The Vault with Financielle - "They Promised A Pay Rise But I’m Still Underpaid” | The Vault Episode 46

Episode Date: January 9, 2025

Send us a textIn Episode 46 of The Vault, we discuss this week’s controversial opinion, “Playing the lottery is basically throwing money away”, before diving into our listener dilemmas:💸 "Should my mum see a financial advisor?”💸 "They promised me a pay rise, but I’m still being underpaid!”We’re excited to share an awesome community win: they’ve paid off their first debt! 🎉 By using budgeting tools, keeping themselves accountable, and trying out the snowball method, this member has really changed their money mindset and is ready to take on the rest of their debts. Their story shows us all that it’s never too late to get a handle on your finances. 💸If you’d like to share your money win, head to the community in the Financielle app or email [e-mail] Send your (totally anonymous) money dilemmas to [e-mail] and we may feature yours on a future episode 💌As a Vault listener, you can get a whopping 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 Introduction00:47 Welcome to The Vault01:02 Nostalgic Memories and Fun Chats02:41 Controversial Opinion: Playing the Lottery04:01 The Reality of Lottery and Syndicates10:53 The National Lottery and Its Impact14:29 Dilemma: Should My Mum See a Financial Advisor?19:40 The Reality of Bank Fraud20:26 Managing Retirement and Emergency Savings21:35 Debt Management Strategies22:42 Financial Advisors and Investment Caution25:58 The Emotional Journey of Paying Off Debt31:53 Navigating Workplace Pay Discrepancies37:50 Final Thoughts on Career Decisions41:10 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 Financial. This is a safe space where we talk all things life and money and no topics are off limits. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. I've got my tea. I'm ready for... To spill the tea. To spill the tea. To spill the tea. Have you got... So I've got old school financial on today if anyone's watching online. You might not recognise this because this is one of the first jumpers that we had as staff members. I think...

Do we take these to Helsinki when we're on like a... Yeah. And the bright pink hats as well. Yes, we've got bright pink hats. They're actually Marks and Spencer's ones with screen printed financial. This is called a hack. Do you remember when we wore them to Westfield?

Yeah. I watched that video the other day. Yeah. I was looking through my camera. Is it on YouTube? People will be able to find it. Was that on YouTube? Did we do that on YouTube then?

No, we've got a reel on it. And it's really funny. As you know, we're all based in the north. Dun, dun, dun, dun, dun. I know. I went into. What is that? Strictly.

No. Dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun. Is this the magic of the day? We need Shazam. Oh, yeah. What is it? Strictly? No. It's the match of the day. We need Shazam. Oh yeah. What is it? What are we doing? La La Land.

I would sing in La La Land too. Definitely. No, I didn't know that. I thought you were singing the match of the day. I've never seen La La Land. I thought you were going... This is why we don't do pub quizzes. I would win a music one if it was

finish the lyrics Neil looks at me and he's like how do you know the rap to like Eminem album from like 2003

I'm like that is my little party trick I would say we should yeah we should do that one one time

well I was saying you've got the new you've got the new merch and I've got the old school one on. It's a little bit cracked, but I've just got a bit of nostalgia with it. I'll bring it out. I need to get the makeup off mine. It's quite orange at the minute.

Fake tan. Fake tan Friday. That's Lucy. Yep. Okay. I'm going to go into today's controversial opinion, which is playing the lottery is basically throwing money away. This is apt not long after Christmas because I always think of scratch cards and lottery and that type.

I always put them in the same category and people put them in crackers, don't they? So I imagine a few weeks ago, a lot of people were hoping for a... Well, I keep seeing my social media their paid ads are going crazy right now really there's these houses oh yeah oh yeah they're everywhere and they're getting all the made in Chelsea people so it's enticing me there's a big one before Christmas for the my friend Alison lives on the our friend Alison lives on the Wirral and all I could think was if I'm not playing it but if I won it would I move to the Wirral and I was like I don't think I want to move to the Wirral. It looks nice but it's just

a bit far away from stuff. What is this? What is going on? And I was like surely anyone that wins it sells it. Because they say you can. Yeah you can.

