I’m finally cash savvy at the so-called ‘financial maturity’ age of 31… but still have the odd dotty moment
WE reach so-called financial maturity at the age of 31, but are at our most carefree with cash when 22, a study has found. Here, Fabulous Daily Editor Joely Chilcott reveals her own financial journey. MY relationship with money has always been turbulent. There’s been shopping splurges, unnecessary rounds of drinks and an Uber bill […]
WE reach so-called financial maturity at the age of 31, but are at our most carefree with cash when 22, a study has found. Here, Fabulous Daily Editor Joely Chilcott reveals her own financial journey.
MY relationship with money has always been turbulent.
There’s been shopping splurges, unnecessary rounds of drinks and an Uber bill that still sends shivers down my spine.
But now, at 31, with a mortgage, a car and a savings account, I suppose I have reached a financial maturity — of sorts. The biggest shift of all when it comes to my bank balance has been my attitude to money.
Where once the food in the family fridge was a given, I have learnt to appreciate the value of money — and just how expensive life can be.
There have been certain “money milestones”, both good and bad, that aren’t taught in classrooms.
After landing my first part-time job at the age of 16, as a Christmas temp at New Look, I received my first wage slip. It was for about £220, but to me it could have been a million quid.
What would I do with all that money? Go straight to Topshop and buy a pair of Chelsea boots for a cool £95, that’s what.
When the money ran out by the end of the week, I soon realised there wasn’t a bottomless pit now I was a working woman.
And after a stern talking-to when my dad had to fork out to fill up my car so I could get to work, I realised I shouldn’t blow it all on impulse purchases, no matter how much I loved those boots.
My penchant for a pretty dress, new-season coat and must-have handbag has never left me, but the splurge urge happens less frequently now I have bills to pay. Slowly, but surely, I started to take more responsibility for my money.
I took over paying the mobile- phone bill and car insurance — now THAT was a shock to the system. Plus paying for that rite of passage, the first girls’ holiday abroad.
As typically skint students, living on a diet of baked beans at uni, occasionally splashing out on a Domino’s at 3am, the price of food became all we could talk about.
Suddenly, my parents’ full fridge was treated with the utmost respect when I went home in the holidays — ketchup doesn’t come cheap.
At 22, I had graduated, moved back home and begun internships during the week and working at weekends.
This is the age when we are supposed to be the most reckless with money — and I can vouch for that.
It was a year of work hard, play hard. With no real responsibilities and minimal rent to pay, I splashed out on big nights out.
But I soon realised, if I ever wanted to move out of home, I would have to start saving.
When I took my first step on the career ladder at The Sun, I opened a savings account and set up a standing order. It wasn’t a lot but it was something.
And that something turned into the rent for my first London flat, which brought with it serious financial maturity. I could no longer be the one in the bar shouting: “Get another bottle!” Not when I depended on that money to keep the electricity going.
Moving in with my boyfriend wasn’t just a big step for our relationship, but for our finances too as we set up a JOINT bank account.
After a year in a cramped one-bed flat in North London, I decided to focus on saving again — scrimping all the money I could each month to watch the figures slowly build in my savings account.
Moving out of London and getting a mortgage 18 months ago was surely peak adulthood. Things had got serious. But it’s not all been plain-sailing.
Last December, at age 30, I might have knocked back the wine a little too easily — as I stayed out past the last train home.
And this might have resulted in getting an Uber taxi, ignoring the warnings of a hugely inflated surcharge and spending the next morning crying with a thumping headache and a £195 bill.
I also lost my debit card twice last year, as I was seemingly happy to literally throw money away. I am by no means rolling in it, nor have lots to spend at the end of each month, but I have learnt what I can and can’t afford. And with a wedding to save for, like many my age, I need to be even more careful.
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I still spend a shameful amount on eating out and don’t bring lunches to work — I know it would save money — but I do have a pension plan, buy cleaning products and stock up my Boots advantage cards points.
Being financially mature doesn’t mean boring, it just means knowing how to spend wisely.
And, yes, I do believe the latest £34 Charlotte Tilbury foundation is a wise investment for my face.
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