A young woman who prioritises saving and investing over spending in the hope that she will be able to retire by 40 has warned people that five popular habits are keeping them ‘broke’.
Mia Rose McGrath, 24, has ‘almost £100,000 in savings and investments’ and lives a thrifty lifestyle so she can ‘soft retire’ 26 years before her peers.
With more than 143,000 followers on TikTok, Mia, who lives in London and works in fashion, frequently posts about the stringent approach she takes to managing her own finances.
‘Trying to be cool or aesthetic is making you broke,’ Mia said in a TikTok video posted this week.
She explained that buying a completely new outfit or spending £38 on a Rhode phone case in a bid to look ‘aesthetically pleasing’ on Instagram was a waste of money.
Reflecting on her own experience, Mia admitted that she used to fritter away cash on exactly the exact behaviour before she made a change.
She said: ‘I realised I was doing it for other people, not for myself.’
The second mistake that people make, according to Mia, is allowing themselves to be swept up in trends and fads that turn out to be very expensive.
Savvy saver Mia Rose McGrath (pictured) posted a video in which she delivered some financial home truths
The savvy saver warned: ‘You don’t need the latest trending item – a Labubu, a Coach bag. It’s not essential.’
While she approved of saving up for something ‘you really like,’ Mia encouraged her fans to be really honest with themselves before making a purchase.
She added: ‘I guarantee if you waited 30 days to buy it, you wouldn’t want it anymore.’
The third financial mistake Mia identified is ‘not saving because you think it’s pointless’.
Telling those who are saving none of their income to ‘please change that,’ she argued that ‘no matter how small it is,’ it’s worth doing.
‘I guarantee, if it’s £10, £50, no matter how small it is, you’re probably not doing it because of that reason,’ she reminded viewers.
Mia, who has accumulated ‘almost £100,000 in savings and investments’ in recent years, revealed that she also started small, even putting money aside when she was relying on a student maintenance grant.
She continued: ‘I wouldn’t have been able to do that if I had that mindset that saving £50 is pointless.’
Fourthly, Mia advocated for starting a side hustle, telling fellow TikTokers that they’re ‘not too busy’.
Mia, who has almost £100,000 in savings and investments, said people should stop spending money on ‘trying to be cool’
Taking a tough love approach, she said: ‘Stop using the excuse that you don’t have enough time, you just don’t want to enough.’
She insisted: ‘Whatever it is, creating content, creating a personal brand, making extra money – I’ve done all those things while at a nine to five job that I have to be in the office five days a week for.’
Mia added that, providing someone wants to improve their finances, they can – it just takes discipline.
Finally, Mia warned that it’s irresponsible to think a ‘man is going to sweep in’ and facilitate the ‘soft life’ that some people crave.
‘Soft life’ is shorthand for a life lived on a person’s own terms, usually free from the constraints of a fulltime job.
Mia’s viral video attracted tens of comments, with most people thanking her for her stark advice
She added: ‘There is so much bad advice on TikTok saying you need to appear in your “soft feminine energy” and go sit at a bar where a rich man will find you…’
In a bid to do away with this myth, Mia said: ‘You have to work hard and have your own money.
‘Sure, if you meet someone who earns more than you, that’s a bonus. Make sure you have your own finances sorted first.’
Despite having issued the disclaimer ‘you’re not going to like this’ at the beginning of her video, Mia’s advice was generally well received on TikTok.
One fan said: ‘No lies told! “If you want to do it, you can – it just requires discipline.”‘
A second person added: ‘The waiting 30 days is such a brilliant and helpful thing to do!’
While a third said: ‘Great points! It is so important to stay mindful of spending and focus on saving in the long run.’
Someone else pointed out: ‘The amount of overconsumption I see is wild, it’s so wasteful (not just of money but resources)’.
Yet, not everyone was convinced, with one TikToker admitting that financial discipline really isn’t her forte.
‘What if I still want it after one year?’, she asked.
