I'm £14,000 In Debt | FULL EPISODE | Spendaholics

meets 21-year old student Caroline reader a glamorous undergraduate who is seriously overdrawn LF champagne and its sushi I love diamonds I love clothes her course in retail management appears to have taught her only one thing how to shop in just three years Carolina's notched up a massive 14 thousand pounds worth of debt even though her university fees and living costs are paid directly by her parents experts Jay Hunt and Benjamin fry have just five weeks to turn Caroline's life around Jay will find practical ways to make Caroline's money go further Benjamin will get emotional as he tackles the deeper issues behind Caroline spending I'm just wondering if there's a quality to the spending which is communicating some resentment towards her parents will they be able to wean Caroline from her expensive addiction I don't really need sort of the clothes and the handbags and shoes and by I don't know sometime that just cuts into stuff [Music] caroline is in her third year studying retail management a love for university although Benjamin and Jay have never met her caroline has given them access to her student digs so they can pick up pointers for why she's in so much debt Benjamin is looking for the psychological motives driving Caroline spending while J is out to spot where the money is actually going this doesn't look like a student's room this I mean nice Marc Jacobs skirt is that posh yeah it's not cheap Sonya right cow Dolce and Gabbana DKNY I mean look at all of this it's hardly what you call practical shoes are walking around campus is it yeah you won't get home from the student bar in those shoes with you hey and this you know very very grown-up makeup labels I mean quite a sophisticated collection here this is not cosmetics on a budget so do you think it's like some kind of fantasy life where she's pretending not to really be a student if all this stuff was in a different flat I would not be surprised that this was a sort of you know the contents are of a 30-something professional as part of her course Caroline spent the last academic year in Nice picking up a nice tan and some expensive habits had a year out in France I had a really glamorous years doing event planning I was like going to amazing parties going up for dinner every night and to go back just to slumming it again it's just this is so hard and it's just it's just not me it's not what I want to do I basically I want my degree and if I could graduate tomorrow than I would I'm interested in her family photos which aren't actually family photos they're really all photos of her friends and her boyfriend my boyfriend's called James he lives in London he works for Merrill Lynch we like pretty much the same things although James is a lot more careful with his money for me the shows possibly that the connection with the family is not as strong as the connection that she wants to have with her ideal future maybe there's some I can talk to about there see if there's an issue there I saw here part of her creative writing that she's very keen on I'm writing if he stored at the moment based on Hattie the shopaholic who is my alter ego there was always that sickening feeling that hit Hattie stomach every time a cashier swiped her car to the machine would it go through it was a feeling Hattie load yet at the same time gave her an adrenaline rush like nothing else in the world except maybe the Oblivion at Alton Towers that's a clear sign of addictive behavior isn't it to do something that really gives you a rush in the moment but actually sabotages the broader fabric of your life I notice here something one of the few things yet stuck on the wall is a food diary I'm gonna go and raid her cupboards alright what she's behind as far as caroline is concerned being a student doesn't mean having to rough it here we go beans students cupboards nice haha spot Caroline shelf she got two chicken phillotson red wine sauce those rebounds 49 Sanford water crystals 399 will that be eight quid for two dinners it's not really a student way to eat is it well-lit here her bank statement yeah very nice and neatly down to organize make our job easy what start at the top total in 833 in and 1246 out but look the clothes 571 where she knows what she's spending and clearly it keeps in a very orderly way so it must be an anxiety to her she knows she's spending too you know she's doing it she writes about spending too much she writes about wanting to be able to do something about it it's just can't stuff upon graduation the average student debt is 8,000 pounds despite doing a retail management course with modules on accountancy and economics Caroline's 14 thousand pound debt is becoming unmanageable even though her university fees and living costs are covered by her parents as Benjamin and Jay will soon discover caroline shopping habits are hard to break obviously I know I don't need all clothes and I have probably we're about a third of the clothes I've got but I'm the kind of girl who just things on impulse so if I see something I'll get it very very tempted to get this I try and hold for knows I say but I just don't think it's healthy for me to or you know my husband to sort of say okay we'll sort it for you she's not really the typical student she weren't really whole food she doesn't dress like a student always has something on you everyday she bit of an extrovert she likes the nice things in life that is gorgeous and sometimes when I just sit down at home and I work it all out I do get quite upset about it if Caroline wants to wake up to reality she's going to need a good job [Music] following their poke around her room Benjamin and Jay have identified