SJ Longthorne

Financial disclosure (since I've seen folks asking): I grew up working/lower-middle class. My mother sacrificed some of her pension (which I have paid back) to help with university costs, and I worked part-time as well. Up until last year I was hand-to-mouth, month-to-month.

If I had been freelance for any longer than two months I would not have been able to keep it up, but I was lucky enough to receive job offers. The work I did get, I got through Twitter, through the recommendation of my mentor Greg, and through others I met in that period.

If you want me to define further... My mum was raised under the impression that she should marry, and her husband be the breadwinner. She had very little education or training.

My dad was self-employed as a genealogist and his earnings were humble, but enough to buy a house outright in an affordable area. When he died of cancer when I was 10, the house was almost all we had. While grieving, my mum had to quickly find a job to support us both.

She ended up taking some horrible, horrible jobs where she was severely mistreated, but eventually she managed to train as a foot health professional.

She was self-employed, driving to the homes of elderly people who could not get to a clinic (because their feet were the problem, duh). Because they were elderly, and often not very well off, she charged them much less than her competitors. So I say again, we did not have much.

She did all that while single-handedly supporting a grieving, bulimic and frankly difficult teenage daughter, and she gave up what little savings she had for her pension to try and help reduce the strain of debt I would face for finishing my education. That's the help I received.

So yeah. Alongside that, I've been working since I was 13 in cafes, restaurants, shops and clubs. The only reason I may be able to one day buy a house is that I can afford to save, and that I lost more well-off relatives recently, which is hardly something to be pleased about.