A woman has shared her one-year journey of not spending money on anything 'that's not an absolute necessity'.
PhD student Mia Westrap has gone viral on TikTok (@miawestrap) after taking budgeting to the next level.
The 26-year-old, who studies in the UK, explained that she got to a point last year where she struggled to 'do anything that I wanted to do because I was so stressed with trying to make my money stretch over the month'.
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In a column for Business Insider, she reckons her 'no buy year' has helped her massively in other aspects of her life, and not just in financial terms.
"I grew up in a lower working-class background, and when I went to uni, I had no concept of how to manage my money," Mia wrote.
"In three years of being at uni, I managed to get about three grand into my overdraft.
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"Once I graduated and was getting higher paying jobs, the money still wasn't stretching regardless of how I got paid.
"I didn't feel like I was living this really extravagant lifestyle. But the reality was I was going out for dinners and drinks all the time and buying the clothes and books that I wanted."
After having nothing left over each month, Mia opted to try one of these no-buy years, while documenting her journey on TikTok.
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She explained: "My 'no buy' is essentially everything that's not an absolute necessity.
"The only thing that I've really allowed myself to buy that's not an absolute necessity is cinema tickets.
"I live right next to a cinema and that brings me joy. I go maybe once or twice a month and it's about eight or nine pounds.
"I don't eat out anymore, I don't buy food from small convenience stores, and I really make an effort to do a weekly food shop and make my own meals.
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"As for going out for drinks, I just stick to water and it hasn't stopped me from joining my friends.
"I felt like it was going to be this huge change at first, but it was January and I didn't want to be leaving my house anyway because it was freezing outside.
"It got harder in the summer when I wanted to buy summer clothes, go to a pub garden, treat myself, and have the summer of my dreams."
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By sticking to her strict rules, Mia says it's felt 'like a weight off my shoulders'.
"Now, if anyone in my life were to have an emergency, knowing that I'd be able to support them is a huge ease of anxiety for me," she added.
"It's also helped me build more meaningful relationships.
"In the past, I even stayed in relationships for far too long because I felt like I hadn't been well off enough to be single.
"Now, in all aspects of my life, I feel that little bit more freedom and independence."
Anish Vij