The Vault with Financielle - UNLOCKED: Debt free journey shout outs

Episode Date: April 27, 2025

Send us a text💸 Welcome to *The Vault Unlocked* – the bonus series of *The Vault*.On this episode, we're putting our real life debt free journey heroes at the heart of the show - sharing their progress as they become debt free.Need support from people who get it? Join our community in the app. No shame, no judgement—just real talk. Head to http://financielle.com to download now.Got a topic you’d love us to unlock next? Email us at [e-mail]👉 Subscribe to Financielle for honest, practical conversations about money. Let’s make your money work for *you*.The 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

Welcome to The Vault Unlocked by financial it is Laura with you this Monday. Happy Monday. I hope you've had the best weekend. I hope you're ready for the week ahead and boy are you guys on it you really are ready for whatever life is gonna throw at you I have been just like in awe of the things that you're achieving and sharing in the community sharing on Instagram definitely sharing on TikTok as we've been talking about in the last Unlocked episode seeing you guys I mean literally change your lives this isn't just about money that you've paid off or money that you've invested this is like building just such financial resilience financial control of your own destiny it's it's much bigger than the money it's much more than the money and I mean that's literally why

financial exists. Financial exists to help provide a space and an environment for you to flourish with your money and to improve yourselves as people, improve your relationships and ultimately give back and be able to help others. I mean one of the most wonderful things that comes out of a lot of chats with financials is if you can help someone take control of their money, create that excess and make them understand and believe in themselves that they can, you know,

survive on very little money sometimes, especially if you're going super lean and super intense, but that they have enough that they're, even when they cut everything everything they're actually okay. It gives you such a position of strength and it also can help you give to others it can help you create that giving sinking fund in your budget that previously you may have thought oh we don't have enough money we can't really afford to do that we can't give here yet when i've got money i'll give and actually we got some um this is a link that I hadn't even

planned in, but we got fan mail from someone who said can you gift a subscription to financial and that is music to my ears that someone just thinks this is such a good thing that they should gift it to someone else. We don't yet have that functionality it's quite complicated to be able to set up sign up on web where because you can't gift subscriptions via app stores. Well, it's very convoluted and it's not easy. And so it is a plan at some point in the future that you'll be able to buy for people, buy a subscription and sign up on web.

But I have to confess, we have done it as one-offs for people. So if anyone is super passionate about gifting Franchelle, if you email the vault at Franchelle.com, we can set it up via Stripe, via Direct Debit and set up a subscription for someone. So email us, we will make it happen. It's a faff worth doing if it's gonna help someone.

So yeah, we'd love to be able to do that on an easier basis in the future, but talk to us because what a wonderful thing to give, the gift of financial wellness is, that's just the ultimate. You know, and that's what we exist to do. Financial Exists to provide you guys like I said with an environment that you can flourish in and you are the main characters. You are the reason this whole brand works this is not because of anything else other than your success stories. You have

to have a really good product that actually works in order to have a good brand. I really, really believe that. And so many people, you know, love our brand and compliment us on it, but brands more than like colors and font. And it's like a vibe and it's an experience and it comes out of people. It comes out of stories and the stories that you share really do inspire people to take their next step. And I think sometimes we forget how far we've come. And it's so easy to forget how it felt once upon a time, especially if you've been on this journey a long time and you've had loads of wins, to take yourself back to that moment where you know the shit's hitting the fan

and there's not enough money in the bank account to pay for the Tesco shop and you want to leave a relationship that you're stuck in or you can't pay for your kids to go on that school trip. We have those stories, those starter stories in abundance but when you are well on your journey and you're making progress it's sometimes it's really easy to forget what that's like. It's a little bit like I keep it's one of those I guess parent emotional things but sometimes I forget what it was like when some of the kids were younger you know my oldest is a teenager now and you see pictures come up on, you know,

Facebook memories and Google memories and stuff and you see these beautiful pictures and you can't remember them being like that. You can't literally remember picking them up and holding them. It just, you've, you've, you run a new chapter and that you're very in the moment and you're very present. And it's so easy to forget. And I think that's the same with lots of things. And I do see a lot with people on a money journey. It's really hard to remember what it was like. For so many of you, paying off debt has been a massive part of your financial journey.

