William Hanson: My best purchase was my £180,000 Manchester flat when I was 20

In our How I Manage My Money series, we aim to find out how people are spending, saving and investing money to meet their costs and achieve their goals. This week, in our celebrity edition, we speak to etiquette expert William Hanson, 36, who reveals why he once thought a credit card meant you could “just pay back whenever you want” and why he would happily spend his savings on a luxury holiday and “a lot of martinis”. What was money like in your household growing up? I don’t think it was ever a problem. It makes me sound a little bit like Richie Rich. We definitely weren’t, but I think we were comfortable. My mother stopped working when she had me – I’m the eldest – but my father worked incredibly hard to make sure that we were comfortable. Neither of them came from money, so it was him that worked to give us the lifestyle we had. Shorts What was your first job or opportunity that made you feel financially independent? I’ve done my job [etiquette coach] since I was 17. I started getting paid for it when I was maybe 19 or 20. It wasn’t particularly lucrative for many years, which was sort of okay because I was at university, so I didn’t have an awful lot of time to work. I also worked as my school’s receptionist part-time whilst I was still there. That was a bit odd, but I wouldn’t say I was financially independent at that point because I was 18. How did the etiquette coaching come about? I started teaching etiquette at my school unpaid for the younger years, because I was asked to by the staff, and I wanted to get out of playing rugby, so I did that on Tuesdays. I was enjoying it, but I didn’t know it was a possible career. I just thought, oh, it’s something I’ll be doing whilst I’m at school, and then I will leave, and that will be the end of that. I then got some press coverage by complete accident and then more people started to write to me in the local area to say, “oh, could you come and teach us how to set a table?” Because I was so new at this, I thought I couldn’t possibly charge anyone any money – it would feel wrong – so I didn’t, but that’s sort of how it started. Not long after I got the press coverage, what is now my company, The English Manner, wrote to me and said: “Well, look, if you’re going to do this, come and do it for us.” They provided the clients, and I was a freelance tutor for them. What has been the single most lucrative piece of work you’ve done? I am very grateful to have my podcasts, especially Help I Sexted My Boss – it is my salary. It is the closest to a proper job that I have in that on Thursdays I need to be in a specific place at a specific time with basically the same group of people. I have my little commute, my little coffee shop, and as a freelancer – and someone who’s every day in my week is different, other than Thursdays – I really love Thursdays. The most one-off lucrative thing would be maybe one or two of the brand campaigns that I’ve done on social media. How does the money from the podcast work? If we have more listeners, we get a higher percentage of the advertising revenue. It’s like watching Coronation Street. That will benefit off the adverts that are within it. What’s the best purchase or investment you’ve ever made? I guess property. I bought my first flat in Manchester when I was 20 for £180,000. I went to the University of Manchester, then stayed and lived in that two-bedroom flat for nine years. Selling that enabled me and my now-husband to buy our first flat in London. We sold that. We then bought this house last year. Why were you able to buy so young? I was fortunate that we just had the recession. I mean, they were basically giving flats away. It was a buyer’s market. What’s your biggest money regret? It sounds stupid, but when I took out my first credit card, I didn’t understand that there’s interest on them. I actually feel physically sick saying this out loud now, but I remember saying: “Oh, you can just pay it back whenever you want.” Yes, in many ways, you can, but you’re going to be paying more the longer you leave it. What do you like spending money on? Some clothes, not all clothes. I could go down the designer route, and I generally don’t because that’s ridiculous – you’re just paying for the label. But [I like] proper English tailoring clothes made in this country. I have a penchant for technology. I mean, if Apple brought out just a sort of a box of air, I’d probably buy it. The moment a new iPhone comes out, I will probably have it on the first day. Even the day after our wedding, we went to the Apple store together, and each bought the brand-new model as a sort of wedding present. Do you have a financial rule you live by? I’m all for saving, but I could be hit by a bus this afternoon, so everything in moderation. I probably haven’t put as much away for my retirement as I should. But equally, I’m 36. I’d like to slow down, but I don’t necessarily want to retire. So, I might as well enjoy it now. Do you have a pension? I do now have a pension. I probably only took it out about four years ago, which I think is about average for freelance people of my age and my generation. But I now contribute regularly. Do you worry about financial security? I don’t take anything for granted, and whilst there might be a little bit more cash floating around in my bank account than there has been, I mean, I could run out and spend it all tomorrow very easily. [I’d] go on an incredibly nice holiday or just check into a very nice hotel in London and have a lot of martinis and a nice dinner. I don’t need an awful lot to make me happy. What financial advice would you give your younger self? You probably don’t need a luxury American Express credit card at 20. You could probably get a credit card with a lower interest rate. Stop being such a snob. And when you become VAT registered, that VAT, funnily enough, has to be paid to the taxman. It’s not yours to keep necessarily, unless you know it balances out. With my first VAT bill, I thought: “Oh, shoot, bugger”. You know, I spent that, so I had to scrabble together to pay that.