As I have shared with you, there were moments where I felt run-down during the $1000 Project. Sometimes I wanted to give up, questioning why I was putting all this energy into it. Sometimes I even thought I was a fool for thinking I could do this in the first place! Was anyone even interested? Would this even help people? And worst of all, would I be laughed at as an embarrassment?

Whenever I came close to quitting, though, a sign would land in my lap. I’d receive an email from a subscriber, or someone would come up to me in the street, or would write on my Facebook page. They shared what the $1000 Project meant to them and how they were successfully using it to change their financial future for the better. This is what helped me to keep going.

Their stories touched me, amazed me, made me feel proud of them – and, most importantly, they inspired me. I’m honoured that some of these incredible people have agreed to share their stories with you in this book, so you can see for yourself how the $1000 Project can change your life.

‘I began healing myself emotionally and financially’

Here’s my story on how I started my $1000 Project. But before I start, here is some background. I have always worked, since I was 13 years old; I married young, had two wonderful sons; I got divorced and received absolutely no financial support from their dad.

I continued to work and even managed to complete college and get my BA in Business Management. After being single for five years, I remarried to someone I thought was my dream man. I continued to work until my youngest son’s senior year in college. I felt like I needed to be there for my son that last year – I had been working so much, not getting home until seven. So I quit my job, feeling secure that my husband had my back. It was such a nice break not to have to work. I was not planning to stay unemployed: it was just temporary.

It so happened that five months later, a friend started his business and asked me to work for him. Being that I was going to work from home, I was excited. I was taking a major pay cut, and had no benefits, but I was okay with that because I knew that as the business grew so would my salary – and the major bonus was, I was making a little money and staying at home to watch my son.

About a year after that, my husband decided that he wanted a divorce. This really flipped my life upside down. I had quit my job at a major oil company, given up my pension, benefits, salary. We had built our ‘retirement’ home, which was way more than I could afford on my new salary. I felt discarded. My financial situation was in the dumps; all my future life dreams were just pulled from under my feet.

I found your channel because of a video . . . about how to heal a broken heart, or something to that effect. After my first divorce, I knew that I should not depend on anyone for my financial security – that’s why I always worked and got my education – but when my second husband was so supportive and I felt secure, after nine years, I let my guard down. Slowly, I began healing myself emotionally and financially.

Dolores

‘It’s not about being perfect: it’s about being better’

I stumbled across the $1000 Project and immediately I knew that this was something I could do and wanted to do! Reading Canna’s first blog entries with her supreme focus on squirrelling away cash reminded me of how in my twenties I scrounged together the deposit for my first apartment, so I knew I could absolutely do this if I put my mind to it!

I was pumped and all I needed was a goal. I was excited about share investing and this had the advantage of being something I could involve my sixteen-year-old stepdaughter in, as she is just starting to show an interest in finance. However, after having a honest look at my finances and my family’s goals, my most pressing need is to protect the deposit I have saved up for a family house. I had just received a bill for a $15 000 repair on our current apartment and I paid for this out of the house deposit, so my goal was to pay myself back this $15 000 within twelve months, so that I still had the full deposit for the family house and an intact emergency fund.

My challenge is that I’m currently on maternity leave with a newborn baby, and am living the very frugal lifestyle that comes with a tiny baby, a toddler and a teenager. Lunches, dinners out and drinks with friends are just not something I can do often right now, so there is very little to cut out!

How on earth was I to save, create, earn over $1000 a month when I spent so little and was already pretty responsible with my money?

I had devoured Canna’s blog and I knew I too had a bunch of clothes to sell on eBay – and that made me a few hundred dollars pretty easily. I then did a massive declutter and sold a bunch of furniture. It felt great to be rid of this stuff that was not adding value to my life, as well making money. So far this has made me over $1000, and I think I can make another $1000, then I’ll be out of stuff to sell! Such a great feeling to be achieving my goal, and my stepdaughter was surprised at how quickly the little things added up.

My next step was to be my own financial advisor, take the magnifying glass over my finances, and see how I could better manage my savings, my emergency fund and my house deposit. This is where I struck gold! By consolidating my bank accounts and making sure every single cent was in the account that would give me the best interest rate or saving rate, I saved well over $3000! I am never again going to take my eye off this activity!

Now for the tedious stuff . . . I went about ensuring that I got the very best deal on all of my recurring bills. I renegotiated my health, car and contents insurances, my phone plan, my cable TV ($588 there alone), and also my gas and electricity. I found a few dodgy late fees from the bank and this project gave me the motivation to call and have them reversed. This again added up to over $3000! Yay! I could make these phone calls while my baby was sleeping and it felt great to still be contributing towards a lovely house for my kids to grow up in while spending time at home looking after them.

By now all the easy pickings had gone, but I’d made so much progress I was motivated to keep going and find more savings. I pulled out the budget and looked at our biggest expenses. With a family of five, our grocery bill is pretty big, so I thought I’d try shopping at Aldi. This did take some convincing to get my husband to go there, but on our first shop we saved $80 (it was a huge shop, as we thought we’d try everything, and can I say: nappies!) and we are now both converts. So far this has saved us $1000, and this one is just going to keep saving us money year after year. Also, I see one or two ladies in there like myself with our designer handbags and expensive clothes and I think, Yep, she knows where to spend and where to save!

I’ve tried a bunch of other stuff that has saved a little bit here and there. I’ve done spa days at home, I’ve done user testing online, I’ve bought some beautiful baby things second-hand on eBay for amazing prices, and washed the car at home for free – and discovered my little one loves this on a hot day. Entertainment that actually saves me money, winning!

Some of these tricks I will do forever, as they are simply no trouble and get a great result. Other expenses I find are indulgences I really appreciate, so I do them guilt free. For instance, I love my designer handbags and the occasional designer shoe, so they are staying put, and bit of professional pampering is more enjoyable than my home spa treatments. However, I will now always spend a few minutes to get a better deal next time a bill renewal comes up, and I will always do a quick look for a second-hand product before purchasing new.

I’ve found this whole experience to be very motivating and it has reignited my interest in personal finance. I’m almost five months in and I’ve saved $9949 out of my target of $15 000. There really haven’t been many downs, but sometimes I think, How on earth can I find my next $1000? When this happens, I look at my graph where I track how much I’ve already recouped. I think about how this supports my values of providing for my family and only having useful, beautiful things in my life and retiring a little bit early on a great nest egg. I also think about how my mum set a great example of living within your means for us kids. I hope I can set that example for my kids, especially my girls, and add to that an example of how to invest, not just save.

For me, it’s not about being perfect: it’s about being better. It’s not about deprivation, it’s about finding out what I value and spending time and money guilt free on that.

Rachel

‘I feel like anything is possible’

When I first heard about the $1000 Project, I thought, Wow, I can never do that . . . Then I thought, Maybe I can do a $100 Project . . . I am on my own – my son is grown up and has left home, I earn a moderate/average income and own my own home with a mortgage – nothing left over.

I opened a new account and labelled it ‘Passive Income’. Then, within a couple of days I received a refund of $350 for something and WOW, so I put it in the passive income account, very excited . . . Within a month I had over $1000 and since then I have made $4000 and have redecorated my house – new couch, new bedroom suite, new dining chairs and lots of throws and pillows and accessories. It’s just beautiful and I am so excited; would never have had it otherwise . . .

This has meant so much to me, as I never ever thought I could do it – but my supposed $100 Project did become the $1000 Successful Project! I continue to keep doing the $1000 Project today and have my passive income account still going . . . The benefits for me are that I feel wealthy, I feel like anything is possible and can have the luxuries I want. I’m currently saving for a holiday.

Tina

‘Thank you for making us believe we can do this’

My name is Lisa; I’m from Adelaide, I’m twenty-eight, married and have a gorgeous daughter, Ava, who turns two next month.

My story begins with my struggle with infertility; after three years of struggling to conceive with help, I fell pregnant.

My husband and I would love to have another baby, but unfortunately the treatment I need and had with my daughter isn’t covered by Medicare and my private health only covers a certain amount – with a waiting period of twelve months.

