Live more comfortable and earn extra money

[CottonCandyCrank]

This seems to be the most popular thread so thought id post here and hopefully get more advise

The title says it all. I want to be able to live more comfortably. I come from a family that's always just got by, pay to pay, month to month. And I want better for us. I've not any qualifications and never went to uni.. so basically need advise on what is available without any of that.

I work part time/term time currently as it fits around my child at school and saves on childcare during school holidays. Partner works full time and earns an average wage. Between us we earn around 50k per annum (before tax) and it's in and out each month. We are all happy and healthy, we have a small semi house, we can just about manage 1 holiday abroad a year (but that uses the years savings) I have no extra savings should we need a new car/kitchen. Both our cars are over 10/15 years old. Partner does all (or the majority) of the DIY in the house. I help where I can, painting, flooring etc.

I don't want money to be flashy and buy designer clothes, expensive cars or upgrade to a bigger house, I just want to save more for possible uni fees, mortgage to be paid off, pensions, savings, newer cars etc. And to not live pay to pay.

I would love ideas to enable me to pay off my mortgage as my first goal. One less thing to worry about each month. I want to have plenty of savings in my bank.

I would love to work freelance to enable me to travel and earn money and I also want out of the UK to live somewhere with a nicer climate and a better lifestyle. Ideally Spain or Balearics but that wont likely come to fruition. Just somewhere where the weather is warm and the people are more relaxed and chilled. Less busy.

I just want something else to work towards to better our financial situation to enable us more freedom as a family and to give my children a better life. Where do people start? How to find the opportunity's? What is there to do? I'm not talking social media (tik tok and the likes) I hate being behind a camera. What are good ways to earn extra money online? Not selling old clothes etc, I do that when I can. But something that can give me a steady income each week/month? Where I dont have to risk losing money.
I need some inspiration or ideas on where to start to get me out of this lull I'm in.

People who earn in excess off 100k per annum.. what's the secret? What do you do for a job? Reading a thread on here about savings people have.. I want that 🤑 It's got me thinking what do people do to get so wealthy? And where the hell do you start?

@CottonCandyCrank so I'd say corporate is pretty much any private company that works in an office type environment? So could be the head office of a retail brand, a law firm, bank, etc etc. So far in corporate I've worked for an e-commerce company (so the office I worked in was full of client relationship managers), and a financial technology company (where I'm remote - but most people in the UK are software developers or financial admin)

I find the job site Welcome To The Jungle (previously Otta) really useful for London or remote roles. You can just search your requirements on Indeed etc as well. Something I found useful was having my LinkedIn active and reaching out to people doing my next ideal role and asking to take them for a coffee/having a chat to get more of an idea of the day to day. Lots of jobs are also posted there which is helpful,

What do you actually do?

Regulatory compliance. I work for a large PLC and prevent it and its senior directors from being prosecuted.

What about setting up as a virtual assistant and working for yourself? This is something I'd like to do.

(To be honest there are people earning double what you do saying they have no money left at the end of the month, so I think you're doing great).

People that I know that are successful financially are mainly educated to PhD level in science and engineering subjects. They have mainly climbed the corporate ladder. The wealthiest people I know are a corporate lawyer and my brother who was an assistant CEO in big pharma.

I worked in Education so had an ok salary but not amazing and took to investing, not for the faint hearted and you need to know that the money that you use you could lose and it’s a very long term strategy. You have to watch gains and losses.

Anything that asks for money is a scam, DH and I taught ourselves all about investing. We read stuff online and took some risks but the big risks were before we had children. We were lucky they worked out.

We have also all relocated, some more than once and also to different countries. Around a third of us are bilingual with sister in law speaking 4 languages. My family have been immigrants over the last 3 generations.

Then there is communication style, every single one of those people is a good communicator. The guy that has built up his own building business is especially good.

What @Hayley1256 has written as well, when I was really young I managed to get a job I had zero experience in. It was an office based job and asked for various IT skills. I logged on had a go at various packages and wrote I had used them so was not lying. I then learned them before I was called to interview.

If you want to live abroad, have you looked at English schools abroad? There are loads of British and American schools abroad. My sister was a teacher in a British school in the Canaries and there were a couple of teaching assistants who had TEFL qualifications but no university degree. Is that something you could consider?

OP what about taking on work as a Parish Council clerk?

If you're too nervous to go for interviews or change jobs you're not going to move up the ladder.

Said gently, if there was an easy fix to earn extra money to be comfortable, without working full time, sacrificing school holidays, evenings, weekends or time with the kids and not having to endure interviews- everybody would already be doing it.

IMHO you need to change your mindset and start to put the hours in now to train for a more lucrative career to earn more money. You need to identify an area your interested in then start gain skills in that field in the form of college access courses etc. Whilst you already earn a lower income, you can study and work at the same time (albeit not term time work to maximise earning potential)

For example, many mature students study nursing. Although the wages aren’t as astronomical as seen on this thread, it’s a modest salary with ample opportunity to make good money privately. As you climb the ladder the money is decent. Full time work is often done over 3 days compacted hours, with good holiday entitlement, sick pay and pension. Apprentice courses are often available through some trusts so you can earn while you study. Once trained, you can then look at moving to warmer climates. The clock is ticking mind with maximum ages on working visas.

It might be worth researching interview techniques and paying for time with a interview coach.

It’s unlikely that investments without large staring capital, side hustles etc will offer you any long term financial gain. Hard work and sacrifice will do that, you just need to find the shortest route to maximise your potential.

From your work experience I’d say accounting could be a good option. Fairly sure it’s possible to do it without a degree and it’s a valuable qualification that opens up stable and well paid jobs, plus lots of progression opportunities.

