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The No Spend Year: How I spent less and lived more
Michelle McGagh has been writing about money for over a decade. You'd think that would make her a whizz with her own cash, right? Wrong!
Spending with abandon and ignoring bank statements were her modus operandi. Just because she wasn't in serious debt, apart from her massive London mortgage, she thought she was in control. She wasn't.
Something needed to be done but rather than cut back here and there, Michelle's approach was more radical. She set herself a challenge to not spend anything for an entire year. She pays her bills and she has a minimal budget for her weekly groceries and household essentials but otherwise Michelle doesn't spend any money at all. She is finding creative ways to get the things she needs, to travel and to still be able to enjoy her time. Not only has she saved money but she is happier: no longer feeling the desire to buy things all the time or feeling the pressure of being sold to. Her relationship with money, with things, with time, with others has changed for the better.
The No Spend Year is Michelle's honestly written and personal account of her challenge. But it is more than that, it is also a tool for life that will help you get to grips with your own financial situation. She talks about money in an accessible, unintimidating and often entertaining way and interspersed throughout are really brilliant personal finance tips and life hacks about interest, mortgages, savings , pensions and spending less to help you live a more financially secure life too.
Spending with abandon and ignoring bank statements were her modus operandi. Just because she wasn't in serious debt, apart from her massive London mortgage, she thought she was in control. She wasn't.
Something needed to be done but rather than cut back here and there, Michelle's approach was more radical. She set herself a challenge to not spend anything for an entire year. She pays her bills and she has a minimal budget for her weekly groceries and household essentials but otherwise Michelle doesn't spend any money at all. She is finding creative ways to get the things she needs, to travel and to still be able to enjoy her time. Not only has she saved money but she is happier: no longer feeling the desire to buy things all the time or feeling the pressure of being sold to. Her relationship with money, with things, with time, with others has changed for the better.
The No Spend Year is Michelle's honestly written and personal account of her challenge. But it is more than that, it is also a tool for life that will help you get to grips with your own financial situation. She talks about money in an accessible, unintimidating and often entertaining way and interspersed throughout are really brilliant personal finance tips and life hacks about interest, mortgages, savings , pensions and spending less to help you live a more financially secure life too.
208 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 155 reviews
July 11, 2017
I don't mean to be picky - OK, I do, really I do - but there's a world of difference between 'How I spent less and lived more' and 'How you can spend less and live more'. It's like the difference between buying a book of somebody's heroic attempt to climb Everest or buying a book telling YOU how to climb Everest. They are not the same thing.
The cover picture identifies the book as being 'I' - yet if you now read the listing on Amazon (where I bought the Kindle for 99p), the cover still says 'I' but the listing says 'you'. And I'm pretty miffed about that.
I don't NEED to know how to save money. I'm tighter than a duck's butt when I need to be, I have a mortgage I could pay off tomorrow and I have a lot of savings, carefully salted away. I was not looking for advice - quite frankly, I could GIVE this so-called Personal Finance Journalist a few lessons - I was looking for her personal experience of taking on a life-changing challenge. It really wouldn't have mattered what the challenge was if she learned useful things along the way and inspired me in the process.
To write meaningful and valuable personal experience, a person has to be willing to share and I just didn't get that from this book. Personal insights were few and far between. Where were the (to be expected) tales of crying over a bottle of spilt milk or insane cravings for a forbidden bottle or prosecco or bar of chocolate? Nothing. Just our sad protagonist clutching a pint of tap water in the pub with her friends. Honestly, I would be ashamed to do that - the pub trade isn't there to give away free water, it's there to make a living.
If you've got a big house (one with a bigger mortgage than you can really afford) and that big house is full of handy things - a decent bicycle and lots of camping gear and a few months worth of nice toiletries - it's not really as if you're a single mother living on benefits and wondering where the next loaf of economy white sliced is going to come from. If you're a well-connected blogger/tweeter whose followers will pop a pair of brake blocks in the post for you when you're on the verge of killing yourself on the streets of London, you've got quite an advantage over lots of people.
I should stress that I wasn't looking for 'poverty tourism' and I'd have been quite happy with a tale of middle-class experimentation, IF that had been what we'd got and if there had been a bit more honesty and sharing of how the author 'felt'. Where were the handy tips on cooking on a budget, what DID she eat (at the back it lists the spending and I wondered WHY does somebody on an economy drive BUY pre-made hummus), how did she cope with the boredom of the same food every day? Did she turn down the heating, wear a couple of extra woollies? I have no idea because she doesn't tell us. How is it possible that a whole year of experience produced a book that's 50% 'financial advice' and still barely tops 200 pages. If a year of my life only made up around 100 pages of a book, I'd be holding back far too much - and I don't even have a particularly interesting life.
What I definitely didn't want, didn't appreciate, and didn't realise I was wasting 99p on, was a load of poor, simplistic financial advice from somebody who seemed to know all the theory but hadn't put it into practice. Mortgages for Dummies. How interest works. Why you should pay off your debt before you start saving. Come on, that's not 'How I spent less and lived more'. I bought a lemon.
It has been suggested by other reviewers that the book is too Anglo-centric. I'd challenge that and say it's completely LONDON-centric and really only useful to people who, like her, are self-employed, have no kids, can work from home, don't have to buy 'office' clothes, can get to where they need to go on a bike, and can take advantage of all the 'free stuff' (parks, museums, gym equipment in the park, that sort of thing) that's available in the capital.
I can afford to waste 99p. If you can't, I'd recommend not to bother with this, but to go and check out the advice on Martin Lewis's 'Moneysavingexpert' website instead.
The cover picture identifies the book as being 'I' - yet if you now read the listing on Amazon (where I bought the Kindle for 99p), the cover still says 'I' but the listing says 'you'. And I'm pretty miffed about that.
I don't NEED to know how to save money. I'm tighter than a duck's butt when I need to be, I have a mortgage I could pay off tomorrow and I have a lot of savings, carefully salted away. I was not looking for advice - quite frankly, I could GIVE this so-called Personal Finance Journalist a few lessons - I was looking for her personal experience of taking on a life-changing challenge. It really wouldn't have mattered what the challenge was if she learned useful things along the way and inspired me in the process.
To write meaningful and valuable personal experience, a person has to be willing to share and I just didn't get that from this book. Personal insights were few and far between. Where were the (to be expected) tales of crying over a bottle of spilt milk or insane cravings for a forbidden bottle or prosecco or bar of chocolate? Nothing. Just our sad protagonist clutching a pint of tap water in the pub with her friends. Honestly, I would be ashamed to do that - the pub trade isn't there to give away free water, it's there to make a living.
If you've got a big house (one with a bigger mortgage than you can really afford) and that big house is full of handy things - a decent bicycle and lots of camping gear and a few months worth of nice toiletries - it's not really as if you're a single mother living on benefits and wondering where the next loaf of economy white sliced is going to come from. If you're a well-connected blogger/tweeter whose followers will pop a pair of brake blocks in the post for you when you're on the verge of killing yourself on the streets of London, you've got quite an advantage over lots of people.
