The Vault with Financielle - UNLOCKED: How Looking Back at Your Money Habits Can Set You Up for Success

Episode Date: December 8, 2025

Send us a textWelcome to The Vault Unlocked with Laura from Financielle! We’re kicking off a five-week Unlocked series, and first up is all about ✨reflection✨. Looking back at your money habits can feel awkward and icky, but it’s the secret to actually getting ahead.In this episode, Laura dives into:- Why we avoid checking our accounts- Why a “fresh start” doesn’t magically fix everything- The patterns you only spot when you zoom out- How to shift from “I was so sh*t with money” to “this is actually useful information”She also shares her own reflections — from overspending on food shops to dipping into savings — and why automating her money has been a game-changer.One honest look back can set you up for a better year ahead.If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to Financielle, leave a review, and join the conversation in the comments or in the Financielle App community. 💖Connect with our Partners*🫶 Get life insurance with our friends at Lifesearch. Speak to a female advisor here.🏡 Meet our Financielle approved Mortgage Brokers.💸 Get cashback that reduces your mortgage interest with Sprive (£5 extra for you using code: FINANC)*The above are tracked links, which tells our partners we sent you and may in future result in a payment or benefit to our site.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 with me, Laura from Fan and Shell. And yes, we are bringing back Unlocked for a special five-week series to help, to help you guys hit your goals. You know, we are recording this at the end of 2025 and what a year it's been. You have been sharing so many amazing, amazing things with us. And we're also super conscious that many of you are starting out on your journey or you've got new goals to hit, new challenges, new stresses, new worries new excitement and so it felt like a really good time to delve into some key concepts that we have tried we know work we know work with you guys and you probably know lots of them but I do think having this time listening to this podcast you know really treat yourself to thinking about yourself try and think about putting yourself first and it is important that we do that I think if we look after ourselves and if we're in a good place, if our cup is full, then we're going to be able to help others. And it's not a bad thing to think about yourself and your goals.

We are the main character of our own movies, of our own lives. And so, yeah, we really wanted to put together this short five series focused on helping you reach your goals. So please do, as we ask on the main fault podcast, interact with this episode, like, follow us on YouTube and on the different podcast, wherever you listen to your podcasts, interact. I think on Spotify, you can comment and YouTube you definitely can comment. But make this interactive.

If you want to email in depth, then please do email the vault at farnshel.com. Share your thoughts on your goals. And maybe, yeah, it's going to be a five-part series. If you commit to listening to the five, keep us updated on your journey. Now, the first part of this series and this episode, episode. It's a solo episode for myself. I'm not with the girls. I'm just in my office.

If you're watching on YouTube and if we've managed to get the video up and running because I'm self-recording, so hopefully we'll be able to get this on video. But you're going to see it's just, it's just me and it's just 15, 20 minutes of talking about the topic of reflection. now looking back I do think is the secret to getting ahead and I know it's a bit of a cliche but how do you know where you're going if you don't you know where you've been how can you learn from things that went well and learn from things that didn't go as well and honestly a money journey is is no different to that and it does feel weird to sit back and look specifically at your money history.

a massive ick, isn't it? Like, we've all just like looking back at old photos that may be cringe where they are, you know, I shouldn't have done that, I shouldn't have said that, why did I wear that outfit? I think it's the same with money and a lot of being good with money and improving the way you manage it, the way you think about it, involves like going back a little bit. So there's kind of two ways that that you can go about this as well, reflecting on the past year because it is that time of year. where, you know, we're ready for some reflection and ready for some new starts.

I'm not going to say, or focusing on the concept of New Year's resolutions, but whether we like it or not, it is a good time to sit and take stock and reflect. But you may have never done this before, so you may want to reflect all the way back, you know, years and years and years. You may not just want to think about what's happened the last 12 months. But especially people that have a problem with spending or whether that's, spending or not spending, you know, opposites, people do inherently don't like checking bank accounts. They don't like checking old statements. You know, when it's a reflection of you,

like, show me a bank account and I'll show you what's important. And, you know, there was a time years ago where on my bank account, you would have seen credit card payments and you would have seen finance payments car finance you know big chunk of payments would have been going to debt and you would have seen lots of like meals out and you know not even super nice places just eating out and you would have seen oh god it's not even going anymore it isn't a little bit of a way but top shop or self-fridges you'd have seen just a lot of payments for a lot of stuff and you won't see that now in fact probably around you know the festive period when we're actively buying things will you suddenly see your spending with retailers generally you know we're

just we're just not spending like that we're not spending that way and so there's a start difference between the person I was then and the person I am now in another way actually you you know let's let's go more recently after having like two kids and go through COVID I would, whilst I liked fitness of a sort and was doing like, you know, was a member of a gym, in fact, I remember when I was stressed about paying 55 pounds a month, which was what my gym cost at the time. But then I would very easily get takeaways and get, you know, the family a big, big Indian meal and I wouldn't think twice about buying nice bottles of wine.