And I think it's because it's game changing in terms of mindset. So many people don't talk about consumer debt. So many people, especially brands and companies, want you to have it. They want you to check out with Buy Now Pay Later. They want you to use a credit card. They're happy for you to get cars on finance because that's what converts you. That's what makes the sale easier. You know, if money is a blocker, let's provide finance and let's make it more accessible to you. And so, to have a brand, which we do, and to have a community and a methodology that talks about paying off your debt

is actually quite rare. It really is, it's more common in personal finance, but it's not part of everyday life. It's such a big deal to make a decision to pay off your debt. Such a big decision. Because it's not a maths thing. It's not a question. Of course it makes sense financially to pay off consumer debt. It's like a decision to stop smoking. It's like that decision to know that that's so bad for your health that you decide never again. This is the same thing with debt

because it's such a big part of our spending habits and people, you know, you hear so many stories, people getting into debt at 18 and basically that's it until they're in the 40s. You know, it hangs around, it's been spoken about especially by an appellate as a gateway drug for so many young people and if you're young listen to this or if you have like older teens let's remind them you will have this for the next 20 years. Once you allow it and once you have it as part of the way that you pay for things, it sticks.

Your brain likes routine, it likes habit. If it does something once, it kind of starts the process of forming that new habit, so the newer pathway is created. And the more that you do that thing, the wider the pathway is, and so for the chemicals to kind of flow through your brain really quickly. But the minute you use it it it becomes an option. Once you have that option your brain knows it's there you can't forget that option and so it becomes an option

every single time and so the moment that you make this conscious decision to not use credit and to pay off your debt your brain has to work really hard to form that new habit to remove it as an option. And it's probably not gonna be able to remove it as an option for a long time. You're gonna have to practice not using credit because it's been so easy. It's literally been a part of the way

that you pay for things. It's at every checkout. You've been bombarded in the mail. You've been bombarded on email, websites, like you are being tempted at every corner to use credit and so the first time that you decide not to and you say I'm never using credit again and you want to pay off your debt, temptation is going to be there but I promise you it gets easier as time passes every single time you make a financial decision as long as credit's not an option,

you move further away from that time where it was. And you know, I have been consumer debt free for such a long time now that I promise you it doesn't even enter my mind. I would never, ever consider using consumer credit to buy something if I didn't have the cash for it. And you may think that's a comment from a position of privilege and I think that's definitely fair but don't forget I have been on a money journey and it took me a very long time but I promise you it gets easier as time goes on it literally disappears as a payment option it just doesn't come into your brain but it takes a while for that to happen so to make that decision that you are never going to use credit again I'm going to pay off my debt it's such a big mind. You're literally changing the wiring of your brain to do that.

And so a debt-free journey is tough. It is so, so tough. But it absolutely can change your life. And what I decided to do was I went into the community and I said, look, I'd love to talk about people's debt-free journeys but maybe not in the sense of let's speak to people that are completely debt-free although I'd love to always hear anyone's stories if anyone wants to send any in, post in the community, email the vault at financial.com, please do share your story because I think the debt payoff, you know, saying that you're actually consumer debt-free is such an inspirational thing. I think we'd love more of that.

I was actually more interested in the people that are currently on a debt-free journey. You know, they're doing their budgets, they've built their emergency funds, they're using sinking funds to pay for things, and they're absolutely chipping away at this debt. I wanted to hear from people, and so I did ask if I could find out a little bit about people.

