The Vault with Financielle - Your First Month Without Credit: Survive + Thrive | The Vault Episode 69

Episode Date: June 18, 2025

Send us a text“You don’t need a car upgrade when pregnant” - we unpack this week’s controversial opinion, then dive into your dilemmas:💸 ”First Month Without Credit — Please Send Help��💸 ”I’ve worked so hard to get debt-free… now I’m scared of blowing my inheritance.”Got a money win or (totally anonymous) dilemma? Share it via the Financielle app community or email [e-mail] 💌You’re not alone in figuring this stuff out. Get honest, helpful reads at financielle.com 💖💸Connect with our Partners🐝 Consolidate your pensions with PensionBee (capital at risk)🫶 Protect yourself and loved ones with our friends at Lifesearch✍ Write a will that is tailored to you with Octopus Legacy🏡 Meet our Financielle approved Mortgage Brokers💸 Commission-free investing* with Trading 212 (capital at risk)🛒 Cashback on your shopping with Jam Doughnut (use code FINC)*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 with Finite Child. This is a safe space where we talk all things life and money and no topics are off limits. Good morning. Good morning. So usually we have a pre-chat before we sit down, but we've literally just sat down and I feel like we've not had our pre-chat yet. So I hope you both well. And I'm sorry for you all at home joining our pre-chat, but we're nice and cushy.

We've got our drinks, obviously. We were just talking about actually, whether we get financial microphones. Yes, and cups. Jacob just came in then and said, when are you getting your microphones? And actually we should. So tell us what you think we should, should we get a color?

Should we get a saying? Should we get the vault? Should we get financial? Yeah. What should we get? Dump him. Dump him. Red flag.

Red flag. Yeah. How many relationships have we broken, but also saved? Multiple of both. Double because if they're meant to dump him or dump her, we've said that before, then maybe it then produces a new relationship later. Yeah.

So it's not just the ones we've ended. We've like done that so that we've started new. Don't listen to this podcast if you're on the edge about ending your relationship, because there's a good chance by the end of it. Turn off now and save yourself. Just put your fingers in your ears. La la la la la la.

Also, we're no longer a money podcast, we are a hair podcast, because every single comment for the last three weeks has been what products are you talking about when it comes to color out? Can we have a hair tutorial from Lucy? This is not a finance question, but how did Lucy get her hair so bouncy

and shiny and beautiful? So we're no longer money influencers, we are now hair influencers. And I say we, I mean, Lucy. What do you reckon, Lucy? You could do a spin-off. Like, can you do some tutorials? Yeah, we could do a hair tutorial, definitely. I do you reckon, Lucy? You could do a spin-off. Can you do some tutorials? Yeah, we could do a hair tutorial, definitely.

I'll bring my tool in. Oh, so, okay, you gotta share a little bit then. Talk us through, just so that, give the people what they want. The tool is the GHD Rice brush, and it's like a hot brush, but it doesn't blow air like a Dyson. Okay, it's just-

Why is it blow? Nothing. Oh, it's hot. It's just, you blow dry your hair, and then you use the tool as if it's like a curler. But then you've got to do the scouse pin curls. You have to walk around like that for like 20 minutes minimum. So it's high effort.

No, but it's not high effort because then you have, it's done for like the next good few days. Okay. What do you pin with little crocodile clips or like? Just little Amazon. Yeah. Do you go to the shops? I can't ever do that.

No, I never leave the house with them. I've left the house with one roller. They are not true Scouse Girls then. Our Scouse Girl is like, absolutely not. She doesn't qualify. Yeah, I can't commit to like, going on the plane. She's a suburban Scouse. I was tempted to like going on the plane. She's a suburban scouse.

I was tempted to have one on the plane. I saw a girl's TikTok where she kept it in for dinner and didn't realize and all her friends just didn't tell her. So she's literally like eating sushi and she's got like one roll in at the front of her head. And then eventually halfway through the night, a friend just leans over while she's filming, just pulls it out.

And then the girl's like, it was worth it, look at it. And it's literally like the most beautiful bangs, do you call them, like the flaky things at the front. She was like, you did it right. Like you kept him for a good amount of time. Did they all agree not to tell her? Yeah, it was like when your friend turns up and they were like, oh, filming.

It was like, oh, hey, you look so cute. And she's like, oh, thanks. And then literally like an hour later. I saw on TikTok, I'm gonna say woman, cause she, girl, she was like our age. And she'd done the school room and she does the TikTok. She says, just come back from the school room. Come back from school one hour like this.

And she had, do you know her body, but she'd not pinned to the body. So it was dangling down at the front and the back. So I saw someone like that the other day and I thought that was the new trend. She didn't seem to think so. She just had forgotten to pop the poppers underneath your legs and pull her jeans up.

So she had jeans and an orange body suit, but it was just dangling. She looked like a baby when you were young. It was like a nappy, it gives nappy vibes. A girl had it and I thought, oh, that's a new. Should have told her. Yeah. Girl code.

Maybe she, yeah, but then I thought, imagine if I'm like, excuse me, and she's like, it's the look, like. Couldn't take the risk. They just get uncomfy after a while anyway. Yeah. I could never. Maybe she'd had a long day.

For the most uncomfortable thing. I could never. I don't even like to wear a swimming costume, so. I think I've got a really long body. Yeah, I do. Yeah. And then like the back, you look like a block because like from your back,

from your bum it just goes up. Yeah. It's not hugging two curves, it's like a straight back. Yeah. Us long girl, long bodied girls have problems. I've got a couple, I don't find them uncomfortable. Got a short body then. or a normal sized body. You see I have a long body.

It's a thing, honestly, it's a thing. It's very uncomfortable. Yeah, and you do like a belt or like a tight pair of pants if I'm wearing a body. Yeah. I haven't worn one in ages. So it doesn't ping. Yeah.

They were big in the nineties, like how mum used to wear one. I have vivid, sorry mum, but I have vivid memories of you standing in the bedroom like, like if you're not watching, watch. Trying to pop your poppers on your body. It's not a vibe, is it really? You don't want to catch someone walking in.

It's like when you go out in a play suit. Oh God. And you need to go to the toilet and all of a sudden you're like woman out of a bar with 500 people and the next time I'm naked, all my own in a cubicle, vulnerable, with my play suit around my ankles. I did it before in a play suit

where like the buttons are at the back, funny as well, so then you need help. You know, you just, if you don't plan it out and you're like, this was just the worst idea. I had a friend that got, went on a first date and got her knickers stuck in her, she had her zip up jeans up the back, like back in the day and her knickers got stuck in the zip up jeans,

and it was her first date, and she was stuck in the toilet waiting for anyone to come in and help her. And her first date is like sat outside, and she couldn't get it up, and she had to ask two women to help her. They had to go and get scissors. So her arse was out in the bathroom,

and the women had to like cut her out. So she was like, this guy's been sat there for like half an hour, can you pretend that like we've been talking in the bathroom and the women had to cut her out. So she was like, this guy's been sat there for like half an hour, can you pretend that we've been talking in the toilet so that we're friends? So the women came out and they're like, it was so good to see you. Whereas actually they just cut her out.

