A MUM who dropped out of school at the age of 14 and hasn’t got a single academic qualification to her name has revealed how her savvy spending habits mean she’s mortgage-free at 35.
Holly Smith struggled to keep up with the other kids at school due to her autism and went on to become a money saving expert, using coupons to pay for the supermarket shop and stretching every last penny.
In an interview with the Mail on Sunday, Holly explained she’s able to go on fancy holidays, eat in classy restaurants and save hundreds on groceries by making bargain hunting and money saving into her hobby.
She said: “I began checking grocery prices for my mum when I was eight.
“By the age of 11 I was booking holidays and comparing car insurance quotes for family and friends.
“In my mid-teens I camped for three days to get my parents’ name down for a house on a new estate which I knew would be a good investment. I was totally fascinated by saving.
“In my early 20s I wanted to take it further but I didn’t know how.
“I was in and out of hospital having surgery and surviving on benefits. While I was convalescing I did hundreds of competitions every day and I won one in which the first prize was having your own website designed. That’s how I began.”
Holly has now turned her hobby into a full-time job, sharing money saving tips with other bargain hunters on her website, Extreme Couponing.
She’s just authored a book, Holly Smith’s Money Saving Book, and has an impressive social media following of three million followers on Facebook, half a million on the video site TikTok and almost 100,000 subscribers to her YouTube channel.
She said: “I could spend a few seconds with someone and find them stuff on their phone that would save £20 to £30 on an average family supermarket weekly spend. I save at least £2,000 a year on mine.”
“More people will be forced into cost-cutting as a result of Covid-19, especially those in the £50,000 to £60,000 income bracket.
“It’s expensive just living, never mind raising a family. I hope I can help bargain-hunting become second nature.”
She counts paying with a £1,200 supermarket shop with coupons and £12,000 of first-class transatlantic flights on loyalty points as her most memorable money saving achievements.
Holly now resides in Norfolk with her husband Callum, 31, and daughters Mollie-Rose, nine, and Bella-Marie, eight, and their 11-month-old son, Cloud.
For more money saving stories, one woman has cut her family’s food bill by a THIRD thanks to savvy shopping, last week she nabbed Sunday lunch for three for 50p.
And as we told you previously, this mum cut her weekly food bill to just £16, here’s how you can do the same.
Plus this savvy mum shares easy envelope system which helps her budget for her family-of-four.
