Getting minted from Vinted

We think women need to talk more openly about money. Embarrassing or confusing. Join the conversation. We'll be discussing a whole range of topics. Hello and welcome to another AJ Bell Money Matters podcast. I'm Laura and with me in the pod that's set to overflow with good news for a change is Danny. Hey Danny! Hi Laura, hi everyone. Yes, it's not always that we get to talk about the progress that is being made when it comes to women's finances. In fact

Rarely ever do we. But we felt that since this month, this year in fact, has delivered a number of really important milestones. Yeah, so that is because our one big thing this week is the fact that fifty years ago this month a woman could finally open a bank account, take out loans and mortgages. without a man's signature and also be protected from workplace discrimination around hiring and promotion. I mean, great news does feel like fifty years a not that long ago, Danny.

It does. And I was talking to my mum about this because she was 26 when this And she does remember having to get her dad to sign in order for her to get a bank account. So much has changed, but it was quite slow to take effect, even though, you know, fifty years ago women got these right. Um it it still felt quite slow for it to actually happen in real life.

So uh we're gonna dig into all the ways that women's financial freedoms have improved. And I know that you also wanted to chat about Lily Allen's new. I do and not just because I ob obsessively listened to the album since it came out.

We don't need to hear about my musical tastes, but because of the very public reasons that she wrote the album, which tackle the kind of betrayal and her relationship breakdown and ultimate divorce. And the album is also hopefully the way she's gonna put her financial life back together. I'm really interested for that one. I've not heard the album, but people do keep talking about it, so I must get it on my playlist. Um but our guest this week has it all together.

I'm going to try not to hold that against her. Eleanor Asmacopoulos is a content creator and her Instagram account. Eleanor every day that's absolutely Elena E-L-E-N-D-A dot everyday has a following of people who were all interested in her life. And she's got this 75-day challenge at the moment to get. Hotter, richer, fitter. And obviously the richer bit rather perked up our ears, especially because she's made thousands of pounds selling her unwanted stuff online. So stay tuned for her.

Yeah, really interested to hear that. So let's crack on with our one big thing. So on the twelfth of November twenty twenty five, we marked the fiftieth anniversary of the Sex Discrimination Act nineteen seventy-five. And it really tore up the old rule book and gave women an entirely new one, particularly when it came to their financial freedom. So it gave women the right to open their own bank accounts, apply for credit or a credit card without a man having to co sign.

Take out loans and mortgages on their own, be protected from workplace discrimination around hiring, pay and promotion, and also to access housing and services on the same terms as men. So a huge piece of legislation at the time, and like we said, quite mad that it was only fifty years ago.

It does feel like it should have been hundreds of years ago rather than just fifty years ago because So much has changed in that fifty year period and I think a lot of women, certainly my daughters who are in their teens, they just kind of assumed that

my generation and almost all of my generation it has been the case, but even for my mum's generation that she would have had the same rights and privileges that they've grown up with. So I think It has kind of caught a lot of women on the hop and I was saying earlier that some of the things I

took a while to sort of come through. Um, I do remember when I took out uh my first mortgage, whenever the bank would write to my husband and I, who both were on the mortgage, The mortgage letter would always be addressed to the

just to him and it would always be just Mr. Earnshaw and Anna would just be on the account as well. So, you know, i things have changed, but they've progressed quite slowly. Um and I guess some of the things maybe we'd rather we didn't have to pay for, things like, you know, gas and electric and that sort of stuff. I think it's you know, that point that you make about it changed, but then it took a while to actually properly change is probably so true, is like

the the legal rights came in, but we know that it takes much longer for societal change to happen and for people's attitudes to change. And I think it is useful, you know, for you're talking about your daughters there, for that generation. to hear how recently those things legally changed and that that probably reflects why some attitudinal change still hasn't happened among

you know, some people are in certain areas of women's lives because we know that that is slower to happen. These kind of things become entrenched in people and in generations, don't They do. And what was really interesting is that this was a huge year for women's rights because that came into law in the December of 1975, and that was the same time that the 1970 Equal Pay Act also came.

Um and you know that was also a a huge milestone in terms of you know getting parity with men if you were doing the same job. it was a way to really start to tackle the gender pay gap. Which we know Easy. still very much in existence. I mean, we talk here about money matters. Our big focus is on

the gender investment gap. And I have to say, if you have never read our launch report, do take a look on our website, which is ajbelmoneymatters.co dot uk because The gap I mean this is an astonishing figure, and I fall over this figure every time I say it. 1.65 trillion pounds, and I still can't get my head around the number of zeros that is.

