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How to save for a designer purchase (or other big ticket item) according to finance expert, Canna Campbell

6th November, 2022

Big purchases whether it be a house, a car, a once in a lifetime holiday or even a beautiful designer bag often requires discipline and a whole lot of planning. Unless you’ve got a few extra zeros in your bank account already I’m guessing that learning how to boost your savings is one such skill that you really want to learn. This is where financial expert Canna Campbell comes in. As the founder of the $1,000 Project and author of the book with the same name, Canna managed to save $32,000 in just 12 months all by without having to live on a diet of toast and two minute noodles for dinner! And it starts with saving $1,000 at at time. With a self-confessed soft spot for designer bags, here Canna shares her top money-saving tips that you can put to use on a new Gucci tote or any other big ticket item you choose.

Start with a goal

“When we don’t have goals, we can easily drift through life, not making much progress. But when we set clearly defined goals, with deadlines and these goals actually really excite us and we want to achieve them, we operate with more purpose and direction in actually getting them achieved and feeling proud of ourselves. And putting in the hard yards or self discipline isn’t such a big deal.”

Establish good saving habits
  • Have a budget, which is tracked against your calendar (I recommend the Sugar Budget App)
  • Review your budget and expenses regularly so that your spending is always in control
  • Set exciting financial goals for yourself
  • Educate yourself – I have over 250 bite size videos on my YouTube channel, SugarMammaTV that you can access for free which help empower and educate you. I also cover capsule fashion as well as lifestyle luxury. 
  • Pay off all toxic debt – credit card, personal loans etc. Then put more on to building savings and investments.

Canna’s step-by-step guide 

Step 1. Do a budget

Write down all your living expenses (use the Sugar Budget app to make this quick, easy and fun).

Step 2. Review your expenses

What can you cut down or cut out? For example if you realise that you tend to order 2-3 take away meals per week which costs you $30 each time, maybe cut that down to one take away meal per week, which should free up $60 per week. 

Step 3. Set a up a separate savings account

Nickname the account the handbag’s name (or big ticket item you’re saving for) eg Chanel 2.55 Savings account – then set up a regular savings plan using the exact amount of money that you have been able to subtract out of your budget. In this case it would be $60 per week. Now that might not sound like much but over the course of 12 months that is over $3,120 per year! 

Step 4. Get a side hustle

In my book, The $1,000 Project I saved and invested $32,000 over 12 months and then I saved another $36,000 over 13 months. Not one single dollar came out of my salary or savings. Everything I did was through adjusting my existing living expenses and taking on extra money making habits to come up with this money, which included some weekend work. So don’t be afraid to find other ways to help come up with some extra cash so that you can buy that handbag sooner! Babysitting, dog walking, selling things online, waitressing, tutoring even market research—this list of things that you can do is limitless.

Step 5. Review and remind

Don’t drop the ball. Review, monitor and track your progress. This will help keep you on track and progressing in the right direction as you will be constantly reminded of that exciting goal that you set for yourself.

What are you currently saving for?

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