two of Caroline's most extravagant areas of spending so it's time for her to meet the experts and get a shocking demonstration jolly good now I want to show you something in here it's gonna be a bit of a shock but that's the plan so after you there you go now what do you think of this have a seat here ahead of the table so if you sit there you can see the whole way down all laid out for you no Caroline what this represents is your expenditure annually on food going out each plate is a week's expenditure a hundred and seventy pounds a week and that adds up to five thousand one hundred pounds per annum which you spend on eating out now that's not the end of the story because we also know that your parents pay for your meals at college in advance yeah so most of this money is spent on things that you actually don't even need to spend a penny on yeah do you have any idea of how much is wedding do you have like a running total that you know by the day or by the week what for you know I feel as if this hasn't been bad enough I want you to just come down here want you to meet this nice bevy of girls these girls lined up here illustrating a point because each one of the wigs that they're wearing represents 100 pounds which you spend in a year on your very nice I must admit haircut and that adds up to 1600 pounds a year on your hair which is the source of money that somebody you know in their late 20s with a fairly decent job would be paying out it's quite a lot out of a student budget to be spending on hair I've been to the wall on campus and they just cut it awful looked hideous so I just them even when I get to like that have to go for emergency repair it to you guys how much for just get it nice first time to catch up with it all again seeing it all in one place and hearing the amount of money spending a year yeah does it make you feel like well maybe I should try and spend less money on my hair and find alternatives oh because that certainly we can help you with finding other ways to achieve the similar results from last morning yeah in order to get her debt under control Caroline needs to pare down her spending to the bare essentials so Benjamin and Jay have decided to give Caroline a serving of cold turkey [Music] if we ask you how much you actually get through spending money a week what do you think you get through in an average week yeah it's hard to give an estimate really because I'd you know depends if I'm staying around left bruh okay today we spend much I'm going to London and I spend more but I guess I put enough original about 150 pounds and we so you think it's 150 I'm wondering if it would surprise you to learn that is it actually three hundred and fifty five pounds this much money each week every week are you surprised I don't think that's right you surprised at how much oh yeah very what we would like to do with you is to talk to you now about what you think you could live on for seven days because we'd like you to sort of experience a cold turkey and get away with the absolute minimum that you could possibly spend what do you think is a fair figure to start with hundred pounds 100 pounds for a week I think we're gonna have to try a bit harder than that 70 mm 50 okay not 50 come on all your all your stuffs paid for University what do you need the money for well if we make it 60 I'd rather give you an extra 10 pounds and have you committed to thinking that you can actually live on that rather than go a bit lower and then you think well what's the hell than trying cuz I know I can never do that anyway so I think 60 pounds okay does that sound fair enough so I'm gonna give you sixty pounds in cash and you are going to take that away start your week of cold turkey and you'll really really try for seven days yeah yeah promise okay [Music] but Caroline's promise is hard to keep it seems that Benjamin and J shock tactics have backfired and Caroline is fighting back I had even talked to them before ever the first thing to say to me is like what are you doing what you do when they don't even know me they made me feel like we've discussed the chase proceeded which is like [Music] saved maybe [ __ ] [Music] one of Caroline's biggest areas of expenditure is travel and cold turkey week is no exception to give herself a boost caroline has jumped on the first train to London to get some TLC from boyfriend James blowing a gaping hole in her cold turkey budget in the process today of which I've just been train tickets which is not going to stop goodtime girl Caroline's soaking up the London nightlife James doesn't come to visit me that afternoon laughs bruh he's probably been up twice in the past year but I don't blame him because I had much rather come down to London for a weekend how much money they spend couple of grams we didn't buy the handbag or the dress or the shoes it's Monday morning back in Loughborough day three of Caroline's cold turkey and if you thought the Caroline had fallen at the first hurdle think again despite the upset it seems the expert shock tactics have started to sink in just thought right I'm going to prove them wrong here is it a copy means available and and say I went to London and on a Friday night I just basically didn't spend any money we went to the theater and obviously James already paid for that everything then we went out for a few drinks and then because I paid for the Train dance at all I'll get these drinks which was fine and then instead of getting a taxi which we usually would after the tubes are all finished and we've got the night bus okay the night bus was I think it was one pound forty where I was a taxi would have been easily 25 20 25 [Music] now for the first time Caroline is trying