I should stress that I wasn't looking for 'poverty tourism' and I'd have been quite happy with a tale of middle-class experimentation, IF that had been what we'd got and if there had been a bit more honesty and sharing of how the author 'felt'. Where were the handy tips on cooking on a budget, what DID she eat (at the back it lists the spending and I wondered WHY does somebody on an economy drive BUY pre-made hummus), how did she cope with the boredom of the same food every day? Did she turn down the heating, wear a couple of extra woollies? I have no idea because she doesn't tell us. How is it possible that a whole year of experience produced a book that's 50% 'financial advice' and still barely tops 200 pages. If a year of my life only made up around 100 pages of a book, I'd be holding back far too much - and I don't even have a particularly interesting life.
What I definitely didn't want, didn't appreciate, and didn't realise I was wasting 99p on, was a load of poor, simplistic financial advice from somebody who seemed to know all the theory but hadn't put it into practice. Mortgages for Dummies. How interest works. Why you should pay off your debt before you start saving. Come on, that's not 'How I spent less and lived more'. I bought a lemon.
It has been suggested by other reviewers that the book is too Anglo-centric. I'd challenge that and say it's completely LONDON-centric and really only useful to people who, like her, are self-employed, have no kids, can work from home, don't have to buy 'office' clothes, can get to where they need to go on a bike, and can take advantage of all the 'free stuff' (parks, museums, gym equipment in the park, that sort of thing) that's available in the capital.
I can afford to waste 99p. If you can't, I'd recommend not to bother with this, but to go and check out the advice on Martin Lewis's 'Moneysavingexpert' website instead.
January 30, 2021
I’m not sure how much of my problem with ’The No Spend Year’ is down to the book, and how much is down to me, the situation in which I live and am reading from. I do not think the author is at all a bad person - or making a mockery of poverty, as it seems some folks suggested to her. I get where Michelle is coming from, what she’s trying to do, and that she can only live in and speak from her reality, too. She really pushed herself to the limits and achieved things to be immensely proud of in her no spend year.
But from almost the very start of the book, I felt... alienated isn’t quite the right word, but something like it.
When setting the rules for her year, the outgoings that Michelle considered absolutely necessary - mortgage, bills and such - added up to considerably more than my total yearly income. By all accounts, her outgoings seem pretty standard, and I am not attacking her for them, or suggesting she should feel bad! The fact of the matter is, though, that Michelle - like nearly all those writing about scrimping, saving, ditching consumerism, etc - is starting off from a place of significant privilege.
Everything beyond Michelle’s non-negotiable payments was considered up for scrutiny and cutback - but these things were already beyond my reach, her necessities costing more than my income. And this just got ground in: as a disabled person, I can’t choose to bike everywhere. There are no takeaway coffees for me to stop buying. I don’t have wealthy friends who can let me camp in their giant back gardens. And so on.
Then there were times when I felt Michelle was insisting too hard on sticking absolutely to the challenge when it made no sense - if it made her ill, overly inconvenienced others, was unfair or counter-productive. Get a train ticket instead of cycling 200 miles with a cold in the rain. Go to a pub or restaurant with an offer/voucher you can use every now and then, instead of insisting your friends join you on free, sometimes awkward, usually outdoor ventures they may not have time to travel to or be physically up for. Put a few quid in the bucket at the ‘pay what you can’ comedy night. Buy some better deodorant instead of ruining all your tops because the cheap one isn’t up to scratch, or some hair dye instead of begging some from strangers on Twitter. You know? Sometimes it did feel a bit much. There are people who genuinely can’t afford these basics, and I feel this is the point where this kind of frugality can become problematic.
I really don’t mean to sound bitter, or vilify Michelle. She did what worked for her and her life. But while she went above and beyond to try and overpay as much of her mortgage as possible - and good for her, go for it - the idea of even being able to rent somewhere is beyond my circumstances. But I know I have my own privileges that others lack, too.
There is a stark difference between cutting back to save or loosen the stranglehold of consumerism, and having nothing left to cut back to get by or - God forbid - allow you to live rather than exist on a low income. This seems lost on the mainstream money talkers, whether they’re financial advisors or apparent minimalists.
Just like I couldn’t push myself to bike around if I wanted to, I can’t make there be enough money in my life for this book to be of much help to me. The between-chapter idents about things like savings accounts, investments and credit scores were informative and well-pitched, and Michelle’s writing style is sunny and easy to take in. ‘The No Spend Year’ simply wasn’t the book I was looking for, and that may well be both its fault and mine.
But from almost the very start of the book, I felt... alienated isn’t quite the right word, but something like it.
When setting the rules for her year, the outgoings that Michelle considered absolutely necessary - mortgage, bills and such - added up to considerably more than my total yearly income. By all accounts, her outgoings seem pretty standard, and I am not attacking her for them, or suggesting she should feel bad! The fact of the matter is, though, that Michelle - like nearly all those writing about scrimping, saving, ditching consumerism, etc - is starting off from a place of significant privilege.
Everything beyond Michelle’s non-negotiable payments was considered up for scrutiny and cutback - but these things were already beyond my reach, her necessities costing more than my income. And this just got ground in: as a disabled person, I can’t choose to bike everywhere. There are no takeaway coffees for me to stop buying. I don’t have wealthy friends who can let me camp in their giant back gardens. And so on.
Then there were times when I felt Michelle was insisting too hard on sticking absolutely to the challenge when it made no sense - if it made her ill, overly inconvenienced others, was unfair or counter-productive. Get a train ticket instead of cycling 200 miles with a cold in the rain. Go to a pub or restaurant with an offer/voucher you can use every now and then, instead of insisting your friends join you on free, sometimes awkward, usually outdoor ventures they may not have time to travel to or be physically up for. Put a few quid in the bucket at the ‘pay what you can’ comedy night. Buy some better deodorant instead of ruining all your tops because the cheap one isn’t up to scratch, or some hair dye instead of begging some from strangers on Twitter. You know? Sometimes it did feel a bit much. There are people who genuinely can’t afford these basics, and I feel this is the point where this kind of frugality can become problematic.
I really don’t mean to sound bitter, or vilify Michelle. She did what worked for her and her life. But while she went above and beyond to try and overpay as much of her mortgage as possible - and good for her, go for it - the idea of even being able to rent somewhere is beyond my circumstances. But I know I have my own privileges that others lack, too.
There is a stark difference between cutting back to save or loosen the stranglehold of consumerism, and having nothing left to cut back to get by or - God forbid - allow you to live rather than exist on a low income. This seems lost on the mainstream money talkers, whether they’re financial advisors or apparent minimalists.
Just like I couldn’t push myself to bike around if I wanted to, I can’t make there be enough money in my life for this book to be of much help to me. The between-chapter idents about things like savings accounts, investments and credit scores were informative and well-pitched, and Michelle’s writing style is sunny and easy to take in. ‘The No Spend Year’ simply wasn’t the book I was looking for, and that may well be both its fault and mine.
March 20, 2017
McGagh is a “freelance personal finance journalist” who lives with her husband in London. It’s impossible to spend nothing, of course, but for one year (November 2015 to November 2016) she minimized non-essential spending. She still paid her mortgage, household bills, and just over £30 a week on shopping for toiletries, household goods and vegetarian food. But transportation, travel, gifts, clothing, most entertainment, meals out and beauty supplies had to go by the wayside. The author mostly dealt with this by cycling everywhere, even a few counties away for a free camping holiday. (Or she went on social media and moaned enough that people sent her things, like hair dye and supplies to repair her bike.)
