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?

This is where I am at, it's such a sacrifice to make isn't it, I made the mistake with my eldest and I said I wouldn't sacrifice the same with my youngest, they are only children once and we don't get a second chance at it 💔

I am going to just look at my options and see what would work best for us as a family. If I had to choose 1 thing, it's either earn a little more to make extra payments off my mortgage, or make a move abroad if I can find an opportunity out there and just rent our house out here in the meantime.

It sounds like you highly value your free time together and work life balance.
Honestly, those earning £100k+ just don’t think like that.
Everyone else then wants the outcomes, rarely understanding the sacrifices and compromises made to get there.

Yes this would be the best option, but I don't know where to start, but I may look into this some more. It at least gives you the option to go anywhere and still work. I know a few of my eldest daughters friends have done online work, not sure doing what exactly, but they are earning enought to enable them to move to different areas in the world, maily australia and dubai. I'm going to ask her to find out what they do and see if that's an option.

Yes we aren't big spenders and manage to save my wage into different save pots for throughout the year, but I'm worried if our cars needs replacing, which they will at some point as they are 10 & 15 years old. My main goal is to earn more to enable us to pay mortgage and more secure savings in ISA etc for when we retire. If OH was out of work for a month we would be in trouble, o that's massively worrying

I think you see much more online, younger people having children and moving abroad cause they have set up some online hustle that's allowing it. I really need to work out what it is they do 😬

If we could earn 100k between us, thats near 50k more than we do now, if one of us could earn that, then we wouldnt need to sacrifice spending time with our child as we would be pretty comfortable with just one of us working. It's just finding the balance.

I dont want us both to work full time and both earn over 100k, it would just be nice one of us or jointly to earn even 1-2k extra a month, because then I can pay chunks of mortgage at least and get that paid off. That's our biggest outgoing. Once that's paid then we are better off again.

I just want a little more freedom to go abroad at least once a year, to maybe have a few weekends away, to enjoy the time in the holidays with my daughter and take her to new places, have uk breaks away, without it being a massive stretch financially

As others have said, careers that offer good money and flexibility generally mean hard work, commitment and sacrifice along the way. You're not likely to get what you're looking for on part-time, school-friendly hours and/or an unwillingness to retrain into.something with better prospects.

I earn well, wfh 90% of the time and have a lot of flexibility / autonomy over my work. I also have two undergrad degrees, an MSc, 3 separate professional qualifications and have just started a PhD (I should probably be earning much more tbh!) It's taken a lot of time, effort and commitment to get here, and I did much of that as a single parent in full-time work.

There's no magic bullet or shortcut I'm afraid - you're going to have to sacrifice a bit of work-life balance to get where you say you want to be.

I didn't return to work after mat leave until we got free childcare as I would literally be working for £10 a day after nursery fees, it seemed ridiculous to have someone else look after my baby to work full time for that amount. We knew our 2nd child would set us back 5 years and it did.

This is why your earnings are still low. If you had gone back to work after mat leave you may have been paying childcare but you would have continued progressing in your career and earning payrises and promotions. I’m not saying you made a bad choice, but if you want more now you can still switch to full time hours and layout for childcare.

I think you see much more online, younger people having children and moving abroad cause they have set up some online hustle that's allowing it. I really need to work out what it is they do 😬

Kindly, I think you need to stop looking at online influencers (who are probably funded by the bank of mum and dad) and work out what you can realistically do with your skillset, your strengths and your situation.

If you have a confidence issue you definitely need to work on that, because self-employed online remote work will require hustle and self-promotion by the bucket load.

Fair enough, I’m sure you’ll find it.
Sounds a bit ‘get rich quick scheme’ to me, but maybe not.
I’m (unfortunately!) from the school of hard graft, incremental gains, pushing yourself, investing spare cash, making sacrifices with time, taking risks.. and then as if by a miracle 25 years later you’re sitting comfortable.

I live in the Balearics, and unless you have an EU passport, moving here now is almost impossible. Digital nomad visas are getting harder to get. It’s also incredibly expensive to live here if you can even find a long term rental (they’re rare as hens teeth) A 3 bed flat will cost you at least €2,500 a month. Taxation rates are higher than the UK too and being self employed in Spain is a nightmare as you have to pay for the privilege of being self employed as well as paying normal tax.