So we're gonna hear about some of our community members and just see the amazing things that they're achieving. So first up we've got Jenna. Jenna is 33. Her starting debt was $144,500 and it is currently now $89,900. So she's essentially paid off over $50,000. She says, All of my debt is student loan debt. And while it has felt like a ball and chain at times, ultimately, I have a high paying job now that I thoroughly enjoy. I fully finished school in 2021. So I've been able to put a good dent in it despite high interest

rates. I keep telling myself that there is light at the end of the tunnel, and while it sucks at times paying it back now, it was investment in myself for a good career. Jenna, paying off over $50,000 in that time is absolutely amazing. You should be so proud of yourself. And student loans are really difficult

because it is that mental debate around are you getting your return from it? You need to hope that you get the right job that helps pay back the loan or pay as much of it back as you need to. Because otherwise it can make people feel stressed and we've had so many people messaging before about regret around student loans

or being unsure around whether they should progress more, study, and ultimately it is an investment debate, isn't it? But you are making so much progress. The fact that basically a third of it has already gone and interest rates depends where you are, but we're hoping that they are gonna slow a little bit, the art might even come down. And at the same time,

we hope that your salary is going up. That's gonna be gone. You're gonna have, I reckon four or five years more of that maybe a little more maybe six but it will chip away chip away and you never know you might get to a point where you build up extra savings and you clear it. I've seen lots of people do that as well but that's so inspirational Jenna well done I can't wait for you to come back and tell us when you are completely student loan debt free and then all your salary is yours you are keeping it all It is not for anyone else.

Our next debt shout out that we want to share is Fyola who is just 42 and she's very clear that it is just. She started in November 2024 with £63,000 on credit cards. She now has £43,000 left and a completed mini emergency fund. She says, I never thought of my debt as a problem, as I always made my minimum payments, although spent the money again every month. But when I was made redundant, it became very clear this wasn't sustainable. This was a huge turning point for me, as I realized that whilst I earned a great salary, I never actually had any money. My advice is to just start. I buried my head in the sand for so long

and I wish I'd done this sooner so I could be debt-free already. I also highly recommend pots knowing I have my bills already accounted for and what I truly have left for the month without using credit is the best feeling. I feel more in control than ever of my finances and that really is everything. Fyla, well done. The fact that since November you have paid off £20,000 of credit card debt is unreal and a completed mini emergency fund. Your story is so common, especially of a higher earner. And you may or may not be. But I do get that vibe a little bit because what seems to

happen is you feel very comfortable when you get a bigger salary coming in that I can make my payments it's fine and you kind of get a little less worried about the total sometimes because you can always get the next paycheck and kind of pay a bit off and as you said you were just keeping it going and keep topping up the debt and keep spending and it just takes one thing to rip the rug from under us and suddenly we are in a position where you need to find a new role, you've not got emergency savings and you still have these you know fairly high minimum payments to make on credit cards and that's such a position of stress and you have been put through that and whether you do or don't believe that this was the right thing and things happen for a reason hopefully it has

been that wonderful wake-up call for you that's like okay this was there this was a moment this was an intervention I need to get my act together and get the budget in place so that especially as a higher earner, and you do actually say it whilst I earn a great salary, we want you to use that and to build up big emergency savings. And also ultimately and really importantly, we want everyone to be investing, and especially when you're a higher earner,

because quite frankly, you should be able to use the excess cash in your paycheck to put towards things that grow your net worth. We want more people investing. We especially want more women investing. And we can't do that if we're spending all our money on stuff. What we need to do is the financial way.

We need to spend our money on some things and some stuff because some stuff is okay, but not every stuff or all the stuff. It is about getting the balance right. And I feel like you feel that you're in a position where you definitely are doing that. The fact that you love pots is so amazing. A funny story about pots, you may not know this,

but Monzo, I believe, were the first brand to come up with the pots feature. And everyone else, obviously, lots of the newer banks have them now and it actually came from a customer. It was a customer service agent that someone was chatting to a customer, was chatting to a customer service agent and fed back that, do you know what would be good if if I could like divide all my money up and not see it you know and not have it just in my main account and this person fed that back to the product team

and they spun it up and they did the development and they put it live and so that came from a customer. And now we all love our pots. And just the idea that you know what you've got left for the month, you know, your guilt free money because if you've used your excess to do the thing that you wanna do, if you've got a good budget with all your bills sorted,

if you've got your sinking fun pots being built up in the background, and then you've got your flexible expenses that are a bit more literally flexible, but you have more choice with them. You feel so in control. So congratulations at the rate that you are going. That could go this year.

