Could A Financial 5:2 Diet Help You Get Rich Fast?

Could you spend just $10 on weekdays and $40 per day on the weekend? Sophie Haslett takes the challenge - with surprising results

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MY NAME IS SOPHIE, I’m 27 and I’m a spender. I want the best in life. In the past few years, my over-the-top spending has gotten increasingly out of hand – so much so that the prospect of getting on the property ladder is becoming ever more distant.

But I recently landed upon an idea. What if I could quit the Monday-to-Friday indulgences, fast my cash and relax a little at the weekends? A sort of financial 5:2 diet. ‘We are all capable of change and improvement with our finances,’ insists financial advisor Canna Campbell. ‘It’s about understanding your way and focusing on the benefits the change in attitude will bring you.’

While Campbell is sceptical about my financial 5:2 idea – believing too much deprivation on some days ‘may trigger you to splurge on others’ – she adds that it is an ‘interesting strategy’ that could work, provided I set myself some clear guidelines.

Since I don’t have the ability or the willpower to set a totally Draconian ‘zero spend’ policy for five days, I decide on a budget. $10 a day should do for my five ‘fasting’ days, and $40 for each day of the weekend – a relaxed amount that theoretically will allow me to indulge something of my almond milk flat white habit. Here’s how I got on.

Monday