Is there a Hogwarts spell to fix my bad attitude towards saving?

Let’s not beat around the bush….I’m a bit crap with money. At the grand old age of 32, I desperately need a financial makeover but I don’t know where to start. Is there a kind old gentleman a la The Railway Children who wants to help? A Hogwarts spell? No, I thought not…

I have lived in a bit of a financial fantasy land for some time now, in hoping that my debt will go away and that a nice fat ‘nest egg’ will pop into my account. With my friends growing up, getting mortgages, ISAs and what not, I seem to be stuck with the same financial mentality of a 10 year old.

While my salary, my career, and my wardrobe has grown, my financial savviness has not.

I have lived in a bit of a financial fantasy land for some time now.

‘I’ll sort it out later’ has been a trusty mantra to me over the years. Our generation grew up pre-recession, where credit cards were handed out like smarties and anyone could get a loan. I remember being approached by a well-known bank at my fresher’s fair at university (rhymes with catfest), and within half an hour they had given me a £2,000 credit card and a student account with a £1,000 overdraft. ‘Hurrah!’ I thought. ‘Free money! I’ll pay it back when I have my £30K graduate job in London.’ And so began my gung-ho attitude to money.

While I no longer have any credit cards or loans, the debt from some poorly timed mistakes years back is still hanging around and refusing to budge. I have a decent amount of savings but I don’t know how to maximise them. And I like buying nice things! I want everything!

So therein lies the problem. However, I’ve finally (and begrudgingly) accepted that nothing will change unless I put the effort in…so here begins my journey from financial stupidity to financial sense.