We decided to start our own $1000 Project after watching other videos of yours, with our main goal being $7000 (more if we can!). But we found breaking it down into $1000 goals was much more manageable and keeps us on track and staying positive. We started at the beginning of March and already have $2500 saved. We’ve implemented so many money-saving ideas from a few different videos you’ve done and we have the biggest motivation: to have another baby and give our daughter a sibling.

I want to personally thank you for motivating us and making us believe we can do this.

Lisa

‘I can’t wait to do it again!’

I opened up a CommSec account last year. My intention was to learn about share trading and maximise a long-service-leave payout I’d received; however, I found the whole thing so daunting that I never made a trade. I just didn’t know what to do, and was scared I’d make such a poor decision that I’d lose money.

Fast forward to March this year; I was eight months’ pregnant with my first baby and I had just begun maternity leave. I came across SugarMamma.TV and was totally engaged with your approach to financial advice for trading . . . By breaking it down into $1000 parcels from passive savings!

I was keen to feel like I was contributing to my family’s financial independence, despite not working for another twelve months. My partner and I would be relying on his wage once the government paid parental leave ended. Just like other women who have a baby for the first time, I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling odd about relying on my partner’s income for the first time – and what this would do, not only to our bank account balance but also to the balance of the relationship. The $1000 Project seemed like a fun and achievable way for me to contribute to our financial independence without dipping into our lowered income.

So, first of all I looked at our budget and realised we had $700 saved for car registration – however, we’d sold that car in February! What a great start! Below is the full breakdown of our first $1000 parcel:

And there you have it – our first $1000, which came together within a fortnight! It felt so good! Here was $1000 from cash that just seemed to manifest from thin air. And quickly at that. I started looking around the house to see what I could do to make my next $1000 . . . an outdoor setting which doesn’t suit our house; shoes and clothes to sell on eBay; my (very) overdue tax return.

I used advice from one of your other videos to make my decision to invest this first parcel, which I did with confidence. I can’t wait to do it again! I now have a six-week-old daughter and feel like I can put some attention back towards the $1000 Project. I can’t wait to see how it goes . . .

Stephanie

‘I knew things needed to change’

My name is Nicole and I’ve been following you on YouTube since September last year. I came across your story about the $1000 Project while scrolling through news.com.au one day. Immediately I was inspired by your love of the finer things in life, while also working towards financial freedom and being in control of your money. I think your story really resonated with me because I felt like my husband and I weren’t in control of our finances.

In September last year I was really feeling like things had spiralled out of control. We had $58 000 (maybe a little more) in personal loan debt. Every single dollar was unsecured debt. I had given birth to twins three months earlier. The IVF treatment cost us around $25 000 out of pocket including travel, accommodation and food (we live in remote Queensland so each cycle was a 3600-kilometre round trip). While we were undergoing treatment, my husband injured himself on his motorcross bike and broke his ankle. He took three months off work unpaid and had no income protection insurance. This meant we quickly acquired $13 000 credit card debt.

I knew things needed to change – your story was a gift from the universe and I was quickly addicted to your YouTube videos. You were up with me most nights, every hour keeping me company while I fed the babies. Your message was so clear and so achievable. With the support of my husband I took on the $1000 Project and couldn’t believe how quickly I was acquiring my parcels of $1000. Before I knew it we had $17 000 just sitting there (until I watched another video and quickly realised I needed to pay it off an interest-earning debt).

Here’s how I did it:

  1. Budget – I am thirty-one years old and this was the first time I had a budget: a clear idea of my actual cost of living. It was very confronting, yet motivated me even further. I pay our electricity, internet, phones and private health insurance each fortnight to avoid additional bills – our bills now arrive in credit.
  2. eBay – I signed up and sold anything I didn’t love, appreciate and value. I sold bundles of excellent quality baby clothes, Mimco wallets and bags I no longer used, Mimco nappy bag, breast pump and juice plus vitamins. Before I knew it, my PayPal account was over $1000!
  3. Emptied my closet – I emptied my closet onto my bed and invited the girls from work over. I sold them all of my clothes I no longer loved, wore, needed, fit and made around $500.
  4. Meal planning – this has been my biggest saving. Our family was spending $450 to $500 per week on groceries, eating out and coffees. I now plan every meal and we no longer go out for dinner unless it’s to celebrate a special occasion. Our spend per week has reduced to $250. It’s so much more fun to make pizzas together and have a picnic in the front yard or to have friends over and make memories.
  5. Selling our second car – we did own two cars: one family car to accommodate our children and a smaller car I’d owned for around seven years. It was in great condition, as I had owned it since new. My husband catches a company bus out to the mine site each day and I am a teacher at a school one kilometre from my home. We didn’t need two cars. I hadn’t driven the smaller car in seven months before I decided to sell it. This was $8000 in cash, and I saved $600 by selling it prior to paying registration the following month and $400 on insurance.
  6. I quit shopping – I applied a minimalistic approach after cleaning out so much. Some days my husband would arrive home to six garbage bags of ‘stuff ’ to take to the charity bin or the tip! I quit shopping for fun and only bought things I needed to replace.
  7. Short-term pain for long-term gain – this has been another change that made a significant difference to our finances. My husband has always worked Monday to Friday 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. In mining, this is almost unheard of. It worked well with our family schedule and allowed for a lot of weekend family time. My husband chose to change his roster and work a 14/7 shift – seven days 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., then seven nights 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., and then seven days off. This change came with an additional pay rise. The pain of the roster is worth the pleasure of achieving our goal of financial freedom and abundance.
  8. Cancelled the credit card – I combined credit card debt with an unsecured debt and consolidated into a fixed-term, fixed-interest-rate, no-redraw $40 000 personal loan. This has stopped overspending and has reduced the stress of multiple payments.
  9. Minimalism – I found that minimalism is so good for the mind, the soul and the bank account!

Between October and February, we saved $17 000 (and still went on our annual trip overseas). We decided to use that $17 000 to pay out an existing personal loan debt. Our personal loan debt balance has reduced from $58 000 to $33 000. I still cannot believe that between the $1000 project, taking a minimalistic approach and watching your amazing videos, we have been able to achieve this in such a short period of time. I feel like we now have a plan, we are in control and we are so much more appreciative of the money we have.

We now value our money, pay for everything in cash and save for little luxuries we want in envelopes stashed in our bedroom. Your advice has been amazing for not only our finances, but also our health and happiness. I cannot thank you enough for the gift you have given our family, and I’m so grateful you take the time to create videos sharing your knowledge of finance.

Nicole

‘Wish we had learnt something as practical as this in school’

Hi Canna, just wanted to share our little story and the huge influence you have had on us.

We are three sisters based in Scotland who have been running a successful little teashop for the last five years. We have always been a cash-positive business and have always paid our fifteen members of staff on time; however, at times we have felt frustrated with our finances and sometimes we struggled to pay ourselves regularly, fearing the next month wouldn’t be so good! As young females, we found getting credit or business loans awkward, as we were not confident talking about money or asking for good discounts, so renovations or big purchases were always saved for and paid fully in cash upfront. Although it means we have no debt, we were not smart in the lean startup years.

We found your YouTube channel and your videos became our lectures, your recommended books became our reading lists, and we began to focus on what we wanted from the business and get creative with finding other ways to make more money. Watching your videos allowed us to realise how much we have accomplished, and your lifestyle tips have allowed us to integrate our work into our lives in a less consuming but more rewarding way.

We started the $1000 Project in order to make sure we could pay for some improvements in the cafe and sometimes a little treat for ourselves (a spa afternoon or a really nice meal, or a designer treat).

It was in doing this project that we unknowingly stumbled on our newest business, Sconebox. We are known locally for our freshly baked scones, which we make every morning. To make extra money, we came up with a way to package the dried ingredients and sell them to customers to make at home. The extra income grew and so did the idea – to create a baking subscription that not only included the scone blend but also tea, jam, napkins, a baking utensil and an artisan sweet or chocolate – everything to have a tea party! Sconebox hasn’t officially launched yet but we already have great orders and more subscribers than we can believe, and such confidence dealing with ‘men in suits’ talking about finances.

