By the time he was 26 years old, Rob Moore was in £50,000 of debt.
Today he’s a millionaire, having written eight books and retired (then unretired, just for fun) multiple times.
How did he get here?
Rob started racking up consumer debt when he went to university, after taking out multiple loans and using credit cards without fully understanding the interest rates.
He was only overspending a small amount each month, but it added up fast.
‘I’d put purchases on my credit card and think that I’d just pay my credit card off at the end of the month, when in reality I couldn’t,’ Rob tells Metro.co.uk. ‘I wasn’t earning as much as I was spending and then I racked up another debt on a car loan and it just went on over a seven-year period.
‘The first two to three years I didn’t think much of it. At the time it wasn’t vast amounts of money and I genuinely thought I could keep on top of it.
‘Then when it started to get bigger and I realised that all the money I was earning was only going on servicing the debt, I realised I wasn’t actually paying off any of the capital because I was only able to hit the monthly minimal amounts – and that was just the interest.
‘It made me feel useless, worthless, terrible at managing money and my own personal affairs. It gave me a very low sense of self-worth. I was embarrassed and felt shameful.’
Rob was trapped in a cycle of debt, with interest on repayments building up far more quickly than he could earn enough money to pay them off. Working as an artist and pulling pints in his parents’ pub wasn’t particularly lucrative.
It was a family emergency that pushed him to make a change.
When his father – who had paid for Rob’s university fees and given him a job in his pub for years – had a nervous breakdown in front of his customers in December 2005, Rob felt partly responsible for the immense stress he was under.
The guilt of depending on his parents for money gave Rob the shake he needed to take decisive action and start to clear his debt.
He moved into property and business. One year later he had cleared his debt. By the age of 30 he was a millionaire.
That involved some big life changes – chief among them making a total career switch and getting into the property market.
Rob was first encouraged to get into property by the owner of the gallery where his art was displayed. At first he ignored him, dismissing the recommendation by saying he didn’t know anything about property and had neither the time nor money to get fully involved.
But one evening, having nothing better to do, Rob listened and went to a local property meeting. There he met Mark Homer, who later became his business partner.
Rob was able to wrangle a job sourcing property for a company, earning commission on top of a minimal wage. With no experience, he read a bunch of books to learn the skills he needed, and managed to sell some property deals alongside selling his art.
That meant he had enough money to start a company, Progressive Property, with Mark, who had relatives the duo could borrow money from for property deposits.
One year on, Mark and Rob had 20 properties. Rob had not only managed to clear his debt but was also earning six figures.
That’s a speedy journey, but Rob is keen to emphasise it took a lot of hard work.
‘I was motivated and desperate and hungry to succeed,’ he explains. ‘I felt like my whole life had been gearing up to this point. You can get a lot done in a short period of time. If you put the work in and work smart and if you really want it it is achievable.
‘I had to work really really hard to clear my debt. I had to learn sales and marketing and educate myself instead of just avoiding them.
‘I had to embrace collaborations and listen. I learnt not to hide from rejection. I put in ridiculous hours and spent the time working on the right tasks and important tasks, the income-generating tasks. I became more productive. I virtually gave up my social life but I really didn’t mind as I knew it wouldn’t be forever.
‘I didn’t have kids or a wife at the time so they seemed like small sacrifices to make. I avoided spending money and only purchased necessities and never on an impulse buy.’
With a strict budgeting plan and a massive increase in income, Rob was able to pay off his debts. Once those repayments were cleared, he could just earn money without the fear and guilt of owing anything.
His early experience of debt and his sudden success pushed Rob to look more deeply into the subjects of earning and saving money.
He read ’40 to 50 books’ in that first year and went on some courses alongside earning money through his business, leading him to eventually write eight books to share all he’d learned and to start his own podcast, The Disruptive Entrepreneur.
He also does public speaking engagements to guide people through similar financial journeys.
Rob says the secret to achieving similar levels of financial success is actually down to one simple lesson: ‘Never spend more than you earn’.
