My No Spend Year | Michelle McGagh | TEDxManchester

Translator: Amanda Chu Reviewer: Peter van de Ven Hi. I hope everyone had a bullet coffee, or bulletproof coffee, to keep them going until the end of the day. UM it's okay. So picture the scene: you've had a really hard day at work; you have to get something for dinner on the way home; You enter one of those mini supermarkets that are on every corner; you think, "I'll bring some of that fresh pasta and sauce"; You come in, you do your shopping; When you leave, you have spent fifteen pounds. You're not quite sure how you did it and it's really annoying.

If you've ever done that, you're not alone. That was me. I didn't have much debt, other than my mortgage. I wasn't racking up credit card purchases. I'm not a

spend

ing addict. But my money was wasting away from my account and I had nothing to show for it, so I decided to do something about it. I decided to stop

spend

ing for a

year

. But back off a little. Because it wasn't just trips to the supermarket and Tesco that made me stop spending, but it was a kind of general discontent regarding where my money was going and my role as a consumer.

And it all started when my husband and I bought a house, and it took a lot of work to fix it up. And we decided to put all our stuff in one of those really expensive storage units. And we lived in those little plastic boxes that you get from B&Q or something like that. And we had some clothes, our pots and pans and our bikes. And we're fine, you know, we're fine. We're living a good life, with a little dust in the house. And from time to time, we had to go back to the storage unit.

There were a lot of things in that storage unit. It's true that most of it was mine. And he was attacked. I couldn't even tell you what was behind it. Until one day I went there and saw a box, a big box, about this big, and on the side, in my handwriting, it said "NOT NECESSARY" in capital letters. (Laughs) It caught my attention! So why the hell did he have it? I didn't even know what was in the box and I still don't. It's long gone. And I went home and Googled a really pretty embarrassing phrase, actually.

I googled "get rid of stuff" because I needed to be told how to put things in a container or at least given permission to do so. And as Herb mentioned, all these sites came up, the minimalists, all these sites came up, these people said, "I got rid of all my stuff, and it was amazing, and I feel great, and I'm so relieved." I thought, "Yeah, "This is what I want. I don't want the big storage unit for that stuff. I want to live a life these people talk about." So my husband was all for it, probably because most of that crap was mine anyway.

We started getting rid of our things; We sold it, donated it, gave things to friends and family. And we got rid of about 80% of our possessions, and it was brilliant. And it was through these minimalist websites that I discovered "Buy Nothing Day." Now "Buy Nothing Day" falls on Black Friday, which for some reason we've imported from the US even though we don't have Thanksgiving. And instead of going out and fighting with your neighbors over cheap televisions at the supermarket or mall, you don't buy anything. You spend time with your children, read a book, go for a walk;

Whatever it is, it doesn't cost you any money. I thought, "What a brilliant idea! I bet I could do this for a

year

." So I did it. The idea of ​​a no-spending year: By stopping spending, I would force myself to live a different life and address two concerns I had. The first was that I wasn't getting the most out of my money; The shameful thing is that, by trade, I'm a financial journalist and I've spent 10 years telling everyone what to do with their money, and I wasn't really taking any responsibility for mine. The second thing was my role as a consumer.

I was really sick of that being my only purpose, to go to work eight hours to earn money and buy things that I was told would make me happy. But we're all told, "Buy this. This is what you need in your life." That didn't make me happy then, so I went back to work another eight hours to earn more money and buy different things that they later told me would make me happy. Then I was spending money to repair, insure and replace those things that didn't make me happy. So, my no-spending year started on Black Friday 2015 and there are a few rules.

So I had to pay for the things I had to pay for. I had to pay my mortgage and my water rates, my council tax. I also paid for my broadband and my cell phone because I am self-employed, otherwise I wouldn't be able to work and it really would have been a year without expenses. And I also continued to pay things like charitable contributions. And I had a very small food budget, or grocery budget, so it's three meals a day, plus very basic toiletries and basic cleaning products for the house, clothes, washing powder, things like that.

And it would be an extreme way to discover what I could do without but also what I really needed to live a happy life. And it was difficult. You know, there's no better way to put it, especially since I didn't give myself any budget for transportation, so I biked everywhere for a year and spent a lot of time looking like... like that. (Laughs) Yes, many times looking like that. But I discovered... During those 12 months, it was a real life, you know, and I learned a lot about being extremely frugal, and I still had a life. That's the surprising part.

I found many new ways to have fun, socialize, and still be the person I was before. I mean, I live in London and there are an incredible amount of free things to do on my doorstep: galleries, exhibitions, concerts, museums. Before I was too lazy to take advantage of them. By default I would go to the pub after work and go out to dinner because it's easy. And it takes a little time to find free events. But I also always spent many nights at home. Let's see if this works. This is my friend Kat and I, who is going to kill me for posting this.

This is us playing with free beauty products. We basically raided my closets to see if we could find masks and stuff like that. It's oatmeal and water, a surprisingly good exfoliant. And, you know, I didn't really consider myself that vain person before doing the challenge, but yeah, I am. Especially because I ended up having what looks like, I guess, a lizard skin because I was so windswept because I had spent so much time doing this. This was taken in Southwold, where I managed to get a free holiday. My understanding husband and I tied a tent, our sleeping bags and some food to our bikes, and we just left London and cycled towards the coast.