Student Life on a student budget [Music] today has been good to you I haven't spent any money a lot from laura's geez Financial Times and the independent newspaper that's all if Caroline is to make a permanent change to her spending habits she'll need to find the reasons behind her behavior self-help author an entrepreneur Benjamin Frei has experienced firsthand the healing power of therapy he thinks that Caroline's excessive spending habits may be a cry for attention probably from her family so what I'm looking for is clues to give us exercises that we can do to help relieve what I see is an unconscious emotional pressure I need to spend money so one of the places that we look for clues when trying to think about the psychological implications of behavior is just to understand better your family the relationships there okay well yeah I've got one sister Charlotte he's 26 a five years older than me I think when we were younger we used to fall out quite a lot not entirely sure why I think probably the sort of the jealousy thing she's always been really successful she's really outgoing and she's always got done really well at the school and everything and now she's just got the most amazing job and so yeah what's amazing about her job it's just she's like she's a brand manager and she lives in Paris now and it's well-paid and she loves it and she's just always you know I'm so envious in the way she like really enjoys a career yeah she's like totally into it so it's still doing this yeah I'm not jealous and now I'm more proud and I'm like you know yeah Benjamin suspects that Caroline's envy of her older sister's lifestyle may be fueling her current spending problems and there was an envious relationship between the sisters the kind of sibling rivalry was quite common yeah how did your mother navigate that do you think I don't think she's it I mean she never did anything she never chooses differently to make us jealous of each other I think it's just the whole don't thing yeah I'm just wondering if there's a quality to the spending which is communicating some resentment toward your parents I think every sort of every problem every problem someone has you always try and break down for parents and you know when you were younger when you're two years old but if I grew that so you never felt that you were the least favorites no okay the sibling rivalry was interesting and I think that when one siblings jealous of the other siblings sometimes they can become competitive and it does seem that Caroline perhaps has been competitive with her sister with the spending that's not really something that's very constructive and all it's doing is getting her into debt so hopefully we can pursue that a bit further later on I got a bit offended to be honest when he's so tired making assumptions and accusations about my childhood which he has no idea about you know I've got such a good relationship with my parents and my family that um some of the things he's saying you know just sort of annoyed me if Caroline would normally resort to a slap-up meal when she's upset she's in for a shock this is cold turkey week so she better get used to going I like aunty [Music] in the dining hall usually out for dinner like two to three times a week which is silly because all my dinners are paid for uni but they're just grace like school dinners there it's the first time in months that caroline has eaten in the dining hall it's not just cheap it's free since her university meals are already paid for by her parents at a cost of one thousand one hundred and twelve pounds per year eaten here instead of eating out would save caroline from spending a lip-smacking 5,100 pounds the first time in a couple of weeks well I would say couple of months caroline has been into the dining hall she came with me for lunch after I like a chair and sat there and all our friends are like oh come on i worthy be with the past six months which is quite funny so maybe it's a start ever since i met the experts last friday I've been eating every meal in the dining hall so I haven't bought any little treats and wipes and Spence's have been a good girl for Caroline to get back in the black she'll have to make savings across the board Benjamin and Jay have sent her to see Alan wrap Lee who runs a free debt advisory service to get the hard facts on her financial shortcomings from the figures fourteen hundred pounds of spending seven hundred pounds you're getting in something's got to give what sort of figure would you think you'd be looking at but for an income to support that yearly little bit to keep going twenty five if Caroline thinks she can earn that little to spend that much she's in for a nasty surprise we're looking at an income of about twenty nine thirty thousand in order to maintain your present lifestyle at the spending rate that sure does that surprise you yeah I don't know yeah I guess so the kind of job that I needed to sort of cover my mouth spending was Ike him like a twenty eight grand a year job which of course I'd love to get next year but the kind of jobs I've been looking at sort of like low twenties so even then like I'm gonna have to cut down [Music] it's the end of cold turkey week and Caroline is heading in the right direction with 14,000 pounds worth of debt she has been forced to look hard at every area of her spending she's come to report back to Jay on her progress so you survived your seven days of cold turkey I think I spent ninety six pounds altogether but we only gave you 60 yes I was a bit creative and I managed to take two pairs of trousers back so that's extra money that was a good creative but it was quite weird actually just spending cash and none you're