An Aussie mum has shared how she went from not having a dollar to her name to building up $85,000 in savings to buy her first home. With cost-of-living pressures making it harder for many Aussies to save right now, the Brisbane mum has shared the steps she’s taken to get on top of her finances and save $20,000 this year alone.

In 2017, Nataasha Torzsa had “no savings and was living pay-to-pay” with credit card and personal loan debt of $16,500. The 34-year-old executive support officer told Yahoo Finance she was working full-time but was “struggling”.

“I was barely paying my minimums off and my spending habits were terrible. I was a shopaholic and loved any excuse for some 'retail therapy' or eating out,” Torzsa said.

“I would sometimes have to put basic groceries on credit just to get by.”

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Torzsa said everything changed when she had a fraudulent purchase on her credit card and found herself without access to a line of credit while she applied for a new card. With no savings to fall back on, she said this was the “wake-up call” she needed to get serious about her finances.

Torzsa said she read the popular Barefoot Investor book and was motivated to re-evaluate her spending. She cut back on expenses and ditched others, such as personal training, altogether.

To boost her income, she said she picked up a second part-time job and did side hustles like surveys, market research and selling things on Facebook Marketplace.

“Within one year, I paid off just under $11,500 and became debt-free for the first time in my adult life at the age of 28,” she told Yahoo Finance.

“It was a big achievement for me and spurred me on to saving more money and investing, because now that all felt more in my reach.”

In the years since, Torzsa said she’s been able to save up $85,000 towards her goal of buying a $400,000 home for herself and her four-year-old son.

She’s hoping to save up $100,000 by the end of 2025 and purchase a home before 2026 when her son will start school.

“I have also been dabbling with investing and have a portfolio worth $25,000 as well. None of this would have seemed achievable to me before,” she said.

'Bring it back to basics': Saving $20,000 in less than a year

Torzsa said she’s been able to save $20,000 this year already, or about 27 per cent of her take-home pay, by “diligently tracking” her spending.