We Are England S2022E86 - Money and Me Our Money-Saving Story

Financial advisor Emmanuel Asuquo is on a mission to help people survive the current cost of living crisis - the worst in a generation. According to the Office for National Statics, around nine in ten adults have reported increased living costs. Single mum Emma, 35, from Bedfordshire, has felt the pinch of the soaring costs of goods and utilities and has had to give up her car as well as her cherished ‘date days' with her 11-year-old daughter, Jessica, to make ends meet.

Emma is working, but has had a tough time finding jobs that pay a living wage with hours that suit being a single parent. She is now in rent arrears for the first time in a decade.

Emmanuel also knows what it's like to struggle with money. Growing up in poverty to immigrant parents, Emmanuel shared a room with his two sisters and, at one point, lived in a flat infested with cockroaches. From the windows of his East London council estate, he could see the twinkling lights of Canary Wharf every night and dreamed of having enough money to leave the lights on all night.

He made this dream come true, getting a job in Canary Wharf at age 19 (though he doesn't actually leave his lights on all night!). Emmanuel soon became the youngest financial advisor for Barclay's in the country when he was 22.

Now, Emmanuel runs his own financial advice business and visits Emma, who is finding it hard to save money and start paying off her debt.

He gives her practical tips and a money-saving plan to help get her back in control of the family's funds. It's a plan that enables Emma to buy a new school uniform for Jessica without emptying her bank account, and even leaves her with enough left over to pay for a much-missed ‘date day' for the two of them.

For Emmanuel, it's important that Emma is a role model for her daughter when it comes to money issues. He wants to stop generational poverty in families by getting children involved in finances at an early age, so they can make smarter money choices as they grow up.