In this article a Financielle community member shares her personal money story with us. From getting her first credit card at Uni to building financial resilience with the help of her partner, this story has it all.
Can you share with us a bit about your money journey?
I’m 31 now, and I first got into debt at 18 when I opened my first credit card at uni, a classic mistake. That kicked off years of debt, clearing it, using credit again, and repeating the cycle. Even in my late 20s, when I was working as a stewardess on a yacht and earning more than I ever had before, I still wasn’t prioritising saving or really addressing why I was spending. I was ALWAYS living paycheck to paycheck.
Three years ago, I met the most wonderful man, and when we started talking about building a life together, I felt so much dread about my finances. I’d managed to get rid of my overdraft, but I was still using my credit card, and even when I paid it off each month, I always felt like I was playing catch-up with old habits.
Then I found your podcast, and slowly but surely, things started to change. First, it was simply becoming aware of what I was spending. Then I tried budgeting, failed a few times, but kept going. Eventually, I started having money date nights with my boyfriend, we began setting goals together, and with his support, I finally cancelled my credit card.
In one year, I’ve gone from having nothing in savings, investments, or pension to:
- £3,000 in my mini emergency fund
- £4,000 in a pension
- £4,000 in investments
I got engaged in August 2025, we bought “the ugly house on the street” in October 2025, and we’re currently renovating it. We’re lucky that my fiancé’s family helped us get started on the renovations, and we bought a house with a self-contained unit so we can hopefully have a lodger one day to help support our future goals, including maternity leave.
We’re also getting married this November in my mum’s lounge with just our nearest and dearest, before heading off on our honeymoon to Sri Lanka and the Maldives. You’ve always said, “You can have it all, but not all at once,” and that really stuck with me, so we’re keeping the wedding small so we can splash out on the honeymoon.
The budget is very tight right now with the wedding, honeymoon, and renovation, but we are making it work without using credit or loans, which honestly feels like such a huge win.
But yesterday was also a reminder that I’m still doing the work. I went to buy one pair of jeans and somehow came out with two pairs of jeans and three cardigans. I got back to my car, realised I was just having a hard day, and that spending wasn’t actually going to fix it, so I marched straight back into the shop and returned everything except the jeans I actually needed. It made me laugh, and I hope it gives you a giggle too.
I just want anyone listening to know that progress isn’t always linear. I’ve made mistakes, I’ve had setbacks, but I’m so proud of where I am now. I’ve forgiven myself for my 20s money mistakes, and I’m so excited for a freer and more financially stable future in my 30s and beyond.
What happened that made you want to get in control of your money?
I met my now-Fiance, and got serious about wanting to create a life together. He was, and still is, very good with money, and I didn’t want my money habits to affect the life we wanted to build together. I was sick of feeling stressed and like I was playing catch up. The catalyst for cancelling my credit card was when I received a notification that I was close to receiving a Companion Voucher on my AMEX – meaning I had spent nearly £15,000 in a year. We went on holiday to Japan in March last year, and whilst that made up maybe half of the spend on the card and we paid it off using our Holiday fund, I honestly couldn’t account for the rest of the money. I felt like I had a mirror held up to my face, showing me the amount of money I had wasted in one year, buying things I felt I REALLY needed at the time, but didn’t. It was confronting, upsetting and a wake up call. I needed to address the WHY of my spending, which was uncomfortable and still something I’m working on today.
What positive money habits have you introduced into your life
My fiance and I have combined our finances, and we have an incredibly open communication about money and approach it as a team. We currently earn similar amounts, so it’s been easy to do the budget, but we are aligned in our view that marriage means one family, so all our earnings go into one account, and we have discussed how this would work when we have children too. We have a budget that I update monthly, we check in about our personal financial goals as well as our joint goals. We both have our own personal savings, holiday funds and investment accounts, as well as numerous sinking funds, and we get the same amount of ‘pocket money’ per month. We pay for my pension out of our joint account, as i dont have one through work but he does. We have pockets for EVERYTHING – and I love sitting down on pay day to do my allocation routine. I know that for me, accountability and knowledge of my own weaknesses helps keep me on the right path, and having his support has really helped.
What would you tell your 18 year old self about money?
I’m not sure she would listen to what I have to say – she’s very strong willed..!
But maybe that your worth isn’t tied to the things you have, and the best money you’ll ever spend is on therapy!! 😂
What are your short and long term money goals?
Short Term goals – I’m looking forward to getting the Honeymoon fund full! Right now, our money is going towards the wedding, honeymoon and household renovations. Once that’s done at the end of the year, it will be nice to divert some funds and start saving for maternity leave as we look to having children.
Longer term – We both have separate emergency funds, and are hoping to start building a combined larger emergency fund when we’re finished with the (hopefully) second maternity leave. We both would like to be consistent with our investing, and I would like to beef up my pension as I started quite late compared to him. His parents were able to help us with our house renovations, and it’s something we would love to be able to do for our children, so we’re hopeful that this is something we can do in the long term. We live on an island where property prices are very high, and whilst we bought relatively cheaply for our area, we would love to make small consistent mortgage overpayments to chip some years off the mortgage.
The content produced by Financielle is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice