The Vault with Financielle - “My Sister’s Hen Do Could Put Me in Debt!” | The Vault Episode 58

Episode Date: April 2, 2025

Send us a textIn Episode 58 of The Vault, we discuss this week’s controversial opinion, “We should be allowed to say no to hen dos with no issues". We then dive into our listener dilemmas:�� "How do I stop my sisters hen do from sending us into debt?”💸 ”Should I keep my rental property or sell up?”We celebrate a listener who officially paid off her student loan in full and feels a massive sense of relief! With an extra 9% of her payslip each month, she’s now focusing on overpaying her mortgage. 🌟👏 #CommunityWin #DebtFreeIf you’d like to share your money win, head to the community in the Financielle app or email [e-mail] your (totally anonymous) money dilemmas to [e-mail] and we may feature yours on a future episode 💌Guess what! As a Vault listener, you can get 25% off our digital course, The Money Playbook. This is a step by step guide to being financially well. It has 101 lessons where you'll learn how to budget, ditch debt, build savings and grow wealth. Use this offer code at checkout: VAULTCheck out The Money Playbook course here  💸Chapters:00:00 Introduction to the Money Playbook00:46 Welcome to The Vault with Finance Child00:52 Casual Conversations and Tea Talk03:46 Hen Do Dilemmas and Financial Struggles13:21 Navigating Expensive Hen Do Expectations18:31 Toxic Expectations and Family Dynamics20:11 Financial Planning for Events21:44 Wedding Drama and Family Tensions25:57 Community Win: Paying Off Student Loans28:59 Property Dilemma: To Sell or Not to Sell38:14 Final Thoughts and Closing RemarksThe Vault is an entertaining yet thought provoking podcast that answers our community’s dilemmas and confessions surrounding women and money.Visit https://www.financielle.com to download our app.Watch the podcast on YouTube.Follow Financielle for more:▶︎ TikTok▶︎ InstagramAbout Financielle:Financielle is a female focussed finance app helping women to take back control of their money, ditch debt, increase savings and invest in their future.Recorded and Produced by Liverpool Podcast Studios▶︎ Web ▶︎ Instagram▶︎ LinkedIn

Oh hey, Laura here. I'm just starting off this episode of The Vault to tell you about the money playbook. I used to be terrible with money, designer shoes, fancy meals, all on credit, but everything changed when I realized I needed to take control of my money. That's why I created the money playbook, a step-by-step guide to help you take control of your money, ditch the overwhelm, and create a solid plan for your future self. With three stages, survive, build, and grow, the playbook walks you through everything from paying off debt to building wealth. Start your journey today by grabbing the money playbook for 25% off with the code VAULT.

Check out the link in the podcast description. I promise you won't look back. Now let's get to the episode. Welcome to the vault with finite child. This is a safe space where we talk all things life and money and no topics are off limits. Howdy. Howdy, happy Thursday.

Happy Thursday. And you said Wednesday? Nope, firmly on Thursday. Thursday. I've got my Coke Zero in my mug again because Holly won't let me have the can. But I really must. You're ruining the aesthetic.

Cheers. It's really weird drinking that one. I've got my second, like. She's reusing a teabag. Yeah, I reuse my teabags like all morning. It's a herbal tea, it's not a normal tea. Is it twining? Is it expensive?

I don't know. Are you stressed? No, your money's worth. My mom, she might kill me for this. She reuses hers. Like normal teabags? No, no money's worth. My mom, she might kill me for this. She reuses hers. Like normal tea bags? No, no. Mint, twinings.

I think it's nice because then you're like, oh, I'm done with this one now. Like I'm not getting much flavor. But apparently. Is it not the equivalent of putting chewing gum back in your mouth after you've finished? No, it's quite good because like apparently you're supposed to drink, according to Chinese medicine, you're supposed to drink like hot water and it's quite good because apparently you're supposed to drink according to Chinese medicine. You're supposed to drink hot water and it's good for women.

Hot water is. Yeah, like diluted herbal tea. Yeah, so if you drink hot things, it's good for to keep your system moving and everything. Oh, okay. They do cold drinks. Yeah. Chinese medicine is very anti-ice and cold drinks. So I always try and literally like, I will drink this before water.

Yes. If I'm like, oh, I just don't feel like that, then I'll drink water. But I just keep topping this up all day. You'll try and drink hot water as much as you can. Yeah. And also- I'll put it in my mind as I'm consuming my chemicals. And the amount of herbal teas that I drink as well,

I'll go through like three boxes a week. You're very herby. Oh really? Yeah, very herby. I need to pull back on the breakfast tea. Why? Because I feel like I have too many of them. I have like maybe like three normal a day

and then a decaf at night. Easily. I'm glad that I have three cups of tea before breakfast. Okay, I'm fine. I have done that. And they're great, they're great. I can fully understand that they could do that. But there's like the minute you open your eyes,

it's like I'm going for one. Absolutely chaining it. Chaining it. Give me another one. That's not too bad. It's if you're having two biscuits with every one that you might have. I'm glad I don't really like biscuits. That was our nan, she used to go make a cup of tea

in the morning and then she'd have like, I'll have a biscuit with my brew, whereas actually she'd have like six in her dressing gown pocket. She would put them in her room, like she was hiding it for myself. Why are you secret eating yourself? We all do it. Custard creams. I was just like, she was hiding it from herself. Why are you secret eating yourself?

