I didn't buy anything for a year in a row and this is how much money I saved
2022-11-08 13:12:20
TiranaPost
“Having been an economics journalist in London for the past 10 years, my friends, family and colleagues thought I was very much a money lady. Yes, that was not true," says Michelle McGagh for the Telegraph.
After noticing that she'd recently been spending thousands of dollars on completely unnecessary things (coffee, dining out, clothes), she decided not to spend for an entire year—starting on Black Friday 2015.
Of course, she couldn't spend anything, so she made a list of things she could buy or pay for. The list included home mortgages, utilities, life insurance, charitable donations and cell phone bills. All of this came to less than $2,000 a month.
She would also allow herself basics like toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo and food for herself and her husband, for which they agreed to set a weekly goal of about $35.
But there was no budget for luxury. This meant no trips to the cinema, no nights out for a drink, no dinners in restaurants. There would be no new clothes, no holidays, no gym membership, not even a KitKat from the supermarket.
Although her husband was concerned that the challenge was too extreme, McGagh was determined to see it through. He used his bicycle to work and wore the clothes he had all year round.
In a few months, he saw that his savings were growing and so he began to pay off extra money for the loan he had.
At the end of the year, he had approximately $23,000 more than when he started the challenge.
The only times she broke the rule were when she bought friends beer to rent on New Year's Eve and when she booked a plane ticket to see her grandmother.