And her nipper's stuck in her jeans. Queens. That happened to be on my first date with Alex. I got locked in the toilet. Oh yeah. And I was in there for a solid like 10 minutes. He was like, what's she doing? She's locked in the toilet. Oh yeah. And I was in there for a solid 10 minutes. He was like, what are you doing? She's gone out the window.

Shout out to the IBS, Kayleigh. Yeah. And I had this big cut on my hand because I had to really try hard to get this door open. Yeah, it was chaotic. There was first aid and everything. It was your first day. You got all God cringe on your first day.

Can I have a plaster please? I love how in that moment the first day, you got all God cringe on your first day. Can I have a blaster please? Have some new underwear. In that moment, the biggest thing is you're stressed about what they think. I know. I'm not stressed about your own safety or wellbeing. You're like, what am I gonna say? Do you want that to be in your hand as evidence?

Yeah, I'm like, thank God. Thank God for the blood on the hand. I promise I wasn't having a poo. I promise. How do you say that on the first day? I promise I didn't having a poo. I promise. Like how do you say that on the first day? I promise I didn't leave. Yeah. I kind of thought you'd left.

I don't know, thinking that I've had a poo would be worse. Even though we all poo. Yeah, and then that would have caused me to leave. Slip out the door. Okay, I'm gonna go on to today's controversial opinion. You don't need a car upgrade when you're pregnant. This is divisive, I can't comment. This comes up so much in our community

or on Instagram comments as well when we're talking about cars and people are like, well, I'm having a baby so I need to get a five seater with a, do you know, have you ever seen the boots that you can close with your foot? Boom. No, they're like. You wait, there's a sensor underneath the car.

So if you've got- It's a much newer car than mine, I would never know that exists. Yeah, if you've got a baby, bags, but man or woman, you literally just wave your foot underneath the car and it's a sensor to open the boot. Do you know what I mean? Instead of having to put everything down

or juggling or whatever. So I don't know, I would buy one. If I ever had a baby again, I'd be like, we need that car. We need it, but I get it. It's like a nesting type thing. So like when people are had a baby again, I'd be like, we need that car. We need it, but I get it. It's like a nesting type thing. So like when people are having a baby and they need to nest in the house and need to make sure it's like clean and tidy

and we've got this and we've painted that bathroom that we should have painted five years ago. And I'm a week away from giving birth and it's like the one thing that I need doing in order for me to feel calm. I think people think if we get a family car, like it's a thing, like we need to make sure. I think people think if we get a family car, like it's a thing, like we need to make sure that it's accessible.

Cause I do get the, when you've got a kid in a baby car seat, the carrier that you have to put in the Icyfix and you're in a three door car, I get it can be quite difficult, especially if there's no kids parking spaces. Like I do get it, but some people end up taking on a lease for

however many years on a car that they would never have bought. Our argument is you would never have bought that car in cash, it's like a 30 grand car. You're about to have a baby, it's like a bougie purchase. Laura's like. Just gonna piss people off, so I'm just deciding whether to talk or not. I would say nine times out of a ten it's a self-indulgent

purchase that we build up an image of what we want to look like in our heads. And you'll have known my view if you've asked it before, so this hasn't changed, but the people cannot afford it, but want to live a bougie life and go, oh yeah, I need a four by four now. Four by four, I'm sorry, will you go off-roading?

To the co-op, if you're not off-roading. There are obviously some practical things, like I actually used to have a Volkswagen Beetle and a pram wouldn't fit in the boot. I actually downgraded my car. People upgraded, I downgraded to a Ford Fiesta at the time. So I still didn't go, I went for a five door, still didn't go for the big four by fours,

didn't go for the big show car, whatever, but I needed a car that a pram could go in. So I did change my car, but you wouldn't have called it an upgrade. So many people just, they see another mum do it and what do women do? We just love to look like everyone else. We love to look like each other. We love to follow trends. We feel like we've, you've accomplished something becoming the mom, like, you know.

It's like the picture perfect family, isn't it? To have the mom at four. We talked about the four by four, going to the football practice, you know, the soccer mom. And honestly, so many people spend so much money on cars they can't afford because they want to look a certain way. Like, someone was like,

oh, we're tall. And so we have to bend over to pick the baby out of the car. I'm like, why when the baby's on the fucking floor to bend over to pick the baby? Like, don't come at me with it. It's bad for the back. It's absolute bullshit. Like you want to look good. And that's okay. But let's call a spade a spade because what that helps you do is then understand pragmatically what you're prepared to pay. So when there's wants and needs, you then go, okay, what can we afford based on our wants and based on our needs?

Yeah, if you had a Fiat 500 and you're about to have a baby, you can't fit a prime in there. And you probably can't. No, you can't, and you probably can't easily get a baby out the back. Like you said, cause babies are backwards facing. It's not impossible. I've had friends that have three door cars

and all you do is you go in the other side. So like, so say you put the baby behind the driver's seat or by the other seat, you just go in the other side. It can be done. It's absolutely, you know, I've seen so many people do it. So many people compromise their financial progression because they want a look and that's different. And if you've got the money to have a look,

go get a nice look, go get that. Is it like a push present? Do you think it's a bit like that? Yeah, surely a push present is much more selfish, like a ring or a, I don't even know, like it used to be like handbagged in it or watch or this and the other, when you see it on socials.

Yeah. What would your push present be? Mom, my deal. Who's planning it? Birkin. No, Birkin. No, I think they're done now. Yeah.

I know, everybody else. 8 pounds. Can we talk about this? Why does everybody keep selling off their luxury handbags? Because you've seen the movement. Yeah, well, I think that there's a couple of reasons for this, I believe. One of them is you see more and more influencers, luxury influencers selling off their bags

because they're actually being sponsored by pre-love brands and stuff. So trying to show that you can upcycle, what's it called? Like the circle. It's like a loop, is it? It's like you can, it's sustainable and you're gonna be able to get some money for it and have someone else use it. And especially when the prices are just unbelievable. But yeah, I think there's been that.

