May Letter 2025

The wobble of the in-between and a new savings challenge!

For those that have come direct from Instagram, here’s the Savings Challenge Checklist, right up front — no messing, I like your style, let’s get cracking!

For everyone else, to explain… last November I invited you to join me in a Savings challenge with a difference. It was a way to build a Christmas fund while also clearing in order to create physical/mental space in the run up to what can often be a stressful time, as well as a way to build a financial cushion to soften the blow of the inevitable additional expenses. Well, maybe because it’s Spring, or because I’ve moved house, but the itch to do it again became an urge and so the Challenge Checklist has been updated, improved and is newly ready to go for May!

This is also why this letter is dropping the day before 1 May, so consider yourself primed, prepped and with no excuses not to do it!

Why do it? Because clearing is cathartic and we all have stuff that we either no longer use or don’t love which someone else just might. Because we’re in the midst of an economic crisis and a little bit of extra cash is always appreciated. Because, re-use is better than recycling, and as Deepak Chopra once said, "You can't make positive choices for the rest of your life without an environment that makes those choices easy, natural and enjoyable." — and the means to achieve this could be right under your nose!

Also, let’s cut to the chase, six months ago I made over £1,000 seemingly from thin air via a a mix of eBay and Vinted for my pre-loved items! Effectively free money that made a significant difference to our Japan trip. This time around I’m saving for Summer. Extra money for ice lollies, fun and trips to encourage/bribe smallish as he gets dragged all over the country while I film the next season of Interior Design Masters.

But I encourage you to do it too because it’s a pathway to realising that we likely already have enough of everything. Enough clothes, pots, furniture, pictures or ornaments. As we clear we realise we can be happier with less. But even more so than this, I invite you to uncouple your happiness from consumerism and the supposed trinkets of success. Clearing the clutter and living with less, frees space for more: more time, more creativity, more experiences, more contentment, and more peace. Because sooner or later we all realise that life’s important things aren’t things at all.

Sometimes though we spot something that we really do desire, and wish to own, so here I advocate for one in one out (especially for clothes). And if we consider every non-essential purchase in terms of the number of life hours spent to raise the funds to purchase them, it can be very satisfying to have a net zero approach to spending. Ie before you buy, what might you sell? At MO HQ we sometimes manage net zero weekends where the cost of our activity is either completely free or offset by something extraneous I’ve sold. But perhaps this is just me?! I find once I start it becomes utterly compelling!

In truth, when I started this time around I wasn’t sure if I could do it. (I confess, I line everything up in advance so I can post everyday to keep you motivated, one thing for Day One, right through to 20 things for Day 20 and on to 31 things for the last day). But I recognise now, having done it a few times, that this is the beauty of the challenge. The first week is easy, just 28 things over the seven days, that’s four a day. And then it gets harder, but you push through. Then it seems impossible, but you dig deeper — go into the garage, basement, bottom drawers, your kid’s rooms — and lo, you find more stuff that you can let go. There’s also a thrilling moment where you find something forgotten but cherished (cards and letters). Or things that would make perfect unexpected gifts for your nieces or friends (art books and unicorn toys!).

Ultimately it’s liberating, and the checklist keeps you accountable and on track. It also provides a framework. so if you’ve already been thinking about clearing and didn't know where to start, or couldn't face it, this is your starting pistol. It’s also nice to think of a reward for yourself at the end of it, perhaps dinner out? Theatre tickets? A weekend away?

Quick recap on how it works…

Here’s how it works…

1. Download the Daily Checklist for Saving Money

2. On the 1st May, put aside £1; £2 on the 2nd; £3 on the 3rd and so on. The easiest way to do this is to have an online savings account linked to your current account and then you can swipe it across each day. I suggest this because the small sums might be straight forward to pop in a jar as coins, but when you get to £12 on Day 12, your resolve might falter.

3. Alongside the saving, I want you to find one thing to clear (aka giveaway, recycle or donate elsewhere) on Day 1, two things on Day 2, three things on Day 3, all the way through to 31 things on Day 31! I will be doing it alongside you, and you can follow my progress on my Instagram Stories. Check also my Reel today on what I jettisoned in November!

4. And then we go extra… of the things you are clearing, are any of them saleable? While the majority of things are probably destined for recycling or charity donation, could something be listed for sale instead. It might not always be possible, or you might list a whole heap of stuff on Day 5, it doesn't really matter. On the checklist, you’ll see there’s a box to tick each day if you manage it. And as we head into the second week, the line changes to ‘Sold Something?’ which if yes, then you add that bounty into your Running Total lines at the bottom of each page.

5. Heading into Day 9, we’re back listing things to sell but by Day 14 I also invite you to consider where you might deliberately not spend, as this all counts. The un-bought lipstick, magazine, or new sweater; the item returned; the discount earned. It all counts, so add those savings into the kitty too.

6. By the end of the month, if you managed the straight saving swipes alone, you will have stashed away an incredible £496! But maybe you could make that with the selling and un-spending alone, or double it? So, challenge accepted?

And finally…

I read this quote recently: “There’s beauty in the in-between. Where clarity hasn’t come yet but growth is already happening. You’re allowed to not have all the answers.”

Being in the midst of various dilemmas, it really resonated. It felt like the permission I needed to linger a while in the in-between. I like to have a plan and be clear about my goals, so I find grey areas extremely uncomfortable. But sometimes the grey is precisely where the magic happens. It’s the space for rest, planning and preparation. It’s where ideas have a chance to percolate, slowly. After all isn’t it said that failing to plan is planning to fail?

So that’s what I’m doing, planning, with lots of exciting things bubbling away that I hope to be able to bring to fruition very soon.

What else is coming this month?

I’ll be talking colour as part of a panel at 12 midday at Grand Designs Live at Excel on 3 May; taking part in the Lewes Speakers Festival on 9 May at 6.30pm; and looking forward to the Chelsea Flower Show, always an amazing source of colour, pattern and textural inspiration.

I’ll be watching Interior Design Masters alongside you all as we get into the home strait towards a winner through May, from the halfway point to the final. Who have you put your money on?

And right here, I’ve been researching the Sunday Scaries (the hashtag #sundayscaries has 435K posts!), aka feeling the dread of Sunday evening because the return to work looms, and what to do about it to bring some solace back to Sunday. I’m going to share my 7 Principles of Decorating (how to get it right every time); also How to Design a Home for Good Mental Health.

Plus I’m working on a mega new downloadable workbook for you (this might have to wait until June!), alongside some new free Checklists, and much more — I do the research so that you don’t have to — sincerely hoping to make your life easier, healthier and happier one post at a time!