Thursday 16 July 2020

How I'm saving for my cruise

As you probably know, cruises don't come cheap. Sometimes you can get really good deals that mean you're not paying as much as you usually would but generally, they're pretty pricey. I shared a post a couple of weeks ago about planning my 2021 cruise - and I thought I'd do a quick post about how I'm saving for it, too!

Cashback sites


I've signed up to Quidco and TopCashBack; sure, you don't get *loads* of money on most purchases but it's also completely FREE money. So it's a no-brainer really! You just sign up, install the browser extension for each site and you're good to go - every time you go onto a retail site that has a partnership with one of these cashback websites, it'll pop up in the corner and tell you what you'll get back on your purchase. The money takes a while to come through completely, but it's the kind of thing you can just check once every couple of months to see how you're getting on in terms of bringing in the free money!


Photo via Katie Harp on Unsplash

Affiliate earnings


As a blogger or "social media influencer" I have around 13k followers, and I've been using affiliate links on my blog/socials over the past year or so. Anyone can sign up to an affiliate scheme and promote their links to get commission from purchases, and while you only really earn a couple of quid from each purchase it's another way of having 'passive income' - easy free money! So if you buy anything I've linked to on my blog or socials, chances are it might be an affiliate link and I'll get some commission... so thank you! I'll leave some links below, just in case you fancy supporting me at all on your next shopping spree.

📚 Amazon 📚
💄 BeautyBay 💄
🍋 Skinnydip London 🍋
🔮 Etsy 🔮
👄 IT Cosmetics 👄
💧 La Roche-Posay 💧

Chip


I signed up to the Chip app in January, and it uses an algorithm to take a small sum of money out of your bank account based on your spending and what you can afford to miss. You can let the app know how often you want to make savings, whether you want to save a lot or a little, etc etc. The app allows you to set a specific target, and you can skip saves if you don't want the money coming out that day because you need it for something else. I've been using the app since January like I said, and have saved £661 so far that I genuinely haven't noticed or missed.

Obviously, read the small print and decide if this is right for you - there are other apps that do similar things, and apps that round up everything you spend to the nearest pound and save the difference somewhere for you. You can use my Chip code D5P6XRDK to get a £5 boost - I don't think I get anything back but every little helps!

Extra income


I'm lucky that my blog provides a space where I can generate some extra income - I don't earn a lot from my blog, which is why I don't blog full-time, but I've decided that any blog earnings I do make will be going toward my cruise. These earnings are separate from my general income (from my freelance career and bar work) so it's not like I'll miss them! Obviously I'm aware that this isn't an option for everyone, but monetising my blog has given me a side stream of income that can go straight towards my cruise.

So there you have it - how I'm saving for my 2021 cruise. I currently have £1255 saved towards my cruise, all in separate places because some money can't be withdrawn yet (affiliate sites) and some needs paying in. I'm aiming to save £3000, to pay for my cruise, flights, accommodation the night before and after my cruise, spending money and anything I need to buy such as fancy outfits and everything you see on cruise packing lists...

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