A “motivating” mother of two recently revealed how she paid off $21,000 in debt in just eight months.
Ruth Taylor continued to save an additional £10,000 for an “emergency fund” in addition to wiping out the debt, with a £4,500 trip to Florida, the family is currently preparing for its first vacation abroad in seven years.
She explained how she changed her lifestyle and put in more effort to turn things around.
Ruth also described how, as she worked to eliminate a debt of $21,000, she started to examine the family’s finances more carefully. When the now 43-year-old moved into her first family home, she bought furniture on credit card and used additional credit to pay for a new boiler.
However, by increasing her income by working seven days a week and spending her free time completing surveys and match betting, she was able to pay off her debt in eight months. She also reduced her family’s spending, according to Lancashire Live. Ruth cut back on non-essential purchases, such as secondhand clothing and having her husband cut her hair.
Ruth shared her money-saving journey online and now has over 44,000 followers on Instagram as moneysavvymumuk, where she shares financial advice. She also has a website with the same name, which offers helpful advice, free budgeting pintables, and other resources.
Earlier this year, she decided she wanted to save six months of expenses, or £10,000, for her family’s emergency fund. Ruth has achieved the goal quickly, saving up the total figure in just seven months.
She said: “We set ourselves a goal of saving six months’ worth of expenses for our emergency fund. We carried on making sacrifices and working extra hours to get this money together as quickly as possible, and we managed to save the whole amount within seven months. We now have £10,000 in our emergency fund, which is just less than six months’ worth of living expenses.
“Since then, we’ve been contributing regularly to our ISAs (Individual Savings Accounts) – no set goal in mind, just as much as we can each month. Sometimes we can send a lot but other months, not so much. We currently have £30k in all totals in our ISA which took us three years to accumulate.”
Now the family is happy with their financial situation,
“I make a healthy side income from my blog and Instagram. It varies a bit – one month it can be £500 and others, it can be £3,000. We also limited how much we went out to avoid spending. For example, we would have a movie night at home instead of eating out or heading to the park.”
Ruth has also opted to keep her heating off and purchased electric blankets in the meantime, given the rise in energy costs. She had also tried to reduce the amount of money she spends on meat and walks to destinations where possible.
She added: “There are loads of other ways to watch your spending. With energy bills rising, I’ve decided to keep the heating off for now. I’ve invested in electric blankets for us all, as these are much cheaper to use than the cost of heating. I’m constantly running around after everyone and switching off lights they’ve left on!
“I’m vegan when it comes to groceries, but my kids aren’t.” So I’m attempting to incorporate more pulses into their meals in order to stretch the meat further. I buy as many own-brand foods as possible, and if I need to go shopping, I’ll walk instead of driving.”
Ruth has given advice to anyone who wants to save money or reduce their spending in the midst of the cost of living crisis. She believes that ‘living below your means’ is essential.
“Use cash-back apps when making purchases and renewing your insurance policies to help reduce your day-to-day spending.” Swap mobile contracts for SIM-only deals, reduce subscriptions where possible, and bargain for lower bills.
Meal plan and buy own-brand foods. If possible, shop at value supermarkets such as Aldi. Buy secondhand wherever you can.
“My wages get paid into my current account. I have two – Barclays and Santander. From here, the bills and any mortgage overpayments are taken from my Barclays account, and I have set up a standing order from my Santander for my sinking funds (which I keep in my Starling account) and for my ISA payments. It’s quite simple, but it works for me.”
“Ruth is a true inspiration for anyone looking to regain control of their finances. You’d be surprised how much you can save by living below your means and stretching your money as far as it will go.
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