We all do it. Custard creams. Yeah, for me a normal tea is just a dip for a biscuit. It's a vehicle for your biscuits. Yeah, for soggy biscuits. Just an excuse to eat soggy biscuits. My toddler was dipping his biscuit in his black currant. Oh, I used to do that.

I used to do that with orange cordial. My mum did it with peppermint tea, do you not? My mom did it with her biscuits in herbal tea. I did once and it was like mint chocolate, but I'm not a mint chocolate fan. No. It's all wrong. Maybe that's where they got the idea from. Counting mouth episodes, I've spoken out tea.

It's meant, it needs to be talked about. It deserves it. Every day. Okay. Cont deserves it. Every day. Okay. Controversial opinion time. We should be allowed to say no to hen-doos with no issues. No is a complete sentence. Have you ever heard that? Yeah. No. Cool stuff. I like what you did.

It's hen-do season as well. It's the time. It's upon us. I feel like we were talking about this through the day, how old do you remember? Do you remember when you were talking about your hen do, where I peaked, like I planned it. We were early twenties, we had a lot of energy, a lot of excitement, nothing else going on in our life.

And she's like, I would never, and I was like, I would never again. I don't know the time, it didn't feel like it was a lot of work, but the life admin element attached to hen dos is- I feel like it's planning a mini wedding. Yeah, it is. I went to football practice one of the mums the other day

and she's going on someone's hen do and she's like my age, I think, like mid thirties, like thirties and the admin that goes, she's on like Zoom calls with people. Like the maid of honor. Like in AI note takers. Like spreadsheets.

There's like. Yeah, I can imagine though, cause everyone's busy. So how would you remember everything? Well, there's arguments. Oh no. Oh my God. Between people, because they're like,

they're arguing about like how much you should spend on this and should we pay for the hen? And should we go, go go doing a broad run? How many nights are we going for? Well, I'm flying from this one, I'm flying from this one and I don't wanna travel there and the bride shouldn't have to do anything and da da da, the arguments and she's like,

I can't be, she's got three kids and a job and she's like, I'm licked on Zoom calls at night, arguing with other people about this hen do and how much we're gonna spend and should we get personalized things? And she's like, I don't mind doing it. It's 20 quid each. So many different emotions out there.

Like, because if people get married at different ages, you could be the person going to everyone's tendu, put paying all the money, you finally get married and everyone's tired. Yeah. Like, no, I'm not going away. I can't afford it. There is a danger of that in your 30s.

If you've been there, done that, been to all the hens, like Laura said, turning up outfits, no, I'm not going away. I can't afford it. There is a danger of that in your 30s. If you've been there, done that, been to all the hens, like Laura said, turning up outfits, holidays, and then it gets to, you know, I've got two kids, like you've more responsibility with your job, you've got more outgoings, because you've got a mortgage, it actually can sometimes feel a bit painful. Whereas in your 20s, it's like, we're going on a hendu.

I do think it's the same answer, if it's hendu or if it's event, like they were at a big event. Yeah, it's my fault. Because what you usually do, I do think that part of that is the person whose event it's for, your closeness to them, your relationship with them, you know, that does play a pay part. It does. It doesn't mean you have to go, but it should influence it.

But then it's also like, yeah, do you want to, can you financially afford it, all these other things, because we are really good at coming up with ways of saying no, like we're here for it. If you want help saying no to something. Oh God, all day. Holly would just, they know. All day, I'll take the call.

But Lucy and I will, Lucy and I will come up with like, a longer explanation of why you don't have to sleep. There's been a fire. Let me help you. No, no. I just need to stay home and sort it out myself. No. Sorry.

Just no. Because there's the, we always joke the hibernation versus like party, party, party. But there's also, there's a scenario where hen do, I'm trying to think of someone in art because Ria's got married now. So who's not? I'm trying to think about someone who is in a close circle and they say we're doing a hen weekend and we're gonna go to Marbella, I'm gonna make it up. And actually I might be like, I could do with some sun. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I love hanging out with them.

You are fun all the time. It's not for like a week and da da da da. But I am gonna cap it if you get crazy and want money for this and money for that and we don't need a table here and we don't need that. Like what are we gonna do? Cause I want to know before I commit so that you can't blindside me with some random,

you know, there's peanut straws on one end, but there's, oh, can I have 150 quid each for a bed on the other end? Can I know my parameters? Yeah, you don't wanna be that, it's always like, you don't wanna be that person in the WhatsApp group. So how much is it gonna be like, oh, I've got a budget? Like, I get it, you don't wanna be that person.

