THE cost of living crisis has the entire country tightening their purse strings, but now a woman who spends as little as £20 a week on food has revealed how you can live boujee on a budget.
Matilda Littler, 28, a project manager from Sheffield, who now lives in London, managed to save a whopping £40,000 by the time she was just 26 years old, and she's on a mission to help other people live well for less.
She said she credits her good money management skills to her parents, who perhaps counterintuitively, didn't discuss money around Matilda when she was growing up.
"My parents didn't actually talk about money, which I think on reflection is quite a strange thing," she admitted. "They taught me through their behaviours.
"During the 2008 financial crash, I remember them saying, 'Money has to be a bit tighter at the moment. We need to be a bit careful of our spending, as we're saving for a rainy day.'
"Looking back, that rainy day was my parents building their emergency fund.
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"It wasn't like, 'Oh my God, money is scary.' It was more these are the steps that we need to take right now, and it was quite a calm approach to finances.
"It ingrained in me the importance of having an emergency fund, which has been especially useful in the climate today."
Matilda, who has invested her money in clever ways to get the most out of it, such as by taking advantage of the UK government's £1,000 Lifetime ISA bonus, said that just because she's a big saver, it doesn't mean that her quality of life is any less.
She said: "I definitely have a boujee on a budget lifestyle.
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"I have got comments in the past where people say, 'I know you've saved a lot, but it still feels like you're able to go out and socialise.'
"I use tips and tricks to socialise on a budget, which I share on my Instagram page A Millennial Saver, and I've done it for travelling on a budget too. I recently went to Copenhagen on holiday, which is naturally expensive, but only spent about £40 a day there."
"At home in London, I spend between £20 and £25 a week on food for myself. With food, meal planning is really key.
"I can get a main meal for about £1.52.
"Think of buying foods like pasta, for example, or rice, that are cheap, and you could just buy that in bulk. That's a third of your meal sorted, then get frozen veg and then you've got your protein.
"Make sure that you've got a good range of like herbs and spices, so you can just mix up things a bit and keep it boujee. So you might be making chicken, rice and veg, but it can be a completely different meal with a few different herbs."
I definitely have a boujee on a budget lifestyle
Matilda's tips go beyond having a good attitude to money and food, and she's also shared how she gets the most out of her cosmetics and lifestyle products – often using dupes that are just as good as, if not better than, the real thing.
"I always try the dupes out," she said. "There's some where I'm like, 'Oh, my God, this is amazing!' and I never go back to using the real thing.
"There's an Olaplex tube of bonding oil that I tried the other day. I grabbed the dupe from Primark, and it's was like, 'I can't tell the difference.'"
Matilda admitted that when it comes to dupes, the only area where people might notice the difference is with cosmetics like foundation, but when it comes to food, there are few products where the cheaper dupe is lesser.
"With foundation, I do stick to a more expensive brand – I'm pickier there.
"But with food, I've always shopped unbranded, and I've noticed that in the last year or so supermarkets are really clocking on to making more dupes.
"Going back to Aldi, there's a Nutella spread that they do, Nukota, that is so much cheaper at £1.45 compared to £3.15 for the real thing, and you get 50 grams more. I actually think it tastes nicer than Nutella.
"While I like to stick to Heinz mayonnaise, with lot of stuff, there's no difference, or the dupe is even nicer.
"I think you notice more of a difference saving on groceries too.
"With make-up, you are probably are only buying it every few weeks to a month, whereas groceries, you're getting them every few days or every week.
The price difference between dupes and the real thing can add up so quickly
"The price difference between dupes and the real thing can add up so quickly."
Matilda said the best meals that she's managed to make living boujee on a budget are 'fakeaways', which consist of restaurant quality food that can be obtained for a fraction of the cost.
"Fakeaway is quite a trend at the moment – more people are finding going out in the evening really hard. It's just too expensive.
"I did like a fakeaway reel of Iceland recently. Iceland is sometimes overlooked, but they have so many like actual products rather than dupes which are restaurant-branded like TGI Fridays.
"There's like Pizza Express and other brands too."
Matilda, who also recently bagged herself bottomless sushi and alcoholic drinks in London for just £35.95 at Inamo, said her best tip for budgeting is the 50-30-20 method.
She explained: "You spend 50 per cent of your income on your needs, which is your rent, mortgage repayments, and what you actually have to spend towards.
"Then you spent 30 per cent on your wants, which are trips, dining out and entertainment, and then put the remaining 20 per cent towards your savings like your emergency fund.
"This very much depends on where you live and what job you have. But I think it's a really good baseline to work towards.
"Look at everything and make a note of every single outgoing expense. Can you negotiate that? Wi-Fi, car insurance, your phone bill, there's so many expenses that you can call up and you can negotiate.
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"But then there's also things that you might not need like Amazon Prime."
TIPS TO LIVE BOUJEE ON A BUDGET LIFESTYLE
Matilda gave the following six tips for anyone looking to live a similarly boujee on a budget lifestyle:
1. Shop non-branded
2. Take advantage of loyalty cards
3. Use cashback – "My top recommendations are Cheddar, Airtime Rewards and Topcashback."
4. Meal plan
5. Take advantage of first-time offers for food services like Gousto and HelloFresh – "Gousto offer 65 per cent off for first time customers – take advantage of it by doing a big order and save on your food shop for that week!"
6. Use other apps like Shopmium and Greenjin – "These apps offer exclusive promotions and discounts at major supermarkets. I always have a check on the apps before I do a food shop just to see if there's any offers I'd want to use. You then shop as normal and upload your receipt to get the discount."
Discover more of Matilda's tips on her Instagram account
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