… and how you can join in!

#4kByChristmasDay is here! If you’ve been following my progress for a while, you will know that I’m debt free! Having paid off my £16,000 of debt in one year, life has completely transformed from my days in debt.

In fact, since then, I’ve reduced my working hours, got married, and now my plan to to start saving. The first thing I want to tackle is a savings fund for three months’ expenses, which is £4,000.

My goal is to start 2020 with our savings fund nailed, so the plan is to save £4,000 by Christmas Day 2019.

I have eight months to make it happen! Each month, I will need to save £500 to meet my target. If I hit £500 each month, I will have saved £4,000 by Christmas Day.

When I give myself a goal, I back it up with a robust plan to ensure I’ll achieve what I’ve set out to do. It took me around one month to come up with a plan to get out of debt, which I have now turned into a book that you can purchase here if you want to get out of debt. Using this plan, it took me one year to pay off £16,000 in debt, and become debt free.

So I know that for my next financial goal, I’ll need a good plan.

But I also need a challenge. So I’ve decided to make #4kByChristmasDay interesting by side hustling and coming in under budget to save the money!

Rather than sacrificing our salaries, I’m going to hit the side hustle grind hard and attempt to turn my time into money. I’ll also be focusing on cutting my spending in a few areas to save some funds. The areas I’m going to focus on will be ones that will also benefit my lifestyle and other goals, such as cutting out a takeaway here and there!

So if you want to build some savings, work towards a financial goal, or you just want to follow along, then read on!

How can you save £4,000 by 25th December 2019?

#4kByChristmasDay is a plan to save a fixed amount every month until Christmas Day, to start the new year with savings banked.

Anyone can join in. You might want to save £4,000, or perhaps you want to save more or less, in line with the amount of time, effort and energy you can dedicate to your savings goal.

£4,000 is a figure specific to me so I urge you to have a think about a figure that is specific to you, that reflects the side hustles you plan to do and what you think you can realistically achieve by Christmas Day.

For my goal, I need to save an average of £500 per month.

To do this, I’ve chosen a couple of side hustles. I’ll also be cutting down on a couple of expenses. But more what these are later. When I earn money, or come in under budget on something, this money will be transferred to a savings account.

Every month, I need to put £500 in that savings account.

If I meet my £500 target before the end of the month, I have two choices. I can either continue to side hustle and save, and spend the money whatever way I like, or take a break. These are my incentives!

If I don’t meet my £500 target, I have to take the shortfall out of next month’s salary to make up the difference. This ensures I stay on track and also provides an incentive to keep hustling!

What side hustles have you chosen for #4kByChristmasDay?

• Blogging

I occasionally make a small affiliate income from blogging (although this is inconsistent) so I’ll be using these funds. My blog is not sponsored and the income I receive barely covers running costs, but anything beyond this will be transferred to my #4kByChristmasDay savings fund.

Affiliate income is usually generated when someone signs up to a service or buys a product that I’ve recommended using my links. Thank you if you use my links 🙂

• Debt Free Products

I have two products that I currently sell: my book and my budget planner. Both are excellent resources for getting out of debt, and I’ve used both to get out of debt myself. Any income I received from these will go into my #4kByChristmasDay savings fund.

• Matched Betting

My favourite side hustle is matched betting, so I will be hitting this hard as part of my savings plan. I am now a seasoned matched bettor, so I’ll be working to make a profit from existing accounts.

• Cashback, Websites and Apps

I am pretty selective with what I use here, which are:

Topcashback, Shopmium, Prolific, YouGov, Testing Time and Checkout Smart.

Any cashback, savings or reimbursements go straight to the #4kByChristmasDay savings fund.

• Super Rando, Weird and Wonderful

These will be things that crop up along my savings journey, such as one-off offers with a cash incentive, or sporadic side hustles.

If you’re joining up and stuck for side hustle ideas, here’s a few of my side hustle suggestions.

All in, I hope to dedicate about fifteen hours per week to #4kByChristmasDay.

What expenses are you cutting down on for #4kByChristmasDay?

Cutting down on expenses can be tough. So I’m choosing to cut down on the expenses that aren’t serving me in other parts of my life, which are:

Takeaways

• We tend to get the odd takeaway, so I’m going to try to phase these out. This will help me with my goal of being healthier too! The saving will go straight to my #4kByChristmasDay savings fund.

Groceries

• I’m going to step up my batch prep and ensure I do this once per week, which will cut out grocery spends a little. This will also help to cut my time cooking in the evenings, so it’s a complete win/win. Savings will go straight to #4kByChristmasDay.

Personal Spending inc. hair, beauty, make-up and clothes

• With my personal spending, I’m going to get out of old routines and the habit of buying the same products without shopping around. So I’ll be on a mission to find better value products and services, and savings will go towards #4kByChristmasDay.

I want to start a savings goal too… where do I sign up to #4kByChristmasDay?

I bet I’m not the only one who wants to build some serious savings! If you want to create your own savings goal, then read on.

You can sign up for the #4kByChristmasDay mailing list, where you’ll receive free resources, motivational emails with ideas to increase your income and cut your expenses. Let’s build a #4kByChristmasDay community!

You might want to build savings so that you can also start 2020 with some money in the bank. Or maybe you want to save for Christmas itself, or a holiday, a wedding or a one-off expense.

But whatever you want to save for, having a support network is going to enhance your results and keep you motivated. So the #4kByChristmasDay mailing list not only keeps me accountable, but keeps you on track.

When you sign up to the mailing list, you’ll receive a free goal planner to get you started on your goal. The goal planner will help you to figure out your goal, your side hustles, and how you’re going to save money. It breaks your savings goal down into a clear and easy plan, so that you know how to get started.

So what are you waiting for? Sign up to the mailing list to get your free goal planner, and start your savings journey today!

When you sign up, why not create an Instagram account to connect with me and everyone else in our group? You can remain anonymous if you wish. Use the hashtag #4kByChristmasDay so that we can find each other easily and share progress, ideas and stay motivated together.

#4kbyChristmasDay

So that’s the plan! Comment below and tell me how much you plan to save by Christmas Day!