not putting things on cards it doesn't make you a lot more aware no I know you went to see Alan what we've come up with is a sort of new budget which is going to be your template for how we're going to cut your current expenditure which is running at 1400 pounds a month basically needs to be cut to 700 so train fare here at the moment we've got 108 pounds a month because obviously you're coming down to London and the recommended expenditure is 59 groceries food and housekeeping at the moment 265 recommended expenditure 130 at the moment of your current 1,400 pounds a month 200 pounds a month goes on your clothes and shoes recommended expenditure zero that's mean what do you think about that Hey as well do you yeah absolutely very impossible yeah okay well bearing in mind that is zero what I think is a good idea for you is that you take some of the existing clothes that you've got there is nothing to stop you selling those and from that the money that you raise from selling that is totally and utterly your money to spend on some new things if that's what you want to do with it caroline has decided to go home to Beverly in East Yorkshire to dust down her old clothes on the plus side it's the ideal opportunity to discuss the childhood issues that Benjamin raised with another expert her mum yeah we all like nice things you know my mother she doesn't say she's 85 and she's she's always been glamorous you know she's always liked nice things and lovely clothes and things like that so probably it's in the genes [Laughter] caroline is from a hard-working family her dad has spent the last 20 years running his own haulage business which he built from scratch and Caroline's obsession with her hair could be inherited from her mum a retired hairdresser while some students will go entire terms in the same jeans and t-shirt Shopaholic Caroline has gone to the other extreme she has so many clothes and shoes that she's turned her parents house into a giant walk-in wardrobe we've got boxes in the garage that we brought him from nice and up above the garage the black bin liner bags full of probably shoes and various things you know I'm deaf ear saying ladies I've never worn them why did you buy them at the time she'd a bit of a holder really to five-seven you really need 10 swimsuit yeah she's a little bit sentimental she'll remember you know wearing this particular thing and you know she had such fun in it even though she knows she'll never wear it again she likes to keep it you've had in years Caroline cut better pot with it I don't like throwing things out I'm quite bad at that no I don't like that do you that's why I'm like once on and that's it in all these things you just hard and you when you're getting somewhere especially you never want to wear them dear hmm just because you've liked them doesn't mean that you'd go on liking them forever with the clothes boxed up and ready for resale there's a rare chance for Caroline to sit down with her mum and open up why do you think it is that why do you think you do shop yeah I guess it's you know has got a lot to do with me and show me sort of being bit jealous of her and sort of envious of her lifestyle because I was five years younger and Caroline and I we know we never sort of hated each other we never kind of fell out but we weren't big parts of each other's lives whilst growing up really Caroline has always been desperate for acceptance from Charlotte and but Charlotte's always been the kind of she's always been busy off doing their own thing and never really had time for Caroline not jealous but just yes do you think it's you hope that some day maybe you have something similar yeah well your love darling the skyways Caroline seems to want instant gratification in life and I'm sure she does aspire to have a nice home you know nice things nice family Caroline doesn't always recognize the hard work that goes behind what my father and mother have got and what what I've got as well could anything without working for it I've always feels we like all these lovely things and lovely house but you know it doesn't come easy and you can't just go spending and spending and [Music] I'm really glad I went to where I'm going to my mom today it was I don't know I thought it would be a little bit embarrassing and I guess it was a bit awkward at times because right now we never really talked about things like that usually I feel a lot better now and like everything's in the open and I'm not hiding anything with the months clothes budget set at naught pounds and naught pence caroline has to sell her old clothes in order to raise the cash for new ones the clothes have been lovingly folded and lumped across to the love reunion Caroline's flogging them off to her fellow students although one or two of the more exotic purchases may prove harder to shift present from me to Carlo last year in the stale box we play is what most of which are here okay so up 35 pounds and walks it about three weeks ago actually hate yeah it's gross yeah a girl's is brought to my favorite well what where my favorite topped four pounds each she's like Kristin do you all want some four pounds no go sit back fifty 12 okay look clean it all like being self a few pounds it just seems like a waste of money and I feel just wasted so much really by the end of the day Caroline's made a hundred and twenty pounds my mother thought because like up to about half an hour ago and a legal I know in the first hour I only got like fifty P so yeah I'm really pleased usually Caroline wouldn't think twice about blowing the entire 120 on one top so before she does lifestyle expert Jay has whisked her down to the London Olympia winter fashion fair to prove that