Thanks for your great question. I'm not sure how much you'll like my answer though.
I think you can, if you think you can, and can't, if you think you can't.
In other words, it's a matter of belief, action, and continuing motivation.
Of course I don't know your exact circumstances but controlling your expenses is only part of the equation. If you've trimmed your expenses down to the bone it's now time to focus on increasing your income while maintaining low expenditure. Most people don't do this and their spending grows faster than their income does. The mentality you want to avoid is "Get a raise? Buy a bigger/better (x)!"
So until you control your income with the discipline of a general controlling an army during war, the amount of money you make is irrelevant. A great example is sports personalities or entertainers that end up broke.
Assuming you've got that discipline, a sure fire money making scheme is a second job but this is where you can get creative... such as going around your neighbourhood and washing windows/cars/lawn mowing. The internet has flipped this idea on its head so you could freelance late at night after you've tucked the children in bed.
Whatever you do make sure it is bringing in cash right now and not some risky or highly speculative idea.
Imho you've got to earn the right to speculate and you can make sound decisions under high levels of risk when you know you got a properly funded emergency fund and pension.
But yeah, there was a reason why I emphasized LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDED ON IT. If your life depended on you getting 1000 Euros in one week you would come up with the money. If your life depended on you getting 6 months worth of expenses you would come up with the money. If your life depended on putting 15% of your income each month into your pension you would do it... you get the picture.
The sad thing is peoples' lives do depend on this stuff but they don't act like it does.
I think you can, if you think you can, and can't, if you think you can't.
In other words, it's a matter of belief, action, and continuing motivation.
Of course I don't know your exact circumstances but controlling your expenses is only part of the equation. If you've trimmed your expenses down to the bone it's now time to focus on increasing your income while maintaining low expenditure. Most people don't do this and their spending grows faster than their income does. The mentality you want to avoid is "Get a raise? Buy a bigger/better (x)!"
So until you control your income with the discipline of a general controlling an army during war, the amount of money you make is irrelevant. A great example is sports personalities or entertainers that end up broke.
Assuming you've got that discipline, a sure fire money making scheme is a second job but this is where you can get creative... such as going around your neighbourhood and washing windows/cars/lawn mowing. The internet has flipped this idea on its head so you could freelance late at night after you've tucked the children in bed. Whatever you do make sure it is bringing in cash right now and not some risky or highly speculative idea.
Imho you've got to earn the right to speculate and you can make sound decisions under high levels of risk when you know you got a properly funded emergency fund and pension.
But yeah, there was a reason why I emphasized LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDED ON IT. If your life depended on you getting 1000 Euros in one week you would come up with the money. If your life depended on you getting 6 months worth of expenses you would come up with the money. If your life depended on putting 15% of your income each month into your pension you would do it... you get the picture.
The sad thing is peoples' lives do depend on this stuff but they don't act like it does.