But we do know that a lot of the gender investment gap starts with the gender pay gap. And that has also taken a long time to start to narrow. And we're still not there yet. So we had some figures. From the Office for National Statistics and a couple of pods ago I was talking with Charlene about Um but the recent figures show that over a decade, the past decade, it's fallen by over 25%, now stands at 6.9% for full-time employees.

And 12.8% if you take into account part-time employees. But I think it's been a really interesting year with lots of talk about. women's roles, women's workplace rights, women's um issues with jobs when it comes to things like AI and the fact that certainly um the UN was saying that um more women's roles

are likely to be replaced by AI faster than men's roles. So I think, you know, the fact that we're talking about this as a success and we're looking back fifty years, we've got to be really careful that we don't think, hey, it's all done. Yes, a hundred percent. I think yeah, when it comes to that kind of equality and when it comes to kind of attitudes and really closing that gender investment gap. Now we know that

Um the gender pension gap is a big part of that overall gender investment gap. And we know that auto enrollment, so where you're automatically enrolled into your company's pension scheme, that has helped to narrow that gender pension. Over the years. But we still know that there are big barriers in place, and we need to make sure that we don't forget that fight that women put up to get these financial freedoms in the first place.

Um and also on the topic of fighting my favorite topic so far this month is Lily Allen's new album that is out. Um So I think it's a really interesting one from a kind of women's financial freedom point of view as well. So obviously her new album and her personal life which she displays and lays to bear in the album has been all over the newspapers the past few weeks. Um if you've not heard about this, uh this is the musician Lily Allen, and she's back with a new album and it's charting her

Well, the demise of her relationship really, and then her ultimate divorce from her husband, who is David Harbour. He's an actor in Stranger Things. I hadn't really come across his work, but um he is Hollywood famous. Um, she's had huge acclaim for the album. She's now doing a tour next year, appearing at festivals. So she's kind of back after a very long hiatus in terms of her career.

But she said that she's no longer financially stable since splitting from David last year. And she says she's been forced back into work in order to support her two daughters. She's got a 13-year-old and a 12-year-old daughter with her previous um husband. Um

Now obviously here she's not claiming poverty. She's reportedly worth about three million pounds. Uh she has famous parents, uh meaning that she's been often referred to as a Nepo baby, although she says that her parents don't fund her lifestyle, but She said that a year ago she was financially stable and since the breakup she isn't and she now has to go back to work.

Obviously, in some ways, this isn't relatable. She, you know, owns a house in Notting Hill. She's clearly not on the breadline. But And has more money than all of us. But I do think it's an interesting, very public case of the hit to your finances and the change to your finances when you become divorced. that actually affects so many women out there. Um

So I think it's just interesting to see this public case of this. So she's talking about this financial stability, about having to return to work.

Now for her that's a relatively easy task. She writes a new album, although that is obviously hard to do, and records a new album and releases it and because it's done very well, she dil will then profit from that. For a lot of women, if they've taken a big career break to look after their family or for whatever reason, it's not gonna be as easy to get back into work.

So I thought it was just a very interesting one of kind of the impact that divorce can have on women particularly and just on finances generally. often a divorce will lead to big lifestyle change, whether that's downsizing your house, reassessing your budget, reviewing your working situation, reviewing your debts, building up your savings again. And I think it's always interesting when we hear these big celebs that have been covered in the newspaper's load.

talking about issues that actually in a different way and at a different income level affect a lot of people out there, a lot of normal. It is interesting, particularly because most famous people they're only gonna talk about money when they're doing well. So, you know, if they're launching a a new uh brand or they've signed a particularly big deal.

They don't tend to talk about their finances when things are more difficult. They tend to shy away from that. And maybe it's a sign of the times that we are feeling more comfortable about talking about the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to finances. Yeah, I think so. I think it's interesting. I mean, Lily Allen has always been very honest. If anyone's read her autobiography, um

If you haven't, I really recommend it. It's very good. But it is very honest. And so she has always been, you know, very honest talking about the good and the bad. But you're right, I think this whole trend of on social media of talking about money a bit more, maybe it means that just Talking about some of the negative side of money is also more palatable.