Like, because you do feel like you might be judged. But then at the same time- Everyone's wondering those questions. So like, be the person. Yes, when they do. But then you've also got the person that does the, oh, I hope you don't mind. I've bought all these personalized-

Just transforming them into fans. We did like an Instagram prompt a few weeks ago and it was like, have h who's gone crazy or something. Somebody said that the maid of honor tried to kick them off the hen because they refused to spend 25 pounds on a sash. What the hell? Stash? Try to kick them off.

Get out of the group. Make your own pizzeria. Why would you spend 25 quid on a sash? You can get them from like Sheen and I don't condone this at all for like two quid. Like this is where people go rogue. It's when condone this at all, for like two quid. Like who's paying 25 pounds on a satchel? It's when people go rogue and go, I've done a thing.

We just get excited. If you're the maid of honor, it's your time to shine. Everyone's looking at you and you wanna go down in history as the best maid of honor ever. But people in that group aren't the number one friend, like they're the number 12 friend and they don't wanna spend three pounds. That's so true, actually.

That's so true. It's really difficult. And that's why sometimes people, I love the options of like, I don't mind if someone has two, if someone has a home one and an away one, I'm all right with that, but there could be a scenario where

it works for you to do it, it could be a scenario where you want to do it but you can't afford it. So there's, I want to go and I can afford it, so you need to know what's gonna be involved. There's, I want to go, I can afford it. So you need to know what's, what's going to be involved. There's, I want, I want to go. I can't afford it. I'm really sorry. So I don't think there's a way I can do this on a budget. So I'm not going to come have the best time. We'll go out for a nice dinner. We'll do whatever. Or there's just,

no thanks. I don't like organized fun because why do people always ruin hen do's by going at nine a.m. we're going to do this. And at.30 we're going to do this and then you can have a scheduler but not when it's like and then we're going to do a quiz and then we're going to do the penis and the stripper and then we're going to do this. I just like organizing. Yeah, but I don't like organized fun though. Yeah, yeah, I like knowing when things are going to happen but like activities.

Remember to put the lids back on the pen. Yeah, I like knowing when things are gonna happen, but like activities. Remember to put the lids back on the pen. Yeah, give me Monica. Yeah. And then if you're off schedule then like... But I don't also mind a good planner. If someone's good at planning stuff and logistics and I appreciate that person because I'm so not them, I would be for my best friend, but if it was, you know, you appreciate the person that's super organized. I've got a really good hotel.

We're only five minutes walk from this. I'm all for those people. But not the ones that are like, we're gonna do a craft at this time. Yeah. If you've got a good bunch of girls in the same room that have good crack, you'll have a fantastic time no matter what.

This is where like men have it good, right? Because they're just so, do you not agree, Lucy? Like, you look at me like. But they're serendipitous, so they, don't get me wrong, they miss out on some of the optimistic, sorry, they miss out on some of the planned fun. That like, imagine they just go,

should we just grab some food? Rather die. No, we need to plan for months. We've got a table, we're gonna sit, we've requested this booth, like, the sun sets at this time for pictures, blah blah. I love vinegar. I don't, I'd rather go with the blow.

I'm like, oh my God, it's on. But like, let us just breathe. Schedule in the organic. I need to sit on the balcony, in my organic. Schedule in the organic. I need to sit on the balcony in my towel with some pringles. With Lay's and Fanta lemon. Okay? Let a girl live.

But it doesn't have to be like. Neil's stag does it, he goes on, it's like, I'm like, what's the plan? He's like, we turn up at the airport, this time we fly to Hamburg, and what are you gonna do when you're there? Where are you gonna eat? There's like a street of bars that's like quite good.

I'm like, where are you going for dinner? I don't know. I'm like, you'll probably have a kebab or something. What, you're flying to Hamburg? There's gonna be an amazing restaurant. Not looked at the menus. Yeah. You've got all your pictures.

Oh, that is so financial of us. If any of us are going out at any one time, the rule is that you have to share the menu. We've got a chat called hashtag food. We have, and we share with each other if we were coming with you, what we would have at that meal. And it helps inspire the others as well.

If someone's feeling a bit overwhelmed with the menu, or like, well, I would have this. And someone will go, okay, I'm going to have that. You needed that Lydia ahead of like, it was quite a big, you were going out for a meal and it was quite a long menu. It was a big menu. I hate a big menu.

Yeah. And we were all overwhelmed actually, but we soldiered on and we all picked what we would have. And you said it helped you on the night. Yeah, it did do. Yeah. God, Hen do. I just think a blend of the two. We did go off. I dragged us off topic with the men versus women and men have a much more chill time when it comes to like events and stuff. But it doesn't matter if it's a hen do or not, it's an event. Have the confidence to say no. Confidence and conviction.

Yes, but a little bit. Oh God. It's always such a divisive topic. It's hen do season. No, it's hen do season and it's like, all right, we're on the seasoned end of the, we've been to lots of them. Yeah.

