How I saved over £100,000 on a £35,000 salary by the time I was 22

Gabriella first started work when she was just 15 (Picture: Gabriella Goddard/SWNS)

A 22-year-old management consultant has revealed how she’s managed to amass over £100,000 in savings — despite only earning a salary of £35,000 from her main job.

Gabriella Goddard, from Bath in Somerset, has credited her wealth to side hustles, trading investments, saving in ISA accounts, and teaching herself to stick to a strict budget.

Instead of going to university, Gabriella began a degree apprenticeship in management consulting aged 18, earning around £1,400 a month.

However she immediately began investing, putting 60% of her earnings into a cash ISA — and then upped her savings game when her salary increased to £1,600 in her second year.

At that point she began investing £1,000 a month, putting £500 into a cash ISA and £500 into a Trading 212 stocks and shares ISA.

Gabriella works as a management consultant (Picture: Gabriella Goddard/SWNS)

She also set up a content creation business managing social media accounts for small businesses, as well as carrying out brand deals on her own social media pages, all of which brings her additional income of £5,000 a month.

Now, Gabriella – who admits she sacrificed a lot of evenings and weekends in her teens to work on her side hustle – has £70,000 in Trading 212 investments, £23,000 in her workplace pension and a further £13,000 in an emergency fund, giving her a total of £106,000 stashed away.

She pays £1,000 each month on average into her savings and stocks accounts while living with her parents in Bath, paying them £200 rent a month.

Gabriella chose an apprenticeship over university despite excellent exam results (Picture: Gabriella Goddard/SWNS)

Gabriella explained: ‘I learned about investing through social media – I was bored during Covid, so I started doing some research. I asked for books on investing for my birthday and Christmas.

‘At first, I was putting £500 into my savings and £500 into my investment account, then I got a little bit excited by it, and started investing way more.

‘I wouldn’t recommend that, but because I was living at home, and had an emergency fund. I had a bit of a safety net.’

Gabriella first began working when she was 15, earning £4 an hour in a garden centre, which she credits with teaching her the importance of budgeting, and influenced her decision to do an apprenticeship rather than go to university, despite getting three As in her A-levels.

‘I was so bored of education and the money and lack of student debt was enticing’, she said.

The 22-year-old forced herself to stick to a strict budget (Picture: Gabriella Goddard/SWNS)

She was paid £18,500 in her first year, openly admitting that the sum seemed huge for an 18-year-old, meaning that it ‘took a few months’ for her to learn how to budget.

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However, she soon got the hang of it, setting herself the target of saving 60% of her earnings.

As well as paying rent to her parents, she paid £350 towards other expenses including her phone bill and car

When her salary rose to £23,000 in her second year, she reached £10,000 in her cash ISA account. Using that as a three-month emergency fund, she then upped the amount she was putting into her stocks and shares account to £1,000 a month.

She makes over £5K a month from a side hustle (Picture: Gabriella Goddard/SWNS)

In her final year, her salary rose to £35,000 a year – around £2,100 a month – which was when she began her side hustle, managing Instagram accounts for two small businesses, until she was forced to take a step back for her own wellbeing.

‘It was basically another full time job,’ she explained. ‘I was working all the time. It wasn’t healthy.’

Instead she now focuses on her own social media and makes around £5,000 a month from brand deals on TikTok.

While her rent and other expenses have increased to £500 and £900 respectively she is still saving a significant amount each month.

Gabriella has stressed she made her money through her own efforts (Picture: Gabriella Goddard/SWNS)

Gabriella admits that she is constantly asked whether she might use the money to get on the property ladder but she has no plans to at the moment as the housing market ‘isn’t as profitable as it used to be’.

‘I don’t want to completely wipe out my investments and savings for a house I probably couldn’t even afford furniture for,’ she said.

She is also encouraging others her age to give investing a go by putting in a little bit of disposable income every month — and is keen to stress that she’s made her money through her own hard work.

‘This money definitely wasn’t handed to me,’ she said. ‘A lot of people assume I’m just a posh girl from Bath whose had everything given to her, but there’s been a lot of hard work and sacrifice.’

Gabriella's monthly budget

Salary per month – £2,100 Income from content creation – £5,000

Rent – £500 Other expenses (food, car etc.) – £900

£800 – £1,000 invested in Trading 212 £200 put in Cash ISA £200 put into workplace pension

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