Right, now it is time for our guest interview this week. And with lots of people thinking about their budgets, particularly how they can make them stretch a bit over Christmas, or maybe looking to try and make a bit of extra cash, we thought we would chat with someone who has made a career out there.

So Elena Asimakopoulos makes a living from a whole variety of side hustles, and she shares her experience with thousands of followers on Instagram each day. Her Instagram account is elinor with2as.everyday. Right now she's just started a 75-day challenge to get hotter, richer, fitter. And as Danny said earlier, we of course want to focus on the richer part of that.

Eleanor recommends taking small steps, but above all, taking the first step, which is definitely a motto we can get behind here. She's got some great tips, so let's listen to what she had to say. Eleanor, you make a great living from what many people I think would probably call side hustles. So how did that come about? Yeah, so I mean it was definitely a slow progression. I've been doing this for around five years now. Um, and now it's my full time job. I've got all these different sides.

Uh but how it basically started out was it was actually in COVID. So it was January 2021 and Essentially I was in my first graduate role and I didn't really love my role but I was only four months in, it was COVID, I was like, oh god, what am I gonna do? I can't switch jobs. Um

So we just gotta have to find something that gives me a bit more purpose and a bit more income elsewhere. So I started looking into different ways I could make more money and different ways I can make online and how I did that was I went on YouTube and then I was just looking at different like money. channels, so Patricia Bright, for example.

that just explain different money concepts and different ways to make money online. And but the one thing that I did do that most people don't do is I was watching all of the ads as well that I was getting served.

Because a lot of them were talking about different side hustles and different ways you can make money as well. So that gave me more ideas of things that I could research and decide which side hustle I wanted to do and that's how I found my first side hustle, which was A lot of people might be like, Okay, well I I can't write a book, that's not for me, but there are ways that

Just everyone can make money just by looking around their house. And that's a brilliant way because you can declutter and earn a bit of extra cash. And a lot of people as we sort of head in towards Christmas will be going, actually a little bit of extra cash would be really nice. So I I know you get asked this all the time, but how can people start with that? Because you've had real success there as well.

Yes. So I always say this'cause it that is something that I get asked a lot online as well, is but where do I start? Because when I said oh I started selling books, it does sound very complicated and it is more of a business rather than a side hustle. But I is really good to determine whereas if you just want something quick, just a quick

quick bit of cash, the best thing is to do is to start by selling stuff in your house and that's what I always recommend to people. Um so yeah, I think the best way I do it is it does seem a bit like a long task. So trying to break it up into smaller tasks. I always think go room by room is always the best way. Or even if that's too much, cupboard by cupboard, you know, just one time. You don't have to do it all at once.

And then also like for example me, I just have this massive pile of clothes and random other things behind my sofa at the moment that I need to put on. line because I've done the sweep now and then I'm like, okay, next task is actually getting them up on the site. Um go room by room

than actually putting it in a pile. Like I always like to do charity pile and selling pile because there are stuff which you're not gonna need and you're probably not gonna sell so why Rydyn ni'n mynd i'n mynd i'n mynd i'n mynd i'n mynd i'n mynd i'n mynd i'n mynd i'n mynd i'n mynd. And put it online later down the line. So a lot of people would use sites like Vintage, um, Depop,

Um, but I I know a lot of people do it and sometimes I've certainly done it and stuff's gone on and it's sat there and it's not sold and then I just get bored and give up. So what are your top tips? To actually make it work for you. I actually have

A different way of thinking about selling clothes online. Try and think of yourself kind of as a clothes store. So think of yourself as, I don't know, Zara or ASOS or something. If you go on ASOS, You do not see a piece of clothing, for example, most people sell clothes, that's the easiest thing to sell, but you don't see uh, you know, a dress. hanging on a cupboard door, you know, and it's all scrunt

And it doesn't look very nice. People can't imagine it on themselves. And so I like to think, okay, when you go onto ASOS, for example, you see it on a model, you see it and the clothes are you know, looking their best, they are ironed. They uh, you know, y they're in a nice environment. Maybe they're uh on a plain background or Maybe it is like a kind of lifestyle shot. These are the kind of things that differentiate yourself when you are selling. Think of it as marketing rather than

you just tryna make a bit of extra income online. So make sure that If if it is clothes, try them on if you can, or get someone else to try them on and so people can imagine it on themselves. Or if it's like, I don't know, a coffee machine, do you have it in a nice coffee nut?