I've seen some people sponsored by it. And some people going, oh my God, like, Liddy Millian's getting rid of this. It's like, funnily enough, she's getting rid of it, but she's also sponsored by the brand that resells them. So there's a, you know, take that with a pinch of salt. But also like, there was a lot of stuff post Trump Tariff and China fighting back and basically saying

that brand that you think is like an Hermes, I don't know if this came out about Hermes or not, but let's take any of them. Like you might take a Chanel, you might take a Mimi, whatever it is, that the majority of the bag is put together in a factory in China. Yeah, that's a lot. And they put like one clasp on in Paris and Italy. It's made in Italy, made in Paris.

And I don't know the exact brand they did it for, but it did poke fun and embarrassment at the luxury fashion industry a little bit, because it's gone a bit crazy. Some of the amounts of money that you have to spend to get a bag is just like next level. I got a lot of comments actually on my Instagram when I had my Mulberry Bays water and it's 20 years old. And it's a shame because I don't think in my head at the moment, I'm in a space where I want to buy a bag that then lasts 20 years. I don't think the quality is there. I don't think I like any enough. I don't think I'd want to part with the amount of money it takes now. So back then I, that was under 500 pounds,

I think maybe 500 for the base water. Mine was 400. I remember getting my chocolate one. Mine might have been cheaper because I got mine before yours. So look at 20 years ago, but it's not 100 years ago. It was, it was a lot of money, but it was achievable. It might have been like, I was 18, so it was like three paychecks of working in Topshop and saving it up and buying it. I don't know what an entry level mulberry is at the moment,

but I'm sure we're talking thousands. Well, yeah. They're making a bit of a resurgence actually, but I saw that about people, and a lot of people are being targeted as well for theft. I've seen a few people sell theirs because they don't want to be targeted anymore. Like the houses have been raided

because they show off that they've got like jewelry and bags and whatnot. So they, I saw a lady, I can't remember her name now, but she was heavily targeted. They got literally left, luckily they weren't there. When they came back, the house had been ransacked and she went on camera a few days later and she just said, what have I been doing?

She was like, I have been living a lot. Advertising. Well, just more so as well, I will never focus on things again. She was like, my whole personality has been like the new Prada bag, the new this and new that and then showing it off online. She was like, I don't care about those things.

She was like, the fact that my family, I could have put my family in that situation because I was advertising the fact that I had expensive things and that was important to me. She just kind of was like, my life's completely changed. I don't consider those to be important things anymore. So there's a lot of reasons, but I have seen a lot of people kind of going,

turning their back on really high end goods and selling them off. Especially like volume, like so many different ones. You know, like it's like a rite of passage to get, you know, the Chanel list, the mulberry this and I've been there. I definitely get it. The price is so, so high that it's, yeah, it's when people don't do it and they've got disposable income to do it. But if you put so much value in it, like, I can't, it's when people have like fake stuff, I always find it a bit icky. I don't find it icky because that,

let's call it Chloe flip-flops. I'm really sorry if anyone's got Chloe flip-flops, but that's what comes to mind because they say Chloe on. Yeah, because you can get them on holiday as well. But like shout out and they go, oh, hi, I've got Chloe flip-flops. And it's like, you want, the reason that you have had the Chloe flip-flops,

whether they are fake or whether they're from some Chinese websites, because you want people to see them. And I would just love to convince someone to say, honestly, some plain tan flip-flops, which are probably more old-worn anyway, is all you need. Some good quality, if you can, that will last year after year that aren't too trendy. Don't put value on the fact that they say Chloe. There's nothing wrong with branding and stuff, but I think I always want people to know

why you're really getting it to your point with that lady. I mean, it terrifies me when I hear about friends being broke into, when you're just worried about them. And like, it's happened in our village a little bit more recently. And people are a bit unsettled and the police can't do anything, like because they're not there at the time.

And once they've done it, they've done it and they follow up and do what they can. But it's just to require a reference number for your insurance. And actually, when it comes down to it, you want to be safe. Yeah, would you rather have the beacon like come and steal from me, like with the cars and stuff? So I'd rather like be a bit more under the radar and know and be bothered about what you possibly have in your house. I don't know how we went on such tangent, but yeah.

It's usually me. Like, what do we talk about? It was the car thing. Oh, yeah. It's just don't derail your journey. Yeah. That's like, it is a bit controversial. You can see it's like divisive and I've been direct on my response on it, but I just see

so many people go down a path, which is about how it looks and not necessarily, and like I said, we can convince ourselves of anything. So if you think you need a five-door. Electric. Oh yeah, electric, you know, electric, can fit a pram in, you know, whizzy car seat, go for it. You don't, but if you want to convince yourself of it, you'll believe it and you'll fund that.

And that's fine if it doesn't do really everything else, but hands up who's buying it cash because I'm positive you're not. Yeah. I feel like that's what you need on your mic. We can convince ourselves of anything. I think, at least once a month anyway. Did you say it to yourself?

Oh, I convinced myself of anything. I said this to my mum the other day. I was like, mum, we can convince yourself of anything. Did you say it to yourself? I convinced myself. I said it to my mum the other day. I was like, mum, you can convince yourself of anything. What did she want to buy? She wanted a new car. I was like, mum, you've got a new car a year ago. Jen, do you have a chair? She has a podcast.

Well done Lucy. I know I need a bit more detail. I might do a pod on tour at Jen's house. Like sit around the kitchen table, talk to her. When did you first have feelings that you wanted to buy a new car, Jen? What was it that prompted you to believe that you deserved yourself a new car?

She got one a year ago. Yeah, what? I know, Jen, I get her on the phone. Did she make a bad decision? Is it impractical, is it? No, she just gets bored. But what? Read a book.

Share only what you want to, because we are absolutely picking on your hairlies there. Picking on, we want some dirt on Jen. What was her reasoning? Because she wouldn't have said, I'm bored. There probably would have been a... Well, so she's recently moved to an automatic car, which is the first time she's had an automatic and she's basically got, she calls it a pencil sharpener car. And it's like, it's not got any of the good gadgets. Yeah. It's just like, yeah, it's basic. And she wants to go back to a manual.

I can never tell you that. Holly's like, all she would want is an automatic in a line. So she, so what's the gadget that she misses? I don't even know. You didn't get that far. She probably says it, but I don't gonna lie. So what's the gadget that she misses? I don't even know. You didn't get that far. She probably says it, but I don't understand it. Lucy's gone along like really supportive, no idea what she's talking about.

We can convince ourselves of anything. Yeah, literally. And when you said that to her, did it resonate? Yeah, I'm quite good. I'm like her voice of reason, because she is a spender. Okay. She has, well, growing up,

she was in so much credit card debt. You're her sponsor. Yeah. Yeah. The worst thing is, I was like, my background as a lawyer is, I can give it to myself if anything, and then convince other people that it's a good idea as well.

