Julie Crefield
This week we meet Julie Creffield (Picture: Saskia Albers)

Key Points

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Julie Creffield shares her journey from earning £30,000 a month to facing £40,000 debt

She rebuilt her finances using AI for advice and is now managing her income with a stable job and side business

She prioritises experiences over material items to create memories with her daughter

Created with AI assistance. Quality assured by Metro editors.

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Welcome back to Me and My Money, Metro’s series taking a peek in the nation’s wallets and bank accounts.

This week we speak to single parent Julie Creffield, 47, an innovation director from Hertfordshire who also works as a business strategist, helping small business owners grow.

She’s had all kinds of jobs with all kinds of salaries, with a ‘wiggly career’ that’s seen her go from earning £30,000 in a sinlge month to a job pays £52,000 per annum.

We hear what she’s learned along the way.

What was your relationship like with money growing up?

I was one of six and we lived in a council house with my mum who was a single parent. The underlying narrative was there wasn’t any money and we shouldn’t ask for anything. We had a lot of help from churches and youth groups, but there was always a difference in the way they treated us. It left me wanting to make money however I could and I was 13 when I got my first Saturday job. From then, I often had more than one job at a time and have done every kind of low-paid work going, even working in a salad factory whilst at university in Winchester.

What happened after university?

My degree was in Performing Arts and I had always wanted to work with young people, but it wasn’t well paid. Instead I worked on the London 2012 Olympics for eight years, helping local people through community improvement. After living at home with my mum and then renting, I saved £13,000 for a deposit and bought a property in Stratford through the shared ownership scheme.

The day after the opening ceremony, I was made redundant at six months pregnant. I couldn’t even enjoy the Olympics. I was devastated because I was about to have a child. I was the sole provider and the financial stress contributed to my partner and I splitting a year later. When my daughter Rose, now 13, was born, I knew I had to keep going.

I had to earn the equivalent of two people’s salaries to pay the bills and nursery fees. I needed flexibility, so I started a running business in 2013.


Julia worked on the London Olympics project for eight years (Picture: Supplied)

I had run the London Marathon, before realising I was pregnant, and I set up a running blog for training. After Rose was born I used the blog to get my fitness back and as the blog grew I received funding Sport England, the New York Marathon, Nike and others, sponsoring me to run marathons, whilst I also sold online coaching plans.

Tell us about your huge business peak

The pandemic was the peak of my business. During those years I made £260,000 from my business consulting and running business combined. I was already set up online and people were turning to running.

In January 2021, I made £30,000 in a month in sales from my running business. It was a lot of money and it shifted my sense of what was possible.

However, I didn’t have any downtime or childcare so eventually I had a burn out. I started to wonder what the point of money was if I couldn’t do anything with it. I realised I didn’t want to become a millionaire, that wasn’t my thing.

What did you do next?


Two years after record earnings, Julia was in debt (Picture: Saskia Albers)

I got offered a job in business consulting, paying £120,000. We moved to Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire, and I finally felt secure.

A lot of the house furnishing went on credit cards and the bigger home had more expenses. Then three months later, I was made redundant. I had no support network and no childcare. I had to spend all my savings and go into debt. It was hard to try to get away from financial difficulty and then find myself worse than ever.

By 2023, I was in £40,000 of debt. I was embarrassed and wouldn’t ask people for help because I didn’t want to admit it. I wasn’t going to the gym, eating or looking after myself. Eventually, I went to the GP and admitted I wasn’t coping.

Julie’s monthly money diary

Income: £3200 from job, £1000 from business (but variable)

Outgoings:

Mortgage/rent: £1750

Council tax: £160

Water rates: £30

My phone: £60 + £15 my daughters phone

Energy: £150

Transport: £200 petrol

Internet: £60

Streaming: £20

TV licence: £16

Life insurance: £49

Groceries: £500

Childcare: £80 dance club, £120 school dinners and bus money

Gym: £60

Savings/sinking funds (holidays/christmas/birthdays/fun money/eating out): whatever is lef

How did you build yourself up again?

By now I was so burnt out I couldn’t trust my own instincts. Instead, I asked AI to give me a plan to resolve my debt, explaining it to me as if I were a 10-year-old. I used it to find out where money was coming in and where it wasn’t.

I paid off credit cards and car loans, paying little amounts where I could and we went back to basics. I wouldn’t even buy books, instead we’d use the library.

Then I landed my role as an innovation director, earning around £52,000 a year, alongside my coaching business.

Now I’m still clearing some debt, mainly in my business, but I’ve paid off most of it. I enjoy my job and running my business alongside. My daughter will start in my company soon and I’m looking forward to helping her financial education.

What are your monthly expenses?

I earn £3,200 from my job each month, with another £1,000 from my own business. From that I pay £1,750 on rent, £160 for council tax and £180 for water and energy bills. I spend £75 on mine and my daughter’s phone, £60 for the internet and £20 for streaming services.

I pay £200 a month for petrol and £500 for groceries, with £49 going towards life insurance, £80 for Rose’s dance club and £120 for school meals and bus money. The gym costs me £60 and I try to save whatever is left. For special occasions, school trips or emergencies I rely on my credit card.


Julie on a trip with her daughter, Rose (Picture: Supplied)
Save or splurge?

I have to make double the money to give my daughter an ordinary standard of life so I splurge on experience and not on things. Rose and I went to Venice for a weekend in December. I took her to Standon Calling in 2023, where her favourite artist Ann Marie was playing and she winked at her. Money can’t buy these memories.

Top money tip

Counting income as not just financial, anything which has a financial value. At the start of my running business I wasn’t making a lot of money but one year I made £100,000 of free products, including clothes, sports technology and even a trip to Eurodisney. Sometimes we don’t acknowledge the real value of that.

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