A MUM-OF-10 has revealed how she once struggled to scrape together change to pay her bills – but her simple hack means her kids always get birthday presents.
Vanessa Wyatt, whose children are aged from one to 16 years old, now wants to help other people who may be struggling with their finances.
Taking to her TikTok page @vanessa.mumofmany.wyatt, which has 37.1k followers, the mum explained how she relates to those who struggle to make ends meet.
But one thing she does manage to do is save every month for birthdays.
She achieves this by using a little saving pot and transferring money every month, either six months or a year in advance.
The mum, who is in her thirties, says: “We all know when our children's birthdays are. We all know when Christmas is.
“There's no reason why we are just saving a month or two before the event.
“Why not spread it out and save a year before the event, or six months before the event?”;
Vanessa puts money aside every month into a pot, which gives her a nice cushion when it comes to buying presents.
She also advises against getting things on finance, having previously struggled to pay it off when she was “not able to make those payments.”;
Vanessa explains that the idea of getting a store card or something on finance may look appealing at the time, but they give a “false sense of security”; as those payments “add up each month.”;
She believes it’s important to remember to not “buy it unless we’ve got the money for it”;, as this means at the end of the month you haven’t got “much to worry about.”;
Vanessa, who prides herself on being an ADHD mum, urges people to make bills the priority.
For Vanessa herself, this even meant going without a carpet in her home for six months.
She adds: “It's okay not to have everything at once. It's okay to build yourself up.”;
Other money-saving hacks include cooking from scratch and thinking of snacks like chocolate and sweets as a luxury.
She finishes the video by saying she uses the Monzo bank to help divide her money into pots.
Her video gained over 24,000 TikTok views, with over 70 people rushing to the comments section to share their thoughts.
One wrote: “Looks like you got it right, well done.”;
Another TikTok user, who is part of the older generation, also praised “her lovely attitude.”;
Meanwhile, a 78-year-old commented how it was “lovely hearing”; what Vanessa was saying, explaining that she has also never been someone to buy “stuff on credit.”;
They continued: “Because as you said, overnight your circumstances can change. I'm also a scratch cook.”;
How to effectively manage your money
Kara Gammell, finance expert at MoneySuperMarket, gives tips on how to get a handle on your finances so you have more left for saving,
- Analyse your spending
If you’re struggling to get a grip on your finances, the way to start is to do a proper inventory.
Try Emma, the money management app, which uses open banking to combine information from all your bank accounts, savings accounts and credit cards, plus investments. The app then highlights any wasteful subscriptions and costly debt and helps streamline your savings.
What’s more, it analyses your personal finances and recommends ways to conserve money so that you can get on track financially more easily than ever.
If you want to have a deep dive into your spending habits, go through your bank statement at the end of each month and give every purchase a rating of one, two or three.
Mark with a ‘one’ any purchases that didn’t make you feel good; give a ‘two’ rating to things that felt ‘sort of good but indifferent’; and mark with ‘three’ any purchases that you would make all over again in a heartbeat.
You’ll be surprised by what you learn.
- Monitor your credit report
From overdrafts to loans, credit cards, mobile phones and mortgages, it can be hard to keep track of your finances, and it can be all too simple to find yourself in the dark about how much debt you have in total.
But this information forms your credit score, which is used by lenders to determine whether you’ll be offered competitive rates and offers for financial products, or even whether you will even be accepted when you make an application.
I use MoneySuperMarket’s Credit Score tool, which is a free credit report tool that lets me see all my account balances in one place.
I’m automatically notified when my credit report is updated monthly, which can be a huge help in avoiding any financial problems from spiralling and means I always know what my overall financial situation is.
The tool also suggests ways to improve your credit score, so you’re more likely to be offered competitive interest rates, which helps you save money in the long run.