And we just spent a week camping on the beach, washing... well, washing... being in the sea (Laughter) and sitting under the stars. And in fact, that week was the best week I had in the entire challenge. And interestingly, something Dan said this morning in his tech talk, he didn't have my phone because he had nowhere to charge it. And it was living in the world, and it was just the best experience, so good that I was going to do it again this year, when I didn't have to. And it was so good that I actually didn't care when this happened.

Two days later I lost my shoe somewhere in Great Yarmouth, hmm. (Laughter) And that wasn't the only victim of the year. These are my jeans at the end: the saddle marks can be seen there. And I was a mess, but I was really content and happy. Although it was a good feeling, this is the first thing I bought. (laughs) It was a massive round of drinks for my friends and family and saying "thank you" for supporting me. It was a good feeling. And that night was a big celebration, you know: I had done it. People were like, "Holy shit, you can't do that!" I did it and saved a lot of money.

He had saved just over £22,000. It is a huge sum. And I didn't spend a lot, like everyone thought I would. I did something really sensible and a lot of people were like, "How boring. I can't believe you did this." I overpaid my mortgage, (Laughs) I finally listened to my own advice: I overpaid my mortgage, which means I'll pay my mortgage for fewer years, but it also means I'll pay less interest to the bank, which makes me happy. , because who likes banks. (Laughs) But it wasn't rocket science, you know? I spent less, so I saved more. Of course that would happen and it would save a lot.

Because I embarked on something ridiculously frugal. But what I didn't expect was the impact it would have on my life, my attitude, and my outlook. And during that year, I really pushed myself: I did things I wouldn't have done, I saw things I wouldn't have seen, and I met people I wouldn't have met and who have become very, very good friends. . And I have changed: I am more extroverted; I am more adventurous; I say yes more; and I know what is important to me, and I can tell you, categorically, that they are not things. I mean I used to buy probably for the same reasons as you: because I was bored, because I was happy, because I was sad, because I was treating myself, because I thought what I was buying would make me look better or more interesting or cooler or just better somehow, that somehow we could buy a better life.

And I think that lie is widespread in our kind of quick-fix culture, where advertisers tell us all the time, "Buy this. This will make you happy." And it will be like that for a while until your mood changes because you are having another bad day or because what you should buy has changed: something new has arrived. And if you don't have the money for those quick fixes, like I didn't, you'd start thinking longer term, you'd start thinking: Really, what's important to me? And that's what I'd like everyone to think about: if you have disposable income - and we have to recognize that there are people in this country who budget down to the last P50 and don't have that income - but if you do, I think you have the real responsibility to use it wisely.

Now, I'm not saying that everyone should do what I do and stop spending immediately and ride their bikes everywhere and walk around with holes in the butt of their jeans. But just think about your money. In this country we hate talking about money, for whatever reason. It's our British sensibilities; We don't like to talk about money. And I think that gives him a lot of control. I bet people in this room would rather talk to me about their sex lives than their bank balance. But what I would like you to do is start thinking about the areas where you waste money or where you don't really need to spend money.

There's probably something already on your mind. I'm not going to make everyone defend some kind of strange confession and admit what they spend their money on. I just want you to think about it and then maybe go home and take a look at your bank statements. Something simple, two or three months, just to know where your money is going. I looked at a year's worth of bank statements, which is horrible. I basically spent £400 on coffee in a year, and I don't really like coffee that much, nor do I mind it that much. (Laughter) But the thing is, if you don't know where your money goes, you can't stop it from going to those places.

And you have to ask yourself, once you've figured out where that money is going, ask yourself: Does it make me happy? But I think the hard part is really the next part, which is asking yourself: What will make me happy? What would you all love to do? Maybe it's taking the kids on an amazing safari vacation or taking a year to write a book or retraining for a new job, something Volcker says we'll all have to do anyway. Or maybe you just want to save a couple grand to ensure you have that emergency cushion that will give you some financial security.

And once you have the long-term goal, you can start to decide whether that long-term goal is worth sacrificing short-term spending or pushing that long-term goal further down the line. My long-term goal is to, very boringly, overpay my mortgage. But if I do that, if I get rid of my mortgage, that means I know I don't have to work until I'm 80, because I'll have some financial security, that I'll own my own home. home. And working towards my long-term goal makes me feel that way. So let's hope it comes up. That's what it makes me feel. So if I'm honest, no short-term spending has ever made me feel this way.

But it comes down to, you know... That comes down to sort of re-evaluating my priorities. Now, I would just ask myself one question before handing over money. I would just ask myself: Do I need this or do I just want this? And if necessary, excuse me. If it's necessary, a genuine need, then I buy it. If it's just a necessity, I put the bag back in my pocket. Because I really don't think we ask that question enough. We say, "I just need that new pair of jeans," and you have three in the closet. It's a really simple question, but it has a big impact.

But it all comes down to your priorities. I can't tell you where to stop spending money or what to spend it on. But it's about deciding if you want the short-term thrill that you'll get, if you're willing to give up the short-term thrill of the new shoes or the new phone to achieve a longer-term goal that could actually make a real impact on you. your life, which could be a real achievement for you or change your life completely. I can tell you what makes you feel this way. I can tell you which one will last longer.

We can all take on theresponsibility for our future, for our money and for our own happiness. The only thing I can tell you is that this happiness cannot be bought in a store. Thanks for listening. (Applause) (Greetings)