Luckily, McGagh doesn’t come across as too self-righteous, but for a thrifty reader like myself who is already always on the lookout for bargains and free activities, so many of her suggestions seemed like old hat. How much you get out of this book will really depend on how profligate you are with money to begin with. The writing is functional and in no way distinguished. Examples: “In September 2013 me and my husband Frank sold our house and moved twenty doors down the road to a bigger house”; “There is a huge amount of resources out there when it comes to cheap recipes”; and “I can honestly say that switching to vinegar as a cleaning product is one of my most exciting money-saving tips (I live an exciting life, I know!). I can’t stop recommending it to people.”
Luckily, McGagh doesn’t come across as too self-righteous, but for a thrifty reader like myself who is already always on the lookout for bargains and free activities, so many of her suggestions seemed like old hat. How much you get out of this book will really depend on how profligate you are with money to begin with. The writing is functional and in no way distinguished. Examples: “In September 2013 me and my husband Frank sold our house and moved twenty doors down the road to a bigger house”; “There is a huge amount of resources out there when it comes to cheap recipes”; and “I can honestly say that switching to vinegar as a cleaning product is one of my most exciting money-saving tips (I live an exciting life, I know!). I can’t stop recommending it to people.”
July 9, 2017
Interesting to see the effects, particularly socially, of not spending for a year.
Random, not well ordered criticisms: It was odd that environmental concerns barely rated a mention, seeing that that is one of the disadvantages to consumerism, not much in it that was new (some frightfully not new), financials were very basic, beauty section glosses over home methods rather quickly, and there are better words to use than "boring". And what is wrong with cataloguing your spending for reference, particularly if you are in a personal challenge? Pretty sure it doesn't make you a "loser". That goes beyond self deprecatory. Also, it is a little contradictory to call bullshit on social media two paragraphs after thanking people that helped you get hair dye through Twitter. Just sayin.
Finally, for the love of god, re-edit this book.
Random, not well ordered criticisms: It was odd that environmental concerns barely rated a mention, seeing that that is one of the disadvantages to consumerism, not much in it that was new (some frightfully not new), financials were very basic, beauty section glosses over home methods rather quickly, and there are better words to use than "boring". And what is wrong with cataloguing your spending for reference, particularly if you are in a personal challenge? Pretty sure it doesn't make you a "loser". That goes beyond self deprecatory. Also, it is a little contradictory to call bullshit on social media two paragraphs after thanking people that helped you get hair dye through Twitter. Just sayin.
Finally, for the love of god, re-edit this book.
December 14, 2022
I really did not enjoy reading this and the further along I got the more I found it problematic. The basic premise is one woman decides to not spend money in one year. This was the first bit that I found frustrating as the title isn’t exactly accurate. Instead of ‘no spending’, the author aims to reduce spending and limit any unnecessary spending and/or privileges (as an aside if you’d like to read a book about someone who spends nothing on food for a year and forages their own I highly recommend ‘The Wilderness Cure’ by Mo Wilde).
The second part of the book that I found difficult was that the author is very wealthy and privileged yet doesn’t really seem to realise it. If the book had just been about her personal experiences of spending less and how she personally felt about this, this would probably be fine. Unfortunately she instead uses it as a self-help guide and preaches to the reader in ways they too should save money. For anyone who has lived with a limited income most, if not all, of these will be obvious and well known and often still unaffordable.
Other bits of advice such as saving six months worth of bills in a fund, or at least three, I think for a large majority of people is impossible- I mean try telling someone on Universal Credit to do that?! These really are tips for people who are very well off. Another section in the book she talks how most people would dismiss a ‘£3’ lunch deal as not much money- again I think most people I know would beg to differ. Finally, and on a smaller note, why her recipe ideas might seem great in her calculations there was no price consideration for the energy to cook and store this food and also all the outward costs of having equipment to do all this.
I have absolutely no doubt the author meant well and for people of a certain class and living in London (the book and things mentioned are often quite specific to this city’s location), these tips may be helpful. However for the vast majority listening to the amounts the author previously spent on food, drinks and going out may seem eye watering and all a complete world away from their own lives.
If you want tips about saving money and managing with little there are definitely better resources out there (Jack Monroe’s cookbooks are fab). If you want to know what it’s like to live with limited resources it would probably be better to hear the reality from those who have this year on year rather than a twelve month experiment.
This is a pretty messy review as I just felt myself feeling a mixture of irritation, frustration and bewilderment reading this. For some people it may be a great read yet for me it really missed the mark.
The second part of the book that I found difficult was that the author is very wealthy and privileged yet doesn’t really seem to realise it. If the book had just been about her personal experiences of spending less and how she personally felt about this, this would probably be fine. Unfortunately she instead uses it as a self-help guide and preaches to the reader in ways they too should save money. For anyone who has lived with a limited income most, if not all, of these will be obvious and well known and often still unaffordable.
Other bits of advice such as saving six months worth of bills in a fund, or at least three, I think for a large majority of people is impossible- I mean try telling someone on Universal Credit to do that?! These really are tips for people who are very well off. Another section in the book she talks how most people would dismiss a ‘£3’ lunch deal as not much money- again I think most people I know would beg to differ. Finally, and on a smaller note, why her recipe ideas might seem great in her calculations there was no price consideration for the energy to cook and store this food and also all the outward costs of having equipment to do all this.
I have absolutely no doubt the author meant well and for people of a certain class and living in London (the book and things mentioned are often quite specific to this city’s location), these tips may be helpful. However for the vast majority listening to the amounts the author previously spent on food, drinks and going out may seem eye watering and all a complete world away from their own lives.
If you want tips about saving money and managing with little there are definitely better resources out there (Jack Monroe’s cookbooks are fab). If you want to know what it’s like to live with limited resources it would probably be better to hear the reality from those who have this year on year rather than a twelve month experiment.
This is a pretty messy review as I just felt myself feeling a mixture of irritation, frustration and bewilderment reading this. For some people it may be a great read yet for me it really missed the mark.
February 6, 2017
W32.
I listened to this as a free Audible trial book. Interesting but pretty obvious and a lot of parts were completely irrelevant to those living outside the UK. I prefer 'Frugal Hedonism'.
I listened to this as a free Audible trial book. Interesting but pretty obvious and a lot of parts were completely irrelevant to those living outside the UK. I prefer 'Frugal Hedonism'.
December 24, 2019
This was an okay read. I'm reading a few things at the moment on saving money in an effort to save money and live more frugally and there are some useful tidbits in here, but for me it mainly highlighted that I need to think more about wants, rather than needs. It also emphasises how we are trained to consume and how much of it really is useless tat. I did skim some bits that weren't at all relevant to my situation and even though the author has a very different lifestyle to my own (and as has been mentioned before, it's very London-centric) it was worth a read. Also saved money by borrowing for free from my local library!
SUPPORT YOUR LIBRARY!
SUPPORT YOUR LIBRARY!
July 16, 2022
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! What a challenge! To spend nothing for an entire year! No clothes, no gig tickets, no nights out, no drink, nothing! Only the bare essentials - mortgage, electric etc.
This really made me think about my own spending - the coffees here and there, the magazines, the clothes hanging in my wardrobe with the label still on them! (Naughty).
Listening to her challenge at first, I thought omg she is so obsessive about it. I mean, rubbing olive oil on your face instead of buying moisturiser is something I really couldn't do. Using white vinegar to clean the bath which leaves your house smelling like a fish & chip shop is taking it a bit too far.
