Unable to sleep, I looked up at the ceiling of my mother’s guest room and began to sob.
I was in a state of shock and total disbelief, because just days before my marriage of 10 years had ended – and it wasn’t my decision.
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I hadn’t seen it coming, and right after he told me, he just left.
My life changed overnight – I lost my husband, our mutual friends, the future I had imagined, along with my sanity.
Alone at 29, I was convinced I would never meet anyone again and never have the chance to have children again. I was absolutely broken.
Unable to be alone in our house, I moved in with my mother.
I couldn’t eat, sleep or think straight, but somehow I gathered the strength to continue doing my job as a consultant at a bank.
I ended up falling ill with depression and anxiety, for which a doctor prescribed medication.
Eight months after the breakup, after Mom gave me an encouraging speech, I realized I couldn’t cry anymore.
I had to get up and start again. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but I started dating again.
Just before I turned 30, I met Adam, now 49, on Match.com.
I immediately liked his profile and sent him a lot of “winks”.
A month later, I moved in with him – it was so surreal I couldn’t believe it was happening.
The following year, in 2012, our son Brody was born and in 2014 we got married. Five years later, our daughter Bronte, now five, came along.
Our marriage works because Adam, a stay-at-home dad, and I share the same core values, including being good with money.
I have always been financially savvy, largely thanks to my parents, Jayne, now 66, who was a housewife when I was growing up in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, and Steve, 71, who worked in the bus industry.
When I was 16-18 they used to give me £50 a month allowance and when it ran out that was it. It put me in a great mindset and also determined me to be independent and make my own money.
At 14, he was paid to pick mushrooms before school and by 18 he was working full-time as a real estate agent. I saved 80% of my salary every month while living at home with my parents, and the rest I spent.
At 14, he was paid to pick mushrooms before school and by 18 he was working full-time as a real estate agent. I saved 80% of my salary every month while living at home with my parents, and the rest I spent
Gemma Bird
My then husband and I managed to save £30,000 between us and in 2004 we bought a two-bedroom terrace house.
Three years later, with some savings left over, Dad and I went half way, investing £7,000 in two buy-to-let properties.
It was stressful because sometimes the tenants didn’t pay the rent and we didn’t make a profit for 10 years. But we sold the properties in 2017, making £125,000 each.
This, plus the £66,000 I received from the sale of my house and my ex-husband’s house, allowed me to pay off the £225,000 mortgage on our current house.
I also always worked overtime at my various jobs, including nights and weekends, and I always brought packed lunches to avoid buying food.
To make extra money, I sold unwanted clothes at car boot sales. These small savings paid off over time, allowing my family and I to live a comfortable lifestyle.
In December 2019, I launched a small online business with a friend that sold underwear. So I decided to start my Instagram @Moneymumofficial to share my tips for making money and saving. It took a year of posting daily for it to become a success.
In December 2020, I started “Gemma’s No Spend Days” which took off massively.
I was offered a book deal, which was a pinch-me moment.
My Sunday Times bestseller, Money Mum Official: Save Yourself Happy, was released in January 2022, and my first TV appearance came soon after in Lorraine.
The government needs to work hard to ensure young people learn basic financial skills – what to do with their first paychecks, how to budget and invest
Gemma Bird
So I decided to work on social media full time.
I’ve written columns for The Sun and am now a regular on Lorraine as part of her Saver Squad, and have an incredible 450,000 followers.
Although we are financially secure and do not have a mortgage, I am determined to follow in my parents’ footsteps and teach my children the value of money.
Brody earns £2 a week and if he spends it he gets no more.
Recently, he went to the newsstand and bought a bottle of Prime.
Afterwards, he was stressed about spending his allowance, which was a valuable lesson.
As a society, we need to talk more openly and honestly about money – we need to understand it.
The government needs to work hard to ensure young people learn basic financial skills – what to do with their first paychecks, how to budget and invest.
Money has a huge impact on mental health and debt is one of the main reasons people call the Samaritans.
Anyone can be a success if they have the tools and the mindset. If I can hit rock bottom and come out on top, anyone can.
- Follow Gemma on Instagram @Moneymumofficial.
Gemma’s top five tips for saving money
1. Move the odd amount every day to a savings account. So if you have £203 in your current account, transfer the £3.
2. When shopping online, add everything to your cart, but don’t buy it. Come back two days later – you’ll find you’ve removed things you don’t really want or need.
3. To save around £300 a year on your energy bills, boil your kettle once a day. Fill with six cups of water, boil and pour into a thermos. You will then have water to use throughout the day instead of boiling it multiple times.
4. Make money off your old clothes in minutes by taking a bag of any size clothes to an H&M store. Just drop it off and they will recycle the items and give you a £5 voucher to use in store. You need to download the app, which is free, and accumulate points to earn money.
5. The heavier your car is, the more fuel it will consume, so remove the luggage rack and unload the trunk. Google gas prices in your area and plan your trip to the cheapest gas station when you’re driving nearby so you don’t waste gas refueling.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