So I sabotage my sponsors, and so my poor husband's like, okay, what are we doing? I'm like, is it left, it's right, we're going left. No, no, because now we're going right, because this is the reason we need to go right, but now we're going left, because this is the reason we need to go left. He's like, is it left, it's right, we're going left. No, no, because now we're going right because this is the reason we need to go right, but now we're going left because this is the reason we need to go left.

It's like, yeah, sound argument either way, which one are we doing? So, oh well done. Say it with conviction, it's fine. Yeah. Okay, dilemma number one. Okay listeners, you know that here at Final Shell, we hold your hands through your money journey,

navigating life's ups and downs. It's rare that a money journey is linear. Big life events like babies, death or getting divorced can have huge implications on your financial health. But at what cost? Luckily, our friends at Pension B have the answers. Their Pension Confident podcast explores all of these topics and more. Each episode dives into a key personal finance question from what's the real cost of divorce to can you afford to have kids? The Pension Confident podcast is available right now

wherever you usually get your podcasts. And remember, when investing, your capital is at risk. First month without credit, please send help. I'm about to start my financial journey. I have put off worrying about my debt for so long, and it's now around 11,500 pounds. It has got to the point where it's keeping me awake at night. I'm most annoyed at myself for being so selfish

and spending money on things I didn't need instead of thinking about the stability of my family. I'm struggling to even make my first budget work. I'm still at minus 200 pounds in excess. So I really need to figure it out before payday. Any tips on surviving your first month without using credit would be so helpful. Thank you.

Oh, it's a newbie. I know. First of all, take a deep breath. You are not alone. We have had thousands of people come through our community in the same position, if not with more consumer debt. That's not the biggest amount of consumer debt I've ever heard.

And the fact that you've joined a community like ours means you're gonna come out of it the other side. So there are really good things to think about. Secondly, I hate that you feel that you've been really selfish, that you aren't looking at, that you haven't looked after your family, that you've made certain choices that you're regretful of,

but that is really easy to get into. It's so frictionless. If you've used things like buying a palator, we all know it. We've been on ASOS, you've been on, I know it's a Topshop then, RIP. It is on ASOS. Adidas website.

Did you just do a sign with a cross? I did, which reminds me of the girl we went down to London the other week in costume. She was making a ham and cheese panini and she dropped it on the floor. And she literally, if you're not watching, you need to watch on YouTube, she literally went, she dropped it on the floor.

And instead of picking it up like a normal person, she went and then. Like a priest would do, it wasn't just like a congregational. It was like RIP to the panini on the floor, anyway. RIP Topshop, but yeah, you've all been there, where you're being peppered with options. Your Instagram feed, we've all said it a million times before, is absolutely peppered with you to overspend, to impulse buy,

to buy into this influencer style life that is just unrealistic. And the only way you can fund it, because you can't afford it, is by credit. So to feel bad and to feel like you're the only one and to feel guilty, I get it, you're allowed your five minutes of feeling bad, but let's utilize that energy

that you're using on feeling bad into making some really good positive money habits and creating a budget is the perfect place to start, isn't it? Yeah, the budget is the first realization that we're using credit to fund basic lifestyle stuff. So when you do that first budget and you run out of money, so you put all your income at the top

and you allocate your fixed expenses, you've got your sinking funds, which in your first one are super lean, it's not like bougie ones, but as I always say, and we get asked this question all the time, which in your first one are super lean, it's not like bougie ones, but as I always say, and we get asked this question all the time, which makes perfect sense. If you're going to, what do you do? Do you build up your sinking funds yet?

And it's, yes you do, but only if you're definitely going to use them and try to keep them in as lean as possible. So you'll put a little bit of money away for Christmas, a little bit of money away for your annual car insurance, whatever these bits and bobs are, and then you flex your expenses. And what tends to happen is, in fact, I've never seen one that's accurate, that doesn't bust the first time. People haven't properly gone back and looked at what they actually spend. And so I do have that as a tip as well.

Have a look on your bank in the last month, the month before. You'll be shocked. You'll realize how much we spend on tap and go, takeaways, delivery. It adds up, cash here, cash there. It really, really does add up. And so usually people have balanced the budget, they've not been accurate enough and they've missed stuff and that's normal.

But more often than not, they then, for the rest, sorry, for the other people, they've not got any money left over. In fact, they've gone into negative. So her job is to get the first budget in a place where she can manage, where she's not relying on credit and she just balances it.

Like there might not be an excess that first month, which is quite demoralizing because the first step is to build an emergency fund. That's where things like selling on Vintage, selling on Facebook Marketplace, can you take, can you get, have you got any savings anywhere? Can you get a tax rebate that you might be due?

Can you take on some part-time work? Is the money from birthday cards hanging around the corner? Like whatever you've got, can you pull that together because you've no excess? And so it is really tough, but we've got the money MOT in the app, which is on the homepage of the app, and you go all the way down to the bottom

where the free eBooks are. That's a step-by-step thing that you can go, okay, mortgage and rent, how can I optimize this? Utilities, what can I do here? Bam, bam, bam, bam. You go all the way down and squeeze that budget as best you can. But the long and short of it is you need to, when you realize that you're funding your budget with credit, things have to go. You have to be brave enough to go, unless I'm bringing in more income, I can't afford these things. And it might be for a period of time, like for a season of your life, like we might have to

go without Spotify premium. Neil's still not canceled me off it by the way. I'm still waiting for the day that I have to step in. Every budget I go, we still pay 20 pounds for Spotify. Yeah, I'm waiting. And that's however many pounds. And I go, anyway. Yeah, keep going. I'm a parasite. But the sinking funds is actually really interesting because people might create their first few budgets based on how they were, you're right,

how they have behaved before. So I always get my nails done. I get my hair done. We go on holiday, we go on mini breaks. We have a bougie birthday. I always spend 250 pounds on my husband for his birthday. So you might be creating sinking funds based on past behavior.

That's so true. Now you have to create the budget as you've spent before. So it's bust, which therefore means, like Laura said, you don't have enough money to live that life for a period of time. We might be able to get you there in the future by being savvy, squeezing your expenses, having sinking funds, having emergency savings,

all those lovely things, but for the moment, that's not your life, so you have to then make some really difficult decisions about what sinking funds you're gonna put on the back burner for a while, and it probably will be the things that are not essentials. And I'm sorry, but having your head on a really expensive place as much as we all do that, but we've done the work to get here,

so we're allowed to have our hair done. And we've been there when you do a flaming home one on, or you have to stretch the time out and be more gray between them. And you have the root spray. The root spray, it's show me the sacrifice because you don't get anywhere without a bit of sacrifice. And actually, it's good for you though, isn't it?

