{"id":36487,"date":"2025-09-01T12:46:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-01T12:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/36487\/"},"modified":"2025-09-01T12:46:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T12:46:10","slug":"my-parents-were-meticulous-about-money-i-am-shambolic-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/36487\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018My parents were meticulous about money. I am shambolic\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wendy Erskine\u2019s<\/a> latest book, The Benefactors, is published by Sceptre. She appears at Write by the Sea literary festival in Kilmore Quay, Co Wexford which runs from September 26th-28th. <\/p>\n

Are you a saver or a spender?<\/b><\/p>\n

Like many others in my family, my parents worked in a bank. They were meticulous in their own accounting<\/a>, whereas I am utterly shambolic. They always tried to save, whereas I have not made much of an attempt at all. By the same token, though, I am also not much of a profligate spender. <\/p>\n

What was the first job you received money for, and how much were you paid?<\/b><\/p>\n

That would have been in the record shop, Makin\u2019 Tracks, in Belfast. I got \u00a350 a week. It was the kind of shop that sold every kind of music. <\/p>\n

At that time, CDs were kept in a locked cabinet as though they were precious artefacts. I spent my wages on records or nonsense like, as I remember, a giant metal pineapple.<\/p>\n

Do you shop around for better value?<\/b><\/p>\n

Sometimes I do and feel very self-satisfied that I\u2019ve managed to get a few quid off something. And then I spoil it all an hour later with an impulse buy of something I don\u2019t need, which exceeds any earlier savings. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018I wear the same shoes and clothes all the time, which means I don\u2019t shop often\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

What has been your most extravagant purchase, and how much did it cost?<\/b><\/p>\n

I have a wardrobe full of clothes and anything new is a de facto extravagance. I don\u2019t need more apparel for probably the rest of my life. That said, I continue to buy dresses that cost a few hundred pounds. <\/p>\n

What purchase have you made that you consider the best value for money?<\/b><\/p>\n

Probably the most money that I have spent on myself was for the Stinging Fly six-month fiction workshop. I regard that as money extremely well spent because, without it, I would never have had anything published, ever. <\/p>\n

Is there anything you regret spending money on?<\/b><\/p>\n

So much: an LED light mask that I don\u2019t use; home gym equipment of various kinds; a large tagine; bottles of foundation; a waffle maker; and many apps that I don\u2019t use. <\/p>\n

For example, if I want to read an article online, I go for a one-month free subscription but I inevitably forget to cancel and then find myself locked into a year\u2019s payment for a publication I\u2019ll never read. I probably have about five of those on the go. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018Behavioural economists would have a field day with me\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\"'I‘I have never made any investments beyond Barcelona shirts’ <\/p>\n

Do you haggle over prices?<\/b><\/p>\n

No. I want to pay a fair price and if I think that\u2019s the first one someone suggests, then fine, so no haggling. If they think I\u2019m a mug as a result, I don\u2019t care. <\/p>\n

Do you invest in shares and\/ or cryptocurrency?<\/b><\/p>\n

I think my answers so far would give a strong indication that I do not invest in shares or cryptocurrency. I once helped someone out by giving them a few hundred quid to buy some Barcelona shirts that they intended to resell, but that wasn\u2019t exactly \u201cget rich or die trying\u201d. <\/p>\n

Do you have a retirement or pension plan?<\/b><\/p>\n

I do. I have worked for the last 32 years as a secondary school teacher and have always contributed to a pension plan. <\/p>\n

What was the last thing you bought, and was it good value for money?<\/b><\/p>\n

The last thing I bought was a new diary for the academic year 2025\/26. It\u2019s the same type of diary that I have used for 15 years or so and I always get \u201cWendy\u201d embossed in gold on the front of it. A bit childish but they do it for free. It\u2019s a good value-for-money diary. Quality product.<\/p>\n

Have you ever successfully saved up for a relatively big purchase?<\/b><\/p>\n

A big purchase for me, which I did save for, was a Mac computer and printer. It was 1993 and they cost over \u00a31,000. That seems incredible now. <\/p>\n

Bizarrely, I decided to atone for my extravagance by not buying a desk, and for the next number of years, I worked sitting on the floor with my expensive computer on a coffee table. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018I regret spending money on cars. It always feels like a financial black hole\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Have you ever lost money?<\/b><\/p>\n

Not really, because I have never made any investments beyond the Barcelona shirts. However, I\u2019ve found notes and coins that I didn\u2019t realise I had in old handbags. <\/p>\n

Are you a gambler and, if so, have you ever had a big win?<\/b><\/p>\n

I used to play Yahtzee online, but I never had a big win. But generally, with life, I do know, of course, that you gotta know when to hold them, know when to fold them. <\/p>\n

What is your best habit when it comes to money? And your worst?<\/b><\/p>\n

The best is caution in some respects. The worst is carelessness in others. <\/p>\n

How much money do you have on you now?<\/b><\/p>\n

One pound coin. I always have a pound coin because you need it for the locker at the leisure centre. <\/p>\n

In conversation with Tony Clayton-Lea<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wendy Erskine\u2019s latest book, The Benefactors, is published by Sceptre. She appears at Write by the Sea literary…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36488,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[79,18,19,17,1759],"class_list":{"0":"post-36487","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-me-my-money"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36487\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}