You’d also have to put your kids into the private school system which is about €1k a month. Friends I have here with young children reckon they need to earn about €7k a month between them net to cover their costs.

This is just to let you know the realities of living here - I do love it, but I wouldn’t move here with young kids, I’d wait until I were older.

In answer to your first post, I earn 100k but work very flexibly and not that hard. But to get here I was an absolute workaholic in my 20s, and did extremely tough high profile jobs. By my mid 30s I had been promoted to the top of my specialism and could relax and focus on having a family.

So I agree with pp's. There's not really a secret trick, just need to work harder, longer hours, have an idea of where you want to get to.

I agree. It’s often easier to appear successful online by chatting about the ‘hustle’ than saying ‘I’ve got a rich partner’ or ‘I inherited a ton of cash’.
I know someone who considers herself a bit of an artist. Sells a couple of bits and will use that as the rationale for indulging in designer clothes or posh lunches. If you saw her online you’d think ‘wow, what a great life!’ Yet she conveniently forgets to mention her trust fund monthly stipend that probably puts her in the top 0.5% earners in the U.K. 🤣🤣

People who earn £100k do not have term time jobs. Yes term time saves you a bit on after school club and holiday clubs. But my experience is if you move up in a private sector non term time job, those extra fees are a small amount of the extra you could earn

Can you look at improving your qualifications..
If you really haven't got any look at local adult education in your area..
And get the basics under your belt..
Or colleges theres lots of access to education

You may find it helps with your confidence as well....and courses are generally part time .or evening

Choosing to work part time term time will reduce your earning power now but could give you the opportunity to study/learn..

Or look at local council/nhs or civil service for flexible jobs with good pension schemes....but again qualifications would help..

Once u have asics uou could try ..accoountacy/book keeping or project management or marketing type qualifications..
Or maybe look at access to higher education courses/open university

If you want work thats fulfilling and always in demand and you like working with people... Occupational therapy and physiotherapist are always in demand....
Use the time you have ...

Thank you for your insight.. really! I didn't realise all this. Wow thats pretty expensive. Yes I have looked in EU passport and it is near impossible to get nowadays 😪 I had a chance to move to Barcelona doing payroll around 12 years ago and I didn't dare make the move. If I'd have knows what I do, I would have 100% made the sacrifice and just done it. Gutted! The next plan would be to sell our uk house and buy something out there, but I'd need advise on that too.

Maybe its a retirement dream move instead 😬😔

What do you do? do you work/retired? Have you lived out there for a while? Born there? Do you have kids? If so, i guess they are older now. Where in the balaerics do you live? If you don't mind stating that.

My husband and I both work full time and total just over £100K and we are in our 40s. We prioritised spending time with our children and as a family and I personally never went for a job that involved working nights or weekends, or travelling at all. But we have had our kids in childcare since they were a year old to make this work. We've both been at our jobs for a long time and work a hybrid flexi schedule so we can do things like take my daughter to ballet and my son to football etc.

You should start applying for year long jobs now - that could double your income even after paying for some after school clubs and holiday clubs.

Op I think you are day dreaming and there is no harm in that but goodness you are being so unrealistic .
Hoping I'm not out of order but do you self sabotage I.e want to earn 100K and move to Balearics without any research so that isnt ever going to happen and you can stay safe and avoid failure?
It's very common if you lack confidence and is very limiting.

Personally I would set a realistic goal and then make a year by year plan of how to achieve it.
Year 1
Research job roles as much as you can,identify a career path.
Interview practice, you can find local resources to help you with this.
Broaden your horizons and boost confidence by volunteering/ getting involved in community / develop interests

Year 2 enroll and complete an Access course ( based on your current qualifications/ skills)

Year 3/4 identify and enroll in further skills and training or find an Apprenticeship role

Hope this helps

You know those threads where people say they made sacrifices to get where they are now in life financially or career-wise?

Those sacrifices absolutely will have included some or more likely all of:

• missing out on time with their children
• not having stuff in the early days
• working all kinds of days and hours
• doing unpaid work to gain experience
• investing in themselves by skills training or personal development such as communication and confidence-building via coaching counselling, reading or courses

It seems maybe you're not willing or able to make those sacrifices. From your posts it sounds as though your self confidence is the thing that's held you back all your life. That's where I'd start. People who lack self confidence, who lack passion for what they do, or who get anxious and flustered when under pressure (ie interviews) simply will not succeed working for themselves whether you call that "side hustle" or self employment.