I would have liked to hear more about her husband's perspective on the whole thing. But I'm assuming he's a minimalist like her and was probably overjoyed that she wasn't wasting loads of their cash on clothes, beauty products and spa days. However when she said she stank a bit on a cycling holiday and was embarrassed about her appearance, I thought the challenge was much too extreme.
All in all though, it has really made me think about how I spend my pennies and I have recommended this book to several people which makes me place this book easily among my 5 star pile.
Bravo!
This really made me think about my own spending - the coffees here and there, the magazines, the clothes hanging in my wardrobe with the label still on them! (Naughty).
Listening to her challenge at first, I thought omg she is so obsessive about it. I mean, rubbing olive oil on your face instead of buying moisturiser is something I really couldn't do. Using white vinegar to clean the bath which leaves your house smelling like a fish & chip shop is taking it a bit too far.
I would have liked to hear more about her husband's perspective on the whole thing. But I'm assuming he's a minimalist like her and was probably overjoyed that she wasn't wasting loads of their cash on clothes, beauty products and spa days. However when she said she stank a bit on a cycling holiday and was embarrassed about her appearance, I thought the challenge was much too extreme.
All in all though, it has really made me think about how I spend my pennies and I have recommended this book to several people which makes me place this book easily among my 5 star pile.
Bravo!
January 17, 2019
If you have more money than sense, live a middle class life with holidays, taxis and restaurant meals this might be useful. If you already take a packed lunch to work, don’t live in London and pay your credit card bill in full every month, you will probably find this smug and annoying. Is it wrong of me to be kind of glad at the points she was miserable?
November 21, 2019
I’m considering a no-spend in 2020, so I reread for revision’s sake.
March 11, 2024
I'm not sure why the negative, one and two star reviews of this book. The author does a great job of sharing her year of not spending, talking about the choices she made, and offering bits of financial advice to consider along the way. I thoroughly enjoyed her story, was encouraged in my own steps that I've been taking this direction, and am now wondering if I can convince my family to try it for a month with me. 😏
Heads up: she's British, so everything is in £ rather than $, and the tax and investing advice is specific to the U.K., but as I often dream of moving there one day, even that wasn't a put off for me.
She also throws words like "bulls**t" from time to time, so you have been warned.
Heads up: she's British, so everything is in £ rather than $, and the tax and investing advice is specific to the U.K., but as I often dream of moving there one day, even that wasn't a put off for me.
She also throws words like "bulls**t" from time to time, so you have been warned.
January 5, 2020
Много ми хареса!
Мишел кратко, точно и ясно разказва за годината, която прекарва в упорито пестене на пари, и дава полезни съвети, придобити най-често от проба-грешка сценарии.
Имайки се предвид в колко консуматорско общество живеем, тази книга беше определено глътка свеж въздух. Ако трябва да съм напълно честна, не мисля, че бих могла чак толкова екстремно да не купувам нищо освен храна като нея, но със сигурност почерпих много вдъхновение и ценни съвети за това как да пестя и харча по-разумно.
Препоръчвам!
Мишел кратко, точно и ясно разказва за годината, която прекарва в упорито пестене на пари, и дава полезни съвети, придобити най-често от проба-грешка сценарии.
Имайки се предвид в колко консуматорско общество живеем, тази книга беше определено глътка свеж въздух. Ако трябва да съм напълно честна, не мисля, че бих могла чак толкова екстремно да не купувам нищо освен храна като нея, но със сигурност почерпих много вдъхновение и ценни съвети за това как да пестя и харча по-разумно.
Препоръчвам!
July 23, 2017
The No Spend Year is a short and interesting read about how a middle-class Londoner spent a year spending only on necessities, and managed to pay off a chunk of her mortgage with the proceeds. It was semi-inspirational, although I definitely couldn’t take things to McGagh’s extent. She notes that she didn’t class deodorant or antiperspirant as essentials, and had to throw out most of her clothes at the end of the year due to ingrained BO. Yuck.
Still, I picked up a few good tips on batch-cooking, and using vinegar as a cleaning agent. A lot of what she was able to do entertainment-wise was purely as a result of living in the capital, and would be very hard to translate to more rural areas.
Oddly, the sections of the book I enjoyed most were those not promised by the title. In between recollections of her year, McGagh breaks down the basics on pensions, ISAs, stocks and shares, bonds, mortgages, etc. - basically most financial products that I should understand at the age of thirty, but still really benefitted from having explained in simple terms.
I think McGagh could easily base a whole book around this concept as long as it was packaged right - Finances for Dummies or similar. For those who aren’t as shamefully financially ignorant as myself, I can imagine that these sections may have come across as surplus to requirements.
So i’s a mixed bag of a book, but it only took an evening to read, and it’s got me looking seriously at my finances which is no bad thing!
[Review originally published on my blog at Line After Line.]
Still, I picked up a few good tips on batch-cooking, and using vinegar as a cleaning agent. A lot of what she was able to do entertainment-wise was purely as a result of living in the capital, and would be very hard to translate to more rural areas.
Oddly, the sections of the book I enjoyed most were those not promised by the title. In between recollections of her year, McGagh breaks down the basics on pensions, ISAs, stocks and shares, bonds, mortgages, etc. - basically most financial products that I should understand at the age of thirty, but still really benefitted from having explained in simple terms.
I think McGagh could easily base a whole book around this concept as long as it was packaged right - Finances for Dummies or similar. For those who aren’t as shamefully financially ignorant as myself, I can imagine that these sections may have come across as surplus to requirements.
So i’s a mixed bag of a book, but it only took an evening to read, and it’s got me looking seriously at my finances which is no bad thing!
[Review originally published on my blog at Line After Line.]
April 28, 2020
"I had bought things to tell people a story about who I was or who I wanted them to think I was."
Finally writing this review a few months late as now, with either potential or realized layoffs looming over a lot of people's lives, seems as good as time as ever to reflect on Michelle Mcgagh's advice for spending less and living more.
I was first introduced to Michelle Mcgagh's journey thanks to the lovely YouTube algorithm, which recommended her TedxManchester Talk on her No Spend Year from 2017 to me for months and months and months, until I finally caved / was ready to watch it in Fall 2019. And wow, was I glad that the YT godz (aka money, power, greed, and a sinfully small sliver of creativity) brought this to my attention. Michelle is an articulate speaker and I enjoyed listening to her ups and downs with not spending for a full year. I also appreciated the reminder in my own life of what money is really and what it means to refuse to consume with it, to exit the endless cycle of work to consume.
So, naturally, when I found out she had written this book, a book that promised to disclose even MORE about her no spend story, I wanted to read it. (And here I want to give a special shout out to the dear libraries I miss more than most human beings during this quarantine for finding me a copy of this book, months after I requested it (and nearly given up on it entirely) from another library in Iowa. thank you, libraries!!!! <3) However, while the book had a lot of nerdy detail, which I'm here for, it feel a bit short of what I thought the book was actually going to be about and didn't offer too much personal insights or nuance to the conversation at large.
Pros: like her Ted Talk, this is thought-provoking content, especially if you are newer to reading anything related to personal finances. She gives her experience with tidbits about finances along the way in a nice, short structure. She also shares recipes and grocery lists down the the last P. I love this detail. I also appreciated the reminders to buy in bulk, that meals should be primarily seen as fuel, and compound interest is my friend. I also enjoyed her splash into wild swimming and camping and heart warming little adventures.