so people can imagine it in their homes rather than, you know, just on your carpet on the floor, because that doesn't necessarily look as nice and people can't imagine it can't imagine themselves using it. So I would say those things and then also make sure like everything's ironed. make sure um you know you have good lighting. I think lighting is super important. Uh so people can see the true colours and everything. And So if you can do it on a sunny day that always helps

I would say those are my top tips. And also another quick thing is pricing. I do think a lot of people get it wrong with pricing. And for example, if you get a dress from Zara and it's£25 new. And you wear it for a year, but maybe you haven't worn it that much. But okay, it's last year's Zara. People don't wanna spend twenty pounds on a last year's Zara dress. Be realistic and put it on lower and you'll be surprised at how much

you can actually make by just putting it on for ten pounds instead. And you know, you'd rather get ten pounds than no pounds because no one wants it for twenty pounds. That's how I like What about engaging with the website? Because I know one of the mistakes that I'm make all the time is I put something on and then I disappear.

And then I come back a few months later and I've maybe missed some messages from people saying, Would you take this? Or I've had no interest whatsoever and it doesn't seem like anyone's seen it. I would say make sure you have your notifications on on your phone and or potentially just to have uh a reminder on your iPhone to check it every couple of days or

every you know, what every day at seven, I don't know, wha however you like to work. Because it is true and you don't want to get bad marks, for example, on vintage or if you don't reply ac mae angen i chi wedi'i gweithio, ac mae angen i chi wedi'i gweithio, mae angen i chi wedi'i gweithio, mae angen i chi wedi'i gweithio, mae angen i chi wedi'i gweithio, mae angen i chi wedi'i gweithio.

and on Facebook marketplace, for example, if you don't reply to people then you're just not gonna sell it. And so And then more and more people will start putting up that item and your item gets lost, you know. So it just keep trying to check as much as possible. And the best way I think of doing it is just by putting an alarm.

So consistency, get an iron and think about how the item looks. They seem really simple, but I would imagine for a lot of people they're listening to this going, Oh yeah, okay. But it also it it is a bit more effort. It is having to get out the iron, iron all your clothes or actually trying them on.

It is a lot of effort, it is, when especially when you've got a pile of clothes of fifty clothes or something silly and you're just sitting there like, No but just get it done, like I said, bulk it. Do it in bulk and just go for it.

Now, I know one of the things that you've got on your Instagram account at the moment is a challenge to become hotter, richer, fissier. And the one thing I like about it is that you say Start small but start. Now that's a great tip for getting fit, but also for getting to grips with your finances. So what have you found has been the most Yes. So that's why I kind of put it in the challenge, uh, because

That's an area which everyone wants to improve. I well, I definitely want to improve. I'm always learning. There's always new things to to be known about, I suppose, um, especially when it comes to money. And one thing that I found most challenging, especially at the beginning when starting to make extra money and also in general is was budgeting. And

You know, you're getting this money in but okay, you might have to pay tax on it or, you know, have you thought about your long term savings or investments? You know, it's not just

maybe a lot of people try and think, Oh yeah, I just want it in the short term. I just want it in the short term but when you start making more and more money, you do have to think about those longer term things. So yeah, actually budgeting and not just seeing this money and be like, Yay, I can spend it all It's probably the hardest thing at the beginning because you're just excited because you're getting extra money.

That's that's me anyway. So have you have you thought long term then, because obviously now you're self-employed, so you have to think about things like a pension or investment. So I do invest. So I started my side hustles five years ago nearly and I started investing four years ago. And so I just started small and I was investing a hundred pounds a month. And because I was getting this money that

With my side hustles when I did have a full when I did have um a nine to five as well, I wasn't using any of that money either. So I was like I might as well put it in and investing um I don't know, different types

So yeah, I started with a hundred pounds a month, then I went up to two hundred, then I went up to three hundred, and I've just been going up depending Uh and then also obviously you've got different saving pots and things like that, but uh that's just that's just thinking about longer. So when you made the decision to start investing, um there are some great resources out there now, but did you talk to friends about it? Did you listen to podcasts? What gave you the confidence to to do that?

