I thought I was just trying to become debt-free. What I didn’t realise was that I was completely changing my relationship with money along the way.
When debt felt normal
For most of my adult life, debt felt normal.
I grew up in a single-parent, low-income family. I remember my mum worrying about the bills and payday loans being part of everyday life. So, when I became an adult, borrowing money didn’t feel particularly unusual. It was just how you paid for things when you didn’t have the money. I had a university overdraft, credit cards and some terrible car finance decisions. I’d buy things, pay them off, and then do it all over again.
My lifestyle wasn’t particularly extravagant. I just had absolutely no idea what I was doing with money. I didn’t understand interest rates or how quickly interest could compound. I didn’t have a proper budget, an emergency fund or a plan for the unexpected.
Eventually, the debt snowballed.
And I couldn’t sleep.
In December 2022, I started a Debt Management Plan. It was a huge relief. For the first time in years, I could sleep again. The DMP gave me a way of managing my debt payments and a light at the end of the tunnel.
But there was a problem.
I had dealt with the debt, but I hadn’t actually learned how to manage money. I still had no emergency fund. No sinking funds. No real understanding of how to prepare for the things that inevitably happen in life.
Cally – Financielle community member
And then life happened…
At the time, my job involved travelling for work, and I had to pay for hotels, food and travel upfront before claiming the money back. Because I was on a DMP, I couldn’t get credit myself, so my mum opened a credit card for me to use specifically for work expenses and emergencies. At the time, I genuinely thought I needed that safety net.
Then came the emergencies. A flood that my insurance wouldn’t cover because it was caused by a tap being left running. Emergency surgery for my dog that my pet insurance wouldn’t cover because dental surgery wasn’t included in the small print. A broken boiler. And plenty of other unexpected expenses.
The credit card eventually reached more than £4.5k – on top of my DMP. I had managed to get myself into debt again because I hadn’t learned how to prepare for life.
Then I found Financielle
In February 2026, I found Financielle. I started with The Vault and initially began budgeting with a spreadsheet. A few months later, I joined the app, and that’s when things really started to change.
For the first time, I wasn’t just trying to get through the month.
I had a plan.
I started building a mini emergency fund. I created sinking funds for things I knew were coming, including Christmas and the costs associated with travelling for work. I started comparing bills and looking for better deals. I cut expenses. I sold things I no longer needed on Vinted and Facebook Marketplace. I became slightly obsessed with finding ways to save money and get the best possible price for everything.
And slowly, the debt started disappearing. I used the debt snowball. I paid off my phone. Recently, I have paid off that credit card. And when I made that final credit card payment, it felt huge. That card had once felt like something I needed to survive unexpected expenses. Now it has gone.
Since February 2026, I’ve paid over £8,000 off my total debt, and I’m now working towards clearing my DMP earlier than its original December 2029 completion date.
It hasn’t just been about cutting spending
Getting to this point has meant making some changes. I went back to my natural hair colour.
I started saying no, which I’d spent most of my twenties being terrible at. Hen parties. Weddings. Birthdays. Meals… galore.
I had spent years saying yes to everything and everyone. Not because I was particularly boogie, but because I didn’t want to miss out or let people down. I’ve had to learn what is actually valuable to me and what I genuinely want to say yes to. I’ve also learned that saying no to spending money doesn’t mean saying no to people. I’ve found different ways to spend quality time with the people I love that don’t cost much, or anything at all.
These days I compare bills, hunt for deals, question every expense and sell what I no longer need – and I do what feels like a slightly ridiculous amount of admin. But something unexpected happened.
I started enjoying it.
I actually enjoy being good with money
I never expected budgeting to be something I enjoyed. But there is genuinely a dopamine hit from watching the debt balance go down. And then watching my net worth go up. Tracking everything in the Financielle app has become something I look forward to. It’s almost become an obsession … but finally, a healthy one.
I’m no longer obsessing over whether I can afford to buy something or how I’m going to pay for an unexpected expense.Now I’m obsessing over:
- how much I can save
- how much I can knock off a bill
- how much I can sell something for
- how quickly I can get my debt down
- how much I can build for my future
I’m changing my relationship with money
Looking back, I think the biggest change isn’t actually the amount of debt I’ve paid off. It’s how I think about money.
I used to feel like money was something that happened to me. Bills happened. Emergencies happened. I needed something, so I borrowed the money.
Now I feel like I have control. I plan, I budget, I save for the things I know are coming and I have money set aside for emergencies. When something unexpected happens, my first thought isn’t automatically, “How am I going to borrow the money for this?” That’s a completely different feeling.
I’m not debt-free yet. But I’m closer than I’ve ever been.
That’s what I’m working towards now. And for the first time, I’m actually enjoying the journey.
The content produced by Financielle is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