Also, while many see this as a con in other reviews, I appreciate the local(e) focus. She's writing this as someone who lives in London, so a lot of the recommendations are very specific to her life. She's writing what she knows and has experienced. And enjoyed learning about that and thinking about ways that I could find similar organizations she references or incorporating even the smallest changes in my life in suburbia to be more economical.
Cons, previously mentioned and analyzed more below: not personal enough meaning we really don't get a narrative of her emotional ups and downs. They were some brief mentions, but I could've really used a chapter called "And this is when I broke down" to build some emotional connection. Also some small trivial grievances were how often she reminded us that she's cycling everywhere and that she's a veg (we get it).
Some "the conversation at large" context: I'm no stranger to this topic of minimal money. If you've followed my reading history or know me at all, you know that I researched how and worked extremely hard to pay somewhere over the black rainbow range of $90K in student debt in August 2018 over the course of 7 years (college debt begun in 2007; didn't actualize until Nov 2011).
I wouldn't call myself an expert, but I've read countless blogs and books on the topic, starting with Anna Newell Jones's And Then We Saved in 2012 and so many others thereafter. While Anna Newell Jones was my entry point into money management (and taking her advice to create a needs and wants list, which is super simplistic and likely obvious to many who were raised with healthy relationships with money, changed my whole perspective on my personal finances for the better), almost anyone out there can find an equally similar entry point into personal finance management through a number of known sources like Dave Ramsey, The Financial Diet, Ramit Sethi's I Will Teach You to Be Rich, etc, etc, etc.
I write that to say, with so much already going on in this ongoing dialogue, I felt Michelle had the unique take of actually putting her money where her mouth is (she's a full time freelancer ' financial journalist), and was somewhat let down by the author's lack of vulnerability and introspection. Barbara, the top reviewer of this book, summarizes my thoughts on the lack of details in this book well.
~~~~~~
If you're really into this topic, like I am, and want more overtly personal views of what it means to not spend for a year, and don't mind watching YouTube over reading a book, I recommend the following channels:
* The Personal Philosophy's channel - Cinzia is amazing!!!! She's a brilliant writer living in Scotland who shares a lot of personal details about herself, as well as some cool book recommendations, while living a no-buy lifestyle on a true bootstrap. Highly recommend her to literally almost anyone who asks.
* Lara Joanna Jarvis' 2019 No Spend Year - also in the U.K. (what is with me? lol), Lara documents her journey spending no money so that she and her family can by their first home. She talks a lot about the property ladder, which is interesting to hear about as an American. Most importantly though, she has kids, which Michelle, Cinthia, and Hannah (below) do not, and offers her perspective on raising a family on less in the modern materialistic culture we live in.
* Hannah Louise Poston's 2018 No-Buy Year - she does a no-buy only for beauty (hair, skincare, and makeup) for 2018 and documents her struggles in monthly check-ins. I find the most beneficial content to be her end of 2018 wrap-ups like 'How My No-Buy Year Changed My Life' and 'My No-Buy Year By The Numbers.' Note: she still spends A LOT of money during 2018 and may not be everyone's cup of tea, and everything she does is pretty much garbage come mid-2019 as she hit a bit of micro-"influencer" fame which waters down her message, but her first year is still great and helped me emotionally tackle issues revolving around how money and beauty intersect.
March 14, 2023
The prices in this book were a bit laughable compared to today's prices on food in Canada - I find it a bit hard to relate when the author talked about buying anything in the grocery store for less than a dollar... otherwise was a nice cheerful read on the author's experience not spending money for a year. Some decent tips!
February 9, 2020
An interesting little book with some great ideas on how to spend less and money and invest what you do have more productively.
July 24, 2023
So interesting and enlightening- a really thought-provoking and useful book and written in a really easy to read style.
Read
June 30, 2024Lacks depth, would be better as a series of blog posts
February 13, 2020
varbūt traucēja tas, ka pēdējā gada laikā pastiprināti interesējos kā samazināt tēriņus dzīvē, attiecīgi šeit dotās metodes man likās jau dzirdētas un neoriģinālas. taču šis diezgan ekstrēms veids, kā izvēlēties dzīvot savu dzīvi - kaut vai tik gadu.
May 13, 2018
I feel a bit short changed as my copy of this book was subtitled "How I spent less and lived more" meaning it is supposed to be more about a personal experience and it feels at least a third, help with your finances!
I did find the personal stuff she included interesting, and some of her advice will have helped others, which is why I gave this book three stars.
I would recommend this to anyone who wants to find out more about mortgages before getting one, or needs advice on whether to "overpay" their mortgage or save any extra cash they might have. Particularly if they are fit and live in a thriving city :)
I did find the personal stuff she included interesting, and some of her advice will have helped others, which is why I gave this book three stars.
I would recommend this to anyone who wants to find out more about mortgages before getting one, or needs advice on whether to "overpay" their mortgage or save any extra cash they might have. Particularly if they are fit and live in a thriving city :)
March 24, 2019
Could I do this?
I know myself well enough to say a resounding no to that question. I do need Michelle's tips in some areas of my life though or I'll be broke before the retirement ends.
Michelle gives advice that, while UK-centric, applies universally. It is also advice which do down, most of us already know. Having done the heavy lifting, now I need to follow her example and apply some rules to sections of my life and increase the happiness factor.
I know myself well enough to say a resounding no to that question. I do need Michelle's tips in some areas of my life though or I'll be broke before the retirement ends.
Michelle gives advice that, while UK-centric, applies universally. It is also advice which do down, most of us already know. Having done the heavy lifting, now I need to follow her example and apply some rules to sections of my life and increase the happiness factor.
October 25, 2017
Michelle is a freelance finance journalist living in London who realised one day that her profession did not really make her an expert with managing her own finances. Embarrassed and disappointed with living life king-size, she decided to live an entire year without spending anything. Yes, that is right - not spending a single penny except for essentials. She paid her mortgage, household bills, and a little over £30 a week for essential toiletries, household goods and groceries.
What went out of the window - conventional entertainment, travel, beauty regimen, gifts, shopping, partying, drinking - pretty much everything.
I read Michelle's article about her no-spend year challenge long back in a newspaper column and I was impressed that she lived a whole year on a weekly grocery bill of £30. I was inspired enough to set a no-spend challenge on apparel for my family (successfully in the fag end of its 10th month which is increasingly getting creative!) but when I saw her book on Kindle for 99p I thought of giving it a go. I guess it would be more relevant to people who would like information on mortgages, tax-planning, investments and planning for a retired life as Michelle touches upon all this in the book. I skimmed through all of this as there frankly wasn't anything to learn or adopt( mainly because she gives very basic general information) but the 2 reasons I picked this book was to see how far she went to keep up the challenge and to pick up tips on travel and entertainment without burning a hole in your pocket. And I wasn't disappointed on both counts.
Michelle has given a number of ideas on how to have a fun day in the expensive city of London if you are ready to be a little creative and get outdoors on your feet. I enjoyed reading these and aim to experience the life a bit with my family and hopefully, inspire in my children the spirit of enjoying the outdoors in rain, wind, sun or cold. But what really blew my mind away is that Michelle lived an entire year with a zero budget for travelling! Everyday travelling!! She has earned my respect for keeping up with it the whole year in spite of all the problems she faced (lost and torn shoes, hundreds of miles cycling and walking - even to the countryside for a holiday, turning up for client meetings with sweaty and smelly underarms, late for meetings, giving up some parties etc). I can't imagine living a whole year like that, its probably insane, I wouldn't do it, but that doesn't take away the commitment Michelle shows for her cause. Admirable.