And moving abroad is a pipe dream honey. All you'll do is add to your woes. You'll miss your adult child and other family, or spend £££ seeing them, you may have to learn another language which means exposure - and frequently looking and feeling a total fool - to pressured situations (trying to express yourself), and so on

I get that you feel let down by your early educators about life and work - parents, school. And I applaud your desire to improve your life and to seek input from others.

I would reframe how you look at your future. Why the focus on paying off the mortgage early? Its like you are trying to "life for today" (fun stuff at holidays, short breaks, time with your child) but with a "save for tomorrow" mindset, and it's not making you happy. There is no one simple magic solution. You're wanting a better future so you need to start investing in that now.

Give yourself say three years to make a change and plan out your actions and milestones.

Get the costs for extending the mortgage to say 67 and change the term.

Cut out all "excess" if you have any from spends.

Use whatever you've saved by doing that, on your self development: counselling for confidence, skills training (I suggest IT - learn to code or become a master Salesforce administrator).

I agree woth @YesImawitch, this is all harmless but unrealistic daydreaming. Your life isn't going to change until you get off social media, stop comparing yourself to others depictions of their lives and start being proactive. Or just learn how to be happy with all that you do have, which is a lot easier!

OP you seem to think office admin is just a basic job. We are rutal and office admin is highly sought after. People usually have business degrees or accounting qualifications for this.

I think the short hours are holding you back. People who are dedicated get into a good company with promotional chances. They work full time office hours, 40 hours a week maybe more at times. They travel to the main office a few times a week, early starts. They pay for fulltime childcare even if it is hard and dear.

I think you are getting on very well to have 20 hours a week and going on an annual holiday.. The full timers would pick up slack and complain if a lot of people did that.

I am 50s and am only on 70k despite working full time all my life getting promotions, doing extra study. I am in a government department which pays lower. I saved nothing for 10 years and couldn't afford a holiday due to paying childcare.

My DH earns a bit less than me despite working as hatd. Also I have a minor disability in speech which make interviews a bit harder. I just went for loads of interviews all along. This helps me to be more relaxed and confident about my disability.

Everything involves huge sacrifices and effort.
I also funded myself through further college while working fulltime.

It might be easier to think in smaller stages, even earning eg 10k a year more would make life easier and likely be more achievable than wanting to double your household income.

That in itself is not unreasonable to aim for but is likely to take more time and/ or a greater change in hours/lifestyle to acheive.
If you don't want to work ft or school holidays, then evening or weekend work would seem the obvious answer (if there's work available close by)
Or (and I don't know whether this type of job is available) are there private schools or boarding schools that may have similar roles for longer hours per week, but have school holidays off?

And I applaud your desire to improve your life and to seek input from others.

Absolutely this. Hope you dont think people are trying to be negative, OP. But the fact is that 99% if what you see on social media is bullshit, trying to sell a dream that bears no resemblance to daily reality.

Getting an EU passport and moving to the Balearics sounds like a pipedream (are you even eligible for an EU passport - they're not 'difficult to get' if you're actually eligible?) There's nothing wrong with a daydream but I agree with the poster who said that it sounds as if you're making big, unrealistic plans to avoid having to making more mundane choices (like paying for childcare and getting a ft job) - is there any truth in that?

There are lots of online courses these days that can be done in the evenings etc and will give you proper, usable qualifications. I would start there. You absolutely can change things, but you need to actually put the work in!

What other skills and interests do you have? I have a professional job but outside of that I run a small art business. It started as a bit of a hobby when I was at uni and took a good few years to get it going but I now earn a decent part-time income designing wallpaper and fabric and I am currently working on a commission for a band merch. Do you have any hobbies and passions which could be turned into a part-time income while your kids are little?

You seem quite dismissive of "all that" as in qualifications, but the reality is that most people who earn well.do have qualifications that we've worked hard for. I have a degree, a masters and two postgrads, all earned as mature student while working.

You don't get the rewards without the hard work.

Honestly I get really shocked at questions like this. "I want to earn £100k, I've no qualifications and I don't want to sacrifice anything or pay for childcare". Very few high earners are able to tick the boxes above. Of course we all want more money for doing less, but there is usually always massive sacrifice involved.