Once you’ve learned that, you’ll avoid going into debt and can start using your money more wisely.
Rob’s ten steps for getting out of debt:
Spend Less
Basically, the first step is to figure out how much you are spending and then figure out ways you can cut that down.
Identify Fixed Costs and Variable Costs
Fixed costs are things like your mortgage/rent, necessities and direct debits.
You need to figure out the difference between what you actually need and what you want. You need somewhere to live and food to eat but you want a holiday.
Get rid of a lot of your variable costs
Once you have figured out these costs, cut back on them. You can reduce variable costs like socialising and travel.
Rob recommends setting a target time of one, three or six months and agreeing to not have any non-necessity spending in that time.
Cancel all the direct debits you don’t need
Rob says that instead of the gym you can try doing workouts at home from Youtube.
Stop spending money on coffee and lunch every day and reduce socialising costs. You could pay for Netflix for £7.99 and watch movies there rather than going to the cinema.
Set a specific monthly budget
No matter what you earn, you need to figure out what you can really afford to spend each month.
Rob recommends setting up a direct debit to a separate bank account, where all your bills can be paid from, and then another for a savings accounts. Take whatever is left out in cash for that week and don’t spend more than that.
Target the day where you get to zero
Set a deadline for when you pay off your debt. That could be a few months or years but have something to focus on. Put it in your calendar.
Only buy stuff you need
You do need to buy stuff sometimes but wait for sales and buy in a little bit of bulk to store it. Obviously you need to be careful that a deal is as good as it seems but if it is, stock up.
Sell stuff you don’t use
Use eBay, Gumtree, Etsy, Shopify, Amazon and Facebook to sell the things you need. Rob recommends going round your house every three months and having a clear out.
Do overtime
Pick up some short term overtime if you can. A few hours occasionally is doable and it could make a big difference to your debt.
Learn to sell
Rob’s final tip is to learn how to sell something – whether that is a product you believe in or just selling yourself to get a pay rise. He recommends focusing on building a brand and getting good at marketing.
He adds: ‘The second thing is to preserve capital at all costs, so lumps of cash that you earn, preserve it, save it and don’t spend it.
‘Take that capital and invest into assets you can earn from. Many assets will match your capital sometimes on a ratio of four or five to one. You can then leverage and get good debt on the capital and use this to invest into assets. What happens then is the assets produce the income and then you must then only spend the income. If you spend capital it’s gone and you’re screwed.’
Rob also advises against spending emotionally. Instead, think about your longterm goals and prioritise the vision you have for the future over your immediate wants.
Think about how Rob lived pretty miserably for those years he was paying off debt – going out for food, buying nice clothes, and all the fun stuff goes on the back burner when you know you have major debts to pay off. A year or so of little fun can mean financial security later.
‘I used to spend emotionally and would spend money to cheer myself up,’ Rob says. ‘I didn’t feel good about myself so would buy clothes to make myself feel better, spend money on expensive food or drink for a nice time.
‘I’ve learned not to buy there and then and not make a purchase on impulse, which is what I previously did.’
Personal finances and budgeting (still) aren’t something we learn about at school, so it’s no wonder so many of us end up in damaging cycles of spending and debt – or simply feel clueless about what we’re supposed to be doing with our money.
While we wait around for a more widespread change, Rob is keen to spread the lessons he’s learned far and wide – and that means talking openly about money.
He tells us: ‘I really do believe that as soon as you learn something and master it, not only is it fun to teach, it’s humanity’s obligation to pass on to others.’
Debt Month
This article is part of a month-long focus in November all about debt.
Scary word, we know, but we’re hoping if we tackle this head on we’ll be able to reduce the shame around money struggles and help everyone improve their understanding of their finances.
Throughout November we’ll be publishing first-person accounts of debt, features, advice, and explainers. You can read everything from the month on the Debt Month tag.
If you have a story to share, a topic you want us to cover, or a question that needs answering, get in touch at MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk.
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