Road to £1m: Steal my Blueprint
Frugal Chic® 55: The real reason I’m trying to build a seven-figure net worth by 30.
I’m planning on reaching a £1m net worth by the age of 30. I’m 25 years old right now, which means I’ve got five years to make it happen.
Why £1m?
Because it’s the number I’ve used to measure my “enough”.
Yes, after that, ambition will still exist. I don’t want to stop working. But what it will do is give me the financial freedom that so many of us dream of but rarely calculate.
In this issue:
Why £1 million is my ‘Barista FIRE number’
The uncomfortable truth about creator income and career longevity
Why staying at my 9-5 eventually became the more expensive option
How I’m scaling without selling my soul to every brand deal
The lifestyle creep rule that will probably matter more than income
Why it doesn’t have to be a dream
It’s hard to talk about financial ambition in the UK without being labelled as privileged or out of touch.
And yes, I always acknowledge the privilege that has already helped me get to a £200k net worth by 25. Things like living at home for two years after uni, being able-bodied and conventionally attractive, and coming from a stable home.
That being said, I had a really “normal” childhood.
In the sense that I never owned branded clothing, a lot of the activities we did were free, treats and gifts really were for Christmas and it was only in my mid-teens that I felt a shift in financial security and abundance.
So I wasn’t poor, but growing up, money felt tight.
But now, saying I want to get to £1m feels complicated. I’m no longer in my entry-level fashion job on £30k a year. Now, as a business owner, I have uncapped earning potential, and that changes the conversation.
But I don’t think ambition only becomes acceptable when you’re the underdog. Sometimes the most honest thing you can do is admit you have a chance to ‘make it’ at something, and then actually go for it.
Why £1m is my end game
With that in mind, it all started with an obsession.
Ever since I went down this rabbit hole of personal finance and investing, I’ve had one number in my head: £1 million.
Because what does £1 million mean to most of us?
It means you’ve made it. You’re rich. You never have to worry about money again. You can finally relax.
And yes, before the personal finance police arrive, I know there will always be someone saying, “Well, actually, £1 million isn’t what it used to be,” or “What about inflation?” And fine, technically true. But let’s be honest, £1 million is still life-changing money.
Maybe it doesn’t buy you a yacht, a townhouse in Chelsea and a private chef, but it does buy you something far more valuable.
Options.
Why it matters to me
The reason £1 million matters to me is because I’ve done the maths.
Based on the 4% rule, which is the idea that you can withdraw around 4% of your investment portfolio each year without running out, £1 million could give you roughly £40,000 a year. You withdraw 4% and, in theory, your portfolio still grows due to average stock market historically returning around 10% per year before inflation, or roughly 6–7% per year after inflation, although this is an average and returns are never guaranteed.
It would mean covering most of my living expenses: rent, bills, groceries, just the essentials. Over time, it would also have less buying power due to inflation. Hence my actual FIRE number would be around £1.25m. But that’s actually okay with me seeing as it’s only supplementing a portion of my lifestyle.
This is approach is more aligned with Barista FIRE. Basically, having enough invested that you don’t need to rely on full-time work in the traditional sense, but you may still choose to work part-time, freelance, create, consult, or build things because you want to.
The FIRE withdrawals cover my needs, and any extras like travelling, a designer bag or
That is the dream for me.
Not never working again.
Not lounging on a sunbed doing nothing and slowly getting bored.
Just freedom.
The ability to work because I choose to, not because I have to.
Creator income is lucrative, but it is not guaranteed
Content creation is seen as this extremely lucrative field, and in many ways, it can be.
I’m very aware that I am lucky. I’m probably in the top percentage of creators when it comes to niche, income and commercial opportunity. Personal finance is a high-value niche, and I have built a brand that sits at the intersection of money, investing, fashion, ambition and lifestyle.
But I’m also not delusional.
The average creator career is not guaranteed to last forever. Trends change. Platforms change. Audiences change.
A 2025 Billion Dollar Boy study of 1,000 creators in the US and UK found that 52% of creators had experienced burnout because of their career, and 37% had actively considered leaving the profession. So it’s safe to say content creation is not always the dream job people imagine, especially when it comes to wellbeing.
And even though I want longevity, I also have to be honest with myself. I don’t know if I can see myself at 50 still filming day-in-the-life videos and telling strangers exactly what is in my investment portfolio (not that there is anything wrong with being an older creator - because I love to see that!!).
Maybe I will. Maybe Frugal Chic® evolves into books, products, media, education, events, or something I can’t even imagine yet.
But I want the option to change.
That is what this is really about.
Having a personal brand or being a creator is carefully caring the emotional labour of performing a commercially packaged version of oneself.
That’s just not something I want forever.
So i’m not retiring because I hate work. Retiring from the need to constantly perform for income.
Scale is the reason this is even possible
The first part of my £1m blueprint is scale.
And this is where I have to be honest: this goal would not have been possible if I had stayed in my 9-5.
There is a lot of content online saying you don’t need to quit your job to build something on the side, and I completely agree with that for most people. In fact, the whole reason I had a side hustle alongside my 9-5 was because I believed having multiple sources of income was smart.
You haven’t failed at life because you are a full-time employee. Especially if the job is not destroying your mental health. You have sick pay, annual leave and maternity leave. In many ways, you are winning.
But there is such a thing as opportunity cost.
For me, the only reason I left was because I started turning down financial opportunities because of my job. Sneaking off to the toilets to take a mandatory briefing call or saying no to an event I knew could lead to a four-figure deal. At a certain point, staying became the thing that was costing me money.