Another thing that comes out of this book is that if you are committed to a cause, however insane it might seem to others, people who care for you and love you will root for your success in whatever you choose to do. Michelle's husband, family, friends and colleagues have all played an important role in her life in the no-spend year and rooted for her, even though they did not adopt her lifestyle. Michelle is humble in thanking all those who stuck by her and made her difficult year worth it.
This book is not path breaking, nor is it a literary delight. Not very engaging either, but what it does is give you and me something to think about. I have always thought that it is great to know that you can afford quite a bit of things in life, but it is even more satisfying to know that you can make do with much lesser. I would rather that I teach my kids to distinguish between needs and wants from the beginning than berate them about it later when you see them taking their life for granted. It is horrifying to know that when I compare the 8 year old self from yesterday with my 8-year old child today, I realise that I was more efficient and practically adept/useful because of the way I was brought up. There are just too many unnecessary choices in life today that do not teach us anything of value. And face the truth, we collapse under the sheer glitz of it all. Minimalism is not so much about cutting bills but more so about not letting consumerism get the better of you - 25 types of mayonnaise, 20 types of kitchen cleaners, fancy spa treatments and holidays, costly branded clothing and accessories and insanely expensive gadgets that do nothing but make you dependent on them - do we really need these?
Michelle also shows you the value of picking a cause dear to you and sticking to it, however insane it might sound to others. Michelle overpaid close to 10% of her outstanding mortgage at the end of the no-spend year - I guess she got her reward. We might not find it appealing to live a life like this, but surely there are things that we can emulate - getting out of doors more often for simple delights without spending a penny, walk around town and meet and learn from strangers if we are only willing to experiment and most importantly, not give in to the blatant consumerism all around us.
Living independently means different things to different people. To me, financial independence is very important. Many of the money-saving ideas that Michelle had adopted in pursuit of her challenge are things that I have lived out - difference being that we had to do it due to financial difficulties. But lesson learnt - there is such a thing called a rainy day, you still have to plan for it. It makes infinite sense in cutting down unwanted expenses, irrespective of the price involved and adopt a frugal or prudent lifestyle. We all talk about retiring at 40, living a life for ourselves at some point - how many of us are working towards it? Many of us in our late 30s and further are nowhere financially secure as compared to our parents or grandparents at a similar age - even though they earned much lesser than us. The difference obviously is not in the money earned - it is in the way it was spent and saved. I do not recall being denied anything essential by my parents or not being taken on holidays or denied gifts or surprises - they provided for everything we needed. Clearly, we are not emulating the lessons laid out by them if we still find ourselves scrambling to make savings and fill up our piggy banks.
If I have to stick to a job that I do not enjoy or one that doesn't satisfy me creatively or if it disallows me to enjoy my children's growing up years, it is not worth the money I get for doing it. I would rather have a little less money and learn to live within those means. A spouse or a parent with a lifelong desire to branch off independently in his or her chosen field will find themselves pinned down with responsibility - mortgage, children, exotic holidays et al. What better way to do it than to live frugally and be happy to break free of societal pressures and find your calling one day and live blissfully knowing that you gave it your all and did not deny your dependents anything of value? After all, you live but once, isn't it? And you totally deserve to get what you desire if you work for it. Don't we all know someone like this in our lives? Look at it this way - living frugally doesn't involve giving up things you'd rather have - it gives you the independence to live exactly how you want, when you want and to choose what you want.
All in all, a good read, though not essential. It all depends on how you approach this topic and what your intended takeaway is. Michelle has learnt a life-changing lesson for herself and has shared it with us. I wish her all the very best in future.
What went out of the window - conventional entertainment, travel, beauty regimen, gifts, shopping, partying, drinking - pretty much everything.
I read Michelle's article about her no-spend year challenge long back in a newspaper column and I was impressed that she lived a whole year on a weekly grocery bill of £30. I was inspired enough to set a no-spend challenge on apparel for my family (successfully in the fag end of its 10th month which is increasingly getting creative!) but when I saw her book on Kindle for 99p I thought of giving it a go. I guess it would be more relevant to people who would like information on mortgages, tax-planning, investments and planning for a retired life as Michelle touches upon all this in the book. I skimmed through all of this as there frankly wasn't anything to learn or adopt( mainly because she gives very basic general information) but the 2 reasons I picked this book was to see how far she went to keep up the challenge and to pick up tips on travel and entertainment without burning a hole in your pocket. And I wasn't disappointed on both counts.
Michelle has given a number of ideas on how to have a fun day in the expensive city of London if you are ready to be a little creative and get outdoors on your feet. I enjoyed reading these and aim to experience the life a bit with my family and hopefully, inspire in my children the spirit of enjoying the outdoors in rain, wind, sun or cold. But what really blew my mind away is that Michelle lived an entire year with a zero budget for travelling! Everyday travelling!! She has earned my respect for keeping up with it the whole year in spite of all the problems she faced (lost and torn shoes, hundreds of miles cycling and walking - even to the countryside for a holiday, turning up for client meetings with sweaty and smelly underarms, late for meetings, giving up some parties etc). I can't imagine living a whole year like that, its probably insane, I wouldn't do it, but that doesn't take away the commitment Michelle shows for her cause. Admirable.
Another thing that comes out of this book is that if you are committed to a cause, however insane it might seem to others, people who care for you and love you will root for your success in whatever you choose to do. Michelle's husband, family, friends and colleagues have all played an important role in her life in the no-spend year and rooted for her, even though they did not adopt her lifestyle. Michelle is humble in thanking all those who stuck by her and made her difficult year worth it.
This book is not path breaking, nor is it a literary delight. Not very engaging either, but what it does is give you and me something to think about. I have always thought that it is great to know that you can afford quite a bit of things in life, but it is even more satisfying to know that you can make do with much lesser. I would rather that I teach my kids to distinguish between needs and wants from the beginning than berate them about it later when you see them taking their life for granted. It is horrifying to know that when I compare the 8 year old self from yesterday with my 8-year old child today, I realise that I was more efficient and practically adept/useful because of the way I was brought up. There are just too many unnecessary choices in life today that do not teach us anything of value. And face the truth, we collapse under the sheer glitz of it all. Minimalism is not so much about cutting bills but more so about not letting consumerism get the better of you - 25 types of mayonnaise, 20 types of kitchen cleaners, fancy spa treatments and holidays, costly branded clothing and accessories and insanely expensive gadgets that do nothing but make you dependent on them - do we really need these?
Michelle also shows you the value of picking a cause dear to you and sticking to it, however insane it might sound to others. Michelle overpaid close to 10% of her outstanding mortgage at the end of the no-spend year - I guess she got her reward. We might not find it appealing to live a life like this, but surely there are things that we can emulate - getting out of doors more often for simple delights without spending a penny, walk around town and meet and learn from strangers if we are only willing to experiment and most importantly, not give in to the blatant consumerism all around us.
