Sara Davies is now worth a staggering £37million - but that doesn't stop her being 'tight' with money.
The popular Dragons' Den star, who thrilled us during last year's series of Strictly Come Dancing, built up a crafting business from her university bedroom.
But the 38-year-old from County Durham is still a down-to-earth Northern lass at heart and wants to make sure her kids are not brought up to be spoilt.
Spotting a gap in the market for an envelope-making tool for card makers, Sara invented one named The Envelope with the help of her engineer Dad and started turning over £500,000 by the time she graduated..
Sara founded a retail business specialising in crafting, Crafter's Companion, which now turns over £34 million a year, exports to more than 40 countries worldwide and employs more than 190 staff in UK, the US and across Europe.
Her rise to fame and fortune has been meteoric, but Sara's feet are definitely still firmly on the ground as she refuses to buy smoked salmon unless it's on offer in the supermarket
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Sara, who built up her business from savings of only £5,000 has confessed she can be very cautious with cash, but thankfully that has not stop her from making a lot of big investments in the Den.
When a doctor advised her to lose weight after having gestational diabetes in her pregnancies, she booked and paid for a trainer for three mornings a week for three months in advance.
"I'm too tight not to turn up for something I've already paid for," she explained.
Sara has admitted her shopping habits crack up her mates, who can't believe she doesn't just splash the cash more often.
“Growing up, if something was reduced with a big sticker on it in Asda, we would call it a ‘whoopsie’," explained Sara to the Sunday People in 2020.
"Smoked salmon was my mum's favourite thing but in our house we would only ever buy it if it was 'on whoopsie' and greatly reduced.
"I grew up thinking smoked salmon was as luxurious as it gets in the food market. To this day, with all the money I have, I will only ever buy smoked salmon in the supermarket if it is on offer.
"To me it is a luxury. It’s how I’ve been programmed – we grew up with very little money. Friends think it’s hilarious."
The mum-of-two wants to keep her kids grounded and still takes her kids, Oliver and Charlie, on camping holidays like she did as a child.
"When I was younger, we couldn’t afford to go abroad for our holiday," explained the Dragon. We didn’t even have a caravan, we used to take one of my dad's vans from work and put our tents out the back.
"So while I want to give my kids experiences we didn’t have I also believe the camping holidays made me the grounded person I am and I want my kids to have those experiences."
However, Sara has said she does tend to take it to the extreme - once going straight from a live TV interview to a cmaping trip.
She added: "I did an interview at This Morning last year then got a train to the Lake District. Mum and Dad picked me up at Windermere train station with the kids.
"They'd set up camp in a camper van with an awning. Dad, not thinking, parked the van on a hill and hadn’t checked if the awning was waterproof.
"I was lying there at three in the morning with drips of water hitting my head, whilst the kids kept rolling down inside their sleeping bags, and I thought, 'This is ridiculous. I wanted them to have the experience, but this is taking it too far.'"
Sara, who has been married to husband Simon since 2007, credits him with helping co-found her thriving company, which now turns over £34million a year
On the secret to their lasting romance, Sara said: "I would say we’re still as madly in love today as we were 22 years ago. We have this deep-rooted respect of each other and the role we play in our relationship. I idolise the ground he walks on."
Sara has explained what she loses in quantity in terms of time with her children she makes up for in quality, but she doesn't always agree with Simon on how to raise their boys.
"My husband Simon wants to give the kids the things we could not have - but I want them to have the experiences we did have," she said on Loose Women.
While her children will have to work for their pocket money, they receive more than she did because of their impressive negotiating skills.
"My six-year-old son will help out at the shop, which my sister owns, and she’ll have him doing the same thing that I was back then," she told The Mirror.
"With a bit of inflation he will get a couple of quid. My boys can negotiate much better than I can."
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