Shadowing Practice: Japanese Frugal Habits to save you thousands in 2026 💸 - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Money.
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Currency we use in our society in exchange for products and services.
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Money can buy you food, knowledge, time, and some might even believe that money can buy happiness and dreams.
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When you hear the word frugal, you might picture someone who is cheap and doesn't spend money at all.
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But I think being frugal actually means spending money intentionally and purposefully so that you can avoid wasting money and spend on things that actually matter.
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Personally, 2026 is the year where I want to save money rather than spending money.
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And I would say so far, it has been going quite well.
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I grew up in Asian household, Japanese more specifically, and I noticed that there are so many frugal habits that are normal for Japanese households, but not so common in other countries.
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A lot of the frugal habits that I'm going to talk about today are the habits that I observed from my mom.
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First and foremost, I think one of the most important frugal habits is to make your spendings visible.
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My mom always, always gets those paper receipts and track everything to fully understand where the money is going.
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And I know that you can do everything on app right now, but in Japan, it's still quite common for people to do everything handwritten.
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So you've probably heard of this method called kakeibo.
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It's basically like a journal for your finances.
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And I think many Japanese people actually prefer to write down those spendings and budget and goals on paper rather than doing things on app.
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Maybe I can make a video about Kakebo in the future, but for now, let's talk about things that you can implement right away from today.
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Level 1 is to understand when and where you spend money for what.
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Just keep it very simple, and that's the first step to understand where your money is going.
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Level two, now that you understand how much money you spend on what, you can set your monthly budget.
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If you wanna take it further, level three, you can start categorizing your spendings.
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If you're advanced, level four, you can start using this formula.
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Income minus fixed cost minus advanced savings equals viable expenses.
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So the concept is that you have your income and then you subtract fixed cost because that doesn't change every month, right?
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It's the same cost.
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And then you're going to subtract advanced savings.
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So advanced savings are the amount of savings that you have already decided to save every month.
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And I think this is very useful for many people because a lot of us would be like, okay, whatever is left is going to go into savings account.
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And it never happens.
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For Cacable, a lot of people do on a notebook written down, but of course you can do it by an app Personally,
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I transfer my monthly budget into spending accounts and for that I use Revolut I think if you are traveling around
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constantly going from one place to another I think Revolut is one of the great options for tracking your spendings They automatically categorize them and also you can set your monthly spending budget every month And so yeah,
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I think that works the best for me.
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I'm gonna put the link in the description below if you don't have Revolut yet.
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I have a wise account as well.
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If you travel often, I think it's the best to have both wise and Revolut and just use depending on the needs.
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One thing that my mom is very good at, and I'm trying to be good at this, is decluttering.
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And you might think that this has nothing to do with being frugal, but it actually does.
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because decluttering actually helps you understand what you already have and it stops you from buying duplicates or unnecessary items.
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And I think the process of decluttering actually helps you to be more mindful with your spendings because you realize how much money is wasted on unused items.
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Now, every time I buy something new, I try to look for an item that I can get rid of.
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Another thing my Japanese mom is good at is to choose quality items that last for years and worth the money And one of the reasons
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why she's good at this is because she used to make costumes for me and my brother When we went on a figure skating competition So she definitely has a bit of a special eyes for this Every time you go shopping,
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she makes sure to pay attention to the stitches Like are they straight?
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And how is the shape of the clothing overall?
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Are they built even?
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And how is the materials?
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I always try to avoid materials that look like it's gonna pile.
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I actually don't really have anything that I really want at the moment.
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I purchased this MacBook at the end of last year.
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I talked about this in my previous video.
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So if you haven't watched it, go check it out.
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But when I do, I'm planning to put the items on my wish list and purchase it.
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When I achieve something, I think it's fun to gamify things.
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things it makes each purchase more special on this topic of buying new items one thing that really
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stops me from impulse purchase is to simply think about it and sleep on it for a couple of days i know
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this is super simple and you can start doing this today and you'll be surprised after a couple of days many times i even forget about the fact that i wanted those things in the first place If it's something that you really want and you really need,
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you will probably be thinking about them after weeks.
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And then I would say it's probably worth spending the money.
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Another frugal habit that she does naturally every single day is to bring her own drinks.
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So she always has cold drinks, usually like water.
