I who had nothing . . .
X Factor singer Mary Byrne left school at 12 to work in a factory – now she can earn £3,000 in just 45 minutes
What did your parents teach you about money?
MY MOTHER was not good with money. She always used to tell me: ‘Do not be like me and spend foolishly. Instead, look after your money and save for the future.’
My dad, on the other hand, could make a tenner out of a fiver. He was a labourer and a handyman. He was hard- working and would always give his entire wage packet to my mother, unopened. She would give him back enough for a pint at the weekend and a few cigarettes.
Money was tight. There were five of us kids and I remember many times when the electricity was cut off and there were bailiffs at the door. But we always had food and clothes, even if they were secondhand – and my father would make us toys because he was good with his hands. There was a lot of love in the family and we were happy.
How much pocket money did you get as a child?
THRUPPENCE from the age of 11. I remember my father giving me an old brown coin and going up to the shop to buy myself a packet of Smarties and a small bottle of lemonade.
What was the first paid work you ever did?
I LEFT school when I was 12. At the time, it was not illegal in Ireland to do so although I remember my mum lying and saying I had gone to England to live with my aunt. All my family left school young. I knew bringing a few bob into the house would be a help to my mother. So I begged and cried until I wore my mother down and she agreed to let me leave.
I went to work at a factory which made plastic knickers for babies – to go over their cloth nappies. I worked in the packaging department and got paid £2 and 10 shillings a week which I gave to my mother.
I loved it. I did not miss school until I was 15 or 16. That is when I realised I probably should have carried on going.
Have you ever struggled to make ends meet?
YES. The worst time was just after I had my daughter Deborah at the age of 27. I was a single mother, working and trying to pay the bills – it was hard.
It all became chaotic. I got behind on my rent and into debt on my electricity. Sometimes I cried and wondered whether I was ever going to get out of this mess.
I had just £100 to live on a week and out of that I had to pay the rent, heating bills, food and clothes. But unlike my mother, I was not afraid to sit down and talk about it with the people I was in debt to, so I worked out a way to pay it off gradually.
I remember one Christmas when my daughter was about three and the Teletubbies dolls were popular. But they were expensive. So I took on extra cleaning jobs to make enough to get that doll for my daughter. It was a big struggle, but I managed it in the end.
Have you ever been paid silly money for a job?
YES, when I did the X Factor tour. I worked six nights a week for about three months and think I earned around £50,000.
The most I ever earned in one night was singing at a corporate gig shortly after I was on X Factor. For 45 minutes on stage, I was paid £3,000 in cash. I cannot tell you what a shock it was holding that much money. It made me feel really good.
Q What is the most expensive thing you have ever bought yourself just for fun?
A IT WAS the £20,000 16-day holiday to Florida I went on with 15 members of my family.
We stayed in a beautiful hotel and I shared out another £3,000 between everyone as spending money. I paid for it with the money I made from the X Factor tour.
The joy it gave me was unbelievable – a holiday of a lifetime.
Q What is the biggest money mistake you have ever made?
A SPENDING £5,000 on my first credit card a few years ago.
I swear I will never get into debt again because the struggle to even pay the interest was incredible – nearly £120 a month. It took me two years to clear it.
I have now cut up the card and binned it.
What is the best money decision you have made?
APPLYING for the X Factor. It gave me the chance to earn money doing something I love. I queued from two o’clock in the morning until three o’clock in the afternoon to be auditioned. Five weeks later, after I had resigned myself to the fact that I had not made it through, I got a call early one morning to say I was in. I fell off my bed in shock, screaming with excitement. But I was not sure whether I could agree to do it because I did not have much money in the bank and my rent had to be paid while I was on the show. I was working at Tesco at the time. Luckily, from the day I got accepted, the retailer gave me time off and carried on paying my wages for five whole months. I had been working for them for 11 years and they were good to me. If t hey had not been, I would not have been able to go because you only get an allowance of £30 a week while you are on the show. You do not need much because you are looked after – you are given a home and everything is paid for.
Do you save into a pension or invest in the stock market?
NO. I save a little bit into a bank account but that is it. Every time I have planned to set up a pension, I have not got round to it. As for investing in the stock market, the idea has never been on my radar.
Do you own any property?
NO. I rent a two-bedroom house
from the council. My daughter and I have lived in the house for more than 20 years.
What is the one little luxury you like to treat yourself to?
I LOVE watches. I save the money I used to spend on cigarettes and spend it on watches. Recently, I bought a beautiful Fossil rose-gold watch with diamante gems on the front for €100.
Q If you were Chancellor of the Exchequer, what is the first thing you would do?
A I WOULD try to negotiate a better deal on the cost of life-saving drugs from pharmaceutical companies. The Government pays these companies too much money – funds that should be going into the National Health Service and new medical equipment.
Do you think it is important to give to charity?
YES I do. But I do not agree with paying executives who run charities huge amounts of money. Their salaries should be capped.
What is your number one financial priority?
TO keep a roof over my head – and to have a home I can call my own. Mary Byrne was talking to Donna Ferguson.