"How I Turned £7.5k into £90k: Gemma Bird Shares 8 Money-Saving Tips for Mums"

AFTER pulling herself out of debt, money influencer, columnist and best-selling author Gemma Bird has plenty of tips and tricks to share.

Gemma Bird was working at an estate agent’s office she realised she had a gift for .

Gemma Bird shared some of her top money-saving tips and tricks on the No Parental Guidance podcastCredit: Supplied The savvy saver opened up about how she dragged herself out of debtCredit: Olivia West The mum-of-two revealed how she ended up mortgage-freeCredit: Supplied

In 2019, she sent up her page @Moneymumofficial to share her . Now the thrifty mum-of-two recently appeared on the latest episode of Fabulous’ No Parental Guidance podcast to dive deeper into her tips.

She told podcast hosts and that before embarking on her money-saving journey, the most she had ever earned was a £25,000 salary.

“That was the most I’d ever, ever earned until I started doing this job,” she explained.

There was even a period when Gemma’s husband was out of work and the family were surviving on just £15,000 per year.

“I do know what it’s like because I’ve been on really low ,” she added.

Counting the pennies is something Gemma said she’s always done, since she grew up strapped for cash as well.

Watch our No Parental Guidance podcast on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Gemma became mortgage-free at 37 thanks to her skills for saving, although she’s since moved to a more expensive place and now has a mortgage again.

Her first smart property move was buying a flat in her early twenties, going halves with her dad on the £15,000 deposit.

“I found the cheapest flat that was on the market because I thought, well it probably won’t go lower [in price] this was my thinking.

“When you say [you bought a property] with your dad, people think ‘daddy’s girl’. Absolutely not. I never got no money off my parents to be really clear,” Gemma explained.

Eventually, Gemma and her dad bought another property together, and although they didn’t make much money from them initially, when they decided to sell they raked it back.

“I sold both the houses I bought years and years ago with my dad, we went halves on what we’d made on it, which made it £125,000 on one and £60,000 on the other,” she said.

Although Gemma admitted her situation would be hard to pull off now, since she was able to secure a five per cent deposit on both properties, there are still plenty of ways to turn a little bit of money into much more.

“What I am passionate about is small money can be turned big,” Gemma added.

Gemma’s money saving tips

Gemma shared some easy to follow tips you can use every dayCredit: Olivia West

Speaking to Hannah and Louise, Gemma shared how parents who might be feeling the squeeze can make the most out of their hard earned cash right now.

WORK OUT YOUR HOURLY WAGE

If you don’t already know what your pay works out as in terms of an hourly wage, Gemma suggested parents should calculate it.

“A lot of people don’t like their job,” Gemma pointed out before urging people to consider if everything item they pick up is worth working for that amount of time.

For example, if you wanted a new top for £30 and your hourly wage is £10, is the new top worth three hours of work?

DON’T BREAK THE BANK ON HOLIDAYS

Although jetting off to some luxurious resort might be your idea of heaven, Gemma said you don’t need to splash the cash to have a good time.

In fact, she noted her kids’ favourite holiday was a caravan park.

“Children love other children, they don’t care whether it’s a five star hotel, we do,” she said.

And for those especially strapped for cash, Gemma suggested speaking to friends who might live somewhere else in the country to you and doing a house swap for a few nights.

SPEND HALF, SAVE HALF

When it comes to teaching your kids about money, there’s no right or wrong way to go about it, Gemma said.

That said, the mum said she does try to teach her kids about the importance of saving money and tells them to “spend half, save half.”

ONLINE WINDOW SHOPPING

Another tip Gemma shared, which is great if you love to buy things online you probably don’t need, is to add everything you want to your basket, then close the app.

“All this stuff, put it in the basket and then in the morning wake up and ask yourself do you need it and do you want it. Most of the time you won’t,” she said.

You can even take this further and wait for 48 hours before deciding if you’re going to go through with a purchase, she said.

SAVE MONEY ON KIDS CLUBS

For parents wanting to send their little ones to fun clubs but not wanting to fork out the often eye-watering fees, Gemma suggested alternatives.

“Look at things like churches, local and faits and things like that,” she said.

The savvy saver also urged parents to look at things their local library put on for kids.

SUPERMARKET SWEEP

If you find yourself picking up loads of unnecessary bits and pieces at the supermarket even if you have a list to stick to, Gemma shared her simple hack.

She suggested using one of the scanners most supermarkets have to track what you’re spending as you go, since it tallies up the cost of your shop for you, so there will be no nasty surprises at the till.

SHOP SMARKER WITH YOUR PHONE

If there’s anything you find yourself regularly buying, like nappies or baby wipes, Gemma shared a little-known trick to find the best deal.

“Just take a photo of the product, just the image, and Lense will tell you the cheapest shop you can buy it in,” she revealed.

INSTALL MONEY-SAVING APPS

When you are shopping online there are certain tricks you can use to help you shave off a few extra pennies.

Installing things like Honey into your browser will do all the hard work for you by scanning the web for all the discount codes and then applying them to your basket for you.

“I’ve saved hundreds over the years doing that,” Gemma said.