, or even your television if you have a SmartTV. Here are some of my favorite frivolous things on YouTube that allows me to enjoy a bit of downtime without spending money.
Relaxation
There’s a lot of free stuff on YouTube for relaxation. Currently, I live in the city, and it can get noisy sometimes. Working from home, I need to be able to drown out the sound of power tools, weed whackers, and loud neighbors.
Cue up YouTube for the win.
Whatever sound you find relaxing, you can find it on YouTube. Ambiance videos and nature sounds are all the rage. Put yourself in a forest filled with chirping birds or an oceanside retreat complete with crashing waves. Listen to a crackling fire and purring kitten with soft, soft music in the background. Hear the rain on your imaginary tin roof, complete with the intermittent rumble of thunder. Enjoy some moody gothic music while you wait out a thunderstorm in an echo-y grand hall. Heck, go to the jungle and bask in the sounds of the rainforest. You can visit Paris or a medieval marketplace. Whatever you want to listen to, wherever you want to place yourself, there’s a soundtrack for that. Some of my favorite ambiance channels are:
I seriously LOVE these for their ability to transport me to someplace else. Heck, I’m writing this article from in front of a cozy fireplace in the Royal Library in the midst of a rainstorm.
If you’re into meditation, you can also find that on YouTube. My favorite is the Calm channel, which offers guided meditation to help relieve anxiety and encourage relaxation. The Mindful Christian is extremely popular for those who want to find a guided meditation that helps them connect more deeply to their faith. The key for me is finding a guided meditation channel with a voice that doesn’t annoy me. Some of those narrators really rub me the wrong way, which, of course, defeats the purpose.
Entertainment
You can find so many different forms of entertainment among the free stuff on YouTube. Whether you want some background music, to watch a program or documentary, or enjoy a podcast, there’s a channel for you. Go to the search bar and type in a topic of interest. You’re all but guaranteed to find a way to pass the time with the subject of your choice.
Want music but don’t want to pay for Spotify or Apple Music? YouTube has got you covered with practically any type of music you can imagine. Whether you prefer religious music, hip-hop, jazz, blues, or country, there’s a channel for that.
I cut the cord on cable a long time ago and generally stream whatever I want to watch. But if your budget is extremely tight, you may want to cease your subscriptions to Netflix, Prime, and Hulu, too. And that’s why God invented YouTube. Unless you have specific things you really want to watch, you can find loads of things to watch for free.
Some of my favorite types of videos for entertainment are:
- Comedy channels
- Full-length episodes of television shows.
- Cooking shows
- Product reviews
- Amateur covers of popular music
- Makeovers
- Home decor
- Travel
- History
- Biographies
- Musical competitions like The Voice, American Idol, and X-Factor
- Documentaries
- Outdoor sports
- Dance competitions like So You Think You Can Dance
- Cute animals – don’t judge me
One of my daughters was obsessed with this channel called Tiny Kitchen with itty bitty food. The sky is truly the limit.
Exercise
Who can afford a gym membership these days? The good news is, with YouTube, you don’t necessarily need one.
Depending on what type of exercise you’re looking for, there’s probably a channel for it.
Some of my favorite ones are:
- Fightmaster Yoga
- SarahBeth Yoga
- MuyThai Full Classes
- Bob and Brad (physical therapy workout videos)
- PopSugar Fitness
- Leilah Isaac (belly dancing – try it – it’s so much fun!)
- MadFit
Whatever kind of exercise you enjoy doing, you’ll find it on YouTube. Be sure to use your own judgment – if something looks like it will cause injury or be too much for you, listen to your intuition. While these folks may be pros, they aren’t there with you, and they don’t know your history – you do.
Do you use free stuff on YouTube to save money?
We’re all trying to save a few bucks these days, and YouTube can help. Do you have any favorite YouTube channels you could share with us in the comments? Do you feel like YouTube can save you money?
Let’s talk about it in the comments section!
About Daisy
Daisy Luther is a coffee-swigging, adventure-seeking, globe-trotting blogger. She is the founder and publisher of three websites. 1) The Organic Prepper, which is about current events, preparedness, self-reliance, and the pursuit of liberty; 2) The Frugalite, a website with thrifty tips and solutions to help people get a handle on their personal finances without feeling deprived; and 3) PreppersDailyNews.com, an aggregate site where you can find links to all the most important news for those who wish to be prepared. Her work is widely republished across alternative media and she has appeared in many interviews.
Daisy is the best-selling author of 5 traditionally published books, 12 self-published books, and runs a small digital publishing company with PDF guides, printables, and courses at SelfRelianceand Survival.com You can find her on Facebook, Pinterest, Gab, MeWe, Parler, Instagram, and Twitter.
7 thoughts on “Free Stuff on YouTube That Can Save You Money”
I catch some alt-news on YouTube but you reminded me there is fun, entertaining and relaxing stuff there too. Have you found the Townsends? They cover 18th century life and they are really well done!
I love the Townsends! So glad you mentioned then, I should watch more soon!
There are some really fantastic artists on YouTube, some of whom teach very well. I’ve gotten such a good art education since I started watching those videos. My spouse has learned a ton about woodworking. I’m learning leather working also, and again, YouTube. Same with gardening. I’ve learned so much about that too! And… fitness! All very entertaining, all very cool.
Sometimes YouTube videos tell you about other sources for free content. Here are my notes from one such YouTube video that I only spotted yesterday … and the quickie summary in those two comments I saved makes the point:
5 amazing websites to download books for FREE!
per this 8:47 minute video, from Wolkify on 10 March 2022:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5q5ul8avJg
Plus 430 comments — including these:
Jesuloba John
3 months ago [edited]
1. Manybooks.net
2. Google books [books.google.com]
3. Gutenberg.org
4. Pdfbooksworld.com
5. Apple iReader
AND
Mo Davies
3 months ago
I use the free downloadable utility “Calibre“ to convert between formats anyway, so the download format is completely not critical for me.
–Lewis
I find lots of prepper and money saving videos on YouWhoTube.
One of my favourite music channels is the guy who does the “What if Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden singer) was in ___” and then he sings the song of a band as though Dickinson was singing the song and he sounds exactly like him.
Also have done some free yoga videos – Yoga with Adrienne being the one I usually use
For writing, Jenna Moreci, Bookfox, Carl Duncan, and The Gray Haired writer are good ones.
I always enjoy Ricky Gervais’s Golden Globes videos, especially the 2020 one where he really did the celebrity smackdown, I’ve watched that so many times I could probably do a cover act of it.
If you’re looking for money making ideas check out the Kamikaze Cash channel freeloader challenge, the one I’ve tried so far is collecting recyclable cans and bottles, make over $100 a month from that. Or Alston Godbolt’s “I tried it” series where he takes a YouTuber’s video from the make money niche and does what it says to do in order to see if it was worth it (most aren’t unsurprisingly) and does a video on his experience and gives a better idea to do things. Haven’t tried any of that yet – too busy with other things.
For minimalism, Gabe Bolt and Austin Williams channels are good.
Great article. I do books on tape on U Tube, nature sounds like rain and ocean, Bob and Brad physical therapists and many other random things.