Inspirational stories needed

[rootsandwings89]

I'm looking for advice from anyone who has made a financially comfortable life for themselves when they don't come from money.

DH and I are mid 30's with 2 x DC's, we're lucky enough to own our own home but it needs so much work doing and we have no money. We have no idea how things will get better, cost of living has stripped us back to absolute basics. We both work and earn as much as we can but have nothing left over to save for the future and can't help feeling hopeless.

I'd love to hear from anyone who was in this position but managed to turn it around and how you did it?

Hi OP, I didn't want to read and run!

My circumstances in my mid-30s were not dissimilar to yours, 3DC, very shabby mortgaged home etc, although I knew I had a bit of a safety net in that my parents would never see us starve. However, I never actually had to approach them - I was determined not to. Instead I just accepted that I had to play the long game, juggling money from one month to the next. I was self-employed, worked ridiculously long hours, never had any savings at all, and spent nothing on myself. I did however always pay into my pension. I also had a H who never held down a job and just wasted money, so I couldn't plan ahead. It felt very scary but to be honest I just got used to it. The priority - aside from food, shelter, warmth and education - was to enjoy the DC while they were young, so I got a tent and a dog and we always had holidays, camping in the UK, which to this day my DC (now early 30s) rave about.

They had all left school by the time I was 50 and the H left very soon after, thank goodness! Things got easier. Now at 61 I do have some savings, the pension is looking OK-ish, I've paid off my mortgage and financially I feel I can just about relax. The habits of juggling, being careful, being frugal haven't left me though, and I'm fine with that. I wouldn't change a thing.

Thanks for sharing, and well done on doing so well :)

bump

About 5 years ago we were coming out of the childcare years (pre school childcare) and recognised we wanted more from our lifestyles. The two critical things that turned things around for us were 1) me side stepping into a more lucrative career 2) us moving to a cheaper area.

I spent my 20s in my dream sector, a job I always wanted to do but doesn't pay very well, I got to £30k, I might have been able to get to £50k but probably decades later, the senior roles were dead man's shoes. So I looked at my skillset and qualifications and identified a career path that was tangentially related to mine, enough that I could make a side step rather than dropping down and starting again, but a field that is better paid and a bit more 'corporate', I then did some further professional qualifications with that new employer, got my face around, did some networking. Within 2 years of that jump I was on £50k, and 2 years after that £70k. (Changing jobs both times, another bit of advice, you have to be very proactive, seek out the experience and roles, be willing to change them if you can) I could likely be looking at 6 figures by the time I am 40, if I go to the private sector (but that's not my goal right now tbh, I have a very attractive pension and flexible working set up that offsets the compromised monthly pay).

The other really critical thing we did was move area. We lived away from family anyway so it wasn't quite the issue of leaving support networks etc. The house we ended up buying literally cost £150,000 more in the area we were in previously (new build so easy to compare) we moved just 20 miles away! The area is very practical for us, good schools, has everything we need, it just isn't a fashionable postcode. So we have our "dream" house, that does everything we need (new build, low maintenance, important for me as we don't have a lot of savings behind us so doing work to something would always be a challenge for us) but at the fraction of the cost it would have cost in our other area.

I should just add DH has done well in his career too, just not quite so drastically, he probably earns £10k more than he did back when we decided to re-evaluate our lives 5 years ago by getting promoted, his job tends to come with other perks that help us.

Not sure if that helps, my advice would be don't be afraid to look at it quite strategically and be a little materialistic, I have no shame in setting myself financial goals, these things don't tend to just happen short of getting a windfall, so you have to quite proactively review the areas of your life you can work on.

And just to add we have had no help from family, we used government schemes to help us onto the ladder.

@lpogdhur well done you - you sound like you've made some really sensible choices. Are you able to share what your new industry / career path is?

side hastle, passive incomes. Its surprising how they add up and contribute to the pot

Having a side hustle for 20 years that could bring in an extra £400 a month meaning you can put away £300 a month into a separate account built up to £123,094.22 0bviously you need to pay tax on your side income. Make it a side income so that it ticks over without effort and is mostly passive.

Once you have one side hustle, set up another - don't expect the first side hustle to suddenly be making £400 a month, but grow it slowly. Working in a pub one or two evening a week - if you both set a goal to do this for a year and not touch the extra money - it adds to the pot

or alternatively you can spend the £300 cash each month and put an extra £300 a month into your pension pot - meaning your wages will decrease by around £250 a month - as you have less tax to pay

Using tax loop holes that the government put in place - like extra in pension means less tax to pay.

Sit down and have a brain storming session of all the ways you can think of making extra money - even if its only £40 a month it all adds up.

Trial and efforts is need, see what you like doing and what is tp much effort and not worth while.

Set up a spread sheet so you can keep track of what our making

Will buying stuff in bulk and the selling it on through eBay make you money? Don't look at sexy things to see, beauty etc - look at things that everyone has to have and will sell easily

make it a game - start with a car boot sale after a clear out and what you make from that - buy stuff that your can sell.

Proof reading - waitressing all make money, but the best way is if its passive

I moved into a similar but much better paid career when I was 30 and my earnings have gone from £30k pre-move to £110k now, at 37, with scope for them to get up to £200k+ if I make it into senior management.

I'd never have been able to buy a house without this but as it is I managed to buy aged 34.

I didn't have to retrain or anything. Is there any sort of sideways move you can make that allows you to up your pay more quickly? If you think laterally...