It’s been just over a year since starting the Skint Dad blog. For everything I’ve achieved, today brings even more exciting news!
I have some very exciting news I want to share with you all but I want to say a few things before I get to that.
It was in August 2013 that our lives had reached a crossroads. We were in debt up to our eyeballs, we were miserable and life felt like it had stalled.
If you are a regular reader of my blog then you will know that instead of going down like a sinking ship, we decided right then and there that we wouldn’t give up and we would fight to get out of this mess. We would take back control of our finances and ultimately our lives.
We launched the Skint Dad blog in the hope that it would help us track what we did to reduce our debt, save some cash and perhaps even learn how to make some extra money. What happened next could never have been predicted.
Instead of the blog just being somewhere we recorded our journey, other people started to read it as well. But they didn’t just read it.
Comments were left on different posts; emails were received from people telling me to keep up the good work and to thank me for sharing helpful information.
I was gobsmacked.
Writing wasn’t something that came naturally to me but, I suppose, because we were living what we were writing, it perhaps shone through?
Fast forward to today and our lives have changed beyond belief.
The blog is still going strong and growing everyday but I have also managed to carve out a real life job as a freelancer writing money-saving advice for the likes of BT, AOL Money, Quidco and Moneywise. Even saying that doesn’t sound real!
From starting with nothing, apart from the will to succeed and provide my family a better life, I am now in a position to take that next step and set foundations that will clear our debt and start to live a life without worry.
I won’t lie and say it’s been easy because it hasn’t. Working on Skint Dad has taken over our lives and it isn’t unusual to find me still writing at 2am most mornings and pretty much 7 days a week.
Every day I wake up and try to move forward a little more. Whether it’s a new piece of content on the site, increasing our social media following or following up a possible writing opportunity – I don’t relent. I believe the harder you work the luckier you become and, at the moment, I feel pretty lucky.
What I will say though is that if you’re in a similar position to where we were back in August 2013, and things seem like they are just getting worse and worse, believe me when I say – if you want to change your life you can!! I am testament to that.
However hopeless you feel your situation is, believe that you can turn things around and you will. It won’t happen overnight and things might even become worse to start but, if you’re determined and want a better life, you just need to believe and keep moving forward. It will pay dividends.
So that was more than I intentionally set out to say but I do have a habit of going on a bit…
Anyway the exciting news I wanted to share with you all
As I mentioned previously, as well as blogging on Skint Dad, I have also had opportunities to write for other places.
Well last week I received a very interesting email from the money editor of a certain national newspaper.
After a few emails back and forth to sort out a few details, I can now announce that I have been taken on by The Mirror as a weekly money-saving writer!
It still hasn’t sunk in.
Ricky Willis – aka Skint Dad – who just over a year ago was close to losing it all, has managed to secure a regular writing gig in a national newspaper.
I really hope I’m not coming over as bragging because I most certainly am not. What I want to show is that if you keep working hard, opportunities will present themselves.
All you need to do is have the courage to dream big and just go for it!
Please head over and read my first brand new money saving column here.
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A well wisher x says
Amazing stuff!! Well done Ricky. I am so proud of you and how hard you and your family have worked for this! Congratulations xx
Mental Parental says
Congratulations! Well deserved.
A skint carer says
Well done skint dad and family, what a difference a year makes!
Wendy Tolhurst says
Well done to you all – I live in Pembury, so feel I should almost know you!! You don’t come across as bragging at all – just an encouragement to those like me who struggle all the time and need to find a way to make the money we have go further. Hope your success with the Daily Mirror leads to even more openings.
claremcf says
well done, it is nice to read some good news every now and then. I also think that if you don’t blow your own trumpet, who will? Having been where you were a few years ago, I can share in your joy and I understand just how hard it can be to get out of the hole. ;-)
Laurie @thefrugalfarmer says
Yay!!!! Huge congrats, Ricky! You deserve every bit of it. :-)
moneystepper says
Amazing stuff Ricky! That’s absolutely brilliant news. Congratulations! Good luck with the column – hopefully you can maintain the same qualities and personability that you’ve portrayed through your blog in the past year. Well done again!
Nicola @ The Frugal Cottage says
Well done! Fantastic news and very much deserved :)
Tom @Ideas4Dads says
Well done mate – well deserved!
Tom
http://www.ideas4dads.net
Sam says
Fantastic for you!! We’re in a terribly tight situation at the min, it’s a paddling just to stay afloat year. Reading this makes me believe if we try hard enough we can make it too, so thank you!
lorraine says
Well done you.You deserve this so much.You come over as a genuingly nice guy and all round family man.Congratulations and enjoy your new gig.
Mrs Bargain Hunter says
Congrats Rick…looking forward to reading the column.
Claire says
Well done! It shows what everyone can achieve if they work hard enough! Good for you! x