Robbie, who published her debut cookbook Make & Freeze in July, grew up in Co Tipperary as one of six children.<\/p>\n
The Galway-based mother-of-two is an ambassador for Bake it Pink, a campaign that started last week to encourage the public to bake pink treats in aid of Breast Cancer Ireland.<\/p>\n
For more information and to download a baking kit, go to breastcancerireland.com.<\/p>\n
How did your upbringing shape your relationship with money?<\/p>\n
I grew up in rural Ireland in the 1980s. Money was tight but we didn\u2019t go without. My mother would save all year for Christmas, birthdays, and back-to-school clothes. My parents were careful with money and that has rubbed off on me.<\/p>\n
Have you ever felt broke?<\/p>\n
Yes and no. I was broke at times as a student, but I never felt broke. I could always manage with what I had and get a part-time job to get by.<\/p>\n
Are you a spender or a saver?<\/p>\n
I\u2019m most definitely a saver. I\u2019m a rainy-day saver and have been for years. I\u2019ve always budgeted and saved hard for holidays. I\u2019d cut back on getting my nails done or clothes shopping to pay off the holiday and put money away for holiday spending. I always think it\u2019s worth the sacrifice.<\/p>\n
When I was in my 20s, I worked three jobs to save to go to New Zealand and Australia. There\u2019s a bit of hardship when it comes to saving, but the payoff is always worth it.<\/p>\n
Can you remember your biggest ever extravagance?<\/p>\n
Hiring an interior designer to help me create a luxury hotel-style bedroom. It was my treat to myself after working hard on my cookbook Make & Freeze for a year. My room is still a work in progress, but I\u2019ve gone for quality paint, hired someone to sand the floors, and I\u2019ve ordered beautiful lamps and a stunning ceiling light \u2013 all with the help of my interior designer.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u200bCan you tell us what was your best ever investment?<\/p>\n
During the pandemic, I invested in renovating my kitchen and turned it into a studio-style kitchen \u2013 I film in my kitchen daily for my social media channels. It\u2019s where I work and I feel that investment has paid off. And as a chef, it\u2019s a great space to cook in.<\/p>\n
Have you ever been affected by the housing crisis?<\/p>\n
No, but only because we managed to buy a house in 2017 before we got stuck with higher rents on our rental house. We got out of renting just in the nick of time.<\/p>\n
Can you tell us your biggest financial regret?<\/p>\n
Not using investment funds sooner \u2013 the return is so much better than that of regular saving accounts. My brother has used investment funds for years, and I\u2019d always thought I must do the same. I contacted a financial adviser last year and set one up. It\u2019s early days but I wish I\u2019d set it up years ago.<\/p>\n
What was your worst ever job?<\/p>\n
I worked in a meat factory for two weeks when I was 16 and they played the same Jamiroquai CD on repeat. It felt like torture!<\/p>\n
What\u2019s your main hack for saving money?<\/p>\n
As soon as the pay cheque comes in, put money into your savings account. Don\u2019t wait until the end of the month to save \u2013 if you do, there\u2019s a good chance there\u2019ll be nothing left to save.<\/p>\n
What three things would you not be able to do without if you had to tighten your belt?<\/p>\n
Good quality food and ingredients, my new water-filter tap, and my iPhone \u2013 I need it for work. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Robbie, who published her debut cookbook Make & Freeze in July, grew up in Co Tipperary as one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":150965,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[6491,96,103,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-150964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-instagram","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150964\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}