Woman, 31, with credit card debt and no budget 'quits shops and haircuts' to buy a home in just two years - and reveals what else she had to give up to do it
- At 30, Nicole Haddow had no financial plan and a credit-card debt to her name
- But by the time she was 31, the journalist had cracked the property market
- She revealed the sacrifices she made that helped her get onto property ladder
At the age of 30, Nicole Haddow had no savings or financial plan, a credit-card debt to her name and the dream of owning a home was far from reality.
But by the time she was 31, the journalist, from Melbourne, had cracked the property market after buying her first home on a single income.
In her new book titled 'Smashed Avocado', the author revealed the sacrifices she made and the simple steps she took that helped her get onto the property ladder in under two years.
After going through her bank statements, she was shocked to see where all her money was going towards when she was living up her 20s.
At the age of 30, Nicole Haddow (pictured with her new book Smashed Avocado) had no savings or financial plan, a credit-card debt to her name and the dream of owning a home was far from reality
But by the time she was 31, the journalist, from Melbourne, had cracked the property market after buying her first home on a single income
'The taxis, drinks, brunches, clothes, haircuts, travel and spontaneous weekends away had added up to an account balance of precisely nothing. Actually, less than nothing, with the credit card debt,' she said in an excerpt from her book, supplied to Mamamia.
Nicole sat down with her father, who has accounting experience, so he could guide her through a financial plan.
'Dad looked at my income and said,"You can almost certainly afford a unit if you save for the next 12 to 18 months. You can manage mortgage repayments with your salary. They're not much more than the rent you were paying",' she said.
Nicole admitted she never imagined she could afford her own home on a single salary but her father said all she needed was a house deposit.
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The first step she took was looking at where she'd spent her money unnecessarily.
Her biggest spending was booze. Nicole found she was splurging $45 a week on a couple of bottles of wine since the age of 20 - that's a total of $2,340 in 12 months or $23,400 in 10 years.
'It was absolutely my fault I didn't own a house yet: I'd spent everything I earned. That's not to say I'd have been able to buy a home where I wanted to live if I'd drunk less, but had I consistently put away $30 or $40 a week from my early 20s onwards, I would have been close to having a deposit on an entry-level investment, instead of having to start from scratch at 30,' she said.
In her new book titled 'Smashed Avocado', the author revealed the sacrifices she made and the steps she took that helped her get onto the property ladder in under two years
Nicole admitted she never imagined she could afford her own home on a single salary but her father said all she needed was a house deposit
Within two years of saving, she became a proud homeowner
The second step was being realistic about what she can afford to buy on the market at the time in early 2013. She looked at two-bedroom apartments ranging between $300,000 to $350,000.
She started looking at how much money she was earning, which was about $4,000 per month as a social media and content consultant for a public relations agency - and between $500 and $1,500 per month as a freelancer writer.
Nicole said she set herself an ambitious goal of saving $25,000 to $30,000 within 14 months.
She had to work out her expenses which included car repayments, credit card repayments and phone bills and her non-expenses.
'Non-essential expenses included big nights out, taxis (Uber didn't exist yet), make-up, new clothes, hair and... brunch. With that, I quit the shops and pricey haircuts. I started searching for bargain cosmetic deals and stopped going out,' Nicole said.
Her father even suggested it was better if she paid the minimum repayments on her credit card debt while she put away money for her house deposit.
And less than two years later, she became a proud homeowner.
'Buying a property isn't easy. It's not meant to be. It's one of the biggest financial decisions you'll make in your life. But it is worth it,' she said.
