An Irish mother-of-three has revealed how she cleared her €15k credit card debt and saved a deposit for a house in just one year: by cutting out all unnecessary spending for 12 months.
Caz Mooney, from Offaly, says she and her husband got into budgeting in 2018 because they were stuck renting, had credit card debt and were locked in a pattern of living from paycheck to paycheck.
Speaking to RSVP Live, she said: "We wanted to be able to buy our own home. We were also worried as we couldn't see very many places to rent, especially in our budget. We knew we had to make a change to our finances."
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Caz says she had lost her way, adding that the family had gone on two holidays in 2018. The second holiday involved the family going to America. "We came back and had this really large credit card debt from our holiday.
"We were sitting on the plane back home, looking at this big bill. My husband turned to me and said 'what are we going to do? We need to make some sort of change'."
From that moment on, Caz and her husband vowed to take control of their finances. They also wanted to save a deposit to buy their own home for their family.
In 2019, the embarked on a low spend year, meaning they only bought the essentials.
This radical step involved putting every extra cent into savings, and not buying anything unless it was absolutely necessary, such as groceries. "It was a difficulty year but we really changed our thinking around money."
Caz and her husband sat down with their two children and explained what the low spend year would entail. "We explained to them that by the end, we would be a lot closer to owning our own home.
"We said we would make the most out of it by making as many memories as we could and finding different ways of having fun that didn't involve money."
Caz's kids were very on board with the idea. With regards to no-cost family activities, Caz got a map of Ireland and drew a circle around where they lived, telling them they could pick anywhere an hour away to visit.
"We spent the day there. We hiked in mountains, visited lakes, explored our local area. We brought a picnic or hot food in containers that kept it warm."
Caz also did Come Dine With Me with her friends, where everyone cooked a three course meal for the rest of the group and they rated it at the end. "We got the kids involved, it was so much fun."
They also had lots of game nights with board games. "We tried not to kill each other over them," Caz joked.
They even managed a holiday that year by staying in a friend's house while they were away.
"We started to notice we had money in our account at the end of each month, when we had been living paycheck to paycheck."
The low spend year was a massive success for the family financially. They cleared the credit card debt by the end of January, and they saved €15,000 for the deposit by the end of the year. "In November, we had the keys to our new home in our hands."
"It was such an achievement, I am sure the kids won't ever forget it either."
With regards to budgeting, Caz has some helpful advice on her Instagram and TikTok pages.
She says people should start off with small changes and it could take three months before they notice a difference.
"Try not to restrict too much in any one area. For example with groceries, if you are too restrictive, you are more likely to break the budget and end up getting a takeaway.
"You need to find a healthy balance... put a little bit of money aside for you in your budget as well, if you can manage it."
Planning is the main component of budgeting. "If you are going out for the day, bring your lunch. Be mindful about eating out or getting takeaway coffees, as they all add up. There's nothing wrong with doing these things, but just plan it out and try to avoid spending impulsively.
"It's about breaking the unconscious spending habit, unsubscribing from shopping newsletters can be helpful too."
If you find yourself living from paycheck to paycheck, this can make you feel quite worried and anxious, Caz adds. "I started the page because there weren't many people sharing their financial journey in Ireland. It's more common in America.
"It can be a bit taboo still. I want to create a community where it's okay to say you are struggling financially, but also okay to share your wins."
Caz's book, Caz Mooney's Budgeting Planner, is out now.