being fashion conscious doesn't have to break the bank the annual Fashion Fair is run by wholesalers and open to the public it's the perfect place to Hoover up end of season designer goods at bargain basement prices Jays first lesson for Caroline that some of the best buys are the most versatile see that's the sort of thing I think it's quite a good purchase for you because if you're walking around university wearing it it's practical and it's going to keep you warm with jeans something like that is going to do you three ways and you can sort of have a bit of fun customizing it and making it your own is that something you to pick up you don't mind them prefer the brown okay just trying to see let's have a look was 495 pounds of retail 275 so it's still quite expensive I really like that nice yeah do you know what that is is called a purse it's where you poke - go out amaze me yeah I guess I'm an idealist of Pylos I don't need but do you wait for the sales No so you're just right in there like that impulse buy bang okay so those you've already gone how much are they here 25 25 pounds I are alone pay 326 so you starting to get the picture now [Music] what do you think about and love that we really love that to reduced 107 to 549 what's fascinating about you is that you've been so busy looking up here that you haven't noticed her I've noticed one pound box they see get rifling caroline has bagged herself a 49 pound is ina top and seven one-pound t-shirts from the 120 she raised from her clothes sale she still got 64 pounds remaining digging out designer sales is one way to save money but with a little creative flair the remaining 64 pounds can be used to deck out an entire wardrobe with top-end designer looks at a fraction of the price Jay takes Caroline to a haberdashery shop to show her the ropes and more specifically today I know how you look it's still really important to you that's absolutely fine but what I wanted to explore is rather than spending money on new clothes he's looking at how we can customize some of the old stuff you've got just look at ideas for using your creativity a bit so you up for that yeah okay let's go in here I'm guarantee that no two people would come out of here with the same thing which is sort of what makes it fun really you did really brilliantly at Olympia and pulled loads of those really this is 650 meter you buy couple of meters of this and sort of personalize something I think one you'd really like it and two you know you've got something sort of quite funky that that you've sort of had a hand in doing I think you quite enjoy doing yeah so that comes to 3895 great well buying it's one thing but now we've got to go and put it all together okay do you think that you would get sort of an equal sense of satisfaction wearing something out and getting compliments on it you know if you made it rather than if you'd bought it do you think there would be any difference yeah I guess you probably get more satisfaction actually because it's not just something you've actually sort of created and your ideas that getting complimented rather than just you know buying having bought something already made right Dave you don't count that hey I think that looks really nice yeah because you are creative aren't you or your storytelling and everything yeah have you always been creative yeah I guess so I have yeah I've always sort of like Andreessen little stories and poems and always like made all my Christmas cut birthday cards and dude right now I love to do little things people say yeah I guess huh you could have a go at finishing this I mean listen really cool I can't wait to wear it try it on let's see what it mm-hmm your new Elvis case yeah I think it's really nice yeah I spend about 40 pounds in the shop which wasn't too bad because I got probably enough material and beads to make to customize prop you know about eight tops really say if you compare that to the price that would pay for eight new tops but probably 50 pounds each you know I mean it's just a huge saving and this feels really good there's one more saving Jay wants her to make Caroline usually spends a hundred and forty pounds on a cut and color but with only 50 pounds in her monthly hair budget Jay has booked Caroline an appointment with a trainee a cheap shortcut for anyone wanting up-to-the-minute styles I'm gonna have it layered and a bit of a fringe this is a picture I quite like that's turn power people [Music] by spending just 20 pounds on a haircut in color compared to the usual 140 Caroline is comfortably within her monthly allowance of fifty pounds some things won't be so easy to cut Caroline's new travel budget has been slashed from 108 pounds to only 59 boyfriend James works long hours in IT for a London bank and prefers Caroline to do the travelling taking the coach maybe the cheaper option but with a journey time of three hours each way it takes over twice as long as the Train Caroline has persuaded James to come to Loughborough to sample all the delights the town has to offer before I just like DuPont train I'm gonna see him not really worried about the cost but now because of my new budget and I can't really do that so it's been a bit dr. rubbish yes [Music] with l'Opera a little short on sushi bars Carolyn and James go down under for an Australian restaurant where James finally gets to meet the new financially aware Caroline so you've got 59 pounds travel budget it's 20 pounds train ticket yeah Jake's is like cheap and everything I don't Matt and it's two times and run and so if you've got agreed to come here two times alone yeah well I'm not just a bit busy lady I think you could make that 15 pounds go further because you can just