But then we get cash as well. You get 100 grand cash but then they say Oh what? But they say Where do I enter? Is it shut? But then they say

you must enter tonight to be in. And then they end up on the next night. Yeah but then you say you must enter tonight to be in and then the adverts on the next night so I was really confused when the adverts were on yeah there's always a constant one

like one ended recently and me and my brother were talking about it at Christmas we were like can't wait to stop seeing those adverts they're everywhere

a new house came up yeah it doesn't stop now yeah so I said to Neil how did this start who started this? And I made it up in my head that they started

because it used to be a car. That's how it started. Yeah. So I reckon someone owned a car and then went, hmm, I bet if I could sell, or they got a price for it and they're like, that's a bit shit, I might as well do a raffle for it. When Facebook used to be the place to be

and everyone would share stuff, I'm going to sell a raffle ticket and it's going to be 20 quid a go and if I sell it to x amount of people my car's paid for if I make more perfect and then I think that person's gone hmm I'm in something here I made 20 grand on that so I'm going to buy a next good car yeah then I'm going to do it with an Audi and then a BMW and then a Range Rover but you know because I think who would take the risk who would take the risk who would take the risk but they must know that that worked

like I feel like someone's done it and then they've gone from a bloody banged up Ford Ka to a multi-million pound

mansion in the world seeing them in like the shopping centre and because they have the cars they have at airports sometimes

they're like the car like a brand new car giving scam which I've been scammed by every scam well it felt it is a scam on reflection but you know when when you said people in shopping centres and they're selling stuff me and my mum were at the traffic centre one day and someone was like oh you've won a photo shoot for tea like a mother this was a classic like 2003 my mother and daughter won i swear to god did you do it i'm crying there was teeth in my mouth and i was like this is a cream jumper we've just talked

about it oh my god I need to find them. I will show them. You actually won. I have to put them on. Did we? There's like pictures. Everyone won. There was no prize.

You had to pay for them. No, but we did turn up. The photo shoot was free. We went to the photo shoot. I can't wait to tell my mum this. You have like coordinating outfits. She's going to watch it. I can't wait for her to watch this. Give my coordinating outfits up. I can't wait for her to watch it.

She's going to die. And we had our makeup done, our hair done. And that was, you win it. But then at the end, you have to buy the photos. You have to buy the photos. I don't know where you pulled this story from. That's hilarious. But that's how it came to be

in the Trafford Centre I'll never forget it and then there's a picture of me and my mum a bit weird by the way like shoulder to shoulder like Titanic

this sounds really bad no top it's getting worse I definitely had a top on but just like off the shoulders. With a feather bow around us. And I've got one of these on my reflection. This is all true. This should be arrested. It was a scam. But I had one with like a flat cap on

like looking towards the camera oh god a flat cap Laura there's tissues here Laura's gone off to find tissues because this is out of control

I need to see these photos I would pay good money to see these photos it's pay good money to see these photos it's been in my family home for 20 years are they just up well they were

my mom survived in a move I think I was like can we get rid of them now but the scam is that you have to buy the pictures

at the end of it so you win a free photo shoot but actually you end up spending she's gonna correct me like 200 and odd quid back in the day

so probably about 500 quid now in the day so probably about 500 quid now oh my god are you gonna you they send you off you go shopping come back and then we'll look at the pictures and then they put you in a room and they do they put the thing up and i remember us being like oh they're really nice she's not told you there's two pictures there was one of her on her own with the baseball cap that a it was a flat cap she was holding it like a like a showgirl Oliver Twist hat

oh my god so you had I did so I thought you just paid for them I didn't know you'd won it

oh we won it also you put your name you guessed something and then they rang us and we were like do you know that thing do you know that thing that the teddy do you know that thing

that we did we've won I bet they were like yes another one on reflection also I didn't get to go no one asked me

for a photo shoot well we were the ones that put our name we were at the Trapper Centre together we won the lottery lesson be learned we will

I will share them it's too good to be true I will share the photos if it's too good to be true it is it probably is which is back to the houses it is it probably is which is back to the

houses it gives scam but I know people win them so it's not a scam do you know them or is there going to be an expose where it's like

actually they didn't and like with the with like the cars in the shopping centres how do you know when someone's won if ever

because when do we ever follow up like oh someone will ring one day it's so like on the flip side of this like i so i'm quite principal when it comes to lottery i don't do it i don't do it and the um evidence shows that lotteries and i'm not gonna this is not the national lottery so this is different lotteries target poor people yeah because and it's just obvious postcode lottery is a big one postcode so like the big thing with postcode lottery

when I see it on people's budgets they're terrified terrified that Angela from down the road yes who they hate who wakes them up and puts the bin out

at six o'clock every morning Karen in her pyjamas is going to win and be a millionaire so they get a FOMO yeah and so I'll so like you know

they'll be spending 10 or 20 30 quid a month I was going to say how much is like is it as much as you want? Yeah, yeah. It must be a blanket entry because then you get a share of, like a lottery ticket, sorry, would be. Oh no, that's a good point.

