The $1000 Project

by Canna Campbell

Financial planner Canna Campbell saved $32,000 in twelve months by using her unique strategy of 'bundling' - saving and earning extra money in small, achievable 'parcels' of $1000. Now she wants to empower you to get the same results!

Drawing on material from her popular YouTube channel and website, here Canna shares all of her tips and tricks for saving and earning additional money, as well as advice for turning these savings into long-term 'passive' income through savvy investments. She also gives general advice on how to get financially healthy, including how to clear up bad debt and how to manage your superannuation more sensibly. And she'll keep you motivated, focused and on track as you push yourself towards a better financial future.

The $1000 Project is like a diet and exercise plan for your finances - you'll see the immediate results in your bank account, and you'll also come out of it feeling financially fit and strong and ready to set yourself up for success.

Genres: Finance, Nonfiction, Money, Personal Finance, Business, Self Help, Audiobook

272 pages, Trade Paperback

First published February 26, 2018

Reviews

[Bert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everyone is reading The Barefoot Investor but there’s just something off-putting about the smug look on the author’s face on the cover, call me immature but that’s just how I feel, so I decided to try The $1000 Project by Canna Campbell instead and I really enjoyed it.

It’s a pretty accessible guide on how people, in particular people around my age, I just turned 30 waaaaahhh *crying face*, can get their finances in order. The first half of the book was great, Canna gives great advice on everyday things you can do without completely denying yourself the pleasures of life. The second half of the book lost me a little when it started to talk about investing in shares and all that jazz, Canna explains it easily but it’s just not as fun or as motivational as everything she explained in the first half.

All in all a really great book for people that have never read a book about finance before, Canna is obviously a really nice lady who knows what she’s doing, I’m thankful for the advice and will hopefully be starting my own $1000 Project soon.

Penguin Random House Australia really need to look at their proofreaders though, I found about 5 spelling errors. I don’t think this can can be blamed on the author, a big publishing house like PRH would employ editors and proofreaders so the blame should fall to them. When I read a book that’s self-published or from a tiny independent publisher I can usually forgive spelling errors but from PRH I think it’s unacceptable, pick up your game.

[Lea · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the idea behind this project (and am definitely inspired to give it a try) but I don’t feel like I learn a whole lot more reading the book. Everything was pretty already in her YouTube videos. I expected the book to go deeper and into specifics which I don’t feel like it did. I liked the testimonies but not nearly enough of them. One book later and I’m still not sure what I can do for my own project (one can only sell so much stuff online, and even that I find tougher to do IRL than she makes it sounds like).

[Chloe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have watched a few of Canna's Youtube videos before I read the book. I love her down-to-earth style and Australian-focused financial and investment advice; such perspective is lacking in the world of accessible and understandable financial literature for Australians. Moreover, her advice applied to consumers of ALL ages and current financial situations. I am certain that every reader will finish this book with at least one way to change their financial future in an immmediate way for long-term gain.

I work full-time, study part-time and have decided to diversity my cash/savings investments by increasing my super contribution (a la Scott Pape's Barefoor Investor - another Aussie gem!) and starting a diversified share portfolio, using the money that I am saving in rent by living at home. I am time-poor but have signed up to become a mystery shopper and do surveys for a bit of extra cash, and I am emptying all coins out of my wallet daily into a money box (I don't even miss that few dollars a week but it quickly adds up!). I am also considering some free-lance work that ties in with my studies to add to my savings. Each parcel of My $1000 Project is going towards adding to my share portfolio to build a passive income I can set and forget about so I can use the savings from my salary to save up for my house deposit 4 years from now when I graduate.

Canna empasises that small savings really add up, and with some motivation (which she provides) and perseverence (which she inspires) you can really see the difference and attain the level of financial freedom and independence you desire.

