Known for sharing money-saving advice on social media, the mum-of-two explained how a combination of budgeting hacks and side hustles helped her pay off her mortgage by 37
A mother-of-two has revealed how ditching one daily habit could help households save hundreds of pounds annually. Gemma Bird, who is known to her 500,000 Instagram followers as Money Mum, consistently offers practical tips to help families stretch their budgets further.
The Essex resident now enjoys a "privileged" lifestyle with her husband, Adam, and their two children, Bronte and Brody. However, her path to financial stability started while living with her parents rent-free, meaning she could put aside every penny possible. Reflecting on the strategies she employed, Gemma explained how she managed her coffee budget while earning just £15,000.
"I was picking up receipts in Costa, and my friend said, 'Why are you doing that? ' I told her that if people hadn't added their points to their loyalty card, I could go to the counter and say, 'Sorry, I forgot to put my points on my card last time - can you add them?
' Then I'd get free cups of coffee," she told The Metro. "She said, 'I don't get it. Why do you need to do that?
' And I told her, 'Because I earn about £15,000 a year, I've got two kids, and my husband's just lost his job. We haven't got any money'.
" Gemma also cautions that purchasing premium coffees daily can rapidly drain finances. "Obviously, be mindful, because if you're buying a coffee every single day and it's adding up to a couple of hundred pounds a month, that's a significant amount you could be saving," she said. "But you need to be able to treat yourself and enjoy life. We only get one.
" After saving a healthy pot of money while living at home, she bought her first property, valued at £165,000, with her then-partner. While working in estate agency, a colleague advised her to invest in property. Taking the suggestion on board, she snapped up the most affordable home she could locate in Walthamstow for £109,000, putting down a 5% deposit in 2007.
Her property portfolio grew further with two additional purchases in Waltham Cross and northern England, financed through a combination of savings and equity released from her existing properties. However, at 29, her finances took a hit following her divorce. The sale of the family home netted her £66,000, but while her two other properties remained tenanted, she had no choice but to return to her parents' home and accept a £15,000 banking position.
To navigate this difficult period, Gemma, now 44, rented out their spare room to French students, listed the driveway on a parking website, and launched an Amazon underwear venture. She also intensified her budgeting efforts, swapping salon appointments for home haircuts. Additional money-saving measures included occasionally bringing her own snacks to the pub and cutting open nearly empty toiletry bottles to extract every last bit.
Her additional recommendations include utilising image search tools to discover more affordable options online, making the most of voucher codes at every opportunity, scrapping subscriptions you don't really need, filling out online surveys to earn a bit extra, and, if practical, letting out a driveway to bring in some additional money.
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