I don't, yeah, I don't know. There's definitely a minimum, but it's not, it's not too high. It might be like 10, 15. I can't remember when I've seen it in people's budgets. And whatever it is, it's the, the scared of someone else winning it and they could have won it and they didn't buy that ticket and that's what they keep you in with do you remember there was a program years ago and it was about um the syndicate it was called yeah so loads people do lottery syndicates at work so like we all together would buy a lottery ticket together and pick numbers at

the beginning of the year whatever it it might be. And everyone goes, right, who wants in on the lottery? You'd buy one or a number. I don't know, maybe put a tenner in a month, like Laura said, and you win as a syndicate. So you split it.

So you get a better chance of winning, but it's still... Yeah. So if you buy however many tickets between you, you would never buy 20 tickets on your own. But if you're part of a syndicate,

you might buy one, but you've got access to 19 other tickets. So like Laura said said the odds are better but there was a film one years ago and and it just ruins the relation everyone no one was happy at the end of the syndicate everyone falls out there's always something but the so the national lottery is super interesting because in the uk it really helps to fund lots of things like athletes sponsorship um sports loads of really recently celebrated

in fact I think we've just really recently had it's 20 year anniversary it might even be 30 year anniversary God it probably is 30 actually I think in my age

so I still don't do it at the Olympics last year every single athlete and I don't know if they were like told to say it

because funds were down or whatever reason it was like they were sponsored which they technically are they can get their own sponsorship but they will get funding from the national lottery so Neil kept saying because he's big into um sport and we all are but he you know yeah he was like they really don't get money at all like it's really hard to get funding to be a professional like track athlete or a professional judo athlete like there's no money

not like there is in other professional sports so Neil was like we need to do the national lottery because of that so I get it but I'd rather just

give them the money because I don't want the stress of the lottery checking your number like I just I'm not into that but it's the scratch card thing like people

will buy four or five scratch them at the till in fact they don't have to do that because now they're digital yeah you just hand them back so you don't get the fun Like people will buy four or five, scratch them at the till. In fact, they don't scratch them. They don't do that. Because now they're digital. Yeah. You just hand them back so you don't get the fun of the... Really?

Where's the dopamine hit anymore? I would get the... I used to like getting a scratch card, but have you seen the ones where people prank people? Yeah. I just can't. I can't. That would be me.

Someone would absolutely be filming me in the corner and I'd be like... You thought your life changed. Yeah. What was the question? what was controversial? what was the controversial opinion? it's basically throwing money away playing the lottery

I think it is so when you if you were coming at it from a statistical point of view you wouldn't do the lottery yeah like and the postcode lottery is this really weird thing

that again it's like not life-changing amounts of money because it's split between the postcode and I just think it's this really weird human thing where it creates this dynamic where i have no idea doesn't you need to be in a position where you're so financially well that if your postcode wins the lottery great it's a bonus you don't have to pay it out and it's like it's not gambling gambling but yeah i don't know It gives it, I don't like lotteries. And I don't like how, bigger in the States actually, postcode lottery does this, by the way.

Disproportionately targets poorer areas. Wealthy people are not sat doing a lottery. Yeah, how many people, like in Nice Roads in Chester playing postcode lottery. They're not doing, and that postcode will not come up. What will come up is the working class postcode with people possibly on benefits possibly pensioners sat at home postcode lotteries coming on during the day yeah daytime tv you know that

i just have a little thing somebody's ringing the bell i've seen that yeah it even sticks in my head there's a second advert though i don't think it's a postcode lottery one which is um treed is walmart track. Jim, scares me. Jungle. I like jump. You only think it's like a hit session. It's a scam. Well, we'll get the pictures for you because somehow we got onto a photo,

mother-daughter inappropriate photo. It's those furry flat caps. Shoulderless. Any booth that sets up in a shopping centre... It's a scam. It's a scam. Run away. Put your headphones in.

