A WOMAN has confessed to embarking on a NO spend year after living on her overdraft in hopes she can get a new “peace of mind”.
Mia Westrap, 26, decided to overhaul her finances after she was unable to afford to embark on a long-distance relationship with an Australian man she was dating.
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When her former partner of six months flew home, Mia said the pair went “cold turkey” and didn’t communicate because she was not able to afford flights to Australia.
As a health and social care worker, earning £2100 a month, Mia says she realised she was spending too much on socialising –
She spent around £ 200 a month on eating out and £ 100 a month on alcohol.
So she decided to quit nights out and restaurant meals for a whole year to save £4k – to go towards an ’emergency fund’ and give her “peace of mind”.
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Mia, from Southampton, Hampshire, said: “Last year I was seeing a guy from Australia, I got to know him really well over six months and it was an amazing time.
“He had to fly back to Australia and we stopped contact.
“I knew I wouldn’t be able to afford a long-distance relationship.
“I was living paycheck to paycheck and every month I ended up in my overdraft.
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“I thought, if I do meet someone as amazing in the future, I don’t want to be in the same boat.”
Mia said she had heard of people doing no spend years but it wasn’t something she was interested in or found relevant.
But, after a major abdominal surgery in January, Mia thought now was a perfect time to start.
She said: “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.”
Mia says she didn’t live an extravagant lifestyle beforehand and it was the little purchases that would creep up on her – such as coffees, meal deals and Pepsi Max.
She said: “I didn’t have many holidays really, I grew up incredibly poor.
“Going on holiday was something I was not used to.
“I was addicted to Pepsi Max, I was spending £3 to £4 every day which amounts to £1,424.
“When I took a step back to see where my money was going, I realised that it was these little costs that I couldn’t account for.”
Monthly outgoings before no spend year:
- Rent: £850
- Bills: £262
- Subscriptions: £50
- Eating out: £200
- Drinking: £100
Monthly outgoings now:
- Rent: £850
- Bills: £262
- Subscriptions: £12.99 (Netflix)
- Eating out: £0
- Drinking: £0
How to save money on a subscription?
Even though the prices of subscriptions there are still ways you can keep the bills low.
Share your subscriptions
Some streaming services allow you to share the cost between households.
While the music streaming service costs £9.99 for a single membership, you can get its Premium Duo plan for £13.99 a month.
This saves £71.88 a year compared to the price of two individual subscriptions.
Pay annually rather than monthly
If you know you’re going to stick with the service, it can save you money to pay in one lump sum.
For example, the new premium Disney+ subscription will cost £131.88 a year if paid monthly but the annual subscription is £20 cheaper at £109.90.
Once you’ve paid for an annual subscription, you have guaranteed access for a whole year even if subscription prices go up.
Rotate monthly subscriptions
If you have multiple TV and film subscriptions, you could save money by rotating what you pay for each month.
Services like Netflix, Now TV, Amazon Prime, Disney+ and Hulu can all be cancers at any point without a few.
So you want to cancel subscriptions and re-subscribe so you’re not paying for too many services at the same time.
Downgrade your plan
Switching to a cheaper subscription plan is another simple way to save.
Make the most of free trials
Streaming services often let you try before you commit, and will give you one month for free.
Likewise, some streaming services offer a discounted price for newcomers.
Disney fans can currently bag three months of streaming for £1.99 per month on a standard package with ads.
Mia is sharing her no-spend journey on TikTok.
We have revealed seven saving challenges you can start now with as little as 1p and you can have close to £7k by Christmas.
Where should I keep my cash savings?
If you prefer things the old-fashioned way then by all means, use jars and pots to save your money.
But it might be worth popping into a savings account to gain interest.
Your bank may also offer “pots” within your account so that you can keep your savings separate from other money and earn extra interest.
If you do opt for a savings account, check out easy-access accounts which allow for fee-free withdrawals.
For example, Metro Bank’s Instant Access Savings Account pays 5.22% in interest on all balances between £0 and £2million.
You can withdraw your funds whenever you choose without charge but may have to give notice if you need to make a cash withdrawal worth over £1,000.
Visit comparison websites such as MoneyFactsCompare, Go Compare and MoneySupermarket to help find the best savings account for you.
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