Holly's not, Holly says no to a lot of them. I don't think I've been to one abroad actually. All my friends are single, literally like. Yeah, but it's going to happen. They're all feral. Good luck because it's coming for you. If they're all single now, it means you've got a long way to go. Yeah.

That's all I would say. Exciting title. Okay, first dilemma. Very apt. Oh no, it's not a handy one. We need some handy advice here. It's the moment you've all been waiting for. It's time to reveal our controversial money opinion from our friends at Pension B. It's too difficult to track my pension, so I'll worry about it later.

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or head to pensionb.com forward slash UK for more information. And remember when investing, your capital is at risk. How do I stop my sister's hen do from sending us into debt? Ooh. I've not heard this angle actually before. Okay.

Any advice on hen do's or is what I view as ridiculous? Just the norm now. A couple of months ago, I had to say no to a hen do that was going to cost over 450 pounds for three days in Budapest, just for flights and accommodation. So there was gonna be a load of spends on top of that as well. Like that's the minimum cost. But she said no. That was good. I'm early thirties and most of my friends who are married did so just after uni. So we kept the

Hindus and stag dos as cheap as possible. I was the only one in this group who refused due to cost and it caused a bit of an upset with the bride. I was a bit surprised because I reckon I'm probably one of the highest earners of the group of 18 and I'm the only one who withdrew. I genuinely have no idea how some of our friends are affording it. Now my sister is getting married and she's being an absolute nightmare. She wants me to organize the hen do with the other two bridesmaids and whilst one is pragmatic like me, the other is all, it's her special day every time we try and bring finances into it.

Apparently the hen isn't supposed to pay for anything, so my sister doesn't care about the cost at all. Oh my God. The bridesmaid said, if people care about her, they'll make it work. I don't want to book this ridiculously priced hen do when it will be at best a hit on my finances, but I know lots of her friends will be going into debt to attend. How do I navigate this without coming across as a saddle bus? I want her to have a good time, but I hate this pressure that people feel to just agree

to ludicrously price hen dos and I don't want to add to the problem. Oh and just to add our mum doesn't want to go on the hen do totally fine by us but my sister has said I should pay for me, her, our mum and the groom's mum to have a spa day. Another cost I just don't think is fair especially as our mum isn't the type to even like spa days and is happy enough just to come to the wedding day. Is all of this behavior just normal now and should I just suck it up? I feel like I'm the only one finding this all a bit mad.

That's insane. That is not normal. I'm just gonna put it out there. I've never come across, of all the like weddings we've been involved with and stuff, I've never heard someone so demanding and out of touch. This is why bridezilla's a word. The bride is demanding and she's also got like

a very demanding bridesmaid. Bridesmaid, she's put her in charge for a reason. They're egging each other on. It's not okay. But they've gotten, they've gotten a side group. Let them have a side group. And like the separate,

so you could just pay for us to have a, that's insane. What? Do you want to go on a spa day? The mom's called Carol, I'm going with Carol. We'll go and have a brew somewhere. I don't like people, I always laugh. I don't like as well.

When people plan spa days, although Laura did pay for me to go on a spa day once and it was, we actually had a fantastic time. It was years ago now. That was the time we went in. Yes. 10 years ago. I don't like being touched.

So I'm with the bride's mom. I'm with the bride's mom. We'll go have a brew somewhere. They can all go on the spa day. That is paid for individually by them if they want to go. What happened to, so she doesn't want to come on the hen do. So anyway, like, so there's always a, she doesn't want to come, so we'll do A she doesn't wanna come, so we'll do A.

They can't come, so we'll do A. No, no. Listen, I feel like the, I've heard the paying for the bride thing, and I think it- I've never heard that. Did I pay for that? When I was listening to the story,

I was gonna be like, that is ludicrous. And then I was like, it was so long ago now, over 10 years, did I pay? I hope I did. I don't know, but it's also about cost effectiveness, right? So for example, I would like to think that, because I had a bridal shower, I don't have a hen do, I'd like to think that you asked Carl

for 100 quid or 50 quid or whatever. No, I didn't, but I will now. So like, I'm invoicing you. I'm invoicing you then, and you got married 10 years ago, so I want interest on that money, so back off. But it's different, I think that, you know, we're going out for a meal and we pay for the bride. I'm here for all, I do like that.

We're going to Spain and we're gonna pay for the bride. No, like she's getting, we might pay for, she might never pay for a drink the whole holiday, like between all of you, if it's, again, if it's enough of you and if it's in contemplation. I would feel so uncomfortable if I was the bride. Yeah, I'd be like, so how much do I owe? I've got a sinking fund ready to go.

You don't have to pay anything. I'd be like, no, who's gonna pay for it then? So the spa thing, weird. There's not in any scenario, it's nothing, again, there's nothing wrong with, oh, we're gonna do it for a different family. That we all pay for ourselves. And so then, put your money where your mouth is

and if you don't wanna do it, you don't do it. But the, oh God, what do you think? I've never heard anything like this before. What does she do with this? I think we need to get a mother involved. I think it's- Tell mom. I'm gonna tell mom of you.

