A SAVVY holidaymaker who goes abroad 12 times a year has revealed the four money-saving rules she follows to fund her wanderlust – and anyone can do them.
Catherine Nelson, 28, lives a “frugal luxury lifestyle” so she can enjoy breathtaking trips to places including Miami, Dubai and the Bahamas without a six-figure salary.
Catherine Nelson lives a ‘frugal luxury’ life to fund her love for travellingCredit: TikTok/@catherine_nelson1415
Catherine went on 12 holidays last yearCredit: TikTok/@catherine_nelson1415
Last year alone, she also visited Paris, Tenerife, Venice, Bologna, Florence, Krakow and Gdansk.
And a Royal Caribbean cruise around the Mediterranean saw her make stops at European hotspots including Rome, Barcelona, Palma and Marseille.
Catherine, who works a 9-5 job, has an annual holiday allowance of 6.5 weeks but is able to buy an additional week every year to top up her time off.
She also schedules some of her trips around long weekends to avoid wasting her annual leave.
She tells Fabulous: “Travel is important to me because I value experiences and memories, especially with friends and family, over physical items.
“I’d rather spend money trying new food in another country or experiencing a different culture than on things that won’t last.
“I always think if I’m going to be spending money on a night out or at a restaurant, it might as well be abroad in a new place rather than in Scotland!
“There’s something exciting about knowing there are foods, places and experiences I haven’t been to or discovered yet.”
As well as international travel, Catherine also prioritises new experiences and activities in the UK – including ski lessons and a bucket list trip to the Cotswolds.
To fund her trips, the finance worker – who lives near Glasgow – is mindful about her everyday spending and sticks to a cheap, but unrestrictive, food budget.
Catherine shared her top four tips for frugal luxury livingCredit: TikTok/@catherine_nelson1415
In a TikTok video ( @catherine_nelson1415 ), she explained: “I live a frugal luxury life and before you say that doesn’t make sense, hear me out.
“I went on holiday abroad every single month of last year and I’m planning to do the same this year but I don’t earn some high-flying six-figure salary.
“I was able to do that because I’m aggressively frugal on other costs so that I can spend my money on things that really matter to me.”
Here, Catherine reveals the four areas where she is aggressively frugal so that she can live in luxury in other areas of her life – and you can too.
FOOD SHOP
First up, Catherine follows a strict £150 monthly budget for her food shop – working out at around £35 per week.
She revealed that she is able to stick to this amount by using the Notes app on her phone to meal plan for the week, rotating between 20 different dinner ideas that use long-lasting ingredients from her cupboard.
She added: “I then get a Tesco delivery and only get the food delivered that I actually need to make those meals. By not actually going to the physical shop I feel that it removes the temptation to just pick up random bits that I didn’t really need and it would probably go to waste anyway.”
Catherine buys long-lasting items in bulk when they are on offer for Clubcard members, and will happily buy own-brand to save cash.
While it may seem like a big upfront cost, the 28-year-old insists it is beneficial in the long run.
Catherine bulk buys and takes advantage of Clubcard offers with her food shopCredit: Alamy
She said: “I would guess this saves me about £20 a week which doesn’t seem like a lot but when you look at that over a month that’s £80 and then over a year it’s nearly £1000 and that could be a holiday somewhere.”
Catherine also keeps her costs low by cooking from scratch and avoiding ready meals, with staple dishes including chilli con carne and sticky chilly chicken.
She explained: “I batch cook a lot and then freeze the extra portions.
“I always buy 1kg bags of uncooked rice rather than pre-packaged portions, as it works out significantly cheaper and lasts months.
“I also freeze almost everything, especially bread, bagels and vegetables because these go off quickly and I never waste anything.
“As soon as they’re delivered they’ll go in the freezer and that also means that I only have to buy them once every few weeks.”
USEFUL GIFTS
When it comes to her birthday and Christmas, Catherine uses these occasions as a chance to “restock on things that she actually needs and uses”.
She said: “Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love it when someone gets me a surprise gift and they’ve thought it out and it’s something that I wouldn’t have thought of myself.
“However, if someone specifically comes and asks me what I want for Christmas or what I want for my birthday then I’ll use it to ask them to buy me something that I actually use.”
She restocks on products like haircare, skincare and makeup which lowers her annual spend throughout the year.
AVOID UPGRADES
Next up, Catherine revealed she “has never and will never” buy the latest phone upgrades – choosing to stick to her trusty iPhone 12.
“I think it’s such a big advertisement and gimmick”, she revealed.
“Every single phone is pretty much the exact same, maybe with a slightly better camera.
“For me, spending £1000 plus on the latest phone is the biggest waste of money and I would rather spend it on a flight somewhere.”
‘SALE’ TRAP
Finally, the finance worker avoids paying full price for clothes and shoes.
“I always wait until they go on sale, which they always do”, she said.
But Catherine does warn people not to hit the sales unless there’s something in particular they want.
She explained: “I think that the sale tricks you into this false pretense that you’re saving lots of money and that you’re getting really good deals when actually you wouldn’t have spent that money anyway and you don’t really need the thing.
“So you’re only buying it because it’s in the sale and it looks like you’re getting a big discount on it.”
Catherine avoids shopping in the sales just for the sake of itCredit: Alamy
SOCIAL REACTION
Catherine’s video quickly racked up 20,000 views on TikTok, with social media users keen to give her tips a try.
“This is so good! I need to get on board with this”, one person gushed.
A second wrote: “Some great tips here, holidays are so worth it.”
A third added: “£150 pm for food shop, I wish!! I’m probs closer to £150 pw!”
“I need to adapt these habits”, insisted a fourth.
Meanwhile, a fifth said: “Love these ideas!!”
For anyone considering her tips, Catherine added: “Just remember that being frugal doesn’t mean that you’re cheap.
“It just means that you’re smart with what you spend your money on so that you can splurge on things that are valuable. Value obviously looks different for every person but for me it’s travel and being able to spend time on activities with my friends and family.”
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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