Our huge hits didn’t make me a fortune – but at least I never had to Beg, Steal Or Borrow

Back touring and working on a new album, singer Eve Graham, 75, regrets that a poor deal stopped her earning ‘silly money’ – from hits such as I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing – with The New Seekers in the early 1970s.

What did your parents teach you about money?

That if you do not have it, you cannot buy anything. My dad thought credit was a terrible thing and that attitude has stuck with me. I still remember him coming home and handing his pay packet straight to my mother. He never took a penny out of it for himself. My parents had five children, so although my father had a good job there was no money spare for luxuries or holidays.

What was the first paid work you did?

Working in a hairdresser’s after I left school at age 15. I got £5 a week, which I thought was fantastic money. I gave £3 to my mum for food and board. Some boys I knew from school invited me to join their band, so I would also sing with them at the weekends. It never occurred to me that singing could be a full-time profession.

Have you ever struggled to make ends meet?

No, by the time I was 21 in 1964, I had a job in London singing with an orchestra. It all happened because my brother spotted an advertisement in the magazine Musical Express for a London-based singer and told me to apply for it as a joke. My parents were supportive – they bought me a plane ticket, took me to Glasgow and gave me £20. I got the job.

Have you been paid silly money for a job?

Not that I know of. I am sure I did when I was in The New Seekers in the 1970s but the fees I could command at the time were hidden from me. We were paid an allowance of £80 a week by our managers. We also got some lump sum payments at times that allowed me to buy a house for my parents. Since the 1970s, I have never earned silly money. Through the highs and lows there has not been a dramatic change in how much I have been paid. It is disappointing.

What was the best year of your life in terms of the money you made?

It was 1979. I had just got married to Kevin [Finn] and we started singing as a duo. We were earning money and, for the first time, keeping it all – we did not have to pay it to others. We earned several thousand pounds that year, which was a lot of money back then.

What is the most expensive thing you have ever bought yourself just for fun?

I had a pearl mink zip-up jacket made for £600 in 1971. I never felt guilty about wearing it because the mink were dead when I first met them.

What is the biggest money mistake you have ever made?

In 1987 we took out a big mortgage to buy a farmhouse. At one point the interest rate was 12%. I was naive about finance at the time.

What is the best money decision you have made?

Buying my first home in Scotland in 1972. Six years after buying it for £12,500 it sold for £30,000. My parents lived there with two of my brothers and whenever I had any time off at all I visited.

Do you save into a pension or invest in the stock market?

No, I’ve never done that and unfortunately I don’t even qualify for the full state pension. Bricks and mortar is the only way to properly save money. I am not a risk-taker and I see property as a safe investment.

How much property do you own?

I own two flats in Perth and rent them out. I live in a three-bedroom house in the east of Scotland. My husband and I paid £310,000 for it four years ago but I live alone since Kevin died two years ago.

What is the one little luxury you like to treat yourself to?

Every couple of weeks I get a bag of Haribo marshmallows. I have been known to eat them all before I even get home from the supermarket.

What is your top financial priority?

Never to be in debt. I have no children, so I don’t have a strong desire to preserve my wealth but I never want to be a liability to anyone.