Gemma Bird, 39, lives in Billericay, Essex, with her husband, Adam, 45, and their two children, Brody, nine, and Bronte, two. She has long been savvy about her finances, and even sold chocolate bars to her schoolmates in the playground. She left school after her GCSEs and started working as an estate agent, on a salary of £12,000 – but set herself the target of saving £30,000 by the age of 24. She saved £850 a month by living at home with her parents, and bought her first house in 2004 with her ex-partner. Gemma says, “We saved £25,00 between us and I still had £10,000 left over, so my dad Steve and I went halves on deposits for two other rental properties.” When Gemma split from her partner, they…
