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I will always remember my first Harry Styles show at Wembley.<\/p>\n
Walking down Wembley Way through a sea of glitter and feather boas felt so surreal. And when the band started playing and he came jumping out, I swear I could feel the floor shaking \u2013 the entire stadium was electric.<\/p>\n
Joining the rest of the crowd to sing along with every word to all our favourite songs is something I\u2019ll never forget.<\/p>\n
I left the gig on a high \u2013 mostly because I knew I was returning to see the same gig the next night. And the one after \u2013 and the one after that.<\/p>\n
You see, I\u2019d managed to save almost \u00a31,000 to be able to attend all four of Harry Styles\u2019s shows at Wembley Stadium that week.<\/p>\n
Not only could I not wait to spend the rest of the week dancing along to my favourite artist, I was also incredibly proud of saving that huge amount of money.<\/p>\n
Saving isn\u2019t something that comes naturally to me \u2013 indeed, as a student, it has felt impossible at times.<\/p>\n
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The most I\u2019ve ever been able to scrimp together in the past has been \u00a350 for a new jacket.<\/p>\n
It never really bothered me in the past until my best friend, who lives in America, announced she was travelling over to London to see Harry Styles\u2019 Love on Tour show this year.<\/p>\n
Naturally, she wanted to go to as many shows as possible and initially suggested we booked tickets for five of them. But I just couldn\u2019t afford it, so we ended up going to three shows, missing the crucial night at Wembley.<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t help but feel like I was missing out. I also felt like I let her down a bit, as she was making this massive trip and I couldn\u2019t afford to experience it all with her.<\/p>\n
I had been a Monzo customer for a while before this and used their \u2018pots\u2019 feature \u2013 which allows you to separate money from your main account \u2013 for small things like separating funds for my weekly food shop.<\/p>\n
I realised it couldn\u2019t hurt to make a specific Harry Styles pot, and use the \u2019round-up\u2019 savings feature, which rounds up any costs to the nearest pound and saves the remaining change to one of your pots.<\/p>\n
As a uni student making small purchases frequently \u2013 like my train fares, an occasional coffee or drink out \u2013 the round-up feature really built the pot up quickly.<\/p>\n
Platform is the home of Metro.co.uk’s first-person and opinion pieces, devoted to giving a platform to underheard and underrepresented voices in the media. <\/strong><\/p>\n Find some of our best reads of the week below:<\/p>\n Sex columnist Almara Abgarian offers these handy tips to people who have no idea how to please a woman.<\/p>\n This is how to save thousands of pounds by making one small lifestyle change, according to Zara Canfield.<\/p>\n What do you do if your mum thinks she’s invited to your hen do, but you don’t actually want her there? Columnist Alison Rios McCrone has the answer.<\/p>\n Rape survivor Ellie Wilson recalls what it was like for jury members not to believe her \u2013 even though she’d recorded a confession on tape.<\/p>\n Still though, tickets to see the former One-Directioner could cost anything between \u00a350 and \u00a3200 each. So to build up my savings pot for that kind of purchase felt like an agonisingly slow process.<\/p>\n Still, if anyone was worth it, Harry was and after a couple months of using the round-up feature, and donating whatever was left of my weekly spending to the pot, I finally reached my first \u00a3100.<\/p>\n Spurred on, I started cutting out my daily coffees and adding that to my savings. I also looked at my spending habits, cutting out buying new clothes I didn\u2019t necessarily need and trying to find cheaper alternatives for my food shops.<\/p>\n Before long, I set up different pots, for all my favourite artists and any events I wanted to see. These include Taylor Swift\u2019s UK Eras Tour, The Weeknd, Chelsea and England football matches, and Formula 1 races.<\/p>\n All my pots started as \u00a35 here and there \u2013 and I used the round-up feature to build up pots on a priority basis, allocating the funds to whichever event was happening first.<\/p>\n Because saving was going so well, I made it my mission to join my best friend at the Taylor Swift Eras Tour in LA in August this year.<\/p>\n Within a year, I managed to save over \u00a31,000 using an instant access savings account \u2013 which is a savings account with a competitive interest rate. I did a lot of research to make sure I was getting the best deal \u2013 this was something I was incredibly ambitious about saving for.<\/p>\n My Taylor Swift show in LA was the proudest moment for me in my savings journey. Previously, it had always been my friend who travelled over from LA to London to see me; so for it to be the reverse, and to finally go see her and experience the LA concert scene was brilliant.\u00a0<\/p>\n I actually got a bit emotional when Taylor came out at the SoFi stadium in LA, as it\u2019s been a tour I\u2019ve followed for so long. I can remember perfectly the moment the lights went out for her set to begin, and I was so excited my heart was pumping out of my chest.\u00a0<\/p>\n A \u2019round-up\u2019 savings feature helped me reach my first \u00a3100.<\/p>\n Cutting out daily coffees and unnecessary clothes purchases saw my savings increase.<\/p>\n Setting up different pots for different artists helped me continue to build up my savings.<\/p>\n An instant access savings account helped me save over \u00a31,000 in a year.<\/p>\n Singing Taylor\u2019s song Style hand-in-hand with my best friend felt like a very full circle moment to sing a song rumoured to be about Harry Styles after my whole savings journey started with him.<\/p>\n I had one of the best nights of my life.<\/p>\n With these saving techniques, I\u2019ve also been able to see The Weeknd at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester in June this year for \u00a3110, The Formula 1 British Grand Prix in July for \u00a3300 and, of course, every night of Harry Styles\u2019 Wembley Stadium tour, which was \u00a3800 in total.<\/p>\n I still have tickets to three of Taylor Swift\u2019s UK shows in 2024, which I\u2019m so excited for because I get to go to Edinburgh with my older sister, who I don\u2019t get to see as much due to us both being students in different parts of the country.<\/p>\n We managed to secure brilliant seats \u2013 a front floor standing ticket for \u00a3150, a prime lowerbowl seat for \u00a3200 and a higher up seat for \u00a380.\u00a0<\/p>\n I\u2019m really happy I managed to save enough to have these opportunities, even if it meant sacrificing an iced coffee or two. My savings journey has seen me save over \u00a32.500 to be able to attend all these brilliant events and I\u2019m really proud to have been able to do it.\u00a0<\/p>\n Saving is a slow process, and I had many dips in how much I could save \u2013 and when.<\/p>\n Overall, I am incredibly fortunate to be in a position where I am able to save for things like concerts, and I know for a lot of people this isn\u2019t a reality.<\/p>\n There\u2019s been times I\u2019ve essentially had to start from scratch with my savings, because I\u2019ve needed to take out the money for emergency purchases \u2013 like unexpected bills.\u00a0<\/p>\n Starting early \u2013 even if something hasn\u2019t been announced yet \u2013 is one of my key tips. The window from a tour being announced to tickets going on sale is often incredibly unforgiving (like three days\u2019 notice) so being prepared for any eventuality is my go-to.\u00a0<\/p>\n I have over 10 Monzo pots \u2013 all of which are still ongoing \u2013 even if they only have a few quid in them.<\/p>\n Concert-wise, my sights are set on Olivia Rodrigo when she tours her second album \u2013 which is my current saving priority \u2013 and some more Formula 1 Grand Prixs for next year.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/i>How I saved over \u00a32,500…<\/h2>\n
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