That doesn’t mean everyone should quit their job.
But in my situation, going all in meant I could finally scale the thing that had the highest earning potential.
In the last six months, my life has become unrecognisable. I have had months where I could make my old yearly salary in a month, which still feels insane to say out loud.
So now, my focus isn’t necessarily on how I can earn more. It’s trying to build something that does not depend entirely on me doing everything.
That means outsourcing. Recently, I hired support in the business, and that was a big mental shift. For a long time, I felt deeply uncomfortable with the idea of paying someone to do things I technically could do myself. Now my business has to generate over £6-7k a month just to pay for wages alone, whereas before, it was almost pure profit.
I realised, if someone else can do something 80% as well as me, and it frees me up to do the thing only I can do, which is as Naval would say ‘earn with my mind’.
Saying no to money is part of scaling
This sounds backwards, but another part of getting to £1 million is saying no to more money.
Recently, I made a video saying I had turned down over £89,000 in brand deals, and it was true.
On paper, if I’m trying to reach £1 million as quickly as possible, surely I should say yes to every opportunity?
But this is where short-term cash and long-term brand equity are not the same thing.
Some brand deals are not worth the cheque because they dilute the trust I’ve built. Some would confuse the audience. Some would position me in a way that makes sense for the the money, but not credibility.
Scalability does not mean saying yes to everything.
It means saying yes to the right things, repeatedly, with faith in myself to keep bringing in those opportunities.
The boring rule: keep lifestyle exactly the same
The next part of my plan is probably the least glamorous, but it matters the most.
I am keeping my lifestyle basically the same.
Lifestyle creep is when your spending quietly rises alongside your income. You get the promotion, then the nicer flat comes in. The upgraded wardrobe. The extra subscriptions. The Ubers. The dinners. The “I deserve this” purchases.
And honestly, sometimes you do deserve it.
But lifestyle creep is dangerous because it does not feel dramatic while it is happening. That is why it creeps.
I’m proud that, for the most part, my spending has stayed fairly similar to when I was earning around £30k a year. I’ll spend on trips, experiences and things I genuinely value, but my monthly lifestyle usually sits around £2,000 to £2,500.
That is extremely intentional.
And yes, part of it is because self-employment is uncertain. Creator income can fluctuate. You can have an incredible month, then a quiet one.
But the bigger reason is freedom.
If I keep my lifestyle relatively low, I don’t need to earn a ridiculous amount every month just to maintain it. I can say no to unaligned work. I can take creative risks. I can invest aggressively - which in turn brings that £1m closer.
Lower expenses give me more optionality.
And optionality is the whole point.
The next step: building beyond myself
The next obvious step for me is diversifying revenue streams.
A product. A brand. An asset that lives beyond me posting every day.
I’ve been thinking a lot about creator-led brands. People like Maddie Borge with Pastael, Miles with Signet, and creators who have managed to turn audience trust into something tangible.
For me, the next step has to make sense within Frugal Chic®.
It cannot just be merch. It cannot just be a random planner.
It has to be something my audience genuinely wants, something that fits into the way they live, spend, save, organise, dress, think or build wealth. Day-to-day I find myself working out the things I use the most and how I would do them differently.
The real reason I want £1 million
£1 million is not about looking rich.
It is not even really about the money itself.
It is about being able to wake up and know that my life is not entirely dependent on one platform, one brand, one algorithm, one industry, one income stream, or one version of myself.
That is what financial freedom means to me.
The ability to say no.
So this is the beginning of my Road to £1m.
I plan to get there by scaling what works, investing aggressively, being Frugal Chic®, and remembering that the whole point of wealth is not to look rich.
It is to actually be rich.
How to incorporate this plan yourself:
Pick your number
Work out what financial freedom actually looks like for you. How much would you need invested to cover your basic lifestyle, give you breathing room, or make work optional? Take your annual expenses and multiply by 25.
Understand your version of FIRE
You don’t have to want traditional retirement. Maybe you want full FIRE, Barista FIRE, Coast FIRE, or just enough invested to reduce the pressure.
Calculate opportunity cost
Have you ever sat down and worked out how much you’d make from your side hustle were you to give it full-time hours. Once I did that for content creation, and I waited for proof, it was a no-brainer. Staying was costing me.
Protect your trust like an asset
Whether you’re a creator, freelancer, employee or business owner, short-term money is not always worth long-term damage. Say no to opportunities that dilute your credibility, values or direction. I learnt this the hard way.
Don’t give into lifestyle creep
This doesn’t mean never treating yourself or never upgrading anything. Trust me, I can feel the difference between how having a memory foam pillow, a good leather bag when I used to have a nylon one and wearing quality clothes. What it does mean is you aim to keep a similar savings rate, if you can.
That’s all this week,
Mia xx
This weeks YouTube video:
The 4% rule is very conservative - it’s not realistic for somebody like you who understands compounding and investing. It’s based on your portfolio making very low returns once you start drawing from it — around 4% per annum I think. That’s Cash ISA rates! I expect you will be making far higher returns than that by then. Even a low-cost S&P 500 returns about 10%, and I’m sure you can do far better than that. The 4% rule is out of the same stable as the 60% Bonds 40% stocks rule. It’s archaic, a bit like the old ‘get a degree, get a good job, get a mortgage and work hard for 45 years until you retire when you’re too old to enjoy it’ advice of our parents generation. It’s not for you!
Mia, I'm the same age and making many of the same realizations. I'm a bit further behind in terms of creating the funds and momentum you have so far, but I've laid a lot of groundwork over the past year and I'm ecstatic to grow something that's completely my own!