"I really believe that ‘luxury’ is a feeling."
The sun is shining and we're focussing on money joy.
Hi and welcome to The Ladybird Purse, my weekly newsletter about women and money. I’m not a financial advisor and am in no way qualified to give financial advice. I can’t even think of a pithy way to end this paragraph…
Last week, I shared my good money memories. My money joy list. Did you make one? I’d love to read it if you did (and feel comfortable sharing, obviously).
Amber Horrox, who I interviewed at the start of this year, was inspired to write her own and I loved reading her post:
Read Amber’s interview here (I love that she’s already looking forward to writing her follow up):
I’m taking some time out over the next few weeks to hang out with my boys and read all the books, plus there’s nothing much going on with me financially right now. So over the next few posts, I’d love to hear from you.
And, since the sun is shining and I finally sent in my novel edits, let’s continue the focus on joy.
What’s the best thing you’ve ever spent money on?
Scroll down for an interview with one of the most joyful people I know.
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An interview with Chloe Coles
Chloe Coles is a writer based in London. She works as a children’s publishing sales representative and travels to bookshops all over Europe, presenting new titles and meeting new people.
She is the author of the Bookshop Girl series published by Hot Key. Her substack newsletter ‘Chloe’s Cutie Jet-Setty Bookshop Travel Diary’ charts her adventures around the continent- subscribe here:
What is your relationship with money currently?
I’m thirty three years old and I work full time in publishing sales. I’ve worked since I was sixteen and have been used to making and having my own money since then. It comes and goes. I wouldn’t say I’m particularly motivated by money, but I understand the importance of it.
My mum was a working single parent and had to be very careful with cash. She showed me how to be responsible for myself and how to make something simple feel special. I can live within my means and I can also justify giving myself little treats when I feel like it.
I rent a flat in East London with my boyfriend. Living here is notoriously not cheap but I love it and want to make the most of being here, of being alive in the best city in the world! We are ‘DINKs’ (Double Income No Kids) without anybody to feed or clothe except for ourselves. And we do often encourage each other to buy the silly thing and book the holiday and get another round in.
What’s your earliest money memory?
Wobbly teeth! I once tried to trick the tooth fairy. I sucked on one of those PEZ sweets until I thought it looked a bit like a tooth and put it inside the special little box by my bed. When I woke up in the morning there was a shiny 50p coin in its place!
My mum explained that although the tooth fairy’s going rate was £1 per tooth, she had probably left 50p to say ‘nice try’… if anyone could identify a real tooth it was the Big TF herself. I doubled down on the lie and insisted that it really was my tooth, it was absolutely not a lemon flavoured PEZ from a Maggie Simpson dispenser, but I think I can come clean about it now.
I struggled with Maths at school. It took (what felt like) a long time to get to grips with telling the time and counting money. I can still remember being in Year 5 and getting very flustered in the school canteen. My friend Kirsty B had to count out my change before I handed it over to the dinner lady for a plate of chips. Better to take a packed lunch instead.
I think having a good Maths teacher later on helped, and then working in retail meant that I had to get used to counting coins.
What advice would you give your younger self about money?
I don’t think I really have any big money regrets or things I’d tell my younger self to do differently.
I got my book deal when I was twenty-five and working full time in Foyle’s. Even though I was very much IN book world and should have known better than this, I kind of expected getting published to make me RICH!
I had hoped that by Becoming A Writer I’d be able to quit my day job and flounce around in fluffy gowns while my secretary jotted down my dictations. It wasn’t to be, and actually I don’t regret that. I’m happy with where life has taken me.
Getting published was very cool and I can appreciate that it doesn’t happen for everyone. I have a fabulous agent and the money I received for my books was decent.
I would absolutely not wag my finger at my younger self and tell her that she’d have to sit through a few more disciplinaries about wearing unsuitable footwear and talking too much before moving on to a new job…because why ruin the fantasy? After all, the bookshop fantasies are what sustained me for three whole books!
What’s the biggest money mistake you’ve made?
Not looking at my bank balance. I’d avoid logging into my account because it made me anxious, and then the longer I buried my head in the sand, the bigger the ‘surprise’ would be when I worked up the courage to actually look.
Back when I was at uni and was withdrawing cash for a night out I’d frantically press the NO RECEIPT button because I didn’t want it to tell me that I had spent all of my money. Very silly!
I’m much better at knowing where I am now. I have apps on my phone and am in the habit of checking my balance every other day.
What’s the best thing you’ve ever spent money on?
Last year I bought myself a ticket to see Madonna at the O2. I have loved Madge for as long as I can remember. When I was about 10 years old I bought The Immaculate Collection VHS with some birthday money and watched her music videos over and over and over again until I could recite every lyric to Vogue.
When she announced that her greatest hits tour was coming here I thought…wait a minute…I live in London. Madonna is going to be here in London. I can go to the O2 and watch her. I’m a grown-up now! I have money! I can do what I want with it and what I want to do is watch Madonna!