[Rachy · Rating 2 out of 5]

In a nutshell. Save $1000 bunches. Dont spend it.
You can do it!
Meh. Too much cheese.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cana Campbell is inspiring. She decided one day she wanted to save some money to invest in shares, but because her weekly wage was already accounted for, she was left with the eternal problem of “where to get the money” and from this, her $1000 project was born.
I’ve watched her YouTube channel and read her blogs so I was already familiar with the project and how it worked, but it was still a worthwhile and motivating read. Like all social media stars Canna has her haters, those who like to justify why Canna can manage, save and invest money and they Cannot. I’m in the “other” camp, the camp that says “if Canna can do it, so can I, maybe I should listen and I might learn something from her experience”. At the very least, I can pick up a bit of motivation from her words.
The $1000 project isn’t financial rocket science but it should be read by everybody that thinks “I can’t be wealthy” because Canna shows them that they can. If you have a young adult in your life, Canna’s book would make a good Christmas present. Despite being a very good saver my whole life, Canna taught me that I could do so much better, and for that I am very thankful.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Guide' or 'manual' is an apt description for this book & I expect to refer to it regularly. Canna uses steps & experiences to assist you to build financial knowledge & take control of your finances.

In my Mothers generation, married women so rarely had any idea about the financial state of their partnership, even if they earn't money too! Mum was so thankful that my pragmatic Dad, an Accountant, taught her the basics before he died when she was 65 (& she lived to 94).

This book, along with the life changing 'Barefoot Investor', negates the need to wait for a partner or a professional to explain. It teaches in easy & simple terms how to get solid financial control, immunise yourself from scams & schemes & build wealth to be ready for the future.

[Kim Wilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel that as someone who hasn’t heard of her before this is not a great ‘stand alone’ book.
It is interesting but doesn’t cover anything new, and essentially a giant referral to her YouTube channel.

[Dan JH · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely took some pointers from this book and will be doing the $1000 project this year.

[Nia Nymue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read the book within a few hours, skipping an entire chapter that talked about shares in Australia and some other finance systems specific to Australia. There were some interesting suggestions shared on how to earn side money, in particular Airtasker, but I didn't gain much value from reading the book, hence my speed in reading it quickly to scan for more important content.

Firstly, I read the book on Overdrive. There was no hard copy available from the library. I thought at first this was what was affecting my pleasure in reading the book, but there are other flaws.

While I appreciate and really respect her idea - and it's something I believed in for years and have adopted myself - this was not an informative book for people who have already watched her videos or are familiar with her system. (A big contrast to The Bullet Journal Method, where there was still more to learn!)

The biggest problem I had with the book was how informal it was. It reads more like a memoir (relatively unstructured) rather than a guide to her system. Which is a pity! Her idea is a wonderful one, and her point about how financial goals should be undergirded by our personal values is important and underrated. It didn't come across strongly enough even though she emphasised it a few times. Better structure would have helped.

This problem became even more apparent in the second last chapter where pieces of writing from followers of her system were shared. And it appears to be shared largely wholesale. I think it would have been better to exert more quality control over the writing. Some of them were really informal, and those who wrote well (only one comes to mind, the woman who wrote about Bill) showed how poor her writing was in contrast. This chapter is also in great contrast to The Bullet Journal Method where Ryder Carroll had also shared actual Bullet Journal pages from some followers.

Apart from editing for style, something else that could have been done was to take snippets out and incorporate them into various chapters of her book, which would need more restructuring. As it is, it feels like lazy writing and bloat.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

A glossy, out-of-focus overview of a Sydney woman's budgeting plan. She inexplicably grew a Youtube following and landed a book deal from this.
- Contains new age woo-woo like, "money manifestation zones" and "Read your goals before you fall asleep to plant powerful instructions in your subconscious mind."
- Contains meaningless fluff in the form of whole-page pull quotes like, "It's about doing what you need to do to get what you want."
- Also contains super helpful finance tips like "Take on weekend work to earn extra money" and "make your lunch once a week instead of buying it that day. You'll be surprised at how fast the savings add up!"
Heads up, Canna: your privilege is showing. Those 'tips' for your bonus Thousand Dollar Project are how a large percentage of the population live day-to-day out of sheer necessity.
Two stars.

Edit:
I forgot the worst bit!
The author goes on holiday to Bali with her son. She takes A THOUSAND DOLLARS worth of BRAND NEW TOYS to an orphanage there. As a "lesson for her son in giving"
(Breaking News: Rich White Four-Year-Old Gives Toys To Poor Brown Kids)
(Because that's what every orphan wants, right? Brand new shiny toys?)
But then the orphanage director says "uhhh that's very nice but actually we struggle to buy food for everyone most days."
(Because, huh, orphans might want food more than they want toys? Who'da thunk?)
And, rather than actually learning something from this, or even better doing something (anything!) to rectify the situation... Canna just shrugs it off as 'oh oops! gee whiz, what a life lesson in "mindfulness" for me.
-heavy sigh-

[Meg · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't issue one-star reviews casually, but I have several reasons for not having gotten much out of this book. Firstly and foremost, it is really geared toward an Australian audience who are operating in the Aussie markets and with Aussie incomes/bank accounts. While some of the underlying wisdom is universally applicable, this book has a specific readership, and Americans may find it isn't them.

Secondly, while I appreciate this unique model for saving, $1,000 USD may not be as easy to come by as the author suggests. I don't think I'm going to scrape this kind of money out of closet consignments and couch-cushion change. I may aim for parcels of $100, but for some of us, there may be more pressing financial priorities than creating a passive investment income.

[Karin O'Grady · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m super happy I borrowed this book from the library because I found it just a bit of fluff and it would a pointless addition to my bookshelf. I was hoping Canna would share how she actually saved 37 rounds of the $1000 project in 12 months but no. The book just consistently pointed to her YouTube channel where I assume all the info was that I was hoping to read about in this book.

[Nicki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn’t personally get a lot out of this one. Glad I borrowed it from the library and saved $15!
I also checked out her YouTube channel while I was waiting for this and that didn’t really gel with me either.
Meh, I think maybe if you follow the channel you might like this, but otherwise it’s pretty short at 250 pages and nothing new in it.

[Chelsea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty basic advice with a lot of motivational filler. Probably best suited to people struggling to control their spending or who need to tackle a bit of debt.

[G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly repetitive and nothing new. You could watch a couple of her YouTube videos and get the gist of it.

[Kimberley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half of this book is so simple and straight forward and easy to read and makes loads of sense. Canna explains what the project is, how she came about it, how she comes up with ideas to help achieve for goals, what she did with money when finished and other tips and tricks to help you save the $1000.

The second half was about shares. And I still don’t get it and I’d still be afraid of investing money in shares HOWEVER she does list options where the hard work of figuring out which ones to go with are made easy for you. Honestly shares are probably confusing for anyone who isn’t into finance, however she doesn’t mention about tax and stuff on the shares which worries me because i don’t wanna under pay the tax man.

Finally you get real life stories from everyday people showing you that this is an easy attainable goal. Plus some recommend reading if you want further knowledge.

Now it’s a matter of putting it into action.

[Brendon Fehre · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing much to see here folks - certainly not if your a bloke - Canna sure has a way with words - telling you the same things over and over but in a different way (sure pads out the book). If it wasn't padded out so much it could have been in a 10 page document.

I kept thinking it would be good if she had examples from other demographics and by the end (after 150 pages) she finally did - all women of course - which makes it less interesting if you're a bloke. Having the Raiz app on your phone does the same thing except you can be investing little amounts instead of having to reach $1,000 (or even $500) before you invest. It's much better and easier than reading this book. Download the Raiz app or another investment app and start with small amounts and you will get the same result.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, its simple and unpretentious. She doesn't talk about shoe shopping, which you get with a lot of female financial writers for some reason. Great intro for people who want to set aside a bit of money to pay of debt or invest or save up for something. Also talks about money mindsets (and goal setting) and how getting on top of your finances isn't really about money but a multitude of other reasons, like wanting to feel secure or have the freedom to live the life you want to. I'm interested in investing but found it all pretty confusing, Campbell makes it easy to understand and gives you further reading suggestions at the end.

[Maia Coghlan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the info was a bit basic for me personally, but I know many other people really need the help presented in this book. The strategy and mindset she encourages really make investing and being financially stable a thing that everyone can achieve. Even better is her YouTube channel which has inspired me to begin investing proactively, with the courage to invest directly in companies. There are many comparisons made between Canna and Barefoot. They are definitely very different. After being a Barefoot newsletter subscriber for years, I am now firmly in camp Canna because her advice resonates more with me and where I am in my life now and my future goals.