You definitely could be a 2025 debt-free financial member, Fiola. So good luck, let us know how you get on. Okay, so next up is Heather. Heather is 29, she's turning 30 in two weeks. So by the time you listen to this, it's nearly just, just over one week to your birthday. Heather, happy birthday from us and happy birthday to Fiola,

who said she was just 42 as well. She says, I started in January with around 10,000 pounds debt and I'm now down to eight and a half thousand pounds debt. My biggest tip is keep sinking funds for the things you enjoy. Mine is coffees out. Because without allowing myself these little things occasionally,

I have been so disheartened when trying to get my money shit together in the past. And like you always say on the vault, because the money is there and I'm allowed to spend it on my coffees, I often don't. You got that right Heather. And she also says, before financial I firmly believed that I couldn't survive on my current salary month to month. Now I have an excess and I'm making progress towards my debts being cleared so keep going every little helps. You absolutely nailed it Heather and that's such a big takeaway that we want everyone to have which is you can literally have a takeaway. You can have the coffee, you can have the things, you just can't have everything. Because if you have everything at once,

you make no progress, there's no balance as we've just talked about on the previous example. But just by creating permission to spend, it does two things. One, it takes away the guilt if you do spend because it was allocated. So if you have a coffee's fund, so many people at Fanshawe are in the matcha phase right now, I can't decide whether to jump on it.

I think it's better to stay away and stay out of trouble. But if that's your thing, especially like it's coming spring, it's a nice thing to get iced coffees. If it's coming to winter, you want to wrap yourself up and have a little bit of gingerbread in it and you know a pick-me-up. There's this been such the latte factor and the latte myth for absolutely years which is that's the thing that's holding millennials back as an example but people back from hitting their financial goals and in isolation it absolutely isn't and the maths just was never done on this kind of stuff, which is not looking at all the macroeconomic issues

that are impacting us when trying to get ahead financially. So the problem isn't the latte or wanting the coffee, it's the cumulation of impulsive spending, which absolutely can impact our financial goals and can just hold us back and can slow us down. But as we know, as I said, with impulsive spending, guilt can come from spending. So even just having the one coffee, if you're on an intense debt pay off journey, if you're trying to get ahead as quick as you can, every time that you decide to spend

four, five, six pounds on a coffee, that is not going towards your debt. But in a month, if you times that by four and you have one a week or you times that by eight and you have two a week you can really see how it stacks up and that money could have been diverted towards paying off your debt but it's not the only thing because if those coffees were stacked on top of TikTok shop and Amazon and Deliveroo and getting an Uber instead of getting the tube and all these places where we have choices then that is going to derail your financial journey. So by creating a space in the budget for your thing, for your treat, for your pick me up, and still sacrificing and being stoic and going without other things,

you get the permission to spend because it doesn't derail your whole plan. It was part of the plan. It was intended. And as you also quite rightly spotted Heather, you tend to find you don't always spend it. The fact that it's there and allowed, it takes away the dopamine that comes from that impulsivity. You still might get the dopamine from the joy of having the coffee,

but you might not actually want it. It might just because it's the thrill of the spend. And so I love that tip. This can be a long journey. Having fun along the way in moderation and as part of the plan is one of the big keys to success. And it's one of the keys to long-term success because I also have it that people later struggle to spend,

especially if they've become debt-free, they've got really good emergency savings, they've started to automate investments. And I often find myself, I remember my friend Alison, you're one of them, we've had to make you spend in the past before, and it's like, you can afford it. Or, you know, you're moving on over to something,

it's like, okay, can we talk this as a percentage of your income, your annual income, and your net worth and let's decide whether you can afford the Charlotte Tilbury Lip Gloss. I'm making that up, she might not have wanted that but you get my point. We struggle, we can really struggle later with spending when we have money

so it's kind of the opposite effect but putting it in the budget, giving yourself permission can take away those feelings of guilt and doesn't hold us back on our money journeys. So happy birthday at coming up soon Heather and thank you for sharing your story. A few more got a nice little one from Delaney in the community who is 39. You started off with £22,000 and change I love that and change and you now have £12,000 and change left so you have smashed off £10,000 from your debt total.