You're being a big thing with her. Every time. I think it's so toxic that they've said, if people care about it, they'll make it work. Yeah, that's ridiculous. That is so bad. You don't know what's going on in someone's life, you know, financially, mentally. Some people, when I see a lot of people pulling out

of things because of kids, like whether they use them as an excuse or it's a genuine thing, like I actually can't come because I don't have anyone to look after the kids. I'm single mom. You have credits, right? We always talk about this.

It's valuable. Whether, you know, some families get more credits than others, it all depends on your dynamics. But we sit there and go, we have to plan. I'm not gonna use my credits for this because what that means is, I don't wanna take a piss and ask my family all the time

talking after children. So we don't. So the piss and ask my family all the time, talk after children. So we don't. So we have a, someone spotted actually my eagle eye, babysitter, I shared my sinking funds and we've got a babysitter and sinking fund, we've got a really, really good babysitter. So that costs money every time. So when we have certain events with certain friends,

it's a perfect way to not put the burden on grandparents who already help so, so much with like, I call that practical childcare. Like it's, can you look after, like our mom has always looked after hours on a Monday. So I get full days worth of childcare that I have never had to pay for. So I'm not about to say every Friday night

can me and Carl go do blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So if we have a special occasion, especially if it's gonna be a later night, then getting a babysitter, it feels much better for us. And that's what we choose to do. But then, and we don't do that a lot. So then we have to say, no, you have to know when you're going to say.

So sometimes people are saying no financially, and we want you to say no financially. I mean, the wider thing you actually asked about was she knew that people were going into debt for this. And this is because as part of, think about all the things you have to plan for financially, like the sinking funds that we're talking about, Christmas and your own holidays, the things that you would like to do, whether you're saving up for a house, whether you're paying off debt yourself. Why should in your sinking funds there be a friend A hen do,

friend A wedding, friend B-hendu, friend B wedding. Like it's just preposterous. And there's so many hidden costs for women as well. Like we mentioned about men just turning up for a stag do. Oh, they're not buying anything. If you're going on a beach city break, you're not telling me that you're not gonna feel compelled

to buy a new outfit or that you need to have a fake tan. Full holiday, pre-holiday glow up. Literally, you need to get your eyebrows done. I need to get my nails done. The men have got a wheelie suitcase. Literally just turn up and fold the something in there. And you're looking at this and change the boxes the whole time.

Yeah, literally. If I get married, I think I'll have a stag. Yeah, I'll come with you, yeah. I'm there, consider me there. Like, airport money. Can we have really bad food? Yeah, airport money. Awful food.

Airport money, oh my god, yeah. Yeah, and then like cocktails are like, let's get a bottle, like it's. Let's get telling me. Airport money, oh my God, yeah. Yeah, and they're like cocktails, or like, let's get a bottle, like it's. Let's get a champagne. It's all height and disease. I think you need to kind of rally the other girls a little bit, be like, right, seriously, like, can you afford this, or like.

Make a sister though. Yeah, but you just. I'm gonna start a group chat with all your friends. I've spoken to your friends. I've spoken to your friends and they're not struggling for your hen do. Like you're putting them in an uncomfortable position. You're just gonna have to be brutal.

Sure you can do that if it's a set up. But when it's someone's wedding, the like emotions are high aren't they? If you're a bride. But you can have to do it. I was chatting to a friend of mine who went to a wedding last weekend and she was saying, it's her cousin that's getting married

and her cousin's the bride. Okay. They were getting married at, what's it called? Were the coach houses? Middleton Lodge. Yeah, Middleton Lodge. Stunning venue. Stunning.

Been to a wedding there. UK wedding. Stunning. The grandma wasn't invited. Grandma gets on well with them all, is of good health. The Nana wasn't invited to the wedding. Nana's mate wedding. Nana is the main character.

My other friend that was there who was like, she's amazing, she's very scarce, very family focused. She was like, the Nana! What? She was appalled, she was like, no, no, I'm not going. Too far. And like I said, Nana, big part of the family. Why did Nana go?

I was like, I'm not saying names, family, we don't like, I was like, I said, I'm not saying names, and I said to my friend, I was like, and did none of you say, like, did you dad not say, well, obviously mom's going to his sister, and I was like, no, they're scared of the bride. And the bride requested people wear outfits that were not above the knee, but not full length

so that they look like they were part of the wedding party. Because then there was an auntie that showed my friend a dress and she was like, auntie, you can't wear that. And they all got a table at the very back, nowhere near everyone, Nana not there. Oh, and then there was a speech which was like, oh, it's really sad that Nana couldn't be with us.

And I was like, I hope you stood up and went, I get it. She's not dead. She's fine and well at home down the road. She's FaceTiming us now. I'm actually live streaming this. But we were talking about how it snowballed and a little bit of fucking power, a little bit of, I want this and I want this.