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And then she also has hot drinks, either hot tea or hot coffee.
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And I think this is very smart because I used to never do this.
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And I always ended up at a conbini store or Starbucks to buy hot drinks and water.
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And I usually end up picking up items that I didn't need in the first place.
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I bought a little water bottle in Muji in Japan.
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It was really cheap.
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It was probably like 50 cents or something.
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And I have been loving it.
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I use it every time I go outside to carry water with me because I always get thirsty.
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I don't want to go to a conbini store or a kiosk because I'm in Europe.
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just to pick up water and it's gonna create extra plastic waste as well so I am really happy that I implemented this habit in my life
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another thing she is really good at and you might think this has nothing to do with being frugal is that she is
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always on time if something she's usually 5 to 10 minutes early and as someone who was never really on time growing
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up I'm really working on this because I realized that when you can't manage your time properly you always end up spending more money by taking taxi, uber, lyft
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those are the money that you could have spent on something purposeful and meaningful that brings joy to your life
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in japan it is really common to reuse containers a lot of companies produces really cute containers so that people can repurpose them after they're done using the products inside.
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Now, I'm not gonna lie.
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I do find it harder for me to do this outside of Japan because I don't think a lot of companies outside of Japan think about the second life of the container of the products that they're selling.
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I don't think they have the mindset.
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But there are things that you can do.
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I usually use a jar not just for the food, but I also use it for plants.
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what i do is i trim the plants that i have and i put them in the water to propagate and they become like
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really cute cozy decorations for the house as well and this is applicable for many things but you can be really creative
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with the items that you have for example i had an ikea raton box it's like a container or organizer i really
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like the shape of it so what i did is i turned upside down and i turned it into a light that worked really
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really well it really gave a really cute cozy vibe to my living room just because the product is sold as an organizer it doesn't
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mean you have to use the product as an organizer be creative have fun with the items that you have you might be able to
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repurpose the items that you already have and give it a second life another habit of my japanese mom is that she always has
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snacks with her she usually has chocolates candy and if she knows that she's gonna have a long day she even has an
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onigiri rice balls which is probably too much for many of you but it doesn't hurt to have emergency
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snacks in your bags and you can wait for proper meal one thing i want to clarify is that it's not that she never uses money she does spend money It's just that I think she is good at spending money on things that matter.
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For example, she always chooses amazing restaurants with quality food.
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I think enjoying quality food with quality people that matter to you, it just tastes 10 times better than eating yummy food all by yourself.
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And by the way, if you're interested in learning Japanese with me, I created a free 7-day challenge where you can learn Japanese from a Ghibli movie.
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So make sure to check it out from the description below.
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here we are.
Why practice speaking with this video?
This video presents an excellent opportunity for English learners to engage in shadow speak, a technique that enhances speaking skills by mimicking native speakers. The context revolves around Japanese frugal habits, allowing learners to not only practice their speaking abilities but also to gain insights into cultural perspectives on money management. By incorporating specific phrases and economic vocabulary from the video, learners can expand their lexical resource, which is essential for the IELTS speaking practice.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
The speaker utilizes several key structures that are particularly useful for learners aiming to improve their English. Here are some notable examples:
- “My mom always gets those paper receipts and track everything…” - This sentence illustrates the use of present simple tense to express habits and routines, a common structure in speaking.
- “I think many Japanese people actually prefer…” - The phrase highlights the use of modal verbs (think, prefer) to express opinions or beliefs, which can help students articulate their thoughts effectively.
- “...understand where the money is going.” - This construction emphasizes the importance of understanding and processing information, which can be a useful expression in discussions about finance or personal goals.
Common Pronunciation Traps
While engaging with this transcript, learners should be aware of common pronunciation traps. Words such as "frugal" and "expenses" may pose challenges. The stress in these words often shifts, and mispronouncing them could lead to misunderstandings. Additionally, the speaker's accent might influence their pronunciation of certain terms, particularly when discussing specific concepts related to finance. Practicing these terms through shadowspeak can help learners become more confident and fluent in their spoken English.
Incorporating these elements from the video into your daily practice can greatly enhance your ability to express yourself clearly and effectively in English. Whether you are preparing for the IELTS or just looking to improve your conversational skills, understanding both the content and the context is vital.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.