buy if you buy a train ticket advance a little bit more planning in advance I should say James I've got this budget we just caught this a night that was pronounced every times month he did main Dame had a bit of disagreement basically he seemed to be especially annoyed about the fact that I was so careless with money and I've been given so many opportunities I could have actually saved so much money but instead I've just blown it and have nothing to show for it and I guess all the things he was saying we're really true but that's why it hurt so much I guess the next day after patching things up Caroline and James part on good terms by persuading James to do the running Caroline has made savings to her travel budget and is well on the way to breaking the vicious cycle of spending with the proceeds of her clothes sale she has picked up a few designer bargains and saved over a hundred pounds on a haircut in color caroline has also made the first steps towards facing the underlying reasons for her wayward spending by getting her mom's thoughts on the sibling rivalry if caroline is to find some long-term security she'll have to stop running off to london and find something a little closer to home I think Caroline's doing really well with her clothing budget at the beginning there was a bit of a resistance but now I think you know she is making great strides and she is definitely definitely listening and taking things on board I know this is having a bit of trouble with her travel budget and there has been a point of friction for because it is quite expensive her to get down to London all the time I think she should have been bolting down to London and not even given herself a second to find something that she might like to do up here I don't think that Caroline is really going to enjoy being here so she feels fulfilled in a sense of actually enjoying her life in life and of course at the moment there's an emptiness here so of course she's running off different places left right and centre would be much more calming for and that's one beneficial to her financially to actually find that Center here Benjamin and Jay come up with a plan caroline has inherited a love of fast cars from her father so they've brought her to Darlington racetrack in Leicestershire to prove that fast living doesn't always mean loose purse strings we brought you here today it's a daunting park which is only about 15 minutes away from you because what we thought we'd do is try and you know spend some time doing something near to you because obviously every time you're going down to London at a weekend that's 200 pounds on money spent on clothes going out nice restaurants or the rest of it so we thought sort of dressed down fun up here 30 pounds we're going to take the buggy racing and see if we can give you the same adrenaline rush from that that you get flashing your plastic so what do you reckon yeah I mean exciting yeah I love cars and driving I didn't really realize this was here and that you could actually have a gave yourself so excited mind your new hairstyle [Music] what [Music] Caroline's having a blast and it's certainly cheaper than an afternoon shopping but if she's to make a long-lasting break from her retail fix she needs to find permanent fulfillment elsewhere [Music] Benjamin thinks it might be that the stories discovered in her room are the answer as well as her tales of Hattie the shopaholic caroline has also dabbled with children's stories if Benjamin can tap into this creative well perhaps you'll no longer resort to shopping for her adrenaline rush yeah I enjoy doing the writing and stuff but I always just think it's silly how are you worried what other people might think about what you've written yeah well I think that for you with your personality and your interests I think sharing a creative endeavor is something they would be quite authentic for you what do you think yeah I know that that's something I'm you know like doing but then I just think about the future and how in a career and I always think the next bit was silly so wait okay I think people think I mean it's not a real job and yeah because you come from a very practical hard working background where there's a real sense that you work hard you do something practical and that's how you get on in life I want you to think about using this time as a student valuably to explore your creativity and explore those sides of you that maybe don't fit into the family work ethic what I want you to do is dig out your favorite children's story that you've written and I want you to go and find some children I want you to read that story to them and then I want you to sit down and listen to what they have to say about it how would that feel yeah yes that we good Benjamin's been encouraging me to be like more creative and because creativity is like so powerful and like a million times more powerful to you than what you look like externally I mean like if you know if he gave to dinner party do you want to be with someone who looks gorgeous and it's just really dull or gonna be someone who can sort of express himself and it's really creative Benjamin suspects that Caroline's shopping is a quick fix and that the same buzz could be achieved more healthily from letting loose with her creative side he's brought Caroline to a primary school in Loughborough for the ultimate test to read her stories to a class of five-year-olds so Caroline this is the big moment you're actually gonna reveal your story live in front of a group of five years are you nervous about that yes I am I guess kids are the most honest art they say yeah well I'm quite nervous just to be in a room for the five-year-old so I think for you