06 March 2024 , 12:38
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A woman is saving £4k doing a "no-spend" year - by cancelling Hulu and Amazon Prime subscriptions and ditching alcohol and meals out.
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. When her former partner of six months flew home, Mia said the pair went "cold turkey" and didn't communicate because she was not be able to afford flights to Australia.
As a health and social care working, earning £2,100 a month, Mia says she realised she was spending too much on socialising - £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".
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.
Mia Westrap used to spend a fortune partying with her friends (Mia Westrap/SWNS)"I was living pay check to pay check and every month I ended up in my overdraft. 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.
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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.
Mia would spend £100 a month on alcohol (Mia Westrap/SWNS)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:
Rent: £850
Bills: £262
Subscriptions: £50
Eating out: £200
Drinking: £100
Monthly outgoings now:
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Rent: £850
Bills: £262
Subscriptions: £12.99 (Netflix)
Eating out: £0
Drinking: £0