![\"Julie](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Julie-Creffield-1-CREDIT-SASKIA-ALBERS-COLL-a03f-e1771749609920.jpeg\")
\n\t\tThis week we meet Julie Creffield (Picture: Saskia Albers)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tThis week we meet Julie Creffield (Picture: Saskia Albers)<\/p>\n
Welcome back to Me and My Money<\/a>, Metro\u2019s series taking a peek in the nation\u2019s wallets and bank accounts. <\/p>\n This week we speak to single parent Julie Creffield, 47, an innovation director from Hertfordshire<\/a> who also works as a business strategist<\/a>, helping small business owners grow.<\/p>\n She\u2019s had all kinds of jobs with all kinds of salaries, with a \u2018wiggly career\u2019 that\u2019s seen her go from earning \u00a330,000 in a sinlge month to a job pays \u00a352,000 per annum. <\/p>\n We hear what she\u2019s learned along the way.<\/p>\n What was your relationship like with money growing up?<\/p>\n 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\u2019t any money and we shouldn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n What happened after university? <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tAsk Metro<\/p>\n Use AI to go deeper into the stories you care about \u2013 powered by Metro and trusted publications.<\/p>\n My degree was in Performing Arts and I had always wanted to work with young people, but it wasn\u2019t well paid. Instead I worked on the London<\/a> 2012 Olympics<\/a> for eight years, helping local people through community improvement. After living at home with my mum and then renting<\/a>, I saved \u00a313,000 for a deposit and bought a property in Stratford through the shared ownership scheme.<\/a><\/p>\n The day after the opening ceremony, I was made redundant at six months pregnant. I couldn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n I had to earn the equivalent of two people\u2019s salaries to pay the bills and nursery fees. I needed flexibility, so I started a running business in 2013. <\/p>\n \t\t I had run the London Marathon<\/a>, 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<\/a> Marathon, Nike and others, sponsoring me to run marathons, whilst I also sold online coaching plans.<\/p>\n Tell us about your huge business peak<\/p>\n The pandemic was the peak of my business. During those years I made \u00a3260,000 from my business consulting and running business combined. I was already set up online and people were turning to running.<\/p>\n In January 2021, I made \u00a330,000 in a month in sales from my running business. It was a lot of money and it shifted my sense of what was possible.<\/p>\n However, I didn\u2019t 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\u2019t do anything with it. I realised I didn\u2019t want to become a millionaire, that wasn\u2019t my thing.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tDon’t miss our Money tips! Add us as a Preferred Source\t\t\t<\/p>\n At Metro Money, we’re here to bring you all the latest news and advice on personal finance, cost of living, saving and investing. As part of our vibrant community of highly engaged readers, we want to make sure you never miss our articles when searching for stories.<\/p>\n Click the button below and tick\u00a0Metro.co.uk<\/strong>\u00a0to ensure you see stories from us first in Google Search.<\/p>\n \nAdd us as a Preferred Source<\/a>\n<\/p>\n \t\t What did you do next?<\/p>\n \t\t I got offered a job in business consulting, paying \u00a3120,000. We moved to Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire, and I finally felt secure. <\/p>\n 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<\/a> and go into debt. It was hard to try to get away from financial difficulty and then find myself worse than ever.<\/p>\n By 2023, I was in \u00a340,000 of debt. I was embarrassed and wouldn\u2019t ask people for help because I didn\u2019t want to admit it. I wasn\u2019t going to the gym, eating or looking after myself. Eventually, I went to the GP and admitted I wasn\u2019t coping.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tJulie’s monthly money diary\t\t\t<\/p>\n Income: \u00a33200 from job, \u00a31000 from business (but variable)<\/p>\n Outgoings:<\/p>\n Mortgage\/rent: \u00a31750<\/p>\n Council tax: \u00a3160<\/p>\n Water rates: \u00a330<\/p>\n My phone: \u00a360 + \u00a315 my daughters phone<\/p>\n Energy: \u00a3150<\/p>\n Transport: \u00a3200 petrol<\/p>\n Internet: \u00a360<\/p>\n Streaming: \u00a320<\/p>\n TV licence: \u00a316<\/p>\n Life insurance: \u00a349<\/p>\n Groceries: \u00a3500<\/p>\n Childcare: \u00a380 dance club, \u00a3120 school dinners and bus money<\/p>\n Gym: \u00a360<\/p>\n Savings\/sinking funds (holidays\/christmas\/birthdays\/fun money\/eating out): whatever is lef<\/p>\n How did you build yourself up again?<\/p>\n By now I was so burnt out I couldn\u2019t 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\u2019t.<\/p>\n I paid off credit cards and car loans, paying little amounts where I could and we went back to basics. I wouldn\u2019t even buy books, instead we\u2019d use the library.<\/p>\n Then I landed my role as an innovation director, earning around \u00a352,000 a year, alongside my coaching business.<\/p>\n Now I\u2019m still clearing some debt, mainly in my business, but I\u2019ve paid off most of it. I enjoy my job and running my business alongside. My daughter will start in my company soon and I\u2019m looking forward to helping her financial education.<\/p>\n What are your monthly expenses?<\/p>\n I earn \u00a33,200 from my job each month, with another \u00a31,000 from my own business. From that I pay \u00a31,750 on rent, \u00a3160 for council tax and \u00a3180 for water and energy bills. I spend \u00a375 on mine and my daughter\u2019s phone, \u00a360 for the internet and \u00a320 for streaming services. <\/p>\n I pay \u00a3200 a month for petrol and \u00a3500 for groceries, with \u00a349 going towards life insurance, \u00a380 for Rose\u2019s dance club and \u00a3120 for school meals and bus money. The gym costs me \u00a360 and I try to save whatever is left. For special occasions, school trips or emergencies I rely on my credit card.<\/p>\n \t\t 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\u2019t buy these memories.<\/p>\n Top money tip<\/p>\n Counting income as not just financial, anything which has a financial value. At the start of my running business I wasn\u2019t making a lot of money but one year I made \u00a3100,000 of free products, including clothes, sports technology and even a trip to Eurodisney. Sometimes we don\u2019t acknowledge the real value of that.<\/p>\n This article was originally published in February 2026 and has since been republished.<\/strong><\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Julie-Creffield-3-COLL-a8cc-rotated-e1785510755935.jpeg\")
\n\t\tJulia worked on the London Olympics project for eight years (Picture: Supplied)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/SEI280784796-2946.png\")
\n\t\tOur Money experts are here to give you the latest tips and insider guides<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Julie-Creffield-4-PLEASE-CREDIT-SASKIA-ALBERS-COLL-c464-e1785510771279.jpeg\")
\n\t\tTwo years after record earnings, Julia was in debt (Picture: Saskia Albers)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Julie-Creffield-Pictured-Julie-Rose-on-trip-COLL-c271-rotated.jpeg\")
\n\t\tJulie on a trip with her daughter, Rose (Picture: Supplied)
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