How did you get rich?

[Roxetta]

I'm 29 with a lovely DH & 2 gorgeous children. We live month to month, getting into small amounts of debt and then getting back out of it and this cycle repeats itself.

I don't mean to sound boastful but I'm fairly smart and a massive underachiever. DH is in the army and my career has been sidelined while the DC are young but i'm in the process of looking at qualifications I can complete to give myself the best chance at a really good career.

I am massively driven now (wasn't during my teen years due to life events that went on at that time) but basically I want a good lifestyle, I want us to be able to enjoy the finer things in life and to go on long haul holidays and enjoy all that life has to offer without money being the huge barrier that it currently is for us.

I'm so far away from being where I want to be in life. Can you share your experiences of how you managed to become wealthy? I'm just hoping to hear some positive stories because I sometimes feel quite defeatist that I'm 29 and I've achieved so little. I know there is more to life than money and I'm very lucky to have my family but I want to be able to offer them more. Thanks.

I’m not wealthy at all, we are both public sector employees. But DH and I are just looking at buying our first buy to let and hope that it will help us get a little more security-

I think you're my life twin @Roxetta

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Things were easier before the financial crisis. OH and I are older and made decisions when interest rates were better. Things are tougher now.

My Dad made his money by investing in shares very selectively. If a company was doing badly and a new CE went in to do a ‘makeover’ which proved successful, he’d follow that person onto their next project.

He also invests with companies similar to St. James Place but which don’t have such high management/withdrawal fees.

In the olden days before he had this money, he was very clever with things like credit cards (which I don’t touch with a barge pole) He carried a little note telling him which one to use on which day of the month in order to postpone paying interest for a full month more than he had to.

He uses things like Martin Lewis’s site, TopCashBack etc. He will spend hours relentlessly shopping around for the best way to save literally 2pence. In his words, what he doesn’t spend, I’ll inherit.

But like someone else has said to me, you can always get more money but you’ll never get more time.

He’ll re-use stamps that haven’t been franked, eat food well past its Use By (marmalade from 1998, anyone?), wears socks with holes in, doesn’t have a smartphone....

I didn't have kids, worked on my career and live in a cheap part of the country.

Not rich but comfortable.
Ex was a businessman. Had lucrative divorce. Remarried someone who is ‘ comfortable’
Inherited money and a couple of properties
Live in cheap part of the country.
Spend money wisely...but i do spend

scuseme your dad brings to mind the phrase: there are no pockets in a shroud! But maybe his thriftiness is his hobby and pleasure,

your dad brings to mind the phrase: there are no pockets in a shroud!

But there sure as heck are in a dressing gown worn day in day out while you're chronically ill, or by a family member who's chronically ill. This sort of habit can prove very very useful further down the line. One cos you'll have a bit more money from it, and two because it won't feel like a strain trying to save this sort of money when you really need to, because it's already what you normally do.

Working really really hard, often had a full time job and did self employed work on top. Always saved and budgeted, even if it was a few pounds a week that went into savings it was a priority. Never bought brand new toys/bikes/clothes, never over indulged the dc for Christmas or Birthdays, limited extra curricular activities to two per child (5dc).
Never used an estate agent when selling a house, bought wrecks and improved them, sold them and bought the next. By the time the youngest were all in junior school bought our forever home, modest but scope for major improvements.
It all paid off in the end, comfortable, can afford what we need, nice holidays etc but still don't waste money.

Honestly, the single biggest thing was not having a child until I was 39, which allowed me to focus single-mindedly on my career.

Depends on how you define 'rich'. DH was in the army. We invested in property while living in quarters, so someone else was paying out mortgage. Maxed ourselves out on that front, and sold one property plus used end of service gratuity to buy a family home.

I refused to give up my career while he was serving, so much salary outstripped him for years. He did an MBA so he could walk into a good career on leaving, while I already had one that could support the family.

Nothing is easy. You have to be prepared to work hard, give up some dreams etc. But we will both be able to quit work and live comfortably by our mid-50s (if we want) having privately educated our kids.

I never became a SAHM. I've always been financially independent.

I pursued qualifications that would allow me access to highly-paid positions.

I save heavily, and started investing in shares in my 20s.

I "pay myself first" in the sense that I view my pension almost as a mini-me and maximise payments to it, to ensure I'm able to retire early.

Not rich here either - another public sector employee, but we are a lot better off now than we might have been through lots of combinations of little things, and by always working (WOTH).

I am a great believer in the old "look after the pennies and the ££ will take care of themselves".
I love MN, for all the diversity of folk you get on here, but many more years on than I care to confess I am still genuinely shocked by so many of the threads where people ask 'How much do you spend on...." be it haircuts, lunches, dc's pocket money, supporting your student dc at university, a pram for a new baby, your weekly supermarket shop, this week there has been one about engagement rings, things linked to on S&B, and so it goes on.
We very very broke in my 20s and well into my 30s, and the frugal habits have stuck, s we've been able to make 'big' purchases - like the house, by not making the little purchases that some people seem to think of as 'essential'

Taking the risk and making the sacrifices associated with being a part owner of a business and selling out

I am self employed in an area that pays well and is very flexible with having kids. We are not rich but comfortable. We had our first when I was 21 and then my DH supported me through uni. Our first house was waaay cheaper than what we could have got a loan and then we managed to subdivide it ( we are in aus). Unfortunately
We sold in the bust but bought something else well priced. I am lucky that I see clients in set days ( pay for child car) but can do all paperwork etc at home with them. We dont have cc or any loans apart from home loan.

