Hannah was living with her boyfriend of several years, Sam, and they had been saving to buy a home together in the near future. She had a small amount of money in her personal bank account, but most of her savings were in the joint bank account that they had opened together.
One day Hannah came home to find that Sam had suddenly moved out. His clothes were all gone, and he had taken the television and the computer. There was no warning, although in hindsight she recalled a few small things that she failed to notice. Hannah was left alone with the rent to pay, unsure of what had happened. It turned out that Sam had a gambling addiction, and it wasn’t until a couple of days later that Hannah discovered he had emptied their joint account.
Rather than giving up hope on her dream of buying a home, Hannah took her disappointment in stride and got to work. The lease was nearly up on the unit anyway, so she declined the offer to renew.
A friend had mentioned housesitting as a method of living cheaply, and Hannah saw this as an opportunity to start saving again. Over the next two years, she looked after six houses – all very luxurious homes in great locations near the city, and she saved as much of her wage as possible.
Within two years, Hannah had saved $50k, which was enough for a deposit and stamp duties on a small unit. Although it was a bit of a downgrade from the luxury that housesitting had provided, she was absolutely thrilled to have finally reached her goal of owning a property – and without help from anyone else.
This story is a reminder of how you really can recover from any setback if you’re dedicated enough. Things go wrong, and people lose money all the time, but if you think outside of the square you will find a way to improve your situation in no time.