Mum-of-five with a net worth of $2million shares her best short and long-term budgeting tips

An Aussie mum-of-five has revealed the exact list of things she’s done to go from nothing to having a net worth of more than $2million. 

The savvy saver achieved her financial goals over a ‘hard slog’ of 20 years despite enduring five expensive years of fertility issues, being on a modest wages and raising five children, some of which had complex medical conditions.

She offered her tips and tricks for saving big from buying your first house early and below budget to saving even as little as just $5 whenever possible and never getting the latest phone or investing in beauty and high-end brands.  

The woman, who is in her early forties, shared her story anonymously to popular Facebook group Mums on a BUDGET – Australia and had many members ‘inspired’ by her budgeting life hacks. 

‘I thought I might share how I/we went from nothing to having a net worth of currently well over two million dollars (more if you include super, would be three),’ the mum wrote. 

‘I am not trying to brag, I thought some people might find it useful or inspiring to know that persistence and hard work will get you places in life and the difficulties you might be experiencing now, don’t need to be forever.’

The woman has been married to her husband for 18 years and together the pair had no parental help, paid off HECs debts and raised five children, often with one income.  

The woman now works part time for the government while he is a full-time small business manager and said the pair’s wages have varied from average to ‘slightly above well paid’. 

The mum’s biggest piece of advice was to make sure you and your life partner are ‘on the same journey’, have the same financial goals and are comfortable sharing funds. 

‘Start the journey early in life, we got married in early twenties and bought a house that same year with five per cent deposit,’ she said. 

‘Obviously not everyone finds a good partner so young, or is able to stay in that partnership, so that will push the timeline back a bit.’

The couple bought a house which was half of what they could afford in a ‘cheap’ and ‘not ideal’ area half an hour away from family friends who, the woman said, are still paying off their mortgages. 

The savvy woman and her husband of 18 years bought a house well under budget in a ‘cheap area’ as early as they could. They now have no mortgage and live in a nice suburb (stock image)

They renovated the ‘old’ house over a five year period doing a lot of the work for themselves and have since been able to move to better areas mortgage-free. 

‘Cars have always been second hand, only what we could afford, most of them worth about $5,000. Never a loan and we learnt how to do most basic repairs from YouTube or getting friends to help,’ the woman said. 

‘We didn’t have kids until we had a good amount in the offset so we could manage when on one wage. Getting a bit of money behind you before having kids is very helpful.’

The pair struggled with fertility issues and endured expensive rounds of IVF but now have five children who all went to public school. 

Holidays were rare for the family during the children’s ‘tough early years’, the mum said, and if they did go away it would be over a weekend to a cabin in a caravan park. 

‘Plenty of free activities and friends’ houses to visit and we don’t feel we have missed out most of the time,’ she wrote.

‘There was a period we didn’t go anywhere not due to finances as such, but because of how difficult the kids were.’ 

She said shopping the bargains, finding the best discounts and buying second-hand furniture and clothes will also keep everyday costs down.

‘Cars have always been second hand, only what we could afford, most of them worth about $5k,’ she said adding they learnt how to do repairs themselves from YouTube (stock image)

‘I don’t believe in buying once and spending more, I would rather buy twice for a quarter of the price and hope to get lucky and it last as long as the expensive item,’ she explained. 

The mum said her family never had the latest technology and advised against signing up to a plan to pay off a phone saying: ‘Justifying that you can afford the monthly payment isn’t the same as actually being able to afford something.’

She said use free apps from the library, YouTube and podcasts as educational tools for tasks including renovating, repairs and investing. She suggested recycling things around the house like furniture instead of sending them to the tip.

Finding small ways to make money can make a difference and the couple would do paid surveys, babysit and even go to auction houses, buy big boxes of stuff and sell individual items on eBay.

Beauty treatments were always at home and DIY for the mum and high-end brands were out of the question. 

The mum said her family didn’t ever buy the latest technology and advised against ever signing up and getting locked in a plan to pay off a phone

‘If I can’t paint my toes or shave my legs at home, there is something wrong. My $20 purse does the same as a $300 purse,’ she said. 

‘We took the chance and went without private health insurance, pet insurance etc until in our thirties, thankfully it paid off for us. Still no pet insurance and doing well (touch wood!).’

The mum said to ‘never pay for convenience’ and to plan ahead so you’re not caught out, for example have extra toothpaste in the cupboard you bought at half price rather than paying in full when you run out. 

‘Invest money from the very early stage, even just $5 spare to get into the habit, make it an automatic transaction that you never see that money,’ the woman said. 

Beauty treatments were always at home and DIY and high-end brands were out of the question. ‘If I can’t paint my toes or shave my legs at home, there is something wrong,’ she said

‘Salary sacrifice to super is great for that, and then similar set up outside of super. Compound interest then takes over, small amounts early will build more than large amounts later in life.’ 

Her other bits of money advice included making a spreadsheet for all budgets to track spending, checking insurance policies regularly to ensure you’re getting the cheapest, setting goals and a life plan with approximate targets and make super contributions as they lower taxable income. 

The ambitious mum reminded readers she was able to build up her savings but didn’t have an ‘easy life’, and had periods of money struggles, children who needed multiple doctor’s visits, and car accidents.

‘Our life is not easy, has never been perfect, I went without… where we are now I would never have dreamed was possible when I was back in that time,’ she said. 

‘But I am here to tell you that it is possible if you are where I was 20 years ago. It just takes time and effort, you can do it if you take the steps to make it happen.’