and convenience meals out on the go or like treat sandwiches at lunchtime and actually specifically not healthy stuff just like whatever was available and because it was food I didn't really look at the price and it's ironic now actually because when I think about it

my budget has changed you know if you saw my if you saw my accounts what would you see that you would see one not expensive but you know up their gym membership you would see um you know lots of you that follow me online know that I'm really into high rocks you will see payments for entering high rocks races you will see

um payments at um like my protein for some protein and for some gym outfits or maybe gym shark you would see adidas purchases when I purchased like some good trainers you will see that in my budget but I have got to a point especially doing the financial playbook because and going through survive, build and grow. I am in grow. And so where I have disposable spending, it does reflect who you are and where you're up to. And I will have seen even a change in the past like three to four years

of money going towards food. And I mean like mindless food, not like really nice restaurants or nice experiences or nice birthday things, but literally just shall we eat out, should we have tea out, should we get a takeaway? Versus, you know,

actually spending more on the food shop and more on some meal prep meals, some weeks. but gym and yeah I think that maybe it's hard to confront the person that we were and to really think about what it was like at that time but you know so we have to do it to know how we're going to change things going forward and you're a fresh start when we're talking about whether it's the new year or whether it's next month or whether it's whenever you are listening to this podcast and thinking we're going to have a

fresh start we're going to start again it's a fresh start can't magically fix everything without reflection without thinking about why we did certain things and what what was the what was the what was the reason behind it do we still need that are we still that person and so for so many of us so many of you sorry always talk to us about the fact that you know you just can't stop spending or you can't start spending on your children or you are, you know, spending lots of money going to all these places with friends, but actually you don't really want to go and you just, you know, you don't be left behind and you don't want to not be invited to things, but actually you have certain goals in place and, but you're having to spend to kind of keep up with, with the Joneses

and it takes to look back and look at the quantum, look at the amount that you are actually spending to keep up with all these different feelings and emotions or wanting to, you know, to be in the group wanting to be popular. You have to look at the fact that you did that and see the volume of it. How often was I doing it? How much do they actually spend? You know, how much of that would I think is okay spending

and how much of it is less of money to please other people or to get love from other people. So, you know, I do think that looking at your spending and facing up to it and chatting and reflecting on it, I think at the beginning of the playbook actually in the app and we've got this reflection, this journal-length time, which is like, what do your statements say about you and why? And really, like, journal away, like do morning pages around it.

Just get a pen out and start writing. Like, tell me, why do you spend the way you do or why do you not spend the way you do? Tell me a little bit about your budget. You know, if you show me your budget and you show me your bank statements, what's it say about you? And just have a little thing. your budget can be the most emotionally confronting tool but it can also be the most freeing it is such a wonderful plan for your money and there's sometimes when I want to avoid it

there's sometimes that I don't I'm not vibing it I'm not feeling it and you know I am lucky that that's when I've got a relationship with my partner where he will step in and and we share that not one of us is taking the burden. In fact, he is far more, he has a way bigger burden when it comes to our money because he knows that I get overwhelmed, but he likes detail. One of the reasons that we've, you know, we started the financial app and built the budget the way it is and managed sinking funds and flexible expenses and automation the way we do is because I don't want to think about money all the time.

I only like thinking about money when I'm doing a challenge or I'm getting excited about it like said my I love paying off debt and I think I want a little mission at the moment with my mortgage because it feels like the good old days it feels like paying off debt again I say the good old days god I know what that's like and it's not the best of times and and it actually can be very very stressful but there's something about getting behind a challenge like I do like said in my fitness life that I really love but when it becomes the day to day I do struggle hence why the whole of financial and the method of managing the money is a strategy and a methodology that you can put in place and if you want to go all in and you know get very excited about it

and track every penny do but if you don't want to you can still run your budget in a particular way and then let it go um you know have your little pots and crack on until until the end of the month but sometimes you don't you might not realize patterns until you zoom out you have to really think about that you have to think about i'm going to you some really pathetic examples but Is there a particular time of the week when you are like, I'm going to, or in the month, let's say, what you slip into picking up takeaway coffees? Because there is for me, like when I have got some, like a lot of what I do in my job is showing my face and whether it's on socials or whether it's through the podcast or whether

