It finally got me...
+ optimism, abundance, camper vans and canal boats
I have been struck down in the pribe of libe (tested positive for covid this morning) so just an interview this week while I rest and relax and try to teach my kids to cook over WhatsApp.
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An interview with Suzy Walker
Suzy Walker is a freelance journalist, author, writer, editor and entrepreneur. A year ago, she left her job as Editor-in-Chief of Psychologies magazine to travel the UK in a campervan after dropping her son at university. She now lives in Alnwick, Northumberland.
Why do you think women are often reluctant to talk about money?
Women do talk about money. My friends and I talk a lot about pensions – usually the lack of them, plus constantly swop ideas of how we can build businesses or create a side hustle.
The only time I was reluctant to talk about money was when I was feeling ashamed about credit card debt. When I got divorced, I was trying to make ends meet, was heartbroken and being overly optimistic about what I could afford. (Optimism is my greatest gift and curse.) When I confessed, a dear friend didn't get judgy but helped me understand how credit cards worked and how to get my interest rates down to 0 per cent on two-year deals. It was a revelation. She helped me educate myself, take back control and pay them off.
What is your relationship with money currently?
I have worked hard to have a healthy relationship with money with therapy and coaching. But ultimately, it was my mum who taught me about financial abundance.
My family is working class and my mum, brought up in a council house in Barnsley, used to say ‘she didn’t know her place’. She was very entrepreneurial. She was a secretary by day but was always finding ways to make extra money at the weekends – from buying second-hand furniture and selling it at flea markets to attempting to write Mills and Boon novels.
My mum taught me valuable lessons about money. I learned that you didn’t have to be a victim and there was always something you could do if you were skint - you could always create something, sell something or build something in order to make money. And no matter where I’ve been in my life financially, I carry this belief with me.
What’s your earliest money memory?
Going to my piggy bank and seeing that my mum had robbed me to pay for school lunches that week! I had won a bursary to a private school in Newcastle, so I was hanging out with families that were a lot richer than we were and money was sometimes very tight.
What’s the biggest money mistake you’ve made?
When I got divorced after 16 years of marriage, I should have hired a solicitor to help create a fairer deal. My son was five so I assumed my ex would pay me maintenance and help with childcare. He did neither. It was a very challenging time financially. It took me a while to be able to earn enough money to support us while at the same time look after my son.
What’s the best thing you’ve ever spent money on?
Therapy and coaching. I believe that you should always invest in yourself and your own emotional growth.
Do you have a pension? If not, do you have a plan?
I have a tiny private pension that will pay me £83 a month when I reach 67! (Someone advised me to get a pension when I was 20, I started one but then froze it about 5 years later when I went freelance. Doh!)
I love writing so I'll just do that until I drop dead I suppose. I've just finished working in a really big job, which I loved but I don't want to work such long hours any more. I was working 12 hours a day and weekends too.
I have downsized and simplified my life now and will create a little side business soon, which I hope will grow into my pension. But it will be my passion project. If you love your work, it doesn't feel like work.
What would you do with £10,000?
I would train as a yoga teacher, build a website for my new business and ‘buy’ a little more time to finish my book. I am writing about the year I spent on a canal boat with my teenage son in lockdown. It’s Eat Pray Love meets Little Miss Sunshine on a canal boat.
Suzy is founder of the Alnwick Story Fest (24-26th February 2023)
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“I learned that you didn’t have to be a victim and there was always something you could do if you were skint - you could always create something, sell something or build something in order to make money.” What a valuable lesson we can all learn from!