Skint

What if discounts are actually costing businesses millions? In this episode, we sit down with 24-year-old founder Arif, who graduated top of his class at Oxford, left management consulting, and launched Causal.

Arif explains how his startup creates synthetic customer personas and simulated environments, originally adapted from cancer research mathematics, to help retailers pinpoint who actually needs a discount to buy and who would pay full price anyway. We also dive into the realities of early startup hustle, cold pitching CEOs, raising venture capital, and Arif’s unfiltered thoughts on whether AI is going to replace our jobs.

Connie and Mik take on the FIRE movement this week, financial independence, retire early, and try to get their heads round how it actually works.

• The maths behind saving 40 to 70% of your income to retire by 35 or 40
• The 25 times rule and the 4% withdrawal rule explained
• Why FIRE savers can’t touch their pension pot until much later in life
• Real examples of people who’ve retired early, including a teacher and an engineer who now travels in an RV
• The cautionary tales, including someone forced back to work after four years
• Mik’s dad’s version of FIRE, retiring at 53 on a full pension to go sheep farming in Devon

This week Connie and Mik break down the rumours circulating ahead of the budget. They cover talk of equalising capital gains tax with income