Caz Mooney: career change made total cents

Never in her wildest dreams did Caz Mooney imagine that sharing her budgeting story online would lead to a whole new career.

The Offaly resident jokes that she has been stopped in the supermarket for being the “fiver girl” for her popular ‘feeding a family of five for a fiver’ recipes and says she takes great satisfaction from being contacted by people who have turned their finances, and lives, around.

“It’s just bizarre, really. I never expected to start a career just from talking about my own budgeting journey,” says Caroline.

She is now the best-selling author of Caz Mooney’s Budgeting Planner and a financial content creator, with close to a quarter of million followers on Instagram. She regularly pops up on radio and TV, with practical, no-nonsense tips for keeping a family budget on track.

Having worked in many different areas over the years – her last job was manager of a gym – the Wicklow native grew up in the countryside, as did her Laois-born husband, Seamus. Lower house prices brought them to a north Offaly village, where they couldn’t be happier with the “lovely community and lovely people."

Her new career came about very much by accident, and Caz, who was a self-confessed online shopping fiend and an expert at burying her head in the sand, turned things around with sheer determination and expert planning.

For instance, she managed to get married on a €7,000 budget during the recession. And realising the precarious nature of renting and the need to buy a secure home for her family, she and her husband decided that 2019 would be a low spend year – that’s no spending barring necessities, in a bid to clear a big credit card bill and save for a deposit.

“We had been struggling for years. For about eight years, I stayed at home bringing up our oldest two children and then I returned to education and work.

“It just felt like we were always playing catch up. We were living pay cheque to pay cheque, sometimes not even that. We were struggling for everyday expenses, nevermind Christmas and things like that,” explains Caz, short for Caroline.

The mother of three knew they couldn’t stay in that cycle, and it all came to a head after a dream trip to America.

“My husband looked at the credit card bill (on the way home), and I just remember him taking a big sharp intake of breath and turning to me and saying, ‘How are we going to pay this off? It was six or seven grand – a massive amount for us.”

A radical change was needed and they opted to designate 2019 as a low spend year.

“In January, our goal was to clear the credit card, and then in February to start saving as much as we could, and that’s what we did. We had a goal of saving at least €1,000 a month; we were paying for childcare, so it was quite a stretch, but we were determined and it went really well.”

Clearly disciplined, the couple did everything to make it work – selling furniture, clothes and toys they didn’t need, and doing a myriad of side hustles from surveys to mystery shopping and babysitting.

“We did allow Christmas and birthday presents, but there were no takeaways or day trips unless they were free.

“It wasn’t just about saving money, it was also about breaking habits,” says Caz, explaining that the little things add up and that people were generally supportive of what they were doing.

The couple also cut down on unnecessary journeys in the car or to the shop, in favour of one big shop and a stocked freezer. This is when she leaned into the ‘feed a family for a fiver’ recipes, something Caz would love to turn into a “budget meal book” in the future.

Spend less, do more

With two young children at the time (10) and (8), Caz says they sold the concept as a “spend less, but do more year,” so they explored everything possible that was free and outdoors, making a list of places with an app called AllTrails.

The family made it all about the experience rather than the expense, something she tries to continue to this day, and stopped comparing themselves to others or trying to keep up appearances.

They spent a lot of time outside, rain or shine, had game nights, movie nights and a ‘Come Dine with Me’ event with friends.

Budgeting is just your plan for the month ahead or the pay cheque ahead, so it’s all planning. It takes a few minutes, but the pay-off is unreal

“I had a list of things I was going to buy when the low-spend year ended, but when the time came, they weren’t that important to me anymore,” Caz says, advising anyone who is struggling with spending to make a list and really think about it.

By the autumn of 2019, the family had reached their target, clearing the credit card bill and saving a deposit, which coincided with their rented home going up for sale.

With the security of buying their own place, Caz and her husband continued their thrifty ways, albeit less intensely.

In 2020, they welcomed their third child, and like many others during the pandemic, Caz started to reevaluate her life. She opted to take a career break and try to rely on one wage, which she describes as “frightening”.

Around this time Caz started a personal financial journal on Instagram, which took off quickly, earning her 100,000 followers in a month. They keenly took on her advice on the weekly shop, cash budgeting, shopping deals, etc.

“Budgeting is just your plan for the month ahead or the pay cheque ahead, so it’s all planning. It takes a few minutes, but the pay-off is unreal,” says Caz. “To be honest, preparing the plan (budget) ahead of time is what stops most people.

“The thought that it is going to take ages is usually what puts people off, but a lot of it is the mental side – you’re looking at your bank account with fresh eyes – and you find yourself asking, ‘did I really spend all that’?”

Christmas is coming

While Caz acknowledges that it is hard to face up to financial mistakes, it is something worth doing and changes your thinking about money. She became completely debt-free, aside from her mortgage, in 2021.

“It’s about moving the money into different accounts, allocating a certain amount for cash budgeting and calmly telling my money what to do, rather than it controlling me.

“Cash for me was a big help, because if you go into the supermarket with €50 or €100 to do your food shop and that’s all you have in your purse, it makes you very careful about your spending,” she advises.

Look at who you really need to buy gifts for, a lot of the time we tell ourselves that we have to buy them for every single person, and that is not necessarily true

With Christmas around the corner, Caz recommends that people look at their money now and figure out what they really need to spend during the festive season.

“Look at your necessities and work out your bottom line,” she says, before advising readers to do a low-spend month to save between now and then.

“Look at who you really need to buy gifts for, because a lot of the time we tell ourselves that we have to buy them for every single person in our life, and that is not necessarily true.

“Then take advantage of any sales, discounts or Black Friday deals.

“Look into opportunities to do Secret Santa or themed Christmas gifts with a limit. Also consider homemade, second-hand, or local gifts. Arranging a treat with a friend after Christmas can work well rather than a gift neither of you really want or need.”

Relishing her role, Caz recently started a new podcast series, MOoney Talks, which she describes as a “labour of love” and a natural next step. She talks to all sorts of people about how they became successful in their field and how they pivoted at various times, or seized an unexpected opportunity. Guests so far have included radio DJ Dave Moore, former athlete David Gillick, Rory King of Rory’s Travel Club fame, and a solo episode by Caz herself about her career change.

With a natural curiosity, she’s enjoying hearing the “interesting and unexpected lessons” of an unplanned career path, all of which could describe Caz’s own trajectory to date.

Check out @irishbudgeting on Instagram.