to be reading your story to them and actually risking expressing your own most intimate creativity it's quite a big deal yeah feel like you're finally putting something out there the evening keeping to yourself for a long time so I mean right toys stories and it's no point me just home something written them name a computer I might as well just say yeah Caroline has spent much the last week composing a story especially for the children she's been writing on and off for most of her life but this will be the first time she's ever read one in front of an audience this is Caroline reader and she's come along this afternoon to read her story - okay it's Sarah it's a story about Susan fairies one's called inky one's called fiddle Benjamin suspects that the story contains hidden messages that explain the origins of Caroline's competitive urge and team keen fiddle are getting ready for bed stories reveal a great deal about people the the author of the story inevitably puts her own unconscious story into the narrative Tinky and fiddle had very different ideas about Christmas little love Christmas because he was an elf and every Christmas he was asked to go and help Santa sort out all the presents for the little boys and girls across the world Tinky however she didn't like it at all she was a fairy and it was her job to sit on top of the Christmas tree whilst fiddle was having all that fun in Lapland I really see the sibling rivalry of the outset of the story I see Tinky and fiddle as possibly the sisters and Tinky's always stuck at home not allowed to go out well fiddle gets to do the good stuff which is of course exactly what Caroline told me happened with her and her much older sister when they were younger Tinku was growing more and more angry it is not fair that fiddles should have all this fun she thought to herself I must think of a way to get to Lapland she's envious of her sisters lifestyle her sister is able to go out effectively to the North Pole and play with magic and go and prepare for Christmas now Caroline is effectively tink stuck at the top of the Christmas tree not allowed to go anywhere so what does she do i no thought Tinky mischievously if I wear fiddles outfit tomorrow then I can pretend that I am him and I can go to Lapland she takes fiddles clothes I the credit cards and literally the clothes of an older person and goes out to the North Pole but she uses the wrong words and it all ends up a bigger mess than before soldiers were fighting the aliens the dolls were arguing with the teddy bears and the trains were racing with the toy cars I need some help scream Pinkie I need fiddle and then the mattock is used more successfully by the more competent and skilled fiddle and shouted toys change back and when he hope and his eyes the room was still they both yawned have got into bed and fell asleep very quickly this was definitely a Christmas they would never forget do we love tinkling fiddles give the storyteller a big hug and a kiss and say thank you [Music] does that experience give you any different reflections on your career path when things are gonna try and take forward and you leave University yeah it just makes me really more want to sort of follow why'd you even do actually what want to do because there may I'm really only degree I'm doing sort of very business orientated more things I do like this and the more writing I do more I just want to do that it's great well the light of this give me some validation in that area because I think that's what you really need it I think you really do have some special creative qualities in you and it's quite hard sometimes to find the validation for that if people that you're around don't necessarily understand it but kids never lie and they're great people to take creative stuff too caroline has listened to Benjamin's theory about her children's story perhaps unconsciously expressing the tensions with her sister so now is a good time to suggest one final challenge for her to face in order to understand her spending addiction I think you've done really well with the creative stuff I'm really pleased with the way that's gone we haven't touched much on Foundry themes and I think there's something you could do there with your sister to go and talk to her about the sibling rivalry and be interesting to see what her reflections on there what do you think yeah good [Music] caroline has arranged to meet sister Charlotte at her family home in East Yorkshire where she lives with her partner and two children during the week Charlotte works in Paris as a marketing director for a big multinational company Caroline needs to find out if trying to emulate her older sisters glamorous lifestyle without the income to support it is it the root of her spending problem it sounds very glamorous but I wouldn't say it's necessarily a glamorous lifestyle I spend most of my time in airport lounges on airplanes waiting for delayed aircraft or trains so it's not as glamorous as it sounds if caroline is finally to move on and away from her addiction to shopping she needs to realize that material success comes at a price well I think I've got my shopping habits off you and coz you were the worst when you were well you still are now then I can't I've been working since I was 8 - yeah that's because he's yeah because I'm gone - you know I don't know I haven't got any money so I can't really do the same which is a bit annoying there's a lot of things I have been able to do you know I'm not going to university I've always worked and had responsibilities mm-hmm I had a mortgage 18 I had a house and I really want that when you had that house England in you but doing all these things that are amazing and yeah