It's a... Are you the Sky TV madam? I'm like, no! I just say yes now. Then they leave me alone. I'm like, yeah, I am. I don't go to shopping centres. That's true.

Stay at home. Be a hermit. I've probably got my headphones on like this. Headphones but no music. Yeah. Just noise cancelling. Be a hermit. I've probably got my headphones on like this. Headphones but no music. Yeah. Just noise cancelling. I know your game. Okay, first dilemma.

Should my mum see a financial advisor? Right. The way this lady has addressed us. She said howdy ladies with the cowboy emoji. Oh, I like howdy. She knows. She knows. She's a regular regular unless it's you

i know yeah i've read this and i was like something two exclamation marks as well what did you say two exclamation oh yes okay howdy ladies podcast lover and financial girly here you have helped me achieve so much and i'm so grateful i'm writing in regarding my mum who is currently stressing me out about her money. For context, she has recently retired and returned to her NHS and returned to the NHS and received her lump sum as part of her pension. This was in July and the money is still just sat in her current account. She doesn't know what to do with it and neither do I. I hate that it's in her account mixed with her bills and wages and she can't see the wood from the trees. My sister and I keep saying you need to see a financial advisor but in reality we have no clue where to start in

finding a financial advisor for my mum. Please are you able to shed a bit of light on how to find a financial advisor for situations like this? our mum is very intelligent so although she can fend for herself i know how hard she's worked to give us a lovely life and i want her to be able to get the most out of this money what a dilemma oh it's so nice for her to i know messaging her mum as well great daughter and this is this is about planning this is where like financial advisors give lots of different support but a big key thing that they can do is financial planning and lots of people have this if you don't know in the UK what you can do is when you hit um a particular pension age at the moment's 55 but you can take a cash um a tax-free lump sum sorry up to a certain kind of cap and lots of people do and I think so some people use it to pay off a mortgage.

Some people use it because they'd rather have it in their hands and their pension's in a good place. And so, but some people don't use it and leave it in there. And obviously the longer you leave it in there, it's like the pot's growing. Sounds like she's taken out in a panic and gone, oh. And she doesn't give any hints to her mum's situation, which also sounds like there's even more of a need

for a financial planner here or a financial advisor because there's no obvious things you know obviously we don't give financial advice but we give kind of guidance on on how systems work and kind of what we would do what we would want our parents situations to be in and uh you know at a approaching retirement age knowing that someone's got a roof over their heads is just a massive peace of mind thing so making sure that's why lots of people use it to pay off mortgages making sure they've not got any extra debts so if they do have debts it's a really good time to kind of clear that and have such a good slate and plan for the future um but she's already taking it out now the flip side to the financial advisor point is so most people where i'm going to go all the way back sorry guys right

so where'd you find one that's what she said and I think this is a really big problem because it's such a um hidden industry and what in some respects and it's very salesy it's very male dominated I think 85% of financial advisors are men you know white middle-class men in suits talking to a 55 year old woman and I'm being absolute like um uh stereotypical here because I just wanted you to understand the vibe of the majority of the industry we know some amazing male and female financial advisors um but to that point where do you even start because because financial advisors tend to only look after people of a certain wealth level. Not a lot of us have them. So it's not like your builder that you would trust or your architect that you would trust.

You might not know one. So then how do you know one if you know one? How do you even know if they're good? And then it's hard because they only look after people of a certain wealth. But usually, especially when it comes to pensions, people will give a free 30-minute conversation and where they'll navigate stuff for you so they could have a chat I would recommend that you don't do that on your own as well maybe go with your mum and let her have that chat and you can go to places like unbiased.co.uk which is

an independent directory of financial advisors in the UK where you can see reviews and there's a couple others like that as well where you can actually go find and doesn't always have to be local but you might want to physically go in have a cup of tea chat about your options so that's how you find one you either find someone that knows one um and or you can navigate and do a cold like a cold inquiry sorry through somewhere like unbiased but the side issue she might find here is depending on that number that she's got we don't need one they might not they might not look after her

and she might not need them it's like what I suppose I want to know what her goals are you know having a conversation with her mum about

