I sold my car and bring drinks to the pub for my ‘no-spend year’ — here’s how much I’ve saved

From overpriced coffee to impulse buys, we’ve all been guilty of splurging on things we don’t really need, but for PhD student Mia Westrap, her tendency to spend on ‘unnecessary items’ became a wake-up call.

Earning £2,100 a month post-tax as a health and social worker, Mia noticed her random purchases — including eating out, drinking and indulging in Pepsi Max  — were quickly piling up. 

‘Sick and tired’ of never having any money to spare and dipping into her overdraft at the end of every month, she decided to embark on a ‘no buy year’.

Speaking to Metro.co.uk, Mia said she defines her no buy year as only spending money on ‘absolute necessities’, such as rent, food bills and transport, meaning she can’t splurge on ‘treat’ items like books, clothes and nights out.

She spends around £1,200 on rent and bills for her flat in Southampton, Hampshire, and tucks what’s left into building up an ‘emergency fund’.

The only thing she doesn’t budget for is her weekly Asda food shop, which she says ‘works out pretty cheap’. She even sold her car, which was costing her £200 a month, to save money on transport. 

When Mia began her no-spend year, in January of this year, she started with zero savings and set herself the goal of banking £4,000 after 12 months.

She admits she was initially worried about experiencing FOMO. The 26-year-old was used to a busy social life, especially during the busy summer months when her weekends would typically fill up with bottomless brunches. But, this wasn’t enough to put her off her new, frugal lifestyle.

And surprisingly, she soon realised she didn’t have to turn down many plans, as she says she was ‘always happy to come along to plans with friends and just not spend any money’.

Instead of participating in rounds of drinks at the pub, Mia will usually just opt for water or bring her own coffee in a flask. She says: ‘My friends are very generous and may get me a soft drink, but I never expect it from anybody and prefer to encourage them to save their own money. 

‘I haven’t found it to be awkward yet, because they all know about my savings journey.’

She was never bored either, managing to keep herself occupied with lots of free activities, from going on long walks to having picnics and girl’s nights in, ‘where everyone brings a bottle of wine’. 

She adds: ‘A lot of what I’m “turning down” are things I would not have been able to afford in the first place prior to the no buy year so my life hasn’t changed much. ‘

However, she does say August was the toughest month of the year so far, due to a holiday in the South of France and attending Taylor Swift’s Era tour (both of which she had planned before starting the ‘no buy year’).

Mia documented her week-long trip to Marseille on TikTok, where she revealed that she stayed at her friend’s villa, so spent nothing on accommodation or food, and contributed just £280.77 for driving costs.

In fact, she says her biggest adjustment was actually to do with her wardrobe, saying she had to get used to wearing the same four or five outfits on a rotation, and ‘feeling confident’ in them.

She said: ‘It’s surprised me how nobody in my life or online has pointed this out, which definitely reflects how toxic my mindset towards outfit repeating and wanting to buy the latest trends was.’

The only time Mia broke her rules was back in January, when she ‘gained a little bit of weight’ after abdominal surgery and was ‘feeling awful’ in the clothes she had, so she allowed herself to buy a pair of trousers and a few T-shirts.

Apart from that, it’s been ‘smooth sailing’.

She says: ‘I haven’t broken anything massively and gone into debt or regretted anything that I’ve broken it for.’

And, her strict mindset has worked. By September, she’d already worked her way up to £5,500, which she said felt ‘fantastic’ and even began investing. 

Now, she’s upped her target to £7,000 to build to her emergency fund even further, and allow herself ‘peace of mind’.

Mia admits one motivation to keep going is her TikTok account, where she has been regularly posting updates on her ‘no-buy’ year. She now has almost 30,000 followers to ‘hold her accountable’. 

She’s found the majority of people supportive of her journey and says her friends are likely pleased she’s no longer recommending expensive brunch options.

She said: ‘I think that’s down to the fact we’re all living in the same cost of living crisis.’

As for Christmas though, Mia is going to relax her rules.

While she told her followers she would previously ‘blow her student loan’ on ‘ridiculous Christmas presents’ for her friends and family, this year she plans to be ‘mindful of asking people what they want’. 

Mia doesn’t plan to set a budget for gifts, she said: ‘As long as it’s reasonable and it’s something the people in my life genuinely want then I’m more than happy to buy it for them.’

But Mia wouldn’t recommend a no-spend year for everyone. She says: ‘I never want to advise people to do a no buy year if they’ve got dependents like children or pets, because it’s just not doable. You can’t budget your way out of poverty.’

However, she adds: ‘If you’re like me and you were just rinsing your money dry every month on frivolous things and being reckless, it’s a good way to practice restraint.’

Although Mia is not planning to continue her no-buy year into 2025, she still intends to live frugally, making purchases in ‘moderation’.

The first thing she’ll buy? ‘A better hoover and a mattress.’

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