Charlotte Taylor had never been a saver. A lover of designer clothes and shoes, meals out and nice cars, it appeared as if she had “loads of money”, but it was a different story behind the scenes. Everything she was earning, she would spend. Then, in 2017, it all changed. “I split with my partner, I changed careers, came out of my business, lost my flat, all around the same time. It made me suddenly go: ‘Oh my god, I’m 40 and I’ve got no money, nothing. Where do I go from here?’”
That moment marked the start of a new financial journey for Taylor. “I started saving. I’d had really good money previously – I would buy things like Jimmy Choo shoes, eat out in restaurants three nights a week, I had an interest-only mortgage, a nice car, all the trappings of looking like I had loads of money and I actually didn’t. Now, everything’s different. I’ve got a little electric car, I buy discounted stuff. I just feel completely different, I feel like I left all that consumerism behind and I’m much happier for it. I have more financial freedom.”
