Sugar Mamma has long been one of my favourite finance gurus. Her luxe life comes from embracing minimalism, an appreciation of less and understanding wealth. Her latest book 'The $1000 Dollar Project' shares her wisdom on how you can save or create $1000 each month to save towards your financial future. I decided to embrace this challenge for the month of February...
$1000! That seems like a lot of money and don't get me wrong, it is! There were so many people that seem daunted by the number as soon as I announced this challenge on Instagram. They couldn't believe that such an amount could be saved or created in one month. I had some say that $1000 seemed impossible as they were on a low income. When I first heard of this project I was dubious too, but after years of watching Sugar Mamma's Youtube channel and following her journey on how she had saved packets of $1000 each month - I knew I could do it. I am a full-time student, and I understand how difficult it is to imagine making an extra $1000 a month, but I decided to tackle the challenge with an open-mind.
I’ll be aiming to save and create $1000 this month by: 1. Going a spending ban - no clothing, beauty products or non-essentials this month 2. Providing tips and tricks on how to save money by living a zero waste life 3. Sharing creative ways to make more money I will provide an ongoing running total of the money I’ll be saving throughout the month and also side projects to create more money. I want to show you that living a zero waste life doesn’t have to be costly and in fact, you can SAVE money and put it towards your financial future.
DAY 1 - Change your money mindset.
A money miracle happened to me yesterday when I first started #the1000dollarproject challenge. My husband needed a new electric toothbrush and this would have set us back $200. As luck would have it, as soon as I posted my Instagram post about the challenge, I found a box of stuff my neighbours were throwing away. I rummaged through the box and found the EXACT same model electric toothbrush my husband currently uses!
This saved us $200, I’ll sterilise it and give it a thorough wash, and with new toothbrush heads, it’s ready to go! By setting out my intention this month, I changed my whole money mindset. I can’t wait to see if more money miracles happen this month. What a great start to the challenge!
DAY 2: Make your own moisturiser
Yep I ran out of moisturiser! Normally, I would run out to the local health food store and buy a new jar but I decided to make my own instead. Firstly, finding a vegan, cruelty-free and plastic-free moisturiser is difficult and expensive! I saw one priced for $20 at my local health food store. Secondly, it takes time and money to drive to the shops, park and buy moisturiser. I decided to save time and money by making my own. Here is my three ingredient cacao and coconut body balm that takes 10-15 minutes to make. I make two batches and it should last me months!
I saved myself $15 (ingredients were less than $5 a jar). I made a batch of two today so saved myself $30!
DAY 3: Be a tourist in your own town!
Saving money isn’t about deprivation, it’s about finding free activities to do such as visiting your local tourist sites! San Francisco weather was just perfect this weekend. I packed a zero waste lunch and began exploring the town.
Why not do the same for your own local city? Catch the train somewhere new, walk to a new neighbourhood or go for a hike around a tourist site? Get creative, get outside and find free activities! Today I’ve saved $40 as I brought my lunch for two people and didn’t spent a cent.
Total saved to date: $270
That's just the first 3 days of the #the1000DollarProject! I can't wait to see what else I accumulate over the next month!
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