I would definitely be moving the lump sum somewhere else then it's not getting consumed because it will go it goes whether you like it or not

and it's like the mental load of that being in your account like if it was it's a lot of money it or not and it's like the mental load of that being in your account like if it was it's a lot of money it's stressful and you're in the cash machine and you're like yeah

get the receipt yeah I'm covering covering the number you don't want someone to see a large amount of money in your bank account like that's stressful

in itself also fraud so bank fraud is so difficult nowadays whilst there are protections if that's the card you're paying with all the time

that you know I don't want to scare everyone but you do have to be super super careful but you are that is a threat and the bigger sum

of money like if they drain a grand that's upsetting if they drain a hundred oh if someone logged

into my current account they'd be so disappointed they'd see £83.94 because you've got everything in pots because everything's in pots everything's where it should be they'd be so disappointed because you've got everything in spots everything's

where it should be i they'd be like who scammed this cow because she's got much try harder all those photo shoots like why she spent 500 pounds at something studios but I think I want it I feel like having that chat and I think this then the money follows chat yeah if she's like I'm scared about retirement and my pension's not that good which it doesn't sound like it is because you've taken a lump sum but it doesn't mean that what's left over isn't do I want to top that back up or well you wouldn't because you're just taking it out you wouldn't but you might be mortgage free well you might so that you've got mortgage you've got your debts you work i mean you work the playbook yeah yeah even if it's retirement

emergency savings have you got any they are now your emergency hello emergency savings that have fallen into my lap exactly and then it's like what debts do i have and then do i plan to then operate a debt-free life because that's really important it's not my paying off debt if you're just gonna like really back up again have a look at mortgage or mortgages you know she may have an extra property and stuff and there may be extra and that's again not always the most mathematical sensible decision and this is where sometimes like you know financial advisors will go put it in the market because it'll beat the rate that's on the mortgage one that doesn't take into account how you feel two they've invested interest in you invest in the market because they make more money

if they put it in the market for you which is why this is an icky field for some people. Because the fees might outweigh what you grew on the investment. If you don't check it especially on a more

modest pot I think this is the point here I think this is where if you're doing simple things with it sometimes sometimes you just want to workshop it

you may share this podcast with her and we're not financial advisors and you know that but maybe it's the chatting through you say she's well educated she say she's quite sensible she probably just feels quite overwhelmed with the pressure of that current account but going through all these different options work down the playbook when you get to the end of the playbook we don't get me wrong big life goals is in there like does she want to flex a little bit does she want to spend a little bit because some people do time and have that as the income and then finally when it comes so if you work

through all that and she basically doesn't need it for anything but she decided to take it out because lots of people just get access to it especially like things like an nhs pension as well it's a bit how much will i get what is it you just at least you've got it i know quite a few people in a similar position at the moment who have parked them in ices yeah and every you get 20 grand a year in the UK at least where you can have a tax efficient account so it's still you've you've got it it grows tax-free um and it's inaccessible when you want it and only if it's a particularly large sum I think if is it really worth being to finance advisor but be mindful

that you just pulled out your pension and the best place they could put it is in a pension and then you're going to pay then a fee on that so don't go down that road because that wouldn't be you just need guidance when you're doing that properly but just super awesome that you're chatting this through with her and I think that's all comes down to what would you like to do and how do you feel and don't be don't be scared by big numbers because you get the same stresses comes with a ten thousand pound decision yeah there's a hundred thousand five hundred pound one if someone said to me five hundred pound it's the same yeah isn't it nice I was just thinking then what if I was in that position what would I do and I was thinking about the kids and I think

I really want to be in a position where any money that comes to me later in life, it's not going to be thrown at the kids to try and fix their problems or like their lack of financial stability. Like I know that the work that we do now with our kids, the money that we sought for our pension and retirement is going to be spent on us and our care and all those things.

We're not going to be thinking about passing it down because they're going to be in a really good place. And it sounds like she's good. Her mum's not going like, oh, I need to make sure that you're okay sounds like she's doing great and now it's her mum's turn

to like kind of look after herself she didn't mention her husband or anything I don't know if she's single but that's quite empowering to have like a lump sum of money at a young age

if she's only just got it young age sounds like nothing's on fire there's loads to do with it it's exciting yeah I don't see it as like a some people see it as a bit of a burden, don't they? If they've never had money in their life before,

to get money thrust upon them. Yeah, and it's also a reason why sometimes it's worth leaving in. Yes, until you think about it. If you're not quite sure, because whilst you're leaving it in, it's invested, it's growing. Some people take it out and then invest it, and you're like, oh, it was invested. Yeah.