When you go, look at me, I can. And you look forward to the day it comes back into your life. And it will, if you follow the methodology, you'll come full circle is what I'm trying to say. You will get back to living that life, but not as much. Like you say, I've got a sinking fund for clothes. I find it really hard to spend money on clothes because for so long, that was a thing when I was younger

that I used to spend money on and probably got me into debt that I would have put on credit cards. I did a fashion degree. I was surrounded by people that just spent money on clothes every day. So that was kind of like my hobby, my thing. I really struggle to do it now because I'm like, it has to be an investment piece.

I have to want to wear it. What would I rather spend money on? And my thing's now holidays and travel. So my money gets directed into those places. But I'll tell you what, if I had 11 grand debt, I wouldn't be going on holiday this year. Or if I would, it'd be a really small holiday in the UK for the weekend.

And the reason that I say that is because it will make you learn your lesson and that you will never want to get into debt again because you won't want to forego, you won't want to stay in the UK again over summer for another year, let me tell you. Because the sun ain't coming. Like, if it does, it's for one day.

You need to feel the pain. Not because it's like a punishment thing, just because it's a, it'll make you not wanna do it again thing, and it's lessons for life. Our whole thing is making positive money habits for life so that this doesn't happen again, and that your children watch how you interact with money,

and they have them positive money habits. So it's only a good thing. We compare it so often to a fitness journey and we are really, really into the gym and we're really into training. I'm really, really back into my training and loving it. It's bringing back a lot of early 20s memories of sports science study and recovery study.

And we as teenagers grew up on the running track. Tuesday night, Thursday night, in fact, it was, we used to do Monday and Thursday. We used to do Tuesdays, circuits, which is ironic because now we do that. And I don't think many of us would put our kids through actually what we did, but we learned so much, like, you know, doing really intense interval repeats,

like two to, sorry, 10 times 400 meters, and then some 200 meters, and then some 100 meters, pouring rain, hail storms. I had never put anyone through that. I hated it. I hate running to this day. Well, they could be circus. I think my point is that made you a better runner. You had to go through some pain. You can't turn up one day and go, I'm going to run really fast and really well and not get out of breath. And there's pain and hard work and grit that goes into anything worth having is hard, like an accomplishment, whether it's studying, like for a really big exam or test. Most people can't just

wing it. For the most thing worth doing that's hard, you grind it out, same with work, like when we're working towards a particular goal. And it's, when you get there and you're in a place of financial wellbeing and financial strength and financial confidence, it's not just because you woke up one day and went, ah, it's all all right. It's because you had to do the budget.

You had to do the numbers. You had to say no. You had to get around with your partner or your family. And go through suffering. It's really difficult to say no when you've said yes for so long but it's been funded by a credit, for you to suddenly turn around to friends and be like, I'd love to come on that girls trip but I can't. Super difficult.

To say it out loud, like admits there's a bit of a problem. But it's not a bad thing and we always say this, some friends might be like, I probably should say no too. But you're like, you need to be that one person. Oh, thank God. I have no money either, can we do it together? But first one, first budget is exciting. Do you know what I like is like,

she's like giving up to it. It's like the next payday, I'm ready to go. I mean, you can do it from now, you can do a mini budget. So I always say that to people, don't, that's like, my diet's starting on a Monday. Oh my God, yeah. I would love to have seen the blowouts that people had

before they do the first budget, knowing that they're gonna start budgeting. They've run up the debt more. Literally what do you do in that last two weeks? Like I'm desperate, because I know what I do when I'm gonna start eating well again on the Monday. Like it's fun. It is fun, I am not gonna deny it.

She's like, you know, we're at, if that, if it's like- She booked a holiday. If the new budget, she did a whole wardrobe on cloud. Capsule wardrobe, holiday booked for July. And now I'm gonna be savvy with my money. No, but it is, sometimes if you're early in the month and your payday is not a while off, you can in the app do a mini budget.

So it can be a weird one where if your bills have gone out and stuff, you can either go backwards and do a retrospective one. So people do that, they start as if they were paid, they accurately, they set a budget, they accurately track their expenses, they usually see that they're struggling. But otherwise, let's say you've got 400 quid left in your bank account for your free cash,

and you've got to let that last to the end of the month, do a mini budget for it. Yeah, 100%. Start now, don't wait. But good luck, and it's one of the biggest learning curves you have in this whole thing. You can nail this bit. It's with three months before you do it as well.

You won't nail it. You'll get it wrong. You'll forget something. You'll have, well, we have weaknesses every month. So it's very, very normal, but you'll get there. It gets easier. First one's your hardest, I think. Drop it in the community as well.

Like everyone is in there doing exactly the same thing. So you're not on your own doing this. I feel like we need a community win jingle from now. Okay. So let's all say it together. Three, two, one. Community. Oh, sorry.

I was literally like, I'm reaching. Have you done it in the past where you've rapped one? Do you remember? Yeah, I remember that. I thought you were going to sing this one, sorry. I was waiting with bated breath. I was literally. So she wants us to sing community win after three. Don't know the tune.

Everyone improvise. One, two, three, three. Community win. Oh God in heaven. Hope no one had that on loud. That was a lot of different notes. Was it? I didn't notice.

That was a lot of different notes. Was it? I didn't notice. Thank you for being such an inspiration. I'm still in the debt payoff part of the process, but I've started my career girl era. We are leveling up. I'm taking everything I need from my employer, the awards, the positive reviews, the training, the courses, the networking opportunities, and planning my escape to a higher paid role. I've had to move on to the lemonade lifestyle

to pay off this debt. And it is as it isn't where I want to be. I love it. She's like, queen. I love it. Planning her escape. Career girl era. Career girl era, but the love that she's like,

and that's what you should do. And I arguably think my friends in HR would be like, I would love it if an employee was like utilizing all the benefits that I worked so hard to get. What training portal are we all talking about? Some poor schmuck of a manager's like, oh my God, this person is amazing. They're working so hard.

