I Wasted Money on Expensive Courses

Before I found what actually worked, I spent over $2,000 on trading courses. Most of them were garbage - outdated strategies, poor teaching, or just rehashed free content marked up 10x.

The frustrating part? Almost everything I actually use today came from free resources. I just didn't know where to look at first.

Here's my honest breakdown of the free resources that actually taught me to trade, and the ones that wasted my time.

YouTube Channels That Actually Help

1. The Moving Average (Channel)

What I Learned: Order flow basics, how to read the DOM, and market structure

This guy trades ES and NQ live sometimes. No BS, just shows his charts and explains his thought process. His video on reading orderflow was what made it finally click for me.

Fair warning: his teaching style is pretty dry. But the content is gold if you stick with it.

2. Shadow Trader

What I Learned: Market profile and understanding where institutions are positioned

Free daily market reports that are actually valuable. I read his morning newsletter every day before the market opens. Helps me understand the bigger picture instead of just staring at 5-minute charts all day.

3. Trade Pro (Not Sponsored)

What I Learned: Risk management and trading psychology

His videos about position sizing and risk management probably saved my account. He talks a lot about the mental side of trading, which most people ignore.

Warning: He does promote his paid course in every video. Just skip that part and focus on the free content.

Books That Changed How I Trade

"Trading in the Zone" by Mark Douglas

Cost: $15 on Amazon (worth 100x that)

This isn't really about strategies or setups. It's about your mindset and psychology. I've read it three times now.

If you struggle with revenge trading, overtrading, or fear of pulling the trigger, read this book. Then read it again.

"Market Wizards" by Jack Schwager

Cost: $12-20

Interviews with legendary traders. Every trader has a different style, but they all have discipline and risk management in common.

This book taught me that there's no "one right way" to trade. Find what works for you and master it.

"A Complete Guide to Volume Price Analysis" by Anna Couling

Cost: $20

Changed how I look at volume. Before this, I basically ignored volume. Now it's one of the first things I check.

Little dense to read, but worth it if you're serious about understanding market dynamics.

Free Tools for Learning

TradingView Replay Feature

Cost: Free with basic account, better with Pro+

This is the best learning tool nobody talks about enough. You can replay any day's market action bar by bar and practice identifying your setups.

I probably spent 100+ hours in replay mode backtesting my three main setups. It's like a flight simulator for traders.

CME Group Website (Free Education Section)

Cost: Completely free

They have free courses on futures basics, contract specifications, margin requirements, all that stuff. Boring but necessary.

If you don't understand how futures contracts actually work, start here before you lose money.

Investor.gov (FINRA's Free Education)

Cost: Free

Basic stuff about market orders, limit orders, how exchanges work. Good foundation if you're brand new.

Resources I Tried That Sucked

Most Paid Trading Discords

Cost: $99-299/month usually

Verdict: Most are just signal services in disguise. You're not learning, you're just copying trades without understanding why.

I wasted 3 months in one of these before realizing I wasn't actually learning anything. If you join one, use it for education only, never for signals.

"Guru" Instagram Courses

Cost: $497-997 usually

Verdict: Overpriced regurgitation of free content. They make money selling courses, not trading.

If someone's Instagram is all Lambos and watches, they're selling you a lifestyle, not education.

Most Trading Podcasts

Cost: Free, but costs you time

Verdict: 90% fluff, 10% useful info. I used to listen to like 5 different trading podcasts and realized they all say the same things over and over.

Now I only listen to Chat with Traders (actually interviews real traders with real track records).

My Learning Path (What I'd Do Differently)

If I could start over, here's exactly what I'd do:

Month 1: Foundation

Month 2-3: Strategy Development

Month 4-6: Sim Trading

Month 7+: Small Real Money

The Resources Nobody Talks About

Your Trading Journal

Sounds cliche, but your own journal becomes your best learning resource after a few months. I look back at my old trades and see patterns in my mistakes.

I use Notion for this (free), but honestly a Google Doc works fine too.

Twitter/X (The Right Accounts)

Yeah, Twitter is mostly noise. But there are some real traders sharing good content:

Follow traders who show charts and explain setups, not ones who just post P&L screenshots.

Your Losses

Every losing trade is a free lesson if you review it properly. I've learned more from my prop firm failures than from any course I've taken.

What About Paid Courses?

Honestly? You don't need them to start. Maybe after a year of trading, once you know what specific area you need help with, then consider a specialized course.

But if you're brand new, don't spend thousands on a course. Use free resources, practice on a sim, and learn from your mistakes.

The market is the best teacher, and it's free (well, your losses are tuition, but still).

My Honest Take

Learning to trade isn't about finding the secret indicator or magic strategy. It's about:

All of this can be learned for free or very cheap. Save your money for your trading account, not for courses.

And for the love of god, don't buy a course from someone whose main income is selling courses.