‘Living week to week’: 25yo’s huge success after quitting $45,000 job

A young Aussie has revealed the wild salary she was earning after spending $40,000 getting a university degree, and why she knew something needed to change.

A young Aussie was making $45,000 a year and “struggling” when she found a clever way to quadruple her salary doing something she was passionate about.

Three years ago, Roma Daly, 25, had just finished studying at university and was working full-time in administration. While she found she was learning valuable skills, she struggled with her meagre salary.

“I was living week to week on a limited wage. I was struggling to survive on the base wage,” she told news.com.au.

“I didn’t have a life.”

It was tough; she’d spent $40,000 getting a degree and now was earning only $45,000 a year. She was no longer eligible for the Centrelink she received while studying, but her salary wasn’t liveable either.

Ms Daly understood she was in a transitional period of life and her wage would increase over time, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t finding it almost impossible to make ends meet.

Between rent, groceries and bills, her wage disappeared by the end of every week and she had this scary feeling that she’d never get ahead.

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Roma Daly was earning $45,000 after spending $40,000 getting a degree. Picture: TikTok/romaleedaly

It was really hard trying to survive off $45,000 with no other support. Picture: TikTok/romaleedaly

In the end, she realised she’d need to pivot if she wanted to escape financial anxiety, and the alternative was staring her in the face.

While working in administration, she often encountered a young man in his twenties with a disability and she ended up building a great relationship with him. That was when the idea of becoming a support worker occurred to her.

“I just asked him, ‘Do you have support workers? If you ever need someone and let me know because I’d love to build a relationship’,” Ms Daly said.

She received a call from his dad, got an ABN, and it all happened from there. She built up her client base and quit her job.

“I bloody love it. It is good, and it is very rewarding. It is also very tough, but I wouldn’t change it for the world,” she said.

It wasn’t an instant financial success. For a period, she struggled with inconsistent work, but she focused hard on building up a roster of reliable clients because she wanted her passion to be her full-time job.

These days she’s making “four times the salary” in support work and clearing well over $100,000.

“I am making a great income and it feels really good. I am able to help my parents and do things like fly them interstate,” Ms Daly said, noting this was something she had previously never been able to afford to do.

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She ‘loves’ what she does now. Picture: TikTok/romaleedaly

She's making great money. Picture: TikTok/romaleedaly

Ms Daly’s lifestyle isn’t about living lavishly, but it has allowed her everyday life to become far more pleasant. For example, she replaced her “rundown” car with a brand new one, moved into a nicer rental, and has savings.

“I buy nice clothes now every now and then. I buy stuff that I used to have to sacrifice not getting before,” she said.

“It feels really good. I’ve been able to save money and I’m getting into investing and thinking about purchasing a property.”

These are huge milestones for the 25-year-old, who previously thought she would never be able to purchase a property.

“I just never thought I could have saved up enough but now saving up for a deposit is within reach,” she said.

She is also enjoying watching her support business grow. She has one contractor and one employee and is looking to hire another three.

While it can feel “scary” at times, Ms Daly said it also feels amazing to share all the knowledge she’s learned so she can teach people how to help others.

Online, young Aussies have loved her success story and have shared how they found it “inspiring”.

“Big motivation for so many,” one person wrote.

“You’re amazing,” another complimented.

“Queen!” someone else said.

Originally published as ‘Living week to week’: 25yo’s huge success after quitting $45,000 job