But it's because it doesn't feel like an investment. It feels like your pension, it feels like you want access to it like so there's some really obvious places to put that tax-free lump sum um it's also just i know i mentioned scam earlier super vulnerable time your age your demographic you'll be targeted yeah so there's no such thing as get rich quick schemes if you're going to put it anywhere invest anywhere that is ultimately a great place for financial advisor to step in that is regulated that you check because people are predatory around this age group and actually we've got people in your life of this age make sure they're not going i might put it in gold because what they might have done is taken a tax-free lump sum and seen something on in the

internet on facebook and thought they can like make a rich quick if it's too good to be true it probably is yeah yes it's super vigilant this is where they're absolutely hovering around but take it out don't have it in your current account please yeah please even just not to stress holly out because she's quite stressed yeah putting the pin number into the machine i can't remember the last time i went to a cash machine i don't think i have a pin number i did it the other day i think me and mum I went for a coffee and I was like it was on me and I was like

but mum has boozy coffee orders I was like you can order I'm not going up for an order in your coffee and it was like

oh it needs a pin and I was like I always use Apple Pay yeah yeah what did you do? I had to go with my phone and use Apple Pay

because I didn't know oh I thought you meant you had to go and get your mum to pay for you flex I can't remember my pin today. Oh, I thought you meant you had to go and get your mum to pay for you. Flex. I can't remember my opinion today. Two cakes as well.

Mum, the car machine's not working. Four toasties. Okay, I've got a community win. My first debt has been paid off. I joined this app a few weeks ago and can honestly say it's changed my whole approach to money and sorting my debt out. It's making me accountable. I'm also slightly obsessed with the budgets and trackers. This first debt has now been paid off and I will use the snowball method to pay the rest off as quickly as possible. It's never too late to start brackets. I'm 40 now and should know better. I love it when someone over the age of like 21

is like I should know better I love someone the other day said I'm debt free since first time since I was like 18 or something and they were in the 30s like guys this is society it's not you this is not personal we have all been brought up to put stuff on credit the minute you step into university the banks are sat there with the credit card like do not feel guilty or ashamed but i love that win what what a quick turnaround i don't think i know of another kind of system like this is like money system there's like eating systems and fitness systems where you would see that quick and outcome yeah like the ability to learn something digest it internalize it put it into the way you work and then action it you can actually on your first budget yeah you can action it now yeah you can and we've done that we're like you can pay

off today i know people like so i'll wait i'm like i was like no no no no no today and i it you don't have to wait you can just you can it's like um we talked about it in a previous podcast where someone had paid off like 40 or grand worth of debt and and i then talked about like the swings the other way now so the fact that you can immediately start chipping away and moving a number in your life you can't do that with like scale weight or like or like 5k time or you know like it's that's a slow and steady thing like a limit but yeah but you and money is also finite in terms of like what's what you mean say it paid this week and how much your bills are but the idea that you can so quickly make a change divert money from like it will be going somewhere and you've just chosen to send it somewhere else and immediately get that release or like a mindset change where you all immediately

feel financially better because you were worried that you were behind and that you're not doing very well and you're not good with money then you read the playbook and you go actually 70% of what I do with my money is actually really good if I can just change this yeah you were you sat there and you feel better straight away and I think even if you're in the shit which a lot of people are when they come to us or they feel like they are in terms of like there's the drowning in consumer debt even reading the financial playbook there is a method to follow because that's something that overwhelms everyone what do I do in what order because it gives you that you might not paid any debt off but you ultimately you immediately feel better we're very good at our job I always wish

that someone would film themselves paying off a debt yeah I mean it's not like you I don't think often you ring nowadays or you go into a shop but um even like the adrenaline must go do you know like if you were buying something that you really paid off a final debt I wonder if she called or was she just did it online there's a really cool I would be like I don't speak to anyone I'm coming into store have the balloons ready at 10 a.m get me a cake get the social media girly ready to film me there's a really cool social social there's a really cool YouTuber called Aja Dang. A-J-A Dang. U-S. Like a lifestyle vlogger, really, but does cover,

lean into personal finance because she had so much in student loans. She films, in fact, we might link it, if we remember, let's link it in our pod and video, Lydia. She films ringing the lady at the student loan place I cried she cries but it's so emotional because we're talking like six figure student look like oh it's 200 really really high you'll

have a look I'll not remember the amount but she rings and I think the lady's like that yeah no you sorted you're all done she's like and she just can't talk and there's this like silence where she's trying to hold it together because she's about to cry for this lady who's just been dead friendly and collecting the proses and she rang. She did it and she filmed it. So we'll link it. And then I got goosebumps.