Like these people just need raining and going, I know you're the main character. But not that main character. But also like, calm yourself. No. Yeah, but like I'm going to four main character. But not that main character. But also like, no. Yeah, be like, I'm going to four other weddings this year. Yeah. Calm yourself down. Yeah. I mean, this could be a sister fallout, couldn't it?

This could be a sister fallout, only because the emotions do run very high. It's so, it genuinely is really stressful to plan a wedding, it is. It's all consuming. I saw Sophie Hibou and Jamie Lang on their podcast. They did one with Olivia Atwood and her husband. Both the brides were like, I hated it, but I get it.

Especially with them, normal wedding, very high pressure. Everyone's gonna be judging everything. It's exhausting. And everyone comes to you, it's like, the wedding plan is like, what do you want? Luckily, my husband was quite involved, but I imagine a lot of women are kind of left to just sort it out themselves.

So I get it, I get it. And you end up like one thing can kind of- Kind of please everyone. One thing can knock you off. Yeah. But I definitely feel that no one should be getting into a debt, a debt for a hen do, obviously. But is there a package that can be put together

that compromises on some things and brings costs down, but everyone increases the excitement for it and up for it. And you build something that absolutely will be memorable. And it takes effort, but you can make something memorable and special and one of a kind and personal to that person without it needing to be, it was super expensive. You can do it, I believe you can. I've seen it done. Without like dampening the bride being like,

oh we're only gonna do a small one for you. Tell mum. I'm gonna tell mum it's you. Well done. God. I don't know if it's helped. I know it's helped. What we're thinking, honesty, the best policy? Are you gonna rally the troops? Yeah, okay. Rally the helped. I know I've helped. What we think in honesty, the best policy?

Are you gonna rally the troops? Yeah, I think so. I'm getting her friends. You're doing a coup. You're doing a military coup. And I do think for our listener, we're on your side. Yeah, yeah. So you're right.

If you need a validation. Your financial go off. If you're on your side. Forget the spa days also. Scrap that. But if you need a validation. But if you need a validation. It's full.

It's not a gift anymore if someone's told you to do it. Yeah, what the hell? I would never say to you. So you need to take us out on a spa day. As well as the hen do that you're coming on. Yeah. But she doesn't wanna go on. And pay for mum, but she doesn't wanna come.

She doesn't wanna be touched. And then pay for my future husband's mum. No, bizarre. What the hell? She's lost the plot. Oh God. Show Where Bride Was. Yeah. No, bizarre. What the hell? She's lost the plot. Oh God. Show Where Bride Was. Yeah.

Love that film. Okay, community win time. I've had a big win today. I've paid off my student loan in full. I was getting demoralized with how much interest was being added every year, but now I feel very relieved that it's gone. I'll have an extra 9% of my payslip

to play with each month. Now I can concentrate on overpaying my mortgage. Thank you, financial for inspiring me to do this. Woo! Nice little choke going. Student ones are so hard. No, no. Cause we've talked about this before,

there's so many reasons for and against paying off or overpaying your student loan. I know what we've always said is when we've spoken to people that have it within their grasp, it's something that's like an itch you just can't help but scratch. If it's within your grasp and you see it being taken out your paycheck every month and yes, you don't have to and you can just do it at the rate they say. It's been massively high interest rates recently. And if it's the thing that's annoying you and it suddenly becomes within grasp,

I get the temptation. It's not always a maths question. It's about how you feel. But at the same time, if you're someone with student loan and you think it's out of reach, that's okay as well that this person has chosen to do it because it was right for them to do, you know, we're all different, but I'm really excited

for like the future for someone to have just done it. You just don't hear many of those very often anymore. Do you know, we're all different, but I'm really excited for like the future, for someone to have just done it. You just don't hear many of those very often anymore. Do you know the student, like years ago you did. It's just too hard. You did years ago because it was a lower amount. Absolutely, and people, even then you used to take people a long time, even on good salaries as well,

they'd finally be like, I've finally done it. Whereas now- People typically wouldn't overpay though, that's the thing. Well again, in today's society, it's really weird to overpay debt, generally. People aren't paying off debt, you're just paying minimum payments. But yeah, in today's society, it's really weird to overpay debt, generally. People aren't paying off debt, they're just paying minimum payments.

But yeah, usually you would just let it be taken out, taken out, taken out, and one day someone would go, oh, it's gone. Not many people go, oh, I can actually give extra if I wanted to. Me and Neil both paid ours off towards the end. When we did financial, we were like, yeah, it was like, why?

It was a few thousand, but we had it in savings. And it was that, should we, shouldn't we? Will it get written off? It's a funny thing that we always talk about where a lecturer did actually say that to me in finance one, hilarious. Yeah, it was within grasp, if you like, and it was a, let's just get rid of it.

