Do you know that feeling when you're standing in a shop, card in hand, telling yourself you'll figure out how to pay for it later?
I do. I lived in that moment for years.
My journey into debt began in 2018. I was four years into building Be United, the charity I'd founded, but it wasn't yet taking off. My income was sporadic. I had a small amount coming in from a rental property, but living in Edinburgh it never quite felt like enough.
A friend and I went to a property seminar one weekend with big dreams and small budgets. . We were hoping to learn something that would change things. That weekend I was introduced to credit cards and the supposed ‘power and freedom’ they offered.
I applied for a card, was approved. And just like that, a whole new world opened up.
I could walk into shops and buy without much thought. So I did. We were in our "fake it till you make it" era, except I was faking my ability to spend and the debt that I was building was very, very real.
It spiraled faster than I was aware. One card maxed out, so I got another. Nights out, everyday expenses, costs for the rental property I couldn't cover, all of it went on the cards. I took out a loan to consolidate the debt, then found myself building the card balances right back up again. I was trapped in a vicious cycle I couldn't break.
What should have been a blessing, owning a commercial property with a tenant, became a burden because of my spending habits and complete lack of money management.
Can you relate to the feeling of getting deeper and deeper into a hole with no idea how to climb out?
Looking back now I realise it was a combination of things. The debt trap, yes. A lack of knowledge, absolutely. But more than anything, it was because I was ignoring two fundamental principles of money that I didn't even know existed at the time.
The two principles that changed everything:
1. Spend less than you earn.
2. Pay yourself first.
As simple as those two sentences are to write, they are not easy to implement.
I was spending more than I was earning every single month. No matter how much I paid towards the debt I was never actually making headway because I kept spending more than I had coming in.
Plus I was paying out all my bills and expenses first, leaving nothing for myself. Which meant when unexpected costs came up, like repairs on the property, I had no buffer and was back to relying on the credit card.
I'm not sure when my desire to become financially savvy began, but at some point I had had enough and I started learning. It took me years to actually change my habits and make better spending decisions. Learning about en eventually following these two basic but powerful principles was the beginning of me changing my financial life.
If you feel totally trapped by money, debt, or the lack of it, try with everything you have to implement these two principles NOW.
Start with principle one. Track what you actually spend for one month. All of it. Then compare it to what you earn. If you're spending more than you earn, you will never get ahead. Find one thing to cut or reduce. Just one. Start there.
Then principle two. Pay yourself first. Even if it's £10 a month transferred into a separate savings account the day you get paid, before you pay anything else. Build the habit of keeping something for yourself. That buffer is what breaks the cycle.
Change isn't fast and it's definitely not easy. The steps we have to take to manage our money are simple, yes. Easy, no.
It's March now. We're three months into the year. Let's not waste the next nine with habits that do not serve us. Imagine what you could create in your financial life by the end of this year just by implementing these two principles. There is no time like the present.
Your friend in finance, and always believing in you,
💛 Emma
P.s. How does your money life feel right now? I'd love to know where you are at.