We only wish we had learnt something as practical as this in school. Love what you’re doing and love that you’re doing it in such a unstuffy manner.

Geraldine, Michelle & Jennifer

‘The $1000 Project has healed my negative relationship with money’

Growing up in a household that lived week to week and never saved a cent, I fell into this pattern as an adult.

I felt so insecure about money. By the time I had my second child, I needed this to change. My financial stress was affecting my marriage and personal happiness.

I had started making better financial decisions, but I still had a long way to go towards feeling financially secure when I discovered Canna’s YouTube channel. (I was one of the first 1000 subscribers!) I felt so inspired by Canna and her attitude towards money. I watched her videos religiously and took notes.

My main challenge with the $1000 Project was getting started. I had very limiting beliefs such as ‘I don’t know anything about stocks’ and ‘I am not someone who is good with money’, which took time to resolve.

My goal is to have my own nest egg to fall back on in retirement. No one knows what the future holds, but I know that having my own long-term, diverse portfolio will give me some peace of mind.

I am raising my first $1000 by selling unwanted items on eBay and using all my affiliate income from my beauty blog. Even though the money is only coming in little bits, it’s so exciting to see my $1000 Project account growing.

The $1000 Project has healed my negative relationship with money, given me a feeling of security and best of all: hope.

I can’t thank Canna enough for all the information and inspiration she has given me and I can’t wait to read the $1000 Project book!

Lisa

‘I had finally found a happy medium between spending and saving’

I always considered myself a good saver. While living at home and studying at university, I was eager to work as many shifts as I could manage at my various part-time jobs, so that I could put the money towards my next overseas trip.

As soon as I entered the world of full-time work and started earning a salary, my attitude towards money changed. Very quickly, my desire for ‘things’ and keeping up with the latest trends consumed me, and I found myself browsing high-street stores multiple times per week (both in store and online), and purchasing an extensive amount of unnecessary items for myself. During this time, I also moved out of home and into a rental property, meaning that my cost of living increased substantially.

Looking back, I realise that this is the point in time when I should have reined in my shopping addiction to compensate for the additional expenses I now had in my life. Instead, I continued to shop and entered more dangerous waters . . . I started shopping for home decor! My willingness to save as much money as I could per fortnight had drastically diminished, and making a trip to the shops excited me beyond belief. However, at the same time I began to feel overwhelmed at the amount of choices I had and started to experience immense guilt every time I purchased something ‘extra’ for myself.

Reality hit me when some of my friends began to buy their first homes and I didn’t have nearly enough money for a deposit of my own.

It wasn’t long after having this realisation that I stumbled across SugarMamma.TV on YouTube. After viewing video upon video, I was extremely inspired by the wise words of Canna Campbell and motivated to change my attitude back to that of saving as much money as I possibly could. I promptly completed a budget and discovered that I could be saving an extra $200 per fortnight. I then established two financial goals – the first being to save $10 000 by the end of 2017 to put towards a deposit for my first home, and secondly to make one voluntary payment per month to reduce my HECS debt, or student loan.

My motivation to commence the $1000 Project was higher than ever. I immediately pulled everything out of my wardrobe and drawers. I filled multiple garbage bags with unloved clothing, footwear and bags that would either be donated to charity or sold. I then went to every room in the house and completed the same process in order to minimise my belongings and find extra savings. I investigated how to use Gumtree and eBay and furiously began taking photos and uploading items online. I sought out a local carboot sale and signed up for the next month’s sale. I also registered with an organisation to participate in market research in an effort to earn extra cash.

I made changes to my spending habits by making a conscious effort not to purchase the ‘little things’, as they were seriously adding up and making a dent in my bank account. I stopped re-purchasing beauty products before I had used up all of the contents; I took lunch to work every day; and started driving to social events more often to save money on transportation and alcohol. I changed my standard credit card to an awards card in order to reap more benefits, and I researched in depth how I could use loyalty cards to my advantage. I embraced ‘Frugal February’ with all my strength, and spent my money sparingly for the next few months.