They're throwing themselves into everything. Why can't you be more like Shelly? Shelly's amazing. this girl is so amazing. And I've had an aneurysm. Yeah. It's how it goes. Shelly's plotting. I've seen Shelly's, Lucy's like,

I don't know what you're talking about because she's only ever worked with us, but there are Shelly's out there and you can see them. And I feel like we've been them where you're like- Oh, Team Shelly. Where you are career girl era, she's right, climbing that ladder, you've got your eyes on the prize, you put your hands up for projects

that come up in a meeting, you get the work done, you contribute positively as a team, you might mentor a new person, you are doing all the training, like, yeah, she is giving career girl vibes and she will get rewarded for it. So many people coast, right? And listen, there's different like,

I've said this already on this podcast, I'm sorry, but there's different seasons of our life. And I remember at different points in my career, you might switch off a little bit, you coast a little bit. Like sometimes I've been disengaged with an employer and I've been frustrated about something. In fact, like I hated works with an Ironman. I was like, have you not happy

with it? If you don't have any- How can I distract myself? Yeah. But it is that something, and I think it might be that you are like a returning parent and actually you want to channel energy into being that available, fresh for your children, fresh for your family home. You might be into sport, you might want to travel, whatever it is, you're okay. But if you're in your career girl era or career guy era, you have to go all in. And I have been privileged enough to be in some very senior boardrooms, way, way more experience and exposure to some really, really intelligent and sometimes

not so intelligent people. And what you see is the people like the bosses and the boards and the big guys and girls, they're not extra special in this way because of intelligence or because of years of experience. Sometimes they've just been a doer or gone that little bit of extra. And it doesn't mean you have to flog yourself, but you do have to work hard and you do have to like overachieve sometimes, but it's not that hard. And we would have sometimes like projects

that would need doing, initiatives that would need doing, and the table would turn around and go, well, who could do that? And we're talking big businesses, they could still only name a handful of people. It's not always the most intelligent and it's not always the ones with the most experience. If you've got a can do attitude,

if you're throwing yourself into everything, if you're listening and you're learning and you're developing yourself, you will stand out very easily. And so you do have to grab every opportunity with two hands because whether it's at that business or whether it's somewhere else, if there's a company giving you development, take it.

Laura's right, sometimes, I think you said it before, it's not that hard to stand out because so many people coast. If you just give a little bit of effort, even into one aspect of your job, you can probably stand out a mile because so many other people are coasting, you just don't realize it.

And you can sometimes win on personality. Like Laura said, it's not about, sometimes about intelligence. If you're a people person, you can get people on side, that's half the battle. And you can move projects on quickly because you're a team player and people like you and you're personable and you're not like a,

I don't know, like you can win on personality. I think. And like, so, you know, your personality might be the, like a quiet introvert that gets things done, builds relationships, but might not be the loudest, like, that's okay. You might be a really good negotiator. You might get people on side. You might be quite savvy and commercial and, you know, let people talk about you. Let people think that, oh, you're volunteering for something else again. Let them, because half the time they're jealous.

They won't do it. But, you know, it isn't always, you said, the most like well-rounded person. I mean, that's a bit wrong. That's wrong. I mean, she was really good to be an all-arounder. But I think back to things like our friends got a boss who's the owner and CEO of a like floated business, very, very successful. His dyslexic.

He doesn't write emails. His business is run on WhatsApp. If someone sends him a voice note, it's not allowed to be longer than 30 seconds. So I've been talking to her really quick when she's just doing a voicemail on this because she's just doing voicemails to her boss because she has to do it really, really quick.

But he says, I will stop listening at 60 seconds. And what he's doing there, he's got confidence in himself. That's how I operate is not being a, I was always swearing I was going to say it, he's not being that or being difficult even, but that's how he's got ahead. Like he's played his own game, but he, I don't know him personally, it's a really weird thing for me to say, like it's not the cleverest person, he was obviously very intelligent, but people just get ahead by backing themselves and leaning into their strengths. It's not that hard to stand out because so many of the people are lazy.

Lazy, not even average, they're lazy. So then your average people are doing all right. And then your two or three people. You try a little bit harder, you're probably gonna stand out. Dead easy. I feel like it's like a flower, like a little flower.

You put your head above the parapet. What's a parapet? It's war. It's war. A parapet, is that not like in war? Lydia, what does it mean to put your head above the parapet? It's war. It's war. A parapet, is that not like in war? Lydia, what does it mean to put your head above the parapet? Cause I've said that before and I'm not confident I know why I've said that.

Cause I feel like it's like a poppy or a tulip that like sticks the head up above. It's not hard to shine. Yeah, yeah. Like you're, yeah. And I love that you're like labeling it career girl era. Cause it's like a bit of a commitment. Not like she's in you decide.

I'm gonna try it when I'm at work. Not forever. She said the ways in like she's using you decide. I'm gonna try harder at work. Not forever. She said the ways in which she's gonna do it as well. She's already identified like, I'm gonna do courses, I'm gonna do the actual learning modules, I'm gonna go for awards, like all those things. I do think like, as in my experience, women aren't as strategic about it

and I wish people were smarter, not harder with that as well. So yeah, doing the courses of things that you're interested in, but they can like play a game of chess, not checkers, it's not volume. It's not about doing more work necessarily. You should do more work, but you don't have to do the most.

It's quality over quantity. It might be like doing the course in AI because let me tell you, like no one understands it and to know it would be helpful. But it might also be like, you know, if presenting is part of your job, like investing in time and, you know, doing toast busters or getting confident

or volunteering for the next thing to present because communication skills are so important in business. Be like work smart and not harder because it is a game of chess, not- Don't be chained to your desk till 10 o'clock at night because your counterparts might not be doing that. Like Laura said, work smarter. There might be just one thing that will stand you

above everybody else. We're not saying like work till your death. But soak it up and take your opportunity. And I really enjoyed Emma Greed's recent like running around podcast. And it's the same story. And I want a bit more from her, to be honest. I'm like, it's the same rinse and repeat story.

But what she talks about, and I think this is really interesting because we have a community. She talks about the fact that women love community and to network, but they don't utilize their network. So she's got very good at building a network, but leveraging it when she needs it. And sometimes like I cringe when my husband will ring someone on his phone book that knows something that could help us do something. You're like, we needed help with a particular element of website. And he's like, oh, I've got like a developer friend, like, let's call now.

And I'm like, oh, well don't, it might be busy. And he's like, no, no. The man just goes, yeah, I know a guy, let's ring him. I just think sometimes we're like a bit more gentle with it. And I'm agreed with saying like, she's not, she doesn't network, she leverages her network. And one's a noun and one's a verb, I think. I've said it really quickly so much on Switch, but.

Yeah, my husband just picks up, if he needs something, he'll just pick the phone up from someone that he's not spoke to for three years. Where should we be like, oh my God, I've not spoke to her. I'm not gonna say she's had two babies, I've not said anything like. I would rather die. I don't think I replied to her last message.

