This post is written in partnership with Quidco, I have used this service for years and am delighted to be sharing this post with you.
I haven’t shared a great deal about my no buy challenge on my blog, or why I am doing a no spend 2019, but I have a heap of videos on my YouTube channel all about money saving advice, tips for doing a no buy year and my no spend updates, which I love sharing because the community seem to be so invested and supportive, which is really helpful to keeping me going! I am the first to admit that I was a spendaholic, by this I mean I would buy things for the sake of buying them, if an Instagram advert caught my eye (which they so often do!) I wouldn’t look at the price tag, or even if I already owned a very similar item already. I was mindless with my spending and really it didn’t bring me a great deal of joy.
For the past few years, since having George and not returning to my office job, I have not been able to rely on my full-time salary while I grew my blog and YouTube business from home. Something we took for granted for all of my career. Our goal for 2019/2020 is to buy a house and give the children more security. Being mid-thirties and not owning a house means we are falling far behind all of our friends who have been on the property ladder for 10+ years and I have been desperate to own for decades. We have always chosen to spend savings on traveling the world, and showing our children the world too, which we are very lucky to have been able to do, however it was time to be sensible.
We knew something had to give if we were finally going to be homeowners. After doing a no spend January at the beginning of this year, I had a mad idea that maybe I could carry it on throughout the year and see what happened, my no buy challenge began! I gave myself rules such as I can replace broken things when necessary, I could do experiences that enriched my life, and of course buying clothes for the children as they keep on growing! But things like clothes for me, make-up, dinners out, coffees, going out etc etc were off limits. As I am writing this, 10 months in, I am feeling so proud of myself that I have been able to do this huge no buy challenge, keeping our goal in site at all times and saving lots of money fast.
However, there have been some things along the line that I have had to purchase. We had already booked a trip last year to California in April, to do our favourite road trip LA-San Fran with our 2 children in tow, so we needed some items for that trip, but all were bought with a budget in mind. Other items such as trekking kit for my impending charity trek to the Himalayas which I had to purchase due to not owning any kind of hiking and camping gear. But again, I was mindful of my budget and always made sure I got the best value things.
One area where I still need to spend money on is for my work; like trains to meetings and events, camera equipment and digital tools. These were “allowed” and count as a business expense. I have spoken a few times on my YouTube channel about my love for Quidco, and how you can earn money by getting cashback on the purchases you are making anyway. I have been using cashback site Quidco for a couple of years, and although I am not spending this year, when I have bought things, I have always done it though their platform.
I was so pleased when they got in touch with me to let me know that they had seen a couple of my videos and they wanted to work with me on a new tool they had launched. As I was such an advocate for their service already it was the perfect partnership. I wanted to share their new tool over here with you guys too because I know how much people can earn by using it, on the things they are already buying, at no extra cost to the consumer.
The new Quidco tool is a Chrome extension called the Quidco Cashback Reminder which is a simple add on to your browser, designed to show you the best cashback offers available for whatever purchases you are making. It’s probably easier to see it in action, so I’d recommend you having a look at my video but I have shared a couple of screenshots below just in case you wanted to see a snapshot of how easy it is to use. I recently bought the new GoPro 8 for my filming and I earned £15 just by clicking the link and doing nothing extra. I’d definitely recommend using this tool and Quidco itself as for me it is a win-win, no-brainer. If you haven’t signed up, you can sign up using this referral link and we both get £10 just for signing up!
You can download the Chrome extension here – I would LOVE to know how you find it and if you have found lots of money that you’re missing out on too!! Let me know in the comments.
If you’d like me to share more money saving tips and advice let me know, I am so into it and I am so proud with how much we have saved this year towards our house deposit.
Watch the Quidco reminder tool in action here –
Emily
October 22, 2019This is such a simple, but clever idea! Our dream is to be homeowners one day too, so I definitely need to look into this x
Emily recently posted…Shopping Abroad Made Easy with Splitcha | AD
Viva Glow
October 22, 2019Love these apps! Best of luck with the savings!
Donna
October 20, 2019I love Quidco and have earnt £2500+ on it since I signed up probably 10 years ago. I had no idea about the extension though so I’ve just gone and installed it – thanks Lara! x
Lara Jarvis
October 21, 2019WOW!! That is incredible, Donna!! Thank you for sharing that! I am blown away by that!! Glad to have helped, it’s SO much easier not to forget to use it! x
Fern Olivia
October 20, 2019This sounds like a brilliant idea. I’ve never understood cash back apps and always thought they sounded too good to be true but I’m going to download this tonight!
Lara Jarvis
October 21, 2019They do sound too good to be true but they absolutely are legit! Have a look at Donna’s comment about earning £2500+!! On the things she already buys – Just incredible. x