it's on the BBC, like I have to be very present and there's days when you don't feel like being and for me sometimes if I'm like deep in work at my desk and I've no got some content to film or I've got a call to do and I will get in my car and I will drive and I will go and get a takeaway coffee and again there's room in the budget for it but if I really wanted to crack if I really wanted to have a little think about what I'm doing I'm like using dopamine like not just the caffeine hit because I've got caffeine in the cupboard, but I'm driving, I'm doing a dry-through, so one hands me a made coffee, and it's just how I like it, because it's not too strong a coffee, but it's like, you know, it's got a nice little bit

of syrup in it, but not too much. It gives me a little bit of a sugar kick. But really, I could recreate that at home. In fact, Holly's husband Neil and the only, you know, live close to us, he would make me coffee whenever I want one, but I'm locked in a bit of a cycle, which is once or twice a week, I get in my car, I go and I drive. Now, there's just an example of a habit that I've built that actually is costing me money and I'm not going to fix how I feel really.

If I just keep doing that, I probably have to sit and think, oh, there's a bit of a pattern of building here. It happens, you know, on your long work from home day when you meant to do some content. It happens when maybe on a rest day from exercise and I'm not exercised, like what is that? Now, this is just one example, but this could be. not realizing when you're on TikTok shop. This could be not realizing when you suddenly start to buy more for kids if you're in that situation.

This could be when your grocery budget goes to pot and you are going to like the local shop every single day instead of doing a really good meal plan or a really good big shop where you know what you know what you need to top up on and you're doing it efficiently and you're buying in bulk so that you get in the savings. Whatever it is, you know, coming, zooming out. and having a look from a bird's eye view will spot things that you're not actively thinking about. So so far we've talked about, you know, knowing what you're like and, you know, going back

into statements and stuff and using some patterns to verify that and to confirm that you're doing things a certain way, but also using that opportunity to reflect and spot things that you may not have thought, you know, spending patterns or saving patterns or just So you can have a, you know, you become more aware of something that you may not have, um, you may not have thought is, is something that you're doing. And then I think it's having a little think about if you set some goals last year. There was some intention behind them. Like there was a reason.

I don't think you would have just picked a goal that everyone else had. I think there would have been a reason behind it. So having to think about if you did, did you. did you hit your goal or did you perform your goal? You know, it might not have been necessarily a smart goal with a particular figure in mind, but was it like a way of thinking? Was it about being more positive around money?

Was it about being more confident? Was it to save, you know, 20,000 pounds and a nicer? So have a real think about like a year ago. What were you wanting to achieve? and did you achieve it and all the different you know circumstances connected to that did you achieve it and if not why not like what was that the right goal for you did you change it halfway through did did your motivation change i mean life hits you like lots of things um lots of things can make you change or think about what was important or or like needs must you

you may have a nice, a nice pressure-free goal and then suddenly, like, you're having to move house or suddenly a relationship breaks down or suddenly there's a death in the family. Suddenly, you know, there's relationship change and it can change what we're planning and what we were working towards. So just have a little think about that. I think I was going to share a little bit about mine and my reflection, so we'll go into that in a minute but it could be things like did you end up dipping into savings and did you have lifestyle creep um did you were you overspending on food shops because that's literally like

my life is overspending on food shops um but did you set some debt pay-off goals and if you did do any of these things and even if you made some form of financial program, or progress with your money, I want you to be really, really proud of yourself. I want you to embrace your flaws and embrace vulnerability and know that we are, literally, none of us are perfect and none of us get this right all the time. And I think even just acknowledging that you did move forward in some way, there will be a way you will be able to find it. I challenge you to find something good that you did and some progress that you made,

even if it feels a bit like snakes and ladders sometimes and even if it feels like, you know, it's one step forward, two steps back. I'd like to think that actually eventually, you know, you are making, making progress. So have a little thing about that. Have a little think about the goals that you set last year because I think it will really help inform, you know, what's going to happen going forwards. I think when I reflect on financially what's changed for us the past year, I think I still struggle to accept that things do cost more.

And so I think I'm still restrictive. my budget and I we get to that last week and the pots look a bit low and we're having to be really strategic and don't get wrong it means that you stick to the budget and that's why the pot system works but you know if I'm if there's zero in the clothing fund and I need something new for work or for TV or if you know one of the girls need something for a dance or rugby or something or if we need new shoes for the little one I and there's not money in that pot I do feel a bit of a stab of guilt. I feel like have I not managed money well this month,

have I done something wrong, you know? And there's always a solution. Like that's how the sinking funds really, really works and the flexible categories really work because you can just move stuff around. And but I think I'm still really bad. And I think you all know this. I share this a lot.