The nosebleed tickets were just over £100 and it felt like a total treat to take myself there. I spent a fortune on merch (a compact mirror that says GIVE GOOD FACE on the glass…hello?!) I sang and danced with strangers and jumped on the tube home knowing it was worth every penny.
The best ongoing thing I spend money on is membership to my local gym. I joined just over three years ago after lockdown restrictions were lifted. At £30 a month, it’s affordable but it’s not one of those flashy fancy places. In truth it’s a little bit grotty, with leaky ceilings and a broken sauna, but I absolutely love it.
As somebody who hated PE at school, I never expected exercise to be something that could make me feel good. Now I go to fitness classes four evenings a week and it has become second nature. It turns out that sweating my eyebrows off in plank position, surrounded by a group of East End regulars, as Ladies Night thumps through the speakers, is my happy place. Who knew?
Do you have a pension? If not, do you have a plan?
Yes, I’m in the workplace pension scheme. My retirement is a long way off (although who wouldn’t want to retire early like Justin Bieber?!) but recently both of my parents have started claiming their pensions so it’s definitely made me think about it as a worthwhile thing that will hopefully come in handy one day.
What would you do with £10,000?
Holidays! I get to travel a lot for work, and I also love going away in my own time. Part of the fun for me is the planning and preparation of a trip. I love reading hotel reviews, keeping my eyes on flights and special deals, looking at maps and trains and routes…I reckon I could stretch £10k pretty far and get a few hols out of that.
It might be fun to do something big and long haul with that kind of money though. My brother is studying in the US at the moment, so it would be fun to see him. I also have dreams of one day going to Mexico or Egypt…with cool capsule wardrobes to match each occasion.
Could you tell us a bit more about your job? It looks fascinating from your Substack.
I started bookselling when I was sixteen at Waterstone's in Northampton. Then when I moved away to do Illustration at uni I got a job at Heffer's bookshop in Cambridge.
When I graduated I moved to London and worked full time at Blackwell's and then Foyle's on Charing Cross Road where I specialised in Children's Books and I did the buying. This was the bit I liked best - meeting publishing reps and ordering new books for the shop. I think this experience helped when I applied for my job at an agency that represents a list of independent children's publishers.
It's a small team and I look after the European customers. I work in the London office or at home most of the time, but usually do about one trip abroad a month. I arrange to meet up with booksellers so that I can present new titles to them in person. They're really nice people who work in interesting places.
It's not ALL glam - I lug a very heavy case of books around with me, and I was once delayed in Sofia airport for SEVENTEEN HOURS (!) but mostly I love it and I DO feel glam. I enjoy travelling by myself and seeing the world. To do this job well I think you have to like your own company (which I do) but you also have to be ready to meet new people in new places (I like that too).
I try to make the most of it - if I'm in a city and there's a gallery or shop or market that I have to see, I'll find a way to squeeze that into my itinerary.
How do you manage language-wise?
I sell English editions of books, so usually the buyers I meet work in English departments or bookshops that specialise in English books - like Shakespeare & Company in Paris - and there isn't a language barrier. I did French and German at school, can speak a bit of Holiday Italian, and have tried to learn a few useful phrases before travelling to other countries.
At the big international book fairs in London or Frankfurt, I get to meet customers from all over the world under one roof, and that's when we can sometimes get lost in translation. Luckily I work with lots of illustrated books, and you can share a story with someone by turning the pages and looking at the pictures together.
It can be a challenge but ultimately I'm sharing books with other lovely book people who are there because they want to be and that's a total joy.
What little luxury could you get with a tenner?
I really believe that ‘luxury’ is a feeling - it doesn’t have to cost lots of (or any) money.
With a tenner I’d buy myself a bunch of flowers, or a gin in a tin and a packet of crisps, or a new book.
If you were me, what would you want to ask women about money?
What’s your favourite money related song? You could get quite a good Ladybird Purse playlist going…
I’ll start: Bills Bills Bills by Destiny’s Child, Material Girl by Madonna and obviously…ABBA!1
Follow Chloe on Instagram
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RELATED POSTS:
My favourite is You And I by Ingrid Michaelson:
Oh, let's get rich and buy our parents
Homes in the South of France
Let's get rich and give everybody nice sweaters
And teach them how to dance
Let's get rich and build our house on a mountain
Making everybody look like ants
From way up there, you and I, you and I.
The best things I've spent money on:
Therapy. Sometimes it went to two sessions a week and it was expensive. But it was worth every penny for the amount that it helped me move on from trauma. I love investing in myself.
Similarly, my work qualifications that have helped me move into the career that I have.
My dog who gives me endless joy.
That trip to the Maldives for my 40th. Stayed on a private hut on the water and every day I woke up to the most incredible view. n