I continued in this money manifestation zone for four months and successfully saved an additional $2000! I finally realised what I was capable of achieving and slowly began to loosen my grip so that I could still treat myself occasionally and not completely exclude myself from my social circle. I had finally found a happy medium between spending and saving.

I am proud to say that I have just made my first voluntary payment towards my HECS debt and I am empowered to continue saving as much as possible so that the deposit for my first home grows consistently over the next few years. The knowledge I have gained through SugarMamma. TV has been invaluable and as a result, I know that I will experience lifelong financial benefits.

Rhian

‘Thank you for helping make finance seem not so scary!’

I have been following you on YouTube since you started! I absolutely love your channel and want to thank you for helping make finance seem not so scary!

I began doing your $1000 Project last January. I was fed up with my disorganised and cluttered closet and always spending my money on unnecessary things. (I definitely have a shopping addiction! I love fashion.) I finally had enough and started my journey by going through every item of clothing that I owned and donating/selling on Poshmark whatever I didn’t need anymore. This process not only gave me so much space in my closet, but also put some money in my pocket. I put this money right into an account that I nicknamed ‘My $1000 Project’.

After that first step, I was on a roll! I would make coffee at home instead of going to Starbucks and I would transfer that money right into my $1000 Project account. The money kept adding up!

I must say, this whole process was addictive. I keep trying to find more and more ways to cultivate money as well as save in other areas, just so I can see my savings grow. As of today, I have saved $2700 by doing the $1000 Project! And I am still going. This money is going into an account to save for a down payment on my first home. The $1000 Project has inspired me to live life in a more budget-friendly way, without being ‘cheap’ all of the time. I want to thank you, Canna, for the inspiration on this journey.

Amanda

‘A woman with confidence is strong, but a woman with confidence and wealth is unstoppable’

Okay, so we are a family of three – my husband and I separated in August 2016, and in 2017, it is the year of ‘attacking debt’. I have two amazing daughters – Joanne, aged six, and Emily, aged three, and we are currently in our second $1000 challenge.

Our goal – to be debt free by the end of 2017, so that we can save for a deposit on a house.

How we are doing this – our matrimonial home is on the market and we know that our next home will be smaller. So Gumtree is our new best friend – we have sold furniture, baby items and books, which has generated $630 this month. We have a princess tin moneybox which Joanne and Emily deposit the money straight into, and we cannot open it until 1st June 2017. Also, while the girls are with their father, I’m an Uber driver – so any profit (revenue minus expenses) I receive from Uber I withdraw . . . and Joanne and Emily deposit it once again into our moneybox.

Rules for the $1000 challenge – this money cannot be taken out of my full-time wage; it has to come out of the sales or income generated in other areas.

Why include the girls – to set good money habits in life early, I withdraw the money so Joanne and Emily know what $1000 looks like in the moneybox. We have named our debt monster ‘Bill’, and we are slowly killing Bill in every way possible. Joanne and Emily come with me to physically pay off these bills (no electronic transfer from our bank). This helps them understand the concepts of money and bill payments.

How are we feeling – mainly awesome. There have been times where we’ve had to restrict ourselves from certain things, but can compensate at home (eating at home, watching Netflix, camping inside). But we had a few breakdowns (myself included): frugal living is an every day, every purchase choice and sometimes you don’t want to play. But when 1 June 2017 comes around, we can look forward to it.

A quote I created – ‘A woman with confidence is strong, but a woman with confidence and wealth is unstoppable.’ I will be unstoppable for what I believe in, and I want to be in a place where I can give generously and live comfortably within my means.

Thank you for this challenge, Canna; please continue to be unstoppable.

Tanya

I truly hope that reading these stories from everyday people inspires you – inspires you to have a go, inspires you to see what you’re capable of achieving, inspires you to change your future, and most importantly, inspires you to make a better, liberating financial future for yourself. The moment you start to have a go, you will get a little inkling of the incredible power that exists within you. And each time you tap into it, just like exercising a muscle, that power gets stronger and more finely tuned.

You have everything that you need already; now is your turn to pick up those tools and use them. And I promise you, if you embark on the $1000 Project, you will never look back with regret. Life is about to get really exciting for you, with a new awareness and financial mindfulness.