Yeah, that's a good question. Um, so it was a mix of things. Like I said, I was looking at a lot of Which were explaining different ways to save and invest and um make money. So I learned from different YouTube channels, but then also I think a big part of it was talking to different friends and family and seeing what they were doing. Um And actually, yeah, my my friend, she had spoken to a financial advisor th and she passed on that information. Decided what investments are.

to invest in and what index funds to put my money in. But I have done more research since then. But yeah, even now, sometimes I use AI, ChatGPT, and things. Obviously you do have to take that with a pinch of salt. because it's not always correct. But you know, it's a good place to bounce ideas and understand things in layman. I like the fact that you talk about And that you talk to friends and family about money because for so long money was a taboo subject.

Particularly over the last few years where people have have really struggled with the cost of living, I think it's become something which is more accessible. Yeah, and I think also We're with the rise of social media as well, there's benefits and negatives in the money space, but I do think it is good that a lot more people are being more transparent online because

you can see that okay, you know, some people who are just completely the same as anyone, me and you I mean that's what I first started po posting about. I was just talking about different side hustles and There is no difference. This is what I always say. There's no difference between me and you. It's just that I started. And that's the like.

like you were saying before, it's good. You just gotta start and it's just small things that can lead to other things and and get you where you want to go. But unless people are talking about it, you don't necessarily know what options there are for you.

And how to go about things. So it's just trying to listen and be a sponge to as many people as possible because they might teach you something that you didn't. I'm good. It's going well. I'm I started it again uh this week, so I'm only a weekend. Uh but yeah, it's good, it's good. I'm feeling good. I've just uh put a more things online to sell including my wedding dress. So fingers crossed I'll get some money for that one. Uh and hopefully that'll boost my income for Christmas. We'll see.

Thank you so much for talking to us. Thank you so much. Thanks, Danny. That was Elena Asamakopoulos from the Instagram account elena.everyday. Now, I know that you're probably wondering a couple of things right now, Laura, and let's start with the obvious, which is did Eleanor have a confession? Because yes, she did. And I think that will lead neatly on to the second.

And before we let you go, we always ask one question of all our guests at the end, and that is for a financial confession or dilemma. Yes, I have a these no I we I would definitely say my initial thing which I always say to people if you are starting a side hustle and it's doing well is start a limited company or at least look into your options because I definitely started my later than I should have, considering I was earning a full-time wage as well from my uh job.

Um so definitely made a bit of an error there regarding tax benefits and ways that I could could have making my money work a bit more efficiently for myself because I definitely didn't have a limited company uh soon enough. So I would say that would have been a bit of a rookie. Thank you so much. That's um something I think a lot of people who go down the side hustle route are really interested in. So uh yeah, we'll we'll definitely speak to someone about um tax implications.

Yeah, I mean I'm no expert. bad me for a while, so definitely ask an accountant. Yeah. So they they're very helpful. It does lead perfectly on to the second because whilst tax used to be a boring topic, it is now front page news, isn't it? Oh can't move for tax stories out there, Danny, and we're being asked about them constantly because the budget is coming up.

The budget is coming up and uh I didn't ask Eleanor about tax when we were doing the interview because she said, Look, she really doesn't get it. She leaves all of that to her accountant and I know

that lots of people might be wondering about when they're selling their own stuff, do they have to pay tax, how much, and that kind of thing. And The time is now fast approaching, first of all, for the budget, but second of all, when we all need to figure out if we've got to fill in a self-assessment tax return. And there are lots of reasons that you might need to.

So we thought that we would go straight to the horse's mouth. So our next episode will feature a chat with the wonderful Abby Glue from Accountants and Financial Coaching Firm. Orianda Collective and she's gonna spill the beans on all those tax issues. So make sure you like and subscribe wherever you listen to your pods, and of course let everyone else know if you think that they should take But that is it for this episode. As I mentioned, the budget is hurtling towards us.

So it's next week as we're recording this. Um just to say that our sister podcast, AJ Bell Money and Markets, will be putting out a special episode on the same day that the budget comes out. Danny and Charlene will be looking at all of the announcements and working out what it means for you and your finances. So you can find that pod in all the usual places. But until next time, thanks for listening. Before you go, please remember this podcast is for educational.

And the views expressed don't necessarily reflect those of AJ Bell. The podcast isn't telling you if a certain investment is suitable. Forget that the value of investments can be And you can lose money as well as it's not. It's also important to remember that how you're taxed will depend on your individual circumstances. The way an investment is how it behaves in the future. If you want help, go see a qualified financial advisor.