I’d concentrate on upskilling yourself. I work with someone who trained as a plumber and heating engineer. She is brilliant, sets her hours around her childcare, and is doing as much work as she wants.

You’re limiting yourself if you don’t want to make any moves for the next 8 years. In terms of career progression it is often better to pay for childcare so you can work full or close to full time. It might cost you more in the short term (you may even make a loss) but it pays off in the long term.

Holiday childcare comes in at around £100 a week. Surely working full time outweighs this.

I have looked at this and this would be my ideal option, but you need to get a sponsored visa now, which is proving near impossible as my job isn't on the skilled list. I think if we got to do this, my other half would just work on his own business or something whilst out there, as he can put his hand to anything and he would make a good go of it.

I will have another search online for current jobs in English schools.

I know, I really need to get over this issue but it's really hard. I can't explain in words how it makes me feel, my brain just turns to mush when asked questions and i kind of freeze. Its really severe anxiety im sure, but im fine in general, just when nervous or feel pressured 😬 It's awful and makes me feel shite and pathetic

Yes it definately would outweigh it. I'm going to look at some other options that can maybe help towards my main goal. More money to have more freedom with the potential of moving abroad.

This is what I would have written. Really, you are likely to struggle without making some compromises on hours.

And with interviews invest some time in researching answer structures eg STAR techniques. Then record yourself answering and critique yourself. The more you practice the easier it gets.

Thanks everyone for some good advise. I'm going to look at what options are available and what I feel comfortable giving a go and see what happens.

My main goals are to be more financially stable, working online (freelance/wfh) or look at finding a job I can do oversees. Ideally I want to find something I enjoy, because at the min, I just feel fed up in work, its not particularly enjoyable, having little money, which is having an effect on my MH as I feel quite down at present and struggling a lot.

I might go back down the payroll/accounts route as I really did love working in this sector. Things can inly get better eh 😉

Thanks again, take care all.

All or most of the comments here are variations of the same. Work more hours, work harder, work smarter. Don’t use childcare as an excuse.

I did it by studying OU when dd was pre school age and working shifts in a NMW job. Once dd started school I got an admin job (still NMW). I moved around internally making sure they knew I was studying and wanted progression. A few external moves later I'm in a senior professional role and earning more than I thought possible 10 years ago.

Being brutally honest, I think you need to be more realistic.
"i want freelance work with good money and work abroad" is actually quite hard thing to do (from experience), especially if you are not sure what it is you would actually do.
Going back to payroll might be good. You could get qualified as well.

At the end of the day, if you want more money now, you need to move to ft work.

I have chosen to work school hours. It has really limited what I can earn. I have done it on purpose and knowingly. I WFH but have only been able to do that because I worked long hours and was senior before stopping to have kids (which means I am now trusted enough to WFH on part time hours). Sadly, there are no short cuts. Everything in your posts say that you really value time with your kid(s) and working school hours and not school holidays is important to you. That, all by itself, limits your ability to earn. It is something I have done, but I know what it costs us. I have just worked full time on a particular project through half term, and was away (H had to take the week off). My kids are older than yours, and I did it for the money it brought me, but I didn't like it and it reminded me that for me, time with my kids is worth the financial sacrifice. Life has seasons: and for me, hanging with the kids and having less pay is the season I am currently in. Good luck.

Suggest a move into the private sector which would increase your pay.

What do you like doing, are you good at your job? You could do an ou degree and accounting exams in a practice. There is always an accounting job out there.
If you start a degree now it could be done - you'll have a degree, you will be able to put it on your cv and despite thinking omg that's a long time, you're still going to be 40 one day. With or without a degree.

Where do you live? Suggest you go on linked in, look at people like you how they present themselves. Transferable skills.
Look at remote or hybrid roles doing. Go to networking events and chat for inspiration. Meet people whom are ambitious and get go.

I think you don't know your worth tbh. I've allowed myself to be underpaid for years.

Do not ever put yourself down or minimise any job you do. Saying' someone has to do it ' means you think you're a bit crap.

Say ' it's a really interesting role and given me much experience dealing with people, working to deadlines, governance etc. Mean it.

Thank you.. I'll take a look. My original role was in payroll/accounts working alongside HR. It was the start on the ladder to get me somewhere better, but I just stayed there for over 10 years because I didn't have the confidence to apply for other jobs 😪 I still do struggle in that area massively. I did actually love my job though and the work I did but I don't like to think where I could have been now 🤑 but again the pay was poor that it wasn't viable going back and paying nursery fees.

I just went down the work in a school route to save on childcare costs, but I find the work so mundane and boring, I thought it was the ideal job for me, to fit around my child to spend more time with her, but then we can't afford to do anything during the holidays unless i dip into house diy savings etc, so it's a lose lose at the minute.

Its great that we can afford all bills on my partners wage, or the majority and we aren't big spenders at all (likely because we cant) But he hasn't had a pay increase for 2 years, so the bills are getting higher but wages aren't going in the same direction. But it gives me some flexibility at least.

I'll look at a plan to enable me to earn more, pay the excess salary of my mortgage, as a step 1.

Once PMing is back open, can I message you directly? ☺️

It feels a bit like you’re asking for the moon on a stick.

Work term time but don’t want to give up holidays.
Work school hours but don’t want to pay for wraparound care.
Don’t want to lose time with your youngest etc etc.

Unfortunately most things come with a compromise somewhere. You aren’t going to magically find a term time, school hours job that you don’t have to interview for that pays much more than you’re earning now.

An evening job sounds like an option.