A savvy mum who managed to save £10,000 in seven months is sharing her budgeting and money-making tips with others.
Ruth Taylor - who, together with her partner also saved £30,000 in ISAs over three years - has amassed 44,000 followers on Instagram thanks to her handy financial advice.
The couple - who have two children and live in London - are now planning to go on a luxury family holiday to Florida next year and are already well on their way to saving for this too.
Ruth's financial success story began when she managed to pay off £21,000 worth of debt in just eight months.
She had gone into the red after furnishing their new family home on credit and paying for a boiler by taking out another credit card.
To get out of debt Ruth increased her monthly income by working seven days a week and completing surveys online in the evening for extra cash.
Her money-making tricks, coupled with saving money by - among other things - cutting back on non-essential bills, buying second-hand clothes and getting her husband to cut her hair, meant she was able to clear her debt and begin saving money in earnest.
Since then, Ruth has amassed over 44,000 followers on Instagram, sharing financial advice as moneysavvymumuk.
She also runs a website under the same name, which features helpful advice, free budgeting printables and more.
The 43-year-old set a new financial goal for 2022 - saving up six months of expenses, or £10,000, for their emergency fund and achieved the goal in just seven months.
She told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk : "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."
During this time the couple also continued to contribute to their ISAs on a monthly basis.
"[We have] no set goal in mind, just as much as we can each month," she said.
"Sometimes we can send a lot but other months, not so much. We currently have £30,000 in our ISA which took us three years to accumulate.
"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. The rest is due at the beginning of March, which we have managed to save, and it is sitting in my bank account waiting to be paid."
The couple already saved £1,000 worth of spending money for the trip, and are now trying to save another £1,500 plus £1,200 for park tickets.
"We should have this all saved up by Christmas time, as I am earning extra via my Instagram page and my blog," she added.
"To save for this holiday, we reduced the amount we are sending to our ISA.
"I also make money from the digital products I sell on my blog. All this extra income is being sent to our holiday fund, while our regular day jobs pay for our daily bills.
"We haven’t had a holiday abroad for over seven years, so that eases the guilt over the cost of this one."
The couple have also been working extra days and most weekends.
"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 £3000.
"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 says she decided to keep the heating off for now and has invested in electric blankets for the whole family.
"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!
She continued: When it comes to groceries, I'm vegan, but my children aren't. So I'm trying to add more pulses to their meals in order 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."
Ruth recommends that people start by looking through their budget and making as many cuts as they can.
"It's essential to live below your means so that you can invest your surplus money. I know it's extremely difficult in today's climate.
"Right now, it feels like my money is being stretched in all directions. Absolutely everything has gone up in price, and the pound is not going as far as it used to. But if possible, make cuts where you can.
"To help with reducing your day-to-day spending, try using cash-back 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 secondhand wherever you can."