Worked my butt off.
Lived frugally .
Didn’t get married

It just took time, then everything started falling into place. Inheritances, pay rises, investments. We had nothing and less when we were young and I thought being poor would never end - but it did.

We aren’t rich but we are definitely comfortable. We are able to live a ‘nice’ lifestyle and save well for the future.

We did it by leaving the UK and relocating to an expat hot spot in the Middle East where we don’t pay tax on our salaries and we each earn around 4 times what we did in the UK.

I disagree with people who say work hard An that gets you rich, sometimes you can work all the hours and still not be rich, as most middle wage workers are finding.
In some posts above there is an element of luck involved too.
It may be parents were able to afford to send you to uni, or you inherited a property or money to break the cycle, or could rent out.
If you truly never get the lucky break too, just keep going, kids get older, you realise you don’t need xyz, you economise where you can, that’s all you can do.just keep going.
I’ve grown up from a single parent family with no rich relatives, had to work from 17 to help pay in household, but I do have the possibility now of inheriting later on because my father was in the lucky generation that bought his council house , also working hard for 40 plus years but with a good pension.
Also I’ve noticed money attracts money, when you truly need £100 you won’t get it, later on when you don’t it ll come.
My father lived hand to mouth, just last year he received a payment for something from years ago he was trying to get then and needed money badly, last year received that payment An he was like “ meh I’ll put in bank” as he’d got to a point of not needing anymore/right now ! Just that payment alone would have felt a lottery win

You're very young. You have plenty of time.

I'm not 'rich' but comfortable and don't really have any money worries.

To be honest, working hard yes, but agree with posters on here that plenty of people work hard and don't earn very much or feel successful.

For me it's been about taking risks and doing things that scare me. Aiming high and being prepared to bounce back when things don't work out. I have found myself out of work and paying for things on credit but I shot for good jobs, put my brave charming face on, and then had a day when I had six job offers on the table at the same time. I've volunteered for stuff that I haven't known how to do and figured it out later, I've overcome self-confidence issues to ask senior people for advice and got up on stage to give presentations and speeches when I've felt sick with anxiety and nerves. I've quit jobs without having new ones to go, because it was time to move on. I've moved to a new country pretty much on a whim (with a child) without a job to go to there.

Every time I have take a major risk it has ultimately paid off and I've taken a leap forward in my career and finances. Not always straight away, but I've kept the faith and kept pushing forwards. It's also been an adventure.

Risks don't always pay off, of course, and some people are not comfortable with that level of uncertainty. But that then means that nothing changes.

No children, never wanted any
Simple life, no extravagance
Save half my salary every month

As another mentioned above, having children in our mid 30s. That was the key. We were both in above-average paid jobs (esp dh) but our overheads were low renting 1br flat etc.

Then buying a hpuse. At some point, usually, your mortgage repayments will be less than rent unless you upsize. Our mortgage (central London) is £1200 per month. To rent the house next door would be £700 per week! They are the same house.

There are other thinks, but these are key for us not living month by month.

He’ll re-use stamps that haven’t been franked
A well-off relative of DH does this. Every now and again it is spotted by royal mail and you have to go and pay a fine if you want your letter from him. It's all right for him mind He definitely didn't retire at 50 on a final salary pension because he skimped on the pennies.

DH'S family is well off. All are well educated with a good network of contacts - think professionals, Oxbridge etc. Some of them worked hard. Some of them just got married and never worked a day in their lives. Some of them inherited from childless relatives. Once you are comfortable it is so much easier to invest, save, look for good interest rates, make more risky but lucrative decisions, make the most of government policies (for example DH didn't need a student loan but took it and put it in a high interest ISA and made quite a bit of money) etc.

Some of my friends are well off - they all made their money with property developing at the right time. Invariably they also had financial support - being able to live with parents or have free labour and childcare while they redid a house etc.

It was easier a generation ago. We are comfortable but vulnerable to a serious crisis.

I await the posts of MNters who really went from poor to rich without, basically, other people's money.

I'm similar to you in that I'm the same age and underachieved academically. I'm starting to retrain now and I'm much more mindful of choosing a career than pays well, offers security and flexibility. For example accountancy is well paid and can be done in many locations.

The reason I'm wealthy is I married my DH. DH started life on a council estate in London, single parent family. Ultimately he worked hard and chose a career purely based on earning potential that was in the area he was good at (STEM). He did a degree, masters and a lot of professional exams, taking about 12 years in total.

Now, he's careful about not wasting money on utility bills, getting good deals on insurance (not always the cheapest), and he'll haggle for big purchases like a TV, fridge etc. He's not label conscious and not into cars, so doesn't spend money on them.

I agree it isn't just working hard, as some of the hardest jobs I can think of pay very little, but DH made a deliberate choice to do something where he could earn a lot, and he sacrificed a lot of time in his 20s and early 30s to get qualified. I spent my 20s partying which is why I don't earn a great deal now.

Agree that working hard is not necessarily the route to riches, although my dad did just that but things are much harder now.
Property in many areas more expensive & unlikely to see huge gains. BTL; harder to borrow, increased taxes. No more final salary pension schemes, etc. Yes I’ve worked hard but I’ve had the security & support from my family which makes a huge difference.