Then in the next budget going right, it just costs more, life costs more, home costs more. Um, so I think I'm still struggling with that. Um, I think, that we have an awful lot of stuff and that is not just because of us, it's because of other people that may give us. So, for example, great example, like Holly has two boys. So she gives me stuff

all the time, which is great for Ali, the younger boy. So it's amazing because he gets, like, he just gets some amazing stuff from my nephews because they're into football and they're into the same things and these are really good quality coats and stuff like that but what i've not been very good at is sorting through and get them all organized into some really good by the boxes or um you know like say like uh i can't think of the word you know like flat pack bags or whatever they're called um the ones that like you make go really little but like that we can put in the attic or put in his room and get them properly organized so that when he's hitting like, you know, four and when he's hitting five, that they're ready.

What I've done is I've just gone, yeah, thank you, and they're all in bags and they're in his room, and his room looks a little bit of a mess because they're all at the end of his bed, like hidden a bit, but then you can see. And I don't know, he could be wearing some of those clothes now, but what I'm not doing is kind of going through his older stuff properly, and donating that and then keeping it. And I think on a bit of a ramble about that because that's starting to happen with quite a few things like, you know, we've been in this house six years now. we're not big buyers of stuff but for birthdays or for books or you know we just we get given stuff and gifted stuff and we just keep hold of it and I think we're ready to um to go through stuff

and reembrace that minimalism and gift and give to you know charity where we can so that we have a nice lean but usable house full of things um and and and then when we're we, so then when we want to buy things and when things are my budget, the budget is big enough to buy quality and buy things that we really, really want. So, you know, my sister, for example, by giving me some of the clothes for Ali means that his day-to-day, like, like nursery stuff and, you know, playing the mud stuff, I've got stuff. I don't need to go buy that. But when he needs, like, some really nice socks that just feel real nice or when he needs some new shoes or when he needs, you know, something like nice for a birthday,

for a holiday outfit and I should be going buy something nice for him and and intentionally doing that but when I look at the budget the budget looks tight I go or I don't need to that was a bit of a ramble I'm sorry I feel like I went on a tangent there but I've just got this thing about we have a lot of stuff we're very very lucky but it's not organized and so I might go out and buy something and something's right under my nose and you know one of the kids might ask for something and I go out and get it and actually we've got it but because we're not organized it's not there. I still reflect on the fact that I struggle,

I get overwhelmed and I avoid the detail. And again, I'm really lucky that I've got a partner that excels at that kind of thing and steps in. And that's okay, but it's just knowing my blind spot, knowing that, you know, a lot of people would be surprised to know that, but I do shy away if the numbers sometimes

is why, like I said, the financial system works so well. I think when I was reflecting, I also thought it's a good job I automate because I'm nowhere near as ambitious with my money goals as when I was paying off debt. So because we automate investments and we have a plan for the kids' investments and we do extra investments, luckily that's happening. And that is the beauty of it that you don't have to be thinking about these things all the time. You know, I do now feel, because we've got through the debt pay off pay stage and, you know, we did heavily, heavily save that in this growth stage, we're quite lucky that things happen in the background because we chose to automate it. And if we didn't,

things wouldn't happen. And, you know, the market has performed particularly well this year. You know, people talk about a bubble here there and everywhere, I think, because we are so much for the long term. And we're not approaching retirement. And you know, some of you guys listening at our and that may be of some concern you may be investing in a lisa for to be able to use it for house deposit in the next two three years again those amounts won't be absolutely huge they'll be huge to us but you know not life changing amounts of money so we don't have to worry too much but I'm not bothered about performance but I sit there and look and go wow actually like investments perform well this year and had I not been investing

little and often with my husband you know our portfolios and our children's portfolios would have just been like empty or would have been stagnated in like a savings account and I'm just I'm glad we did that and I think I am just so grateful for the playbook stages because being able to follow a plan you know it means that we just followed it and grow you put your access the worst thing you do when you get to grow is then spend everything because you're like I'm debt-free now like I've got some good savings and then lifestyle creek comes in and I love that I think we need to get the balance right but I think I need to make sure that budget is wide enough and the categories are big enough but I just am so grateful for this playbook and this process which means we're just