Living independently means different things to different people. To me, financial independence is very important. Many of the money-saving ideas that Michelle had adopted in pursuit of her challenge are things that I have lived out - difference being that we had to do it due to financial difficulties. But lesson learnt - there is such a thing called a rainy day, you still have to plan for it. It makes infinite sense in cutting down unwanted expenses, irrespective of the price involved and adopt a frugal or prudent lifestyle. We all talk about retiring at 40, living a life for ourselves at some point - how many of us are working towards it? Many of us in our late 30s and further are nowhere financially secure as compared to our parents or grandparents at a similar age - even though they earned much lesser than us. The difference obviously is not in the money earned - it is in the way it was spent and saved. I do not recall being denied anything essential by my parents or not being taken on holidays or denied gifts or surprises - they provided for everything we needed. Clearly, we are not emulating the lessons laid out by them if we still find ourselves scrambling to make savings and fill up our piggy banks.
If I have to stick to a job that I do not enjoy or one that doesn't satisfy me creatively or if it disallows me to enjoy my children's growing up years, it is not worth the money I get for doing it. I would rather have a little less money and learn to live within those means. A spouse or a parent with a lifelong desire to branch off independently in his or her chosen field will find themselves pinned down with responsibility - mortgage, children, exotic holidays et al. What better way to do it than to live frugally and be happy to break free of societal pressures and find your calling one day and live blissfully knowing that you gave it your all and did not deny your dependents anything of value? After all, you live but once, isn't it? And you totally deserve to get what you desire if you work for it. Don't we all know someone like this in our lives? Look at it this way - living frugally doesn't involve giving up things you'd rather have - it gives you the independence to live exactly how you want, when you want and to choose what you want.
All in all, a good read, though not essential. It all depends on how you approach this topic and what your intended takeaway is. Michelle has learnt a life-changing lesson for herself and has shared it with us. I wish her all the very best in future.
February 26, 2018
I was worried that this book would get to be a bit too dry, with figures and financial detail, but it was more than that. Yes, there were parts that gave you a guide to certain financial details like mortgages, superannuation, investing, etc, but most of the book was a sort of diary as to how the author coped with food, travel, holiday, and entertainment budgets. She also reflected on the philosophical side of being frugal, consumerism, and general spending. That was the most interesting part of the book.
The biggest downfall of the book was, however, in the fact that it was very much UK-centric. So terms like 'pension' was used instead of 'supperannuation', which was confusing for me until i worked that one out. Also, she talks about government tax laws which is not applicable where I live (Australia). And the part about travel and entertainment might have worked for her on her bicycle but then she does live in London which is denser populated and with many more opportunities for free cultural centres and activities. Try getting around an Australian capital city on your bike while you live in a suburb, and you will be exhausted....and possibly bored stiff.
Still, I did take away a few things from this book - stop frittering away your money, aim to overpay your mortgage and other debts, people, not things matter, and there is a sense of freedom to stepping back from consumerism.
The biggest downfall of the book was, however, in the fact that it was very much UK-centric. So terms like 'pension' was used instead of 'supperannuation', which was confusing for me until i worked that one out. Also, she talks about government tax laws which is not applicable where I live (Australia). And the part about travel and entertainment might have worked for her on her bicycle but then she does live in London which is denser populated and with many more opportunities for free cultural centres and activities. Try getting around an Australian capital city on your bike while you live in a suburb, and you will be exhausted....and possibly bored stiff.
Still, I did take away a few things from this book - stop frittering away your money, aim to overpay your mortgage and other debts, people, not things matter, and there is a sense of freedom to stepping back from consumerism.
December 18, 2022
Дай ми книга, в която някой говори за пари и особено как е спестявал пари и съм спечелена.
Книгата е малко старичка. Периодът, в който авторката е осъществила своето не харчещо предизвикателство е било между ноември 2015-ноември 2016 и затова и като я четеш трябва си имаш едно на ум. Авторката дава конкретни суми, които е харчела, но ако ги приемаш за чиста монета без да се замисляш за 7-те години разли��а от тогава и куп неща, които се случиха в този период, може и да се почувстваш леко тъпо за себе си и начина, по който харчиш.
Въпреки това, книгата има доста информация, която всъщност не е остаряла, особено ако живееш в UK, тъй като съм проверявала наскоро и повечето неща, които споменава са все същите - визирам данъчни облекчения, видове спестовни сметки и подобни. Нещата са все същите що-годе.
Най-интересно ми беше да чета за личните й преживявания и да науча колко е спестила накрая. Определено заслужава адмирации, защото е спестила сериозна сума, но да си призная на много висока цена, поне от моя гледна точка. Такива сериозни ограничения си е била поставила, че ми настръхна косата от ужас. Аз чак така не бих могла, но и да не забравяме, че всички сме различни и какво е essential варира от човек до човек. :)
Книжката е чудесна, тъй като те вдъхновява, надъхва и ти се иска и ти да направиш още нещо, за да остават колкото се може повече пари за теб, а не да ходят в джобовете на кого ли не.
Книгата е малко старичка. Периодът, в който авторката е осъществила своето не харчещо предизвикателство е било между ноември 2015-ноември 2016 и затова и като я четеш трябва си имаш едно на ум. Авторката дава конкретни суми, които е харчела, но ако ги приемаш за чиста монета без да се замисляш за 7-те години разли��а от тогава и куп неща, които се случиха в този период, може и да се почувстваш леко тъпо за себе си и начина, по който харчиш.
Въпреки това, книгата има доста информация, която всъщност не е остаряла, особено ако живееш в UK, тъй като съм проверявала наскоро и повечето неща, които споменава са все същите - визирам данъчни облекчения, видове спестовни сметки и подобни. Нещата са все същите що-годе.
Най-интересно ми беше да чета за личните й преживявания и да науча колко е спестила накрая. Определено заслужава адмирации, защото е спестила сериозна сума, но да си призная на много висока цена, поне от моя гледна точка. Такива сериозни ограничения си е била поставила, че ми настръхна косата от ужас. Аз чак така не бих могла, но и да не забравяме, че всички сме различни и какво е essential варира от човек до човек. :)
Книжката е чудесна, тъй като те вдъхновява, надъхва и ти се иска и ти да направиш още нещо, за да остават колкото се може повече пари за теб, а не да ходят в джобовете на кого ли не.
July 15, 2017
Usually I disdain at books in this sort of genre because they can be so American and hence unrelatable but this was a very British and funny account of an attempt to not spend any money in a year. Sadly it is almost like poverty pedalling, the author being a middle class Londoner clearly having no idea what the breadline looks like. The frugal tips are interesting and she often talks about how they can apply outside of the capital but I don't think you can export this advice - she harks about the joys of free museums and how you can entertain yourself without spending money. Not sure how this helps someone in a rural area where the one daily bus service has been cut. Furthermore she said she spent £13,000 on food and bills and managed to overpay £24,000 of her mortgage by doing this - not sure this is really applicable to the average reader of this kind of thing - so at times it does feel like a boast.
February 5, 2017
I am always intrigued by people who take on adventures that I would never.
To spend a whole year without buying luxuries : books, theatre tickets, exhibitions or travel would be inconceivable for me. But Mcgagh did it and Bravo !
It is an honest book. Very easy to read ( finished it in days ) and it has made me think about my cup- of - tea habit.
But sadly, no miracle just hard slog and a lot of self-discipline
To spend a whole year without buying luxuries : books, theatre tickets, exhibitions or travel would be inconceivable for me. But Mcgagh did it and Bravo !
It is an honest book. Very easy to read ( finished it in days ) and it has made me think about my cup- of - tea habit.
