A savvy mum of two has shared how she saved £10,000 in just seven months.
Ruth Taylor, 43, amassed £30,000 in ISA savings over five years in addition to saving up for a luxury holiday in Florida next year. Ruth's saving journey began when she paid off £21,000 of debt in just eight months.
Having moved into her first home with her family, Ruth accumulated the debt by furnishing her house on credit and paying for a new boiler by taking out another credit card. Ruth managed to get her finances back on track by working extra hours, completing online surveys, running her Instagram @moneysavvymumuk and cutting back on non-essential bills.
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Ruth told Latest Deals how she managed to boost her savings. 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 under six months worth of living expenses. Since then, we've been contributing regularly to our ISAs - no set goal in mind, just as much as we can each month.
"More recently, we have been saving for our first family holiday abroad in seven years. We are going to Florida in March 2023. The holiday cost £4,500 and we had to pay £2,500 upfront, which we did.
"We have £1k worth of spending money, and we are now trying to save another £1,500 and £1,200. We should have this all saved up by Christmas time, as I am earning extra via my Instagram page and my blog.
"To save for this holiday, we reduced the amount we are sending to our ISA. We have had to continue working extra days and often most weekends. I continued to work into the evenings to earn extra money. 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."
Ruth has also tried to cut down on her spending in order to save money. She added: "We 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.
"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.
"When it comes to groceries, I'm vegan, but my children aren't. So I'm trying to add more pulses to their meals to make the meat go further. I buy own brand foods as much as possible and if I need to pop into the shop, I'll walk instead of driving.
"For those who want to make money on the side themselves, I recommend first looking through your budget and making cuts. I know it's extremely difficult in today's climate. Right now, it feels like my money is being stretched in all directions.
"To help with reducing your day to day spending, try using cashback apps when making purchases and renewing insurance policies. Swap mobile contracts for SIM-only deals, cut back subscriptions where possible and negotiate bills for cheaper deals Meal plan and buy own brand foods. If possible, shop at value supermarkets such as Aldi. Buy second hand wherever you can."
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