She decided to spend a year without buying anything “that isn’t an absolute necessity” and has since shared how this has positively affected her life.
Mia Westrap, a doctoral student living in the UK, decided to spend a year without buying things “that aren’t an absolute necessity.”
The 26-year-old social worker challenged herself to spend 12 months carefully considering how to spend her money and cut from her budget everything she deemed unnecessary.
She started by canceling streaming service subscriptions, stopping alcohol consumption, and cutting down on eating out.
It may seem radical, but Westrap quickly reached her goal of saving £4,000, over $5,000. In fact, she achieved her goal in just six months and now hopes to save £7,000 by the end of the year.
In an article published in Business Insider, Westrap evaluated that her “year without buying” has helped her not only financially but also in other aspects of her life.
“I grew up in a low-income family, and when I went to university, I had no idea how to manage my money,” Mia wrote. “After I graduated and started getting higher-paying jobs, the bills still didn’t add up.”
The student has shared her saving journey on TikTok, and with each paycheck she receives, she details her finances from the previous month, how much she spent, what she spent it on, and how much she had left at the end of the month.
For Westrap, organizing her finances has been a positive experience that has brought benefits in all areas of her life. By following her own strict rules, Mia says she felt “a weight lifted off her shoulders.”
“Now, in every aspect of my life, I feel a little more free and independent.”
This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.