But then all that money then goes to me every month. So yeah. Good win. Just don't hear those very after I'm all done. If you'd like to tell us your win, head to the community in the app or email it to the vault at financial.com time for next dilemma just a quick one Laura here if you're wanting to take back control of your money ditch debt make better decisions and build wealth for the future the financial app is for you with

financial you can track your spending on the go, hit your money goals faster, and create a realistic budget that you can actually stick to. Not to mention, you'll be part of an exclusive money community who share tips, offer support, and celebrate your successes along the way. Click the link in the description to download Financial and start your free trial now.

This is your sign to take control of your money today. Okay, I'm done. Let's go back to the vault. Should I keep my rental property or sell up? First week as a financial girly, but I need some help as I feel my anxiety is clouding my judgment. I'm 26 and I've worked extremely hard to get to where I am. I currently own two buy-to-let properties and one residential home, which I plan to convert into a buy-to-let next year. My residential home and one of my rentals are solid properties and I have a great tenant in one. The issue is my second buy-to-let.

It was a cheap purchase and I've since learned the hard way that cheap doesn't always mean good. My tenant hasn't paid rent for 10 months, though thankfully I have rent insurance. But the bigger problem is the maintenance costs. I've spent nearly 6,000 pounds on the property since 2022, even though the survey didn't flag any major issues. It's also in a difficult area and type of building,

so selling it won't be easy. My current tenant is leaving this month, and while the property still yields around 500 pounds per month after mortgage and fees, and even after tax, I'm torn on what to do next. I'm passionate about property, and I take pride in maintaining high standards as a landlord. This industry is my world.

I'm an estate agent, and I love investing, but I don't want to take the wrong decision and end up back at square one. Should I really let the agent and I love investing, but I don't want to take the wrong decision and end up back at square one. Should I really let the property and keep the income or cut my losses and sell it, even if it's difficult, any advice would mean the world. I'm here for this mogul at age 26 with this property portfolio.

Great dilemma. Imagine building up the, at least the first lot of funds. Yeah, and she's in the world, like she's in a estate agent as well. Like it's giving telling. Selling sunset vibes, yeah. I can't not picture, I bet estate agents like hate that show.

That is not how it goes. And I'm like, so there's loads of drama out there. Do you serve champagne at this open house? She's like, she's like, pour a two bed in Lee. She's like, where's the Yelp caviar? She's wearing like a a two bed in Lee. Where's the caviar? She's wearing like a skinny dress. I've got it all. Yeah, I'm here for it.

I'm here for it. She's done so well at obviously building momentum, whether it's saving up separate deposits, whether it refinancing, she knows the world really well. She's like not naive to it. And I think Holly always says this, like if someone's kind of probably know the answer whether it refinancing, she knows the world really well, she's like not naive to it. And I think Holly always says this, like if someone's kind of probably know the answer when they message into us, I'm always conscious of the fact that people listening at home, like if they've not got

rental properties, they don't think this through. But I often get asked, Laura, you always say, get rid of the rental properties and you've got one. And I always feel like, oh, Philistine. I always say, get rid of the rental properties and you've got one. And I always feel like, ah, Philistine. But I do have one and I own it in my personal name, not in a company. In the UK, the benefits of owning a rental property have got less and less and less,

higher regulation, which I super support and I'm a big fan of, but the tax isn't great. Interest rates are also currently high. There is a housing shortage, and so rental isn't necessarily low. It's just, this is a business, and I think that it's really sensible that she's coming at this from a business point of view.

So this isn't like a monopoly. I'd love to collect lots of houses. Sometimes some houses are problem houses, some are dreams. And you're gonna get that in a portfolio as well. I do, you know, I speak to lots of people where they do have that all. They're all gonna be winners. No, and so the 500 a month cashflow in,

she said it was a cheap property. So it doesn't sound like a bad yield all really for what is essentially sounds like a cheap property. And this is after tax as well. So it is cash flowing, what was that? Six grand a year after tax. And to a point, even if that, if she was having to put six grand in the property every year, she's still not losing money on it and she's maintaining it. And the hope is that it's going up in

capital value as well. So there's two reasons that you would want a rental property, you want to be able to earn cash off it. So income, it's like an income stream, but we hope that it's also going up in value. And so if I'm her, I'm looking at the market that she knows and going, was this a trigger happy? I can just about afford it, I'm gonna get it. And really it's just a bit of a waste of time. Or has she got over that hump

and at some point it won't keep needing money? Like at some point you'll have kind of maxed out when you've redone stuff and you've improved stuff. You're not gonna have to keep doing it, but you'll know if it's gonna be a money pit or not. You also sound like you don't really like it. You don't have to love it because it's a business. But.

It's a little bit tainted. So it sounds like she's got two properties and one's doing well effectively and cashflow and the 500 pounds and the other one's the one where the tenants. Yeah, she's got two buy to lets, one residential. No, the one that she's thinking of selling does cashflow 500 when they pay.

