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I failed… My £5k Budget is Gone
After 200 days of full time travel, my £5k gap year budget is all gone! I have spent every single penny having an absolutely wonderful time. Ok, so technically I failed. When I initially set this budget I wanted to make it last the entire year, including all the costs associated with my summer job as a camp counsellor. But it soon became apparent that this just wasn’t going to happen. Transportation costs between destinations were way higher than I thought they would be. I actually ended up spending nearly double the amount I’d originally allocated to this cost. I also got carried away a couple of times (especially when…
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Long Haul Budget Flights – Are They Really Worth It?
A flight across the Atlantic is a little different than a quick two hour Ryanair one to Spain so the question is are long haul budget flights worth the savings? Or are you best sticking to the big, well known brands for this type of travel? Keep reading to hear all about my experience. During my time at uni, my go to procrastination site was Skyscanner and I would immediately look up flights to NYC. Dreaming of just packing a small bag and heading out there for a weekend – 16 hours of travel for two days makes sense right?? Anyway a few years back I remember always seeing a…
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Is Kindle Unlimited Worth the Money?
On the first day of 2023, I went onto Amazon to buy an ebook for my mum (she uses my kindle account) and it was £3.49 to buy or I could get it through kindle unlimited by paying 99p for a three month membership – absolute no brainer!! So although I’d already technically saved money and got the ebook at a bargain price, being the frugal person I am, I made the absolute most of having the membership these past three months. Plus it’s really helped get me out of a reading slump I was in towards the end of 2022! Disclaimer – This post contains some affiliate links meaning…
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March Budget Update – £5k Gap Year
Already a quarter of the way through 2023 😱 Where is the time going? Absolutely insane!! But the end of another month means only one thing in the finance space – it’s time to review and reflect on the month, so here is my March budget update 😄 March has been a kinda chilled one for me, well compared to my previous months that is 😂 My big 5 month trip came to an end and I started leg 3 of my gap year, which is only going to be 6 weeks. Mostly down to visa restrictions but also because the budget is starting to look a little tight! New here? Let…
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£5k Budget Update – February 2023
Halfway through my budget gap year and I still have some money left – woohooo!!! I’m taking that as a win 😂 February has been one hell of a good month! I got to see my parents for a weekend as the couple I was housesitting for welcomed me to have guests to stay, I ticked off two new countries, got another tattoo, saw SiX again, spent quality time with some friends and had a lot of time to read on various overnight journeys – which is always a win 🙌🏻 Mind blowing that I’m at the halfway point already and I still change my mind daily on what I want…
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30 Things I Want To Do Before I Turn 30
I have always had an idea of the crazy things I want to achieve in my lifetime, but I’d never “officially” written them down or committed to achieving them in anyway. So, after being inspired by Beth’s from @budgetjonesdiary 30 before 30 list, I finally sat down and compiled one of my own. For context – I turn 30 in just over 8 years (I’ll be 22 in June ’23) so I’ve kinda gone wild with this list. I know the likeliness that I achieve all these things is low but it’s not impossible so I’m aiming high! In no particular order (simply how they came to mind) here are…
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How Much I Spent Travelling the USA for 3 Months
After years and years of dreaming about travelling the USA, I finally went and did it!! I just spent almost three months following housesits across the country and pretending to live in a bunch of different cities. It was amazing!! Disclaimer – This post contains affiliate links which means I may earn an commission if you follow them. This is at no extra cost to you <3 Where did I go, you ask? Whilst in the planning phase for this trip, I made the decision to follow wherever the housesits took me. This meant I would get free accommodation for most of the trip but it didn’t leave me a…
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£5k Budget Update – January 2023
I’m sorry but where has January gone? It feels like I’ve blinked and all of sudden it’s February 🤯 But the end of the month means only one thing in the personal finance community… It’s time to review our budgets! January was the last month of my three-month long US tour, where I have been following housesits across the country, so hopefully it’ll only get cheaper from here on out 😅 Disclaimer – This post contains affiliate links which means I may receive a commission if you use them. This is at no extra cost to you <3 New here? Let me give you a little context... I graduated from uni…
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How Much I Spent Travelling The UK For 2 Months
I took the first 72 days of my gap year slowly and spent half my time housesitting across my home country and the rest spending quality time with friends and family. My schedule was so jam packed throughout my entire last year of uni so this was a perfect way to slow down. It was also a great way to begin travelling as I never more than 3 hours away from my base incase something went wrong plus I’d never been on an extended solo trip so I wanted to do a test run in a country I am very familiar with. Housesitting in the UK took me to places…
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7 Ways To Save Money On Transportation
Alongside housing and food, transportation is often one of the top three expenses in most people’s budget. It might seem like a unavoidable cost of life that is just something you have to pay for but it there are some ways you can reduce the cost. You could easily save hundreds each year if you combine a few of these suggestions. Disclaimer: I mention TopCashback a lot in this post, they are not paying me to do so, I just genuinely think it’s a great site (which I have used for years) and cashback is something everyone needs to take advantage of. All the links to their site are from…
