A few years ago, if you’d told me I’d have a book on shelves with my name on it, I wouldn’t have believed you. But here we are — The Savvy Spender: How to Make, Save and Grow Your Wealth is out now, and I wanted to give you the full story of what’s actually inside it, because it’s so much more than “spend less, save more.”
Where it started
I grew up on a council estate in Birmingham, watching my mum juggle cleaning jobs and bags of ironing just to keep us afloat, after my dad’s failed business left her with debt to clear on her own. I never liked asking for money — so from a young age I started making my own, however small: selling snacks out of my backpack at school, personalised bracelets, Avon under my mum’s name. It wasn’t glamorous, but it planted the seed.
That background is exactly why this book doesn’t come from a “just budget harder” place. It comes from someone who’s actually lived the tight-money years — and found her way to something better.
The mindset shift that changed everything for me
The biggest thing I want readers to take from this book is the difference between a scarcity mindset and an abundance mindset.
Scarcity is the voice that says what if I lose it all — gripping onto every penny, saying no to things that could actually improve your life, saving for the sake of saving rather than for a purpose. I lived in that mindset for years, and it’s not something that just switches off overnight.
Abundance doesn’t mean spending recklessly or pretending money grows on trees. It means understanding that money flows — it comes in, it goes out, and you always have the ability to create more of it. That shift, from fear to flow, is the foundation everything else in the book is built on.
What’s actually inside
The book is split into practical, real-life chapters — not just theory:
– Get Smart with Spending and Saving — the everyday habits that actually stick
– Save as You Spend — spending intentionally instead of restricting
– Deal with Your Debt — realistic, judgement-free strategies
– Get Financially Fit in Your Health and Relationships — money doesn’t exist in isolation from the rest of your life
– Future You: Saving for Your Goals
– Investing Made Simple
– Get Your Hustle On — side hustles and extra income, my personal favourite
Every chapter is built to fit into your actual life, not a fantasy version of it where you have hours spare and zero distractions.
Who it’s for
If you’ve ever felt too busy, too overwhelmed, or like you’ve “tried everything” with money before — this is for you. It’s not a book of restriction. It’s a book about building a healthier relationship with money so it stops being a source of anxiety and starts being the tool it was always meant to be.