Is that all you're going to say? Well done. She could have been really polite. I can't remember. It was years ago I watched it. But it just came to mind then when I was thinking about the adrenaline of paying that,

like when people pay off Klarna, I'm just like, yeah. Absolute legend. How many people on TikTok say like, she doesn't serve me anymore. They refer to us as she. We always say money is a she. Money is a she, but they refer to Klarna as she. They're like, I don't need her anymore. I feel like demonizing that makes it easy to get rid of.

It's like, she's not serving me. Yeah, it's a bad it she's holding me back from my financial goals but was it two months that she saw that she paid this debt off um during this app

a few weeks ago that's what I mean what are you going to do in the next 12 months that quick turnaround that making a decision quickly well done

well if you'd like to tell us your win, head to the community in the app or email it to thevault at financial.com. Okay, 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.

They promised me a pay rise, but I'm still being underpaid. Hi ladies. I have a juicy dilemma for you. We like juicy dilemmas. So I recently completed my master's degree and started working full time just over six months ago. When I started the job I agreed to the offer on the phone, rookie error won't happen again and they didn't send me a contract or offer in writing until my contract turned up two days before I was due to start. The money was significantly less than we degreed on the phone, minimum wage, but they were adamant

that that was the budget. because I had nothing in writing and I had no leg to stand on I already had everything in place to start so I accepted on the terms that the pay would go up from minimum wage to a fixed amount when I finished training and they agreed saying this would take three to six months we are now six months in and they have and they have increased my pay but not to the agreed amount. They've also made new pay bandings but haven't shared them with us. I asked my manager about this because I saw they were hiring for my exact job role for a lot more money than I make. So something isn't adding up. My manager has said that she's unaware of the pay bands and what determines them. The situation is complicated

because the company that pays me contracts my position out from the healthcare service I work in. Therefore, I have two managers, one on the daily and one that determines my pay. My daily manager is trying to advocate for me the best he can, but the other manager is not interested in speaking with him for review and he says he can't get hold of her. I'm frustrated because I live in an expensive area in the southwest and I can't afford to live where I work. The only reason I can afford to do this is because I live with my parents. Is it worth advocating for myself and pushing the issue more or should I just leave? I can't shake the feeling that things aren't going

to get better. This is not rare unfortunately and I've got friends and family members that have been in similar situations whereby it's and myself I would say like in past jobs you're just not getting anywhere and if you're part of a really big organization it's hard to get things moving quickly and like you said if you've got two different managers it's they're not if they're not the decision makers it's really difficult um you can advocate for yourself and you can go above people it's just how much sway that will have you know it's really difficult and i empathize because you're living in the southwest it's expensive you actually live with your parents and minimum wage chats is just like when we talk about you going to university and paying all these fees and then

people go and do a master's like that's supposed to give you a better paid job. You have better credentials than the person stood next to you. It should put you in good stead. But unfortunately, in the healthcare sector, you do get shafted, I think, a lot of the time when it comes to these roles. Yeah, and this would be super helpful for people listening as well. It's a new year and we want people to earn the most most they can and I always see this as like a matchmaking thing so you might have you know a particular size business that has a particular budget with particular roles and it either can't afford more than that and it is the budget as she kind of

was she said we'll talk we'll pick up on a couple of extra things that she references but let's look at that first that sometimes that's it's like a chart it's a square peg round hole that you might have expectations of this they can't move from that it's also similar in a in a bigger organization where there's pay bans and and it's super hard what you need to get is a really good match between your earning expectations and entitlements like you know we want people to be earning the right amount of money and and entitlements. Like, you know, we want people to be earning the right amount of money and what can be afforded because, you know, at the moment, especially with like the recent changes in government, lots of costs are going up for businesses. So what you need is the right match and matches could change. So something might have

matched for a period of time and then it might change again and so that that's really important because you shouldn't hang around for a pay rise at a place where it feels like it's not going to happen either because they told you that they can't or because you're being messed around the she's learned a lesson on agreeing a salary over the phone like she should never have joined but i can imagine you've lined everything up yeah like you've handed you noticed other places you've set up this big move and then you can't actually like you feel forced um I mean I've seen some bad practices where that's intentionally done actually yeah yeah yeah and so that's like a place where you've no you've no option to accept and they were always kind of going to do that so yeah make sure that you especially if you're

