Debt, Discipline & That Magic £15K: How I Built My Emergency Fund (and Started Living on Cash)

Financial Clarity
Written By Shirley Druyeh

Living on cash sounds impossible—until you hear the full story. For me, it started with £15K of debt. But it wasn’t just a credit card. It was the weight of student loans, poor financial education, and navigating a system not designed for people like me. Here’s how I turned it all around—and why that magic number, £15K, became my foundation for financial freedom.

How It Started: £15K in Credit Card Debt

In my 20s, I was sitting on £15,000 in credit card debt. But that wasn’t the full picture. I also had:

  • A government student loan, which I began paying back as soon as I started corporate work at 21.

  • A private HSBC student loan, taken out to fund my Legal Practice Course (the final stage of training to become a solicitor in the UK).

Back then, the Legal Practice Course wasn’t funded by the government. If you didn’t come from money, the only way in was debt. I took the loan on my own, with no financial guidance. HSBC even encouraged me to borrow extra for “living costs.”

So I did. They gave me the full loan upfront—tuition £8,000 + living costs £7,000. I thought I was being smart, setting myself up for success.

Stupid, I know—living costs almost doubled the loan.

At the time, I didn’t think twice. I was focused on surviving law school and assumed borrowing extra was normal. But in hindsight, that “living cost top-up” made it incredibly hard to get ahead financially after graduating.

To make matters worse, I later found out some students only borrowed term by term, reducing the amount of interest they paid. One guy I met said his family had advised him to take out only what he needed each term. That way, less interest compounded over time.

I had no idea that was even an option. What a smart way to borrow!

The Real Cost of That £15K Loan (and What I Wish I’d Known)

The interest rate was around 4%, compounded monthly. That meant even though I wasn’t making payments while I was studying (or for a year after, thanks to the grace period - a blessing and a curse - another way they get you!), the interest kept stacking up.

By the time the repayment period kicked in, that £15,000 loan had grown to £16,247. And based on the repayment terms at the time, I was expected to pay 3% of the balance each month.

That’s £487.41 every month—on just one of my debts.

I was also paying down my credit card and my government student loan. At one point, I was sending £500–£700 a month just to service all three.

Despite a decent salary, I wasn’t really earning. But here’s the silver lining: all that debt taught me how to live below my means.

From Debt Payments to Financial Freedom

Financial Freedom

By the time I cleared my debts in my early 30s, I was used to living £1.5K–£2.1K below my income. The debt had also made me driven to take on roles with larger salaries. That’s when I decided:

“If I’ve lived without this money for years, why not keep going—but this time, for me?”

So I started putting that money into:

  • An emergency fund (yes, that same £15K—this time in savings)

  • Short-term goals: holidays, clothes, joy

  • Long-term goals: a house, move country, investments

And most importantly: every month, the first person I paid was myself.

Eventually, I aligned my savings with my goals and I used YNAB to manage my finances and money goals:

  • A fun fund

  • A house fund

  • A expat fund (saving for future plan at the time to move abroad)

  • A holiday fund

  • Even a clothes fund

Living on cash didn’t start with wealth. It started with mistakes. It started with debt. But it also started with a decision—to learn, to do better, and to build a future that’s mine.

If you’re in debt now, I see you. I was you. And if you're earning but feel like it’s not adding up—that was me too.

You can turn it around. One decision at a time.

Books & Resources That Helped Me Rewire My Financial Thinking

Here are a few books that really helped me shift my mindset and understand money in a healthier, more empowering way:

You can also find more resources and books on my blog, including tools I’ve used personally.

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Shirley Druyeh

Shirley Druyeh is a writer, creator, and quantity surveyor redefining what work and wealth look like. Based in Sydney, Australia, she is Ghanaian and British—born in Ghana, raised in the UK, and now an Australian citizen. She writes about financial freedom, homeownership, identity, and the journey of redesigning your life—one decision at a time. Her work explores the intersections of money, independence, womanhood, and what it means to build a meaningful life beyond the 9–5.

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