But sadly, no miracle just hard slog and a lot of self-discipline
January 13, 2018
Lacked any sort of journalistic depth. She didn’t speak to anyone else who had done similar things. She didn’t do half the stuff she recommended herself. If she’d just given herself a transport budget, 50% of the bike chat in the book would have been obsolete and it would have been vastly more relevant to the majority of people. There was no conclusions beyond the amount she saved, no broader lesson.
January 18, 2020
An interesting challenge; an extremely insubstantial book. The author’s motivation is purely financial, so ethical and environmental considerations are entirely absent. She seems unaware of her privilege, assuming for instance that her readers will own their homes. Her ‘top tips’ are wincingly obvious (e.g. write a shopping list; Lidl is cheaper than Sainsbury’s) and are too often relevant only to Londoners, while the writing is repetitive and trivial.
January 11, 2021
I have seen some reviews really criticising this author and saying she's super privileged and not "poor enough" to justify the extremeness of her no-spend year. I think those people are missing the point. The world is full of people who aren't drowning in debt but could be smarter about the way they spend - I'm one of them. I have a mortgage, and some savings but I know I waste money on takeaways or impulse purchases at the shops. Mcgagh raises some really interesting points that I could take and apply to my own life. And sometimes it is only by going to the extreme do you understand what you actually need.
There are some criticisms though: This is a very UK, and particularly London, centric book. I pretty much skipped over anything to do with tax, pensions or anything else specifically financial. Those sections did also get a bit lecture-y. Also all the free activities available in a major world capital are a lot harder to find in a regional Australian town, but I appreciate all the ideas and the "think outside the box" attitude.
I think the major issue I had was with the food portion of the challenge - it did border martyrdom occasionally. Food, good food, is one of the harmless pleasures of life. Mcgagh would in one sentence state that you can buy bulk spices for a cheaper price at Asian grocers than at Tescos (major supermarket chain) and in the next sentence tell us how bland her home-cooked curries were! You had a year! Learn to cook, woman!! How hard do you have to work to make CURRY bland? Also as someone who has developed a nut allergy and can't eat peanut butter anymore I may have been a tad ticked off every time she mentioned having to eat so much of it....seriously peanut eaters appreciate what you have, all I have is the occasional super realistic dream of peanut butter sandwiches :(
I would be wary if I was directly inspired and decided to ride my bike everywhere for a year ; Mcgagh straight out says she and her husband were already frequent cyclists. Someone who was less practiced would be likely to acquire an injury pretty quickly if they went from zero to full time cycling. That would be something you have to build up to, I feel.
We are all in a cycle of consumerism. I feel even in the three years since this book came out and now there has been a greater awareness and acceptance of movements like Zero Waste and Minimalism and in that light Mcgagh's choices are no longer so extreme.
Overall if a change of lifestyle in the direction of consuming less is attracting you this book is worth reading, but I would borrow, rather than buy, this book. Unless you are living in London. Having Just read No Impact Man by Colin Beavan I found that to be much more broad reaching and interesting.
There are some criticisms though: This is a very UK, and particularly London, centric book. I pretty much skipped over anything to do with tax, pensions or anything else specifically financial. Those sections did also get a bit lecture-y. Also all the free activities available in a major world capital are a lot harder to find in a regional Australian town, but I appreciate all the ideas and the "think outside the box" attitude.
I think the major issue I had was with the food portion of the challenge - it did border martyrdom occasionally. Food, good food, is one of the harmless pleasures of life. Mcgagh would in one sentence state that you can buy bulk spices for a cheaper price at Asian grocers than at Tescos (major supermarket chain) and in the next sentence tell us how bland her home-cooked curries were! You had a year! Learn to cook, woman!! How hard do you have to work to make CURRY bland? Also as someone who has developed a nut allergy and can't eat peanut butter anymore I may have been a tad ticked off every time she mentioned having to eat so much of it....seriously peanut eaters appreciate what you have, all I have is the occasional super realistic dream of peanut butter sandwiches :(
I would be wary if I was directly inspired and decided to ride my bike everywhere for a year ; Mcgagh straight out says she and her husband were already frequent cyclists. Someone who was less practiced would be likely to acquire an injury pretty quickly if they went from zero to full time cycling. That would be something you have to build up to, I feel.
We are all in a cycle of consumerism. I feel even in the three years since this book came out and now there has been a greater awareness and acceptance of movements like Zero Waste and Minimalism and in that light Mcgagh's choices are no longer so extreme.
Overall if a change of lifestyle in the direction of consuming less is attracting you this book is worth reading, but I would borrow, rather than buy, this book. Unless you are living in London. Having Just read No Impact Man by Colin Beavan I found that to be much more broad reaching and interesting.
March 18, 2019
I watched the TED Talk Michelle gave and I have to say I did quite enjoy it; actually even more than the book, which for me is really unexpected. The book is easy and quick to read and has some fun humour. It shows how it is (apparently) possible to live one year "without spending". Well, of course there is some spending for what the author considers her bare essentials.
From my point of view, I see her experiment extremely tough and unnecessary. Furthermore, even though she repeats numerous times that her husband and friends were on board with the no spend year challenge, it really seems like she got herself surrounded by awesome people, who actually had to couple with the downside of this choice: she could not travel to see her older relatives, she missed out on a farewell trip for one of her friends, her husband went on vacation without her... To me it seemed a bit unfair and harsh depriving year, and could have caused serious damage on her relationships.
Although, on the other hand, it seems that we live in a society of extreme sides: either you are a consumption junkie or a deprived "no spend year challenge" person. To me, both positions feel equally absurd, even if Michelle makes a point with all this. To sum up: watch your consumerism driven life and focus on the important things while on Earth.
Still, I have some unanswered questions: which were the failure times when she actually skiped the challenge and spent some "non essential money"? I find it hard to believe that a person who has a "standard west lifestyle" goes from 0 to 100 in a eye blink. It takes an enormous amount of courage and self control to maintain such a life for a whole year, without transition. The very few times she got something for free or accepted favours seem to pass the test... conveniently...
Also, how did she manage to park safely her bike everytime?
Only towards the end she mentions breifly the difficulties of this lifestyle...still, I cannot believe it went as good as she puts it. I feel she sugarcoated a lot.
From my point of view, I see her experiment extremely tough and unnecessary. Furthermore, even though she repeats numerous times that her husband and friends were on board with the no spend year challenge, it really seems like she got herself surrounded by awesome people, who actually had to couple with the downside of this choice: she could not travel to see her older relatives, she missed out on a farewell trip for one of her friends, her husband went on vacation without her... To me it seemed a bit unfair and harsh depriving year, and could have caused serious damage on her relationships.
Although, on the other hand, it seems that we live in a society of extreme sides: either you are a consumption junkie or a deprived "no spend year challenge" person. To me, both positions feel equally absurd, even if Michelle makes a point with all this. To sum up: watch your consumerism driven life and focus on the important things while on Earth.
Still, I have some unanswered questions: which were the failure times when she actually skiped the challenge and spent some "non essential money"? I find it hard to believe that a person who has a "standard west lifestyle" goes from 0 to 100 in a eye blink. It takes an enormous amount of courage and self control to maintain such a life for a whole year, without transition. The very few times she got something for free or accepted favours seem to pass the test... conveniently...
Also, how did she manage to park safely her bike everytime?
Only towards the end she mentions breifly the difficulties of this lifestyle...still, I cannot believe it went as good as she puts it. I feel she sugarcoated a lot.
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