Right, okay. Well, cause she's got rental protection on it. And she's, so what she's deciding is, and this is what she's gonna think. So the next time she lets it, if it's a low quality of house, we inherently get a low quality of tenant. She has got rental protection on it though.

And so she will include that in her expenses and she's still making 500. So it's not setting the world on fire, but it's not awful. It's just whether like the time, effort, headspace, life admin, is it worth six grand a year or could you be making six grand a year doing something else that's maybe a bit more passive? Like could she, we all talk about diversification.

She's seeing that as an investment property. Could she make more and be less stressed by investing the assets, you know, by selling up, using the assets to invest? Yeah, she doesn't sell, but she's, and I would definitely agree with that. I think, cause she's kind of got this portfolio vibe. She's doing it anyway.

The big thing for me, this is much more like, like dad would have have would like this question because he'd be like, what else is this gonna take? What else is good? What is this property gonna suck up? Like, is it gonna need X, Y, Z? Because if it was a cheaper property, but it's gonna come with all these extra costs,

you might wanna go, made a bit of an error with that one. That one's coming out of the portfolio. You might go get a different one straight after. It's like, do I wanna cut my losses now or do I wanna wait to sit? Or you might have already done the hard work with this one, you had a bad experience, because sometimes not because you've got a rubbish tenant,

we're like, oh my God, it's a nightmare, I don't like, but that doesn't necessarily mean the next one is, so yeah, I think we can't really answer it, obviously, it's a good hypothetical dilemma for us to debate and she probably knows what she wants to do. But if you're treating them like businesses, it doesn't sound like a massive hassle, if I'm being honest.

It feels like a typical rental. No, I think because she's in the industry as well. She'll be much more cleared up than other people on like what the rent should be. And if there's like good handymen that can help sort this out and the other, you know, she's in the right. She's not like, I don't know, a beautician trying to work in the day doing that and then deal with houses and tenants

and whatever. She's got a few metrics that she'll look at. She'll look at whether, how much more money it could well cost over the next five to 10 years and factoring that into the money that it's cash flowing. How much is it likely to go up in value again, if it was already cheap to start off with, is it gonna hit big heights?

Or again, if you were to sell it and you could redeploy that money either into another property or into the market or wherever, does that feel better to you or do you think you get a better return? And then it's a business decision, but sometimes you have winners and losers in portfolios and sometimes you have doing okay and not as good and a loser you would want out your portfolio.

Yeah. And doing all right, not too bad, ticks over. There might be more fees to get rid of it than to sell it. Yeah, it might cost more. That's the most frustrating thing when tenants don't pay. Like I had a friend that I used to work with and he had a rental property and literally someone was living in it for like well over 12 months not paying rent

and they had to go to court. And it was an absolute nightmare. Like always be wary and the rent, the insurance, landlord's insurance and rental insurance is a really good idea and I would never even considered it. So if you're looking at into- Oh, a hundred percent.

Yeah, yeah. And again, that's what you factor in. Like this is a business and you do a P&L and you work out, okay, this is the income that I would be getting, the projected income. What are all the costs that I need to put in place to make this a viable business for me, whether it's like management fees in the middle,

whether it's handyman fees and making sure they're in there because things will need, whether it's like gas safety, electrical safety, and these extra insurances for not just if they don't pay, there's the paying the rent. There's also like when the extra stuff that could go wrong that think that that's a pain when it's your house, but when it's a different house, you know,

that you're not even in. And it could be damaged that tenants have caused as well. It's not always a complete accident. And you have that issue. She sounds like she's well armed for this, for anyone else listening, it's definitely something to consider. You've not got, oh my God, you've not got rental,

payment insurance, get it. But people always say like, oh, it covers the mortgage, and you speak to people and sometimes they'll have a bit of a portfolio, they'll have a couple of houses and you're like, oh, how do you get on with that? And they're like, oh yeah, it covers the mortgage.

And you're like, Laura's always like, yeah, but you have to do it as a P&L, like what are the costs are associated with it, what are you getting out of the box? If it covers the mortgage, you're either not paying tax on it as a P&L. Like what are the costs are associated with it? What you're getting out of it. If it covers the mortgage, you're either not paying tax on it and HMAS, you should know about that or. Sort of hidden costs that you're just not taking into consideration to know whether it's a good investment

or not so good on you should sell up and do something else. But I just love, yeah, I love that she's like a property mogul in her mid twentiestwenties, female, fantastic. I love it. Yeah. Any final words today? Oh, I feel like we've covered a lot. A lot.

I need an update on the hen do. Just need an update. The community deserves it. We're all dead. Let's know what our property mogul would say to, would she go on the hen do? Yeah. No, I'm looking after my portfolio. Thanks.

Yeah. She's like, nah, I'm busy. She's giving Christine. Christine would go on the hen do. Yeah, she would. With a really good outfit. Christine Quinn, still selling sunset inside joke. That's all for this episode. The Vault is now closing. Just a quick disclaimer, The Vault is just a chat or a live for many topics we are not giving financial advice.