I’m mortgage-free at 42 after paying off £225k – my top money-saving tricks, including boiling the kettle once a day

UNABLE to sleep, I stared at the ceiling in my mum’s spare room and began to sob.

I was in a state of shock and utter disbelief, because just days earlier, my 10-year marriage had ended – and it hadn’t been my decision.

Money mum Gemma Bird says: ‘The government needs to step up to make sure young people are taught basic money skills’James Rudland Gemma with husband Adam and their two children Gemma is part of Lorraine’s Saver Squad

I hadn’t seen it coming at all, and straight after he told me, he was just gone.