A single mum who was left in debt after splitting from her husband managed to pay off more than £5,000 debt in 18 months - with just a £16,000 income.
Rachael Easter, 33, from Ipswich, split from her husband in March 2020 and was left in a dire financial situation, facing eviction from her family home and in £7,500 debt.
Worried for her 11-year-old son Jack's future, Rachael says she was at rock bottom after the break up and didn't know where to turn.
She said: "I was a stay at home wife and mother, with no money to my name. I didn’t have a job at the time. We were at risk of eviction.
"The thought that I couldn’t put a roof over my son's head because I relied on another being devastated me."
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Rachael claimed Universal Credit to stop herself and Jack becoming homeless, and received £15 a week in food vouchers which was given to low-income families during lockdown.
Then, she started looking at her outgoings versus what was coming in every month to try and make a dent in the debt.
"The debt was from my gas and electric provider, water, bank loan, a sofa, and a credit card," she explained.
Rachael's rent is £750 per month, plus council tax. She pays £80 for water bills and had been paying £119 for energy - although this had increased to £133.
Each month, she would receive £800-900 in Universal Credit payments and every four weeks, she'd also get £84 in child benefit.
While she tried out different methods of paying off the debt, Rachael decided she needed to start working, and began offering her services as a self-employed cleaner on Facebook in summer 2020.
She charged £10 an hour and worked up to 50 hours some weeks - but in others it could be as few as just five.
Her universal credit payments varied depending on how many hours she worked - and last year she earned a total of £11,000 from cleaning, which was topped up to £16,000 with UC.
Recalling how she paid of a huge amount of the debt she owed, Rachael said she tried the "snowball method."
"I sorted my household bills first including water, and gas and electricity. I called the companies and with both monthly bills they put my debt on top," she said.
"Then I used the snowball method to manage it. Which means I paid off the smallest of all the debts first before moving onto the larger debts."
Rachael said her motivation for getting the debt paid off on her own was her son Jack - but she worried she was taking on too much at once and had to make huge sacrifices.
The mum, who doesn't drive, was so determined to get working that she sometimes walked an hour to and from cleaning jobs.
She also started the 1p challenge, which involved saving a little bit of money every day, starting with a penny. The next day you save two pence, and so on. By the end of a year, you'll save £3.65 and have a total of £667.95 in savings.
She also created online Monzo savings pots for spare money - which she uses for birthdays, Christmas, driving lessons and regular savings.
Rachael said: "I would move money from my bank to my Monzo pots. Before, I would have just used the money here and there and it would have disappeared.
"But I’ve been making a conscious effort to put it aside.
"I’m now also able to give my son pocket money once a week but if he hasn't done anything to earn it I put it in his Monzo pot to help with a car or deposit when he's older.
"Then if I do an extra cleaning job or have an additional ironing customer, I split what I earn - half onto the debt and half towards my savings."
Another way Rachael made up the cash she owed was by selling unused items she had in her house - and thinks this is a great tip for making money quickly.
As well as her cleaning job, Rachael set up a side hustle, which she calls her "hobby hustle," selling decorated vases with her friend.
To keep costs down in her day-to-day life, Rachael draws up meal plans to keep her weekly shop to a minimum and uses vouchers and discounts where she can.
While trying to save money, Rachael discovered the debt-free community on Instagram and set up her own page, @getstuffdone_withcoffee to share her progress and top tips.
She also uses the page to talk about house cleaning and mental health - and receives plenty of support from her 2,000 followers.
"I was so embarrassed of my situation and I wanted to improve all aspects of my life so I set up my page," Rachael said.
Just 18 months on from starting her debt-free journey, Rachael had paid of £5,500 of the debt she'd accumulated.
"My house is becoming a home, I have savings, a small amount but more than I have ever had before, debt clearing and a new lease of life," she said, adding she's so proud of what she's achieved.
Since becoming more financially independent, Rachael is sure anyone else can manage what she has - particularly single parents.
"I still have a long way to go but my target for this year 2022 is to become debt free and pass my driving test which will open up more opportunities," she explained.
"I now have under £2000 debt left to pay and by the end of the year I will be debt free.
"As the future is always uncertain with prices of bills and food I am currently looking for a part time job to make sure myself and my boy are secure.
"But if I can do it, I hope it shows other single parents that they can do it too."
Rachael's top money-saving tips
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Find out how much debt you are and where from
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Work out your ingoings and outgoings
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Have your debt put on top of monthly bills
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Use Monzo Saving pots
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Try the 1p savings challenge
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Use the snowball method to pay debts
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Sell unwanted/unused belongings on eBay and Facebook
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Start up a fun side hustle
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Meal plan to save money on food shopping and stick to offers/discounts
Do you have an impressive saving story? We pay for stories. Email jessica.taylor@reachplc.com.