supported by a recruiter but get get offers in writing, get started. It's like try and formalize it. And so I think that's really important. I think she has been messed around quite a bit. So this is where you go. Is this a sign of things to come? So is this just me or is this the system on top of the fact that they're advertising for her role at a higher rate? She's just not on so

that's not saying the company can't fit the budget they'll probably do it to the other person as well it sounds like because they've already done it to you it sounds like it might just be if they've advertised for a different to lure someone in and then they're gonna it's hard when there's a niche isn't it because you don't know how easy another role will be. But your income is your fastest way to financial wellness. Caveated by, you know, someone can move to central London to work for an investment bank tomorrow, get paid a really good wage, but have an awful life. So you're balancing that.

I'd like to earn the most I can in my field whilst managing a good quality of life. And that's the Holy Grail is like balancing the two but it doesn't so like if you don't increase your earnings when you have presumably student debt and presumably still living at home you're gonna get stuck and do you want to be here in four years time and go I'm still not being what a little pay rise like people love look you know like but there was no path there was no next kick up there was no this um and so I think we should always have options yeah she says she can't shake the feeling that things are gonna get better yeah she knows in her gut that it's possibly not gonna get better she wants permission to leave yeah yeah you have permission crack on

yeah it's so hard when you do a master's though because you're like, I've done this master's and I have so much sympathy for people to get me ahead. Yeah. And I feel like, the miss old? Yeah. So while she's living with her parents,

I feel like now's the time to take those risks. I was just about to say, find something else. You're not paying for a mortgage. You're not paying rent. Now's the time to take the risk. 100%. I think that was really good advice, Lucy. Like, of all the times in your life when it's time to take the risk 100% I think that's really good

advice Lucy like of all the times in your life when you can afford to take a risk it's possibly now speak to your parents about it as well and I always say you can look there are jobs out there it might not be that the one that you want or the one that you love but to step into another one for for the time being and you can always look for jobs while you're in a job I hate when people like so I'll wait for I'll wait for the next quarter and in September then I'll start or whatever month it might be and then I'll start looking for a job I'm like no no you can start looking for a job today you never know what's out there and it might be a job in Tesco for a while just to tide you over and but that's fine that's fine yeah she's been shafted twice she was shafted

on the phone about the first salary thing and then the jobs being advertised at a higher role to some her jobs been advertised her equivalents been advertised higher and so even if some of these can be excused and like it's just she's got she's following her gut she knows I'd be out there it's not personal either because they did it before she even got there yeah and that's the thing is always like they're not that into you yeah and I think it's not personal I don't think it's that. But I think we sometimes take it personal. We call main character stuff when, you know,

especially in these bigger organizations or healthcare organizations like huge, you are a cog in the wheel. And so even though we all like to think that we are the most important person, we're a number on a spreadsheet. In these huge organizations, stuff is not even your manager or your manager manager it is up there and so what hopefully there's a good system you can play that system and then when when you are speaking to people about where else you should work taking references from existing employees like what's it like what are the what are their progression opportunities etc

etc um but it doesn't sound like they've got their act together it doesn't sound like it's ever going to get better so yeah i'd be off any final words before we close if something doesn't feel right it's probably not yeah like listen to your gut more i think people just constantly second guess themselves and people make it such a big deal to leave somewhere. Like they get so much loyalty and they think things are going to change and they're going to get better. And I would say a lot of the time, you are the main character, so take control.

Yeah. And like leaving on good terms, like people talk and reputation is everything. You may go back. It's like there's no linear in all this. And so it might be that the department isn't in a place or the area you go somewhere else and you come back in later again it depends on your fields but head held high be proud of wanting to do better for yourself and I don't it doesn't sound like you've got it good and you've got magpie over here it

doesn't sound like that because sometimes that's dangerous like people look at salaries and go that's exciting over there and actually what shit comes with that one is very different. Yeah the grass isn't always greener. So you're doing it the right way you're thinking about it but you already know what you want to do. Yeah.

That's all for this episode The Vault is now closed. Just a quick disclaimer The Vault is just a chat around life and money topics and we are not giving financial advice.