[Saji Maruthurkkara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Skip the book-Watch the you tube channel instead


The 1000$ project idea in itself is new and unique. But there’s nothing new in the book if you have watched the author’s youtube videos.

There are a lot of inconsistencies that make us not believe the author.
For example,
she says she automatically reinvests the dividends back, but also says that she donates her dividends. Both cannot be true.
She says she gets 5% in dividends - typically dividends are 2-3%. But if there are share that gives 5% dividends, she has not shared their names in the book.
This makes me not believe that she saved 32,000$ (3000$/month) in a year.

[Asmaa - Bliifee · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who is not too familiar with the finances world, this book was a good way to get me started. The $1000 project is a slow (or fast depending on how you approach it) and steady way to save up a lot in the long run. Canna mostly talks about ways of earning and saving money in $1000 parcels which can be invested for passive income.
There are a few quotes on pages from the text itself which kind of break the flow of reading, but that's not such a big deal.
I felt it was a great read and I will consider doing this project myself.
Definitely recommend this book! ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4 Stars!

[Kaitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great beginners book on how to start being savvy with your savings. Campbell has written a simple guide to a money mindset, how to start earning and saving more, and how to maintain that success. She gives you clear ideas on how to earn extra cash, and also how to maximise your savings potential.

It's a great book for idea generation, and she provides useful tips in how to save money in all areas of your life (such as a capsule wardrobe).

I very much enjoyed this book, and have implemented a few of the strategies she suggests. Would totally recommend!

[Sunny Flynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fundamentals to saving money. Would be interesting to those who are just starting to become financially aware. May not be worth the time if you are already financially aware. It was disappointing when the same story/reference/example was brought up time and time again in different chapters using the same phrasing.
I would have given try 2 starts for the book but have given 3 stars for the idea that was the trigger to this book.

[Lili · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Was fine. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for a finance/savings book but this wasn't an easy or entertaining read for me. I much preferred How to Unfuck your Finances; heck, even the Barefoot Investor was preferable.... though I can see that Campbell makes good points and chances are her program would work really well for a lot of people. Just isn't working for me at the moment, which is a shame, because I could do with a passive income.

[Mandy Lorna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have really enjoyed reading The $1000 Project by Canna Campbell. Moreover, as a millennial who grew up with a very limited mindset regarding finance, learning about long-term goals like passive income streams can be nerve-wracking. With this in mind, Miss Campbell simplifies her knowledge and experience in the finance industry and addresses numerous topics, from becoming debt free and working towards financial freedom.

[Maddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book a bit slow and the formatting with the extra standout text lines set up to pull you in, to push me out. They were extremely unnecessary and this book could have been shorter without them.

I like Canna’s story and tips, however I found a lot of them a bit basic. The chapter on shares was informative, as I have just purchased my first bundle of shares.

I love the idea of the $1000 project, and appreciate that she sets her own rules (not using her salary etc).

[Water Moon · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s not that it’s unhelpful; it’s just not new information. And if it works for you, then that’s all that matters. But as someone that has read a lot of these finance books, I didn’t find it to be mind blowing or anything super unique or useful. What did stand out is that it’s the only book about budgeting that encourages you to donate to charity. Campbell saved a bunch of money from her project and then donated it. Huge respect for that alone.

[Victor Liu · Rating 4 out of 5]

The $1000 Project is a simple easy read with straight forward actionable ideas for anyone who want to start saving and generate passive income. While there is no ground breaking new ideas in this book, Canna was able to put a positive spin on the somewhat daunting task of getting out of debt and creating wealth. This is a nice starting point whoever that is new on their journey of financial wellbeing.

[Flor Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great financial motivation

I am excited to put this to work in my own life and see how far I can go. Canna is an inspiration to what all of us women can be. She’s relatable and intelligent. I am grateful for her work of sharing with us and letting us know it’s possible for us too!

[Romany · Rating 3 out of 5]

The information in this book was good. Probably preaching to the converted in my case. However, the layout was frustrating. Quotes from the text were enlarged, as in a magazine, which broke up the content in odd ways. The first half of the book included Pinterest-type tips for saving. I love those. The second half included information about shares that may not appeal to all.