I’m a single mum-of-six earning £120,000 a year — this is how I make my money

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Welcome back to Me and My Money, Metro’s series taking a peek into the nation’s wallets and bank accounts.

This week we meet Rebecca Barr, a 42-year-old self-employed business coach and single mum, who lives with her six children in a rental property in Kingston-upon-Thames, South-West London.

The sole breadwinner, she currently takes home £120,000 a year and since her parents passed away some years ago, it’s important to Rebecca to always have savings to fall back on in case of emergencies.

Here, she explains what she does with her money while living in one of the most expensive boroughs in the capital…

How has your financial journey been as a single parent?

I have six children ranging from two months to 14 – four girls and two boys. I don’t live with a partner and it’s always been that way, so I’m solely financially responsible for the children. I also don’t have much family help as my parents passed away some years ago.

This is why I work for myself, as
I believe I’m unemployable. Working for an employer would just not be cost effective with the cost of childcare and the stress of having to juggle multiple school runs.

Being self-employed means that I can manage my work around times that suit me – although the downside is that there are less benefits than being employed.

I didn’t qualify for maternity pay – which is called maternity allowance if you’re self-employed – but I’m lucky that I have a few clients on retainers so I still have an income coming in and will get back to work soon.

I homeschool my eldest two girls, who are 12 and 14, because they
didn’t have a great experience at secondary school. My younger ones, aged ten and six, are in primary school and my three-year-old does half days at pre-school.

I manage working by being intentional with my time. I think we have always got more time than we think and it’s about using it as effectively as possible.

Why stay in an expensive area?

Some may wonder why I’m living in such an expensive area.

I rent a three-bedroom house, which costs me £2,300 a month. I’m here because I bought a barber shop on the high street around ten years ago. It was doing really well – although I was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic – but I handed over the keys three years ago because it was too time consuming around the children.

I’m now a business coach, running my own business at thefemalepreneurcoach.co.uk.

I help other women who are business owners to change their relationship with money so that they can make more money in their business and not feel bad doing it. This includes 1:1 coaching (£15k for 6 months together), business bootcamps (£97) and one-off workshops (from £17).

Self-sabotage can get in our way and hold us back from growing our business and money as much as we could.

Work is completed around the kids’ school runs or when they’re in bed. I also have a number of self-led courses that people can purchase from my sales pages (all automated) and affiliate incomes that I receive.  

Do you prioritise savings?

Being self-employed and the sole breadwinner, it’s important to me to always have savings to fall back on in case of emergencies.

I aim for about six months’ worth of essential outgoings, although this has recently taken a knock because I had a difficult pregnancy and have reduced work for the time being because of my newborn.

The baby was unexpected. I’d given everything away so I had to buy everything from scratch, although I bought everything secondhand on places such as Facebook Marketplace to keep costs down.

I always prioritise savings and investments. Whenever I have money come in, I allocate at least 10% to investments, including a pension, and 10% to savings. I keep all this in pensions and investment Isas with the same provider, so I can easily see and manage my money through the same app. Whatever I put in will compound and hopefully grow over time.

I also teach this to my children, who have Junior Isas and are used to saving money.

What are you spending on?

My outgoings are huge. The biggest cost is my rent, at £2,300 a month, which is actually cheap for the area as it used to be a student house and I’ve done a lot of work to it, including decorating.

I’m also paying off my car, a secondhand, seven-seater Land Rover Discovery, at £500 a month. I’m hoping to clear this debt within the next two years.

I also took out a business loan, where repayments are around £700 a month until next July. Council tax is £230 a month and the food shop is around £600 a month, which I know 
is a lot.

I’m now growing my own fruit and vegetable patch in the garden so we can grow more of our own food and cut back on food spending.

Activities with the children are expensive. I took the children to the cinema last weekend and it cost me £150. Some of my children also do drama, karate and football, which costs £275 a month.

What are some of your best money-saving strategies?

To raise a bit of money, I’m always looking at ways we can declutter the house and sell things we no longer need on Vinted.

I’ve also signed up to several newsletters to get deals on days out and experiences.

I’m always looking for deals and ways to save money, and document my spending and tips through my YouTube channel, The Money Mumma 6. I also use the cashback app JamDoughnut to get money off shopping and meals out.

I booked our upcoming holiday – a week’s all-inclusive holiday in Spain this summer – through Topcashback to get £100 off.

It’s still really expensive though – at £5,000 including flights – but being all-inclusive at least I know the exact cost and can budget each month to pay for it. I buy the kids’ summer wardrobes in the Christmas sales to save money ahead of time.

Any future financial goals?

In the future I’d like to buy my own place. I used to be on the property ladder. I bought my first place aged 18, but sold up to move to Kingston and take over the barbers and I’ve not yet got back on the ladder.

When the children start growing up and leaving home, I’d like to buy a property again – perhaps in Portsmouth, where I’m originally from and where you can get much more for your money.