A Year of No Spending: How minimalism changed my life!

A year ago I took the decision that I wanted to change my life. I had overdrafts, credit cards, hire purchase agreement and a loan for furniture. Some of the debt was at a high interest rate and some was interest free. But the reality is, it was debt! I had £7,500 of debt.

What kickstarted it all for me was inheriting a little bit of money. It was enough to clear my overdraft that was then charging £50 a month in interest (when the rates for overdrafts snuck up to 19%). The relief I felt when that had gone was amazing. It was enough to make me realise that I needed to finish clearing the rest.

So it was time to look carefully at my budget and see what I was spending. I mean I have kept a budget since I was 19 years old (I’m now 35). My bills were already on the best rates possible, but I checked anyway. I think at the time, I was able to shave a few pounds off my sky bill by adding in my netflix together. The thing that was concerning me was that I should have had £700 a month left over. So where was it?! What on earth was I doing with it? Honestly, I couldn’t give you an answer. A combination of extra food trips, buying random stuff for the house, I’ve no idea. That rang huge alarm bells for me. How could I be wasting so much money?

That was all I needed. If I wanted to change my finances then I needed to keep track of everything. So that’s what I did. I got myself a budget planner (my dear friend got one for me for my birthday just before Christmas) and I wrote everything down. Also, I decided to give myself a small amount of spend money each month (£50) that could be spent on anything that came up, activities, little treats, etc. I am fully aware that I need to have a life still and my son would like to be able to do things. I also got a budget for my food bill. Which initially started at £160, but by the end of the no spend year became £200 due to going gluten free.

What I didn’t realise, is that it would give me so much more free time on my hands. I was no longer doing additional trips to the supermarkets and homeware shops. So I started clearing out my home and began decluttering. My house felt cluttered and I had the time to do something about it (due to restrictions from covid etc too). I started clearing clothes, books, and furniture. There were lots of items that I could sell and I was able to start making some extra pennies on the side.

As I reduced the clutter I began to clock the money spent on each item and really assessed whether it was worth it. And the reality was that it wasn’t. I had wasted a vast amount over time that saw no benefit to me. They were items that I either barely used or didn’t use at all. It was eye-opening. Why spend so much money on items that don’t add value to your life?

As the spaces in my home began to clear, a sense of calm came over me. I felt more relaxed, cleaning was more manageable and my home was more spacious.

Any extra income from selling items went towards clearing my debts. I was able to pay between 600-700 a month off of my debts and was debt free by the end of the year, with £5000 saved in the bank too.

What a transformation! I have never had savings in my life. And best of all…I actually know where my money is going.

If you want to know more about my journey, check out my youtube page below. I have been sharing all of my no spend updates, decluttering and minimalism journey.

https://www.youtube.com/c/RachelNoakes

Rachel, Declutter Your Life X

For more little acts… https://declutteryourlife.co.uk/minimalism/little-acts-of-decluttering/

For more ideas, check out my youtube channel. https://www.youtube.com/c/RachelNoakes