My experience of extreme saving I’ve never been very good with money and last year I did something I’ve never done before — I saved up for ten whole months. My friends were planning a trip abroad to celebrate their graduation and I didn’t want to be left at home! Trips abroad are expensive though, so I had to work hard and stick to a really strict budget. The first thing I did was to stop spending money on eating (and drinking) out. I estimated that I was spending about $20 every week on takeout coffee and sandwiches — that had to stop! I became organized and got up early every morning to prepare snacks and drinks to take with me to college. Another important thing I did was to start looking after loose change. It all went into a piggy bank and I must admit that I was really surprised by how quickly the cents turned into dollars. The hardest thing was cutting down on buying new clothes. I thought that new jeans, shoes and tops were my main expenses and I was able to set aside so much money by just avoiding the shops. I didn’t enjoy that part of the saving up experience, but it was worth it because by the end of the year I’d saved enough to go to Mexico with my friends!