‘I LOST A QUARTER OF A MILLION QUID’

Big Brother star Josie Gibson, 33, discusses her financial woes, impulse buys and shopping addiction

MY FIRST JOB WAS SHREDDING PAPER

“I worked for a bedding company, shredding all their documents. I’d work from 6am until 6pm and get £25 for the day. My job after that was working for a shoe-cleaning brand. I’d travel with them to trade shows and clean people’s shoes for them to try to sell the product. The worst thing was when I once looked up and realised I was preening my old Science teacher’s shoes. He looked down at me as if to say, ‘I knew you’d end up cleaning shoes!’ I’d make commission but, by the time I’d bought food from the other stalls and had a drink at the end of the day, I’d end up with nothing!”

I’M ALWAYS WASTING MONEY

“I always say I’m good at making money but not good at keeping it! I am a serial buyer of cr*p, I’ll look through my bank statements and think, ‘An egg timer? Why did I need that?!’”

MY ONE RULE? ALWAYS PAY WITH CASH

“I try to take out the money I need and use that to pay for things as it stops me from overspending. Where I go wrong tends to be when I get bored and indulge in online shopping. I’m terrible at buying clothes from those cheap ebay sellers and when the item arrives it looks nothing like it did in the picture.”

MY BIGGEST IMPULSE PURCHASE WAS…

“A huge elephant head ornament for my front room, made of polystyrene and covered in bits of mirror. I was browsing ebay one day and just bought it for £400. It’s about 3ft tall and people always walk through my door and say, ‘Oh my God, isn’t that hideous?’ But I love it!”

APART FROM BILLS AND MORTGAGE, I SPEND ALL MY CASH ON CLOTHES

“I’ve been every size during my life so I’ll give all my bigger clothes to charity, then put on weight and go and buy more, and then it goes in a cycle. I’m a high-street girl and I love a bargain. All my clothes are from New Look, H&M, Topshop, Missguided and ASOS. If I really want to treat myself, I’ll go to Karen Millen.”

I’VE MADE SO MANY MONEY MISTAKES

“When I first launched my business [Slimmables – a diet plan, www.slimmables.com] I trusted the wrong people and ended up losing a quarter of a million pounds. I also lost a lot of money when I had a tenant in my house – I didn’t do tenancy checks and he caused thousands of pounds’ worth of damage, which I had to pay to repair myself. All my mistakes seem to boil down to trusting the wrong people, so I’d say be careful who you work with and trust when it comes to money.”

I’M A TERRIBLE SUPERMARKET SNOB!

“I wouldn’t buy Tesco Value products but I’d happily have Waitrose own brand. The one thing I buy that has to be branded is Marmite.”