it's not as good as it I don't see that I only see the good things I know so does everyone's be on it but it's not kind of like fantastic I mean even sort of working in the job I'm in now you know behind the scenes you know I miss my family incredibly you say you're lonely at university god you've got no idea what it's like to be 600 miles away from it well more away from your family especially Sebastian and Hattie and Angus sort of four nights a week you know kind of a big corporate rat race isn't all sort of you know it's not what it's have all glammed up to be really yeah well that's why I don't even really want to do things what everyone tell you what I do you always get really annoyed because you don't think it's very good yeah but I was tell you to do what you want to do and what you're good at you'd be great at doing something like creative writing I mean you sent me articles before that I really thought of and I actually don't believe you written there they're great I mean it you know but you'll be a success at whatever you do following in my footsteps I would say kind of knowing it definitely isn't the right thing for you until now caroline has been heading towards a career in business studying retail management at university but the lessons of the past weeks have made Caroline feel differently about her plans I think the fact that I'm actually doing a course I don't really enjoy sort of makes me want to do other things to sort of escape that fact if you know I mean and the next maybe I do go shopping because just because I feel like I'm not enjoying what I'm doing and and that's why I writes doors as well it sort of in my spare time just cuz I have to let my creative side out which I can't do in my study so I think if I'd actually done a course like English or new drama I've been so much more happy at uni and really got involved doing things like this just makes me even more confident that's what I want to do in life 270 so know that when Benjamin and Jay first met Caroline she was a Shopaholic and fourteen thousand pounds in debt now five weeks after their first visit Benjamin and Jay have returned to Laura for the final time to see what Caroline has learned [Music] thank you that's very neat in here a quick wardrobe check there's no new design that you've been doing really well with that have you been getting on with your customized yes really well have you doing crazy with it this is pretty cool I've got myself a little same machine Soph being mad with all yeah not long about an hour there's a much more constructive way to express your creativity because as part of shopping where you're just bringing stuff into the home to experiment where as this I think is adding to your sense of well-being but I do something you're proud of and at the same time you get more interesting clothes out of it well the proof is definitely you know on the bank statements and when we first met you you were spending 200 pounds a month on clothes I know your recommended amount to spend was zero it really had no interest in shopping yeah like I bought one pair of boots which turritella and that's it it's been quite weird I mean I've been going I went shopping and in my friend last week Helen and she's just like what's wrong with you because it's not interested but going to the shops gave myself like a sick feeling with dinner I also know that you've done very well on your travel budget because for example you were budgeted to spend 59 pounds on the train and in fact you spent 50 from my point of view I see a transformation in you in that I've seen you bring out your creative side and I think that was something you were longing to do of course when we met you you've been doing writing and stuff you've never really taken it out into the public and I think now with the clothes and the writing and the kids in the school really seen a change which is filtered through in the future do you have any plans to continue with these creative projects of yours yeah hopefully I mean before I met you I hadn't I've been doing a little bit on the side but nothing really too serious and of course because my degree is really sort of business orientated I guess I thought that and the way I had to really go and I haven't really thought about doing anything creative in in my career but you know the muck the things I've done with the kids and my stories and making clothes it's really made me want to sort of follow that REIT I think you've done really well and I think now I don't think if I suddenly came back in six months time that you're gonna think great they're out the door in Reverse everything that's my mom was saying because we're having a bit of chat and she was like oh you know it's coming to an end do you think you'll just go back to normal I really really don't yeah I really think I've changed throughout this whole journey I mean it's been up and down and whatever but I mean the whole creative thing has been amazing and I've had you know chance to do a lot of things that you know I wouldn't ever have dreamt I could do especially reading to kids and that was just a fab and yeah and I do would really love to follow a career in writing up my dream come true but if it wasn't to happen least I'll always have it there to do on the sideline and you know give me a lot of fulfillment so [Music]

Channel: Spendaholics

Views: 195,219

Rating: 4.7959814 out of 5

Keywords: Spendaholics, Shopaholics, Shopping, Spending, Haul, Addicted, Addiction, BBC, Only Human, Jay Hunt, Benjamin Fry, Debt, Finances, TV Show, Full Episodes, Student, Student Debt, student finance

Id: 64Brt3YOBlo

Length: 56min 1sec (3361 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 23 2019