Yeah. Yeah. I left her on read. Then you need something, God forbid you need something. But why don't we? I am, sometimes I've thought about that and I've thought about telling my friends, I'm sorry I'm just being that person that rings you now.

If you're not free, it's fine. But like, I'll be like, I'll just text her cause she might be busy. Yeah, sometimes I do the like preamble text that's like, hey, how are you? What are you up to? Da da da da da. Can I borrow your dress?

And then two days later, then you're like, oh, can I just, we're all guilty of it. And it happens to me and I'm like, I know what you're doing and it's fine. You wish actually someone had just rung you and gone, can I? When Emma Greed said that on the podcast, I was like, I think women do do that.

I think I do that. And it doesn't mean that you have to be more like a man or whatever, but I'd love to hear male feedback on that as well, like, do you think we're different? I was like, I think dad would be the same. But dad would just ring someone. But mom wouldn't. No.

She's just, come on guys. It gives me anxiety when someone's like tiptoeing around something. Yes. Like, just say it like. Are you gonna tell me something bad? You'd rather just come out and be like, Lydia, do you know, can I just?

And I don't mind when people, so I screen my calls because my number is on so many different things because of like media work and tech and there's lists that people have my number, it drives me not so much to change my number. So I screen every call, like I don't answer them and like radio and people will leave a voicemail or ring them straight back.

Anyone in my life rang me, if I'm not free, I don't pick up. If I'm free, I do pick up, I really don't mind it. And so I do always tell people to do that. I'm like, ring me, if I don't pick up, I'll ring you back. But I do think, yeah, there's this, get shit done.

Yeah. Oh, another tangent, doing well today. Stick with us. I think we've got another time that we may be able to find out what parapet is. Oh yeah, like a little wall. Like, so like, head above the parapet. Was it in the wall or the war?

It's a wall. I thought you said war. I did. Oh, you did? I think it is a war thing. Yeah. But that you, like, you know. Being brave enough to stick your head.

It sounds dangerous, to be honest. I think, I think, don't stick. It's being brave enough to stick your head. But. It sounds dangerous to be honest. I think don't stick. It's a flower, I'm like, it's war. It's a war, parapet means a war. Yes. Don't put yourself into a position where you could get shot. It's like a bravery thing, isn't it?

Putting your head above the parapet. Be brave, put your head above the parapet. Wear a helmet. It is a saying for being brave. Okay. It is, I for being brave. Okay. It is. I've always said it. Didn't know what it meant.

Now I think I'm just coming to be able to put them aside on a suicide mission. To be safe in war. If you'd like to tell us your win, head to the community in the app or email it to the vault at financial.com. Okay. Time for our next dilemma. I've worked so hard to get debt free. Now I'm scared of blowing my inheritance.

So far, it's taken me two years to get debt free from around 7K in consumer debt. I'm currently a few hundred pounds off my 5K savings target, which has taken me about 18 months. I'm 37 in a single income, no kids household, renting my one bedroom flat. I have an old car and live a non expensive lifestyle with the occasional holiday. I work in the NHS and pay into my pension at a rate of 8.3%. I've had to reduce my hours recently from 37.5 to 30 hours a week. As I suspect I'm neurodivergent and have had to admit working full time is not an option.

I'll be having an ADHD assessment soon. We lost my granddad earlier in the year and will be receiving a substantial amount of inheritance. I don't have a plan. It may be in the region of £25,000 to £35,000 or more, but I won't know until the house is sold as the amount is based on percentages in the will. I'm really worried about blowing it as I have an impulse spending problem or not doing enough right with it. Where should I keep it as the ISO limit is 20k per year? Are there other savings account you can recommend? Can I top up my pension because of my reduction in hours? I'd also love to book a holiday as life has been tough. My second car is also on its way out and might need replacing in the next few years.

Is there a plan for receiving a large sum of money or any advice you can give me? First of all, well done. Yeah, paid off debt. Built up savings. She's got five, did you say? Yep. I don't want to feel like, oh, I'm so hopeless at money

because you're obviously not. You've done really well. You've done a two-year debt-free journey. Two you're obviously not. Like, you've done really well. You've done a two, she's had a two year debt-free journey. Yeah, two years debt-free. Yeah, manages to go on holiday, is paying into a pension. She's nervous, isn't she? Especially when the money for a legacy left from her relative

is just this weird pressure to it, especially with someone who's struggled with money. Cause she's never, it doesn't sound like during this past two to three years, she's had a lump sum. She's ground it out. She's done the, you know, excess every month from your budget, put it towards things. So it must be quite scary to suddenly feel like it could slip through your fingers and not only you'd waste it necessarily, but like out of respect for your granddad.

Your granddad's obviously left you all a great gift. Yeah, but I think we always talk about when, if you're coming into inheritance or a large sum of money, like having a plan is the best thing. And you've already mentioned a couple, but not being too stressed and not having a huge list, because that money goes quite quickly, even though it feels like a lot of money

with the things that you've mentioned. It's gone. Like you've effectively spent it already and I get it because I would be the same. We always talk about Laura says, if I'm going to give you 10 grand tomorrow, what are you going to do with it? And I know exactly what I'm going to do with it.

And it's kind of gone and spent. But not just that, it should be the same that you're doing now. So you, let's go with this is going to be 25 grand. If she gets 25 grand in lump sum or she gets 25 grand in like 12 and a bit, two grand payments in terms of excess, making out, but she needs to do the same thing with it because it shouldn't be, oh, I'll treat myself. And when she says I deserve the holiday, I'm like, oh, just like wind down. Because

what people do is the equate bonus lump sum win with, oh, so then this is a normal money treat and I deserve it. And that's the mentality that she kind of has to shut down. You deserve a holiday anyway. Everyone deserves a holiday. And so we wanna work travel into our budget, whether it's a UK travel, whether it's a city weekend break that's a budget, or whether it's more extensive travel plans. We've said that a lot, especially to those people that have been on really deep,

definitely journeys and free quality and stuff. Travel should be, if you want to go on a holiday, which she does, it should already be in the budget because she's got a five grand, which sounds like a good emergency fund, maybe she wants to get more, and she's debt free. So she shouldn't wait for a lump sum to then blow it on a holiday.

She should work backwards and go, I'd like a holiday. Okay, what would I like? What sinking fund do I need to build up? Let's put it in the budget now. So I definitely would recommend coming out of this, like treat myself mentality. Same with car. Let's pretend this money isn't coming.