You say, we're the only ones keeping ourselves from living our best life. Stop living in your head. Pay that debt little by little, we'll get there. You started three months ago. I was gonna say, I don't know why I'm getting emotional over this, but I do because I really, really resonate with what Delaney said and we are living in our heads and we do overthink things

and we spend money to keep up appearances and to look like we're living a good life and actually deep down we might not be. Whereas sometimes, you know, stripping everything back, going back to basics, really being comfortable about who you are, making proactive plans about your life, things that you actually

like to do and then working your budget around that is just so so empowering. And actually you know sometimes we've had some really good questions around I'm on a debt-free journey and it's such a slog and I just want a treat, kind of a treat and it's so lovely and you feel like saying of course you can have a treat and then but sometimes when people think that way they're not thinking that actually paying off debt is a gift to yourself as well is a gift to your future self it is one of the best things that you can do for yourself financially if you have consumer debt and you build a budget that prioritizes paying it off this is literally a gift to your future self

your future self will do two things when they've not got consumer debt. They will have more money for fun things. Experiences, food, trips, gifts to people, new pajamas, candles where you literally set fire to money. You will have more money to be able to get those things. But you'll also have more money to invest. It is our job to get you to grow. Remember that we always say that at Fan and Shell, survive, build and grow. You are in survive mode if you are building your mini emergency fund and paying off debt and once you've done that we want you to move to build. Build that bigger emergency fund, start thinking about buying a home if that's something that you would like to do and

make sure you, you know, build those big life goals so where you're sinking funds out is your budget too strict, this is a point where you can kind of relax a little bit. But then we get you to grow where you are investing your excess, your excess cash in your budget towards things that grow your net worth, which is inherently, one, investing in the market, whether it be for retirement

or whether it be for pre-retirement, two, investing in property, if that's something for you, and three, overpaying a mortgage. All those things, putting your excess cash to all those things will increase your net worth, and that's where we're getting you to. So by paying off debt, you are absolutely gifting your future self.

Our next one is Michelle. She is age 40, but not in her head. Started in March 2024. She actually screenshotted an image of the debt tracker in the app and she says see image for debt. Oh my gosh so hers is total debt amount 45,032 pounds 59 pence. She has 29,685 to go. Michelle has paid off over 15,000 pounds in a year. I just can't believe that and just being able to see that on the tracker, Michelle is game changing. I bet you love

adding debt onto that and paying it off. We are looking at, because I know we get asked for this a lot, but making it into a ledger so you can see when you've made your payments and kind of see that history. So watch this space for that, we are looking at that at the moment. But you say, my tip would be don't get disheartened, it does get better and the less debt you have, the less you feel helpless every single month. Michelle, that's an amazing way to look at it and just picking up on what I said on Delaney's comment, it is a gift, it's a gift to yourself, every single payment, however small, however big, is doing something for your future self and you can't underestimate what it's doing to your health, your mental health, especially sometimes your physical health. You know you're going to sleep

that bit better, you're going to have a little less anxiety, you're going to have a little less nausea, you're going to be able to relax a little bit more. You might be a happier person to be around but you might be a happier person for you and every single debt payment can do that. So yeah don't get disheartened. It can be a long road. Some people are doing this journey for years. It's really amazing to see the quick payoffs but also I want to see some realistic ones as well. I love the realistic stories because then if you're listening to this and you are disheartened Trust Michelle because she's done it. She literally has first-hand experience We're gonna go to our final one now from Rosie who is 23 you started in January this year with a two thousand pounds debt