the time is passing anyway time is passing anyway so by automating and by transferring money into our investment accounts that is growing and like said it has performed so well this year like so much of it you know feels like free money you know it really really does between the growth and the government contributions depending on where we've been putting the money it is like huge amount but it started off tiny and it was just time is passing every anyway like I can't live how I can't live in 38 you know how old you guys all are when you're listening to this and you may be much younger or much older but time is passing and you don't want to wish that you'd have started this if you you don't want to think next year I wish I'd have started this year ago

and that you only just started and you this may be part of your reflection you know you may be reflecting and thinking god I wish you had done this a year ago um so yeah like I'm definitely when I think back on our year I don't think we were aggressive about money goals and and I think that was okay because we have been I've been dabbling at the overpaying mortgage place at the moment. I am something that I was keen to invest and was kind of happy with the mortgage the way it was. But there's something about it, which if I can get savings here and there, I can automate my investments, but if I can make a little bit of money or do a bank switch or, you know, sell something. I, you know, husband and I just keep thinking, let's put

it off the mortgage. And that is a new thing. But I've got a little bit of buzz back. I've got a little bit of excitement. And, you know, our mortgage is £290,000. Like it's a chunky mortgage. It really really is. We're going to be nowhere near a 10% overpayment threshold, especially because we're putting money into investments. But it does get me excited, you know, and we'll come on to goal setting in later ones in the rest of the series. But for now, my big reflection has been, like, thank God for the automation, because I don't think I would have been happy with well, definitely wouldn't have been as happy with the progress that we've made had it not been for that. But also, yeah, remembering the little money things that get me excited and

paying off stuff and seeing a figure come down does give me a little bit of a buzz and it's kind of recognising that. But I really think that you can't build a 2026 routine and strategy and plan if you don't understand the good, the bad and the ugly from 20, 25 in the same whatever year, you know, that you're listening to this or whatever time of year you listen to this if you want to make a change. Have a real thing about that. And maybe it's a good time to reflect wider than money. Like, how did the year go? Where are you at in your relationships? Where are you at in career? You know, where you're at in your health? All these like, it's like the wheel of life, isn't it? You'll have seen those on YouTube.

Go have a little look if not. But any of you want help going forwards. then stick with us, stick with us through this little series. I think we're going to be hoping that we get feedback as we release and we'll keep everyone up to date on stories if people share their goals. But start with reflection, have a good think and come with me as I share, you know, post-reflection what I'm going to do next. And yeah, there's so much. that I'm excited for and you know one of the things that I did do and we are going to talk about

I do have a vision board on my phone and it's something that um lucy does and so um lucy at franochelle has got a great one and I did it and when I look there's been definite progress and you know unofficial manifestation of what's on my um vision board I'm going to show that if you're on the um if you're on the YouTube you can see but I'm going to talk through a couple of them so that kind of real thing about what because on the next one but I've got a picture of

there's none of me by the way they're all Pinterest aesthetic pictures but one that could be me I'm a little boy because it could be a little girl on this but my little boy's got real long hair so they've got a bobbling and a hoodie and that were on the beach and that was definitely like

you know mummy and son moments this year it was a big part, but travel. So, you know, we definitely made that come to life. The picture of me and my husband, but it's not me and my husband, but we look very cozy on a couch with some nice curtains and a nice rug, but we just look cozy and there's time for us and the picture of this couple is they're not on phones

and they're not got kids with them, they're having time for themselves. Coffee dates with the little ones, work time. There's like a boss, girl boss, God, so millennial, but picture of someone driving with some sunglasses on on a black blazer. I'm like, yeah, that's me doing my work. And then there's like a gym work hot girl. There's just like, there's bits and bobs which when I reflect, you know, that really helped me this year. It kept, it kept me on track every time I picked up my phone. I keep

able to clip my phone so I keep seeing it because the light was out. So I'm definitely going to do one. I'm going to be walking you through how to do one. But thinking about these different areas of our life and what's important, it literally works. It really does. So good look with your reflection. Again, the vault at financial.com, email us or DM us. Let us know what came out of your reflection. Please, please do. We will only ever share anonymously unless you say, use my name, highlight it to the world. I'm really proud of this or I want to share this and I want you to share my name. Otherwise, by default, we always share things anonymously. So share with us. What came out of this? What did you reflect on? What did, what did you realize? What did

know all along and let's use that as we go forward to in the next episode of the vault um the vault unlocked specifically so don't forget when we do the vault it is not um it's just a chat around life and money it's not giving financial advice and I hope you tune in for the regular vaults and join us for the rest of this series and so thank you for letting me share my reflection and let's see what comes next bye bye