Do you need a car? If you do, what type of car do you need? How much does it cost? And what do you need to put into your new car sinking fund to save up for it? And I think for things that you say you need, you have to go in that order. You can't be like, right, I've got 25,

let's do a five grand holiday, let's do a 10 grand car, right, we've got 15 left. It's just not the right way around. And you can do it that way, but you will spend it all and you're not doing it in order. This is where the playbook comes in. The playbook is an order of things. And so this helps you with any sum of money that you come into, whether it's 225 grand

or whether it's 25 grand or whether it's two and a half grand, have you got a mini emergency fund which one month's expense is minimum, then are you debt free? And I think she's passed with those two. So the next one would be a large emergency fund. You need to pick the right amount for you, you're going to be reducing your hours. What's your minimum expenses for like three, six, 12 months? Pick a number around there. And I suspect for most people that would come under 20. So that might be your ISA mentally. So it might be, she's already got five, let's put 15 of it into an ISA. And when you're worried about an impulse spending problem, that's your emergency fund. You're not spending that money.

No, it's not for anything. Nope. It's been locked away. So you put that away. So then you were in build and so we're in to buy a property and big life goals. So I would say the car upgrade and the holiday come into our big life goals section. So again, put it in the budget, don't necessarily, you might end up doing this, when you first working out, work out the figures and put it in your budget.

And the other element to this would be deciding whether she does or doesn't want a home. Cause if she wants a home, to me, it feels like the remainder of that money would be really good suited there. I think pension, again, it's not a judgment on whether you should or shouldn't, it just doesn't come yet.

Extra contributions don't come yet. Even though she's on reduced hours, I still think she's got to build her emergency fund. And if she wants a home, that's the time to do it. If she doesn't, then we look at those big life goals and we look at holiday and we look at car and see how they can fit in our sinking fund basis. And then you're in Grow. So Grow is paying down your mortgage if she's got one.

She doesn't sound like she's got one, but it's investing in the market. And that's what you'd look at maybe a SIP. So outside of your NHS one or in the NHS one if you wanted to add extra in there. But this really helps, especially if you, it helps if you've got any impulsive spending problems for a plan, as you said, Holt, we found people with neurodivergent tendencies,

whether diagnosed or not, really benefit from Playbook. Because you know what, it takes away the decision. You don't have to be like, oh, today I want this, tomorrow I want this, and you, you know, overthinking. What's the rules? What's the rules? And I'll follow them step by step. I really like the holiday thing

because a lot of people might go, oh, I've come into 25 grand, so I'm gonna have a five grand holiday. Whereas actually- Nice round number. I should see what I did there. If you're doing it with like a sinking fund, they're like, okay, where do I wanna go?

Like, oh, what is my budget? Like, if you do it as a sinking fund one, you don't just splurge five grand on a holiday. You might just go, I'm gonna do 300 pounds a month for the next 12 months and that's gonna get me X. So I think it's a really good way of looking at it. I actually didn't think about it like that.

Yeah, it's so often I've heard that, especially when people have lost someone, I hear them say, we need to go on a holiday. And I absolutely get it, especially if depending on the circumstance, depending on the relative grief, the stress that you've been through, whether someone's been poorly, whether it's been sudden,

whether you feel you want to get away, it's very, very delicate. But it's when she kind of says like, I deserve it and I have an impulsive spending problem, you have to connect those two things and go, like we said earlier, we'll convince ourselves of anything. And I agree, I think when you've gone through that, it's a lovely thing to be able to go

and get some R&R somewhere. But you deserve a holiday anyway. Anyway. So it should be in your budget. Just because it's Tuesday or Thursday. Debt-free, like Laura said, emergency fund. Why is holiday not in your sinking fund? Don't wait.

Because everyone will wait for a big bonus to come or an inheritance. It might never come. And you never went on the holiday. You never learned how to pay for a big bonus to come or an inheritance, it might never come. And you never went on the holiday. You never learned how to pay for a holiday. And I think that you don't mention this, but I did allude to it. It's always pressure when we've been left a legacy.

So often people are really worried about doing the right or wrong thing. And that's probably the scared, I'm scared about what could happen. Like she also says, where else could I put it in? I think it sounds like once you've put it in an ISA, you don't need anywhere else anyway, but the next best place is just a high yield savings account

and getting it in a good place. And don't forget, I mean, we're obviously well into the year now, but the next tax year you can then put it in. The other caveat to this all is being brave to wait. So if, whenever people come into inheritance or a life insurance payout or stuff like that, we always say, breathe.

Don't let it burn a hole in your pocket. Nothing is on fire. You have a budget that you can live off, you have no debt and you have an emergency fund. So if you don't wanna do anything for a year and you wanna just park as much of it as possible into an ISA and then everything else into a high yield savings, do it.

Don't put it anywhere where you can access it easily if you are an impulsive spender because I can guarantee it'll be like, not twindled. Say you sell the deadline, not touching it for a year. I'll put that meal on it, I'll buy that coat on it. Oh no, it'll go, it'll go, it's there, it's waiting. A week enter it and by the time you come back to it,

to do something proactive with it, when you finally decided and it's trundled down by the couple of thousand, it could be at least. It could be a family member that she trusts, that's accountable. I don't like the idea of giving money to family ever, but telling someone in your life that you've got this. I mean, if the family are getting it,

you know, it would be a bit nosy anyway, probably. But yeah, being very mindful of not dipping into it like it's a slush fund. That's why, that's why wait if you're overwhelmed, but if you like the idea of following the playbook, follow the playbook, cause by the way, as part of that, the money's still there. It's just in your emergency fund

and you're not allowed to touch it. On the inheritance point, I remember, and we talked about the dwindling and the like, tap, tap, tap, cause it can just go on a normal budget. A girl in high school, so it would, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap,

tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, friends. I buy an endo. I go cash machine. I'm like you're 11. And she just draw out cash and she'd be like buying sweets for you and chocolate for you and clothes for you. And this and the other impressive boys like I remember it. And it got to the point where they were like standing behind her at the cash machine. I heard a story and they were just taking cash out the cash machine. She was giving people money and it was in the thousands and she literally spent it within like six weeks. So that's like a really obviously skewed version,

but that it can just dwindle. So just make like, don't let it burn a hole in your pocket, but also don't just let it sit around and get caught up in your current account and like actually do something with it. So it's locked away if you're an impulsive spender and you recognize that in yourself, which is good that you even noticed.

But if you can manage five, you can manage 25 more. Yeah, same principle. I think you're better at this than you think after what you've done. I think it's because it's such a volume and you've not had to grind it out. But five sat there and you're not touching it in an irresponsible way. So back yourself a little bit as well and be brave. I like that. That's all for this episode, The Vault is now locked. And just to quickly say, The Vault is just a chat around life and money topics.

We are not giving financial advice.