A woman claims that she has saved £4,000 in six months after going on a spree of not spending and cutting things out of her life that aren't essential.
Mia Westrap is a 26-year-old who made the decision to shake her finances up when she realised one day that she couldn't afford a long-distance relationship with her Australian partner.
It turns out that after he went back to his native Land Down Under, Mia and the mystery man stopped communicating when she realised that she couldn't afford the (admittedly pricey) plane tickets to visit.
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Working as a health and social care worker that earned £2,100 a month, she realised that too much was going on socialising and outings.
The Southampton-based woman re-assessed and worked out that she forked out about £200 every month on eating out, with another £100 going on drinks.
She hadn't realised just how much she was spending, and Mia decided that it was time to change her outlook on money, for good.
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The 26-year-old decided to have a 'no spend year', with the goal of saving £4,000 by being more savvy and tactical with her earnings, though by June she had hit her target, setting a new target of £7,000 by the end of the year.
Mia said: "My goal for 2024 was to save £4k as that would be three months worth of living expenses. I hit that in just six months and have now set my target to £7k.
"I look back and wonder how I was spending £500 a month on nothing material. I had nothing to show for the money I spent - my money went on food, drinks and maybe on clothes but I already had plenty."
It's not the first time that the health worker had heard about 'no spend' years, but she used to dismiss it.
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However, after going through major abdominal surgery in January this year, Mia looked at it as the best time to start her journey.
She explained: "I realised that I was going to be housebound for the first month of the year so I thought why not give it a go. I have been finding it quite easy through the winter as I don't want to go out at the moment anyway. I will be interested to see how difficult it gets in the summer when I want to go out for meals and socialise with friends."
While going over her finances in the past, she said that the main cause of it were the small purchases made day to day, whether it be coffees or meal deals, or a simple fizzy drink - we're all guilty of this sometimes though.
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Mia admitted: "I was addicted to Pepsi Max - I was spending £3 to £4 every day, which amounts to £1,424 a year."
Speaking about holidays, she revealed: "I didn't have many holidays really, I grew up incredibly poor. Going on holiday was something I was not used to."
It wasn't just Mia making the move though, as her friends decided to join her on the journey, swapping their expensive outings for cheaper yet enjoyable alternatives, such as picnics and hosting dinners instead of going to restaurants and bars.
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She said of her new lifestyle: "My friends have been really supportive, we have been having a lot of dinners in or going for picnics. Usually, we'd hit the pubs or restaurants whenever there was sunshine."
You'd think that the cheaper choices Mia has been making would have affected her enjoyment of the summer, but she shared her happiness: "My summer has been really good and I haven't felt like I've missed out on anything."
Before going into the no-spend lifestyle, her monthly expenses looked something like this:
- Rent: £850
- Bills: £262
- Subscriptions: £50
- Eating out: £200
- Drinking: £100
Since taking on the no spend lifestyle, her monthly expenses look vastly different:
- Rent: £850
- Bills: £262,
- Subscriptions: £12.99 (only Netflix)
- Eating out: £0
- Drinking: £0
The health worker is sharing her no-spend journey on TikTok with the username @miawestrap.
Joshua Nair