You say not a ton, but it definitely didn't feel good and now you have no debt you have paid it off congratulations and you have four thousand pounds in savings unbelievable the fact that you have started this year afresh and you're like this is kind of what i'm going to do and you've basically had a six grand swing you've paid off two thousand of debt and you've built up 4000 savings, is amazing. You say my one tip would be to be as honest and open as possible with the people around you. My partner, who has zero debt and earns more than I do, obviously knew about my debt, but it wasn't until I told him how it was affecting my mental health and how little treats and date nights made me feel worse,

not better, that he really started cheering me on from the sidelines and supporting me where he could. He celebrated every milestone with me no matter how small and actively cut down his own luxuries in solidarity as I cut down mine. We aren't married so I both did not feel comfortable with him paying my debt nor did I enjoy spending his money on treats. It didn't feel like I was in it alone anymore. Oh my god I'm literally got goosebumps. This is like a rom-com but in a good way like there's no there's no big tragedy and there's no big breakup like as in this is relationship goals. I think firstly, Rosie, the fact that you had the confidence to share with him how your debt made you feel.

Debt can make so many of us feel ashamed, and it's wrong. You know my view on this, everyone. For a society that absolutely throws debt at us, it's pretty judgmental when someone finally says, this doesn't make me feel good and I want to pay it off. So well done for having the confidence but it's also you know it's probably testament to your relationship that you did feel as comfortable as you did to be able to share that with him. But also a great observation is how you say like little treats and stuff were actually making you feel worse, they were making you feel guilty because

you don't earn as much as him and you're not contributing as much as him. And tweets do add up, whether it's nice food or whether it's nice nights out or whether it's new things. When you feel guilty, it can literally have the opposite effect. But the last bit, the last bit, the absolute green flag in all of this is his response where he decided,

oh, like we're in this together, he probably felt so proud of you that you had taken this decision to pay off your debt, that he just wanted to do whatever he could to support. And the fact that he knew there was another way without giving you money, without paying off some of your debt, allowing you to do this on your own, but supporting you in that way

where he wasn't triggering with money, he wasn't buying things, he wasn't making you feel guilty, and he ultimately was okay to go without as well. He wasn't like, you know, I know you can't afford a burger, but I'm going out for a burger. He wasn't doing that. Just that's goals. That's relationship goals. And I haven't really heard that perspective before, and it's brought a massive smile to my face. So absolutely well done, Rosie, and well done to Mr. Rosie as well. You do say, to add to that one, my number one advice would genuinely be

to download Financial Premium. Literally, what would I do without this community? They're lifesavers. Well, I couldn't write an ad for Financial Premium better than that. And as you say, the community is a lifesaver. I've given you a window into the community today, again, by sharing some of the things that people have have shared when I asked. But it is a place that's safe, safe space to talk about money, safe space to ask questions, safe space to learn, and we've got a lot that we wanna do with it

to make it even more impactful and even more helpful for those people that are on a money journey. So whether you are building up emergency savings for the first time and treading water with your money, whether you are on an Everest-style journey paying off consumer debt, or whether you're just feeling a little lost or whether you're super ambitious

and you're ready to take your money to the next level, you're in the right place and you're surrounded by the right people. And as I started with, you guys are the main characters. So I cannot thank you enough for sharing your experiences because those are the things that are gonna literally change lives. I keep seeing a trend on TikTok at the moment about the butterfly effect.

And the idea that someone could watch a random TikTok or real and come to the app and download it and have the confidence to do the trial. And then get in the community and then see one of these posts and go on to literally change their financial lives. That ladies and gentlemen is the butterfly effect. And with that, I think we'll call it a day. So have a wonderful rest of week. Again, thank you to everyone that's contributed for the content today. It's just been so heartwarming and so inspirational. And just a little disclaimer,

the Vault Unlocked is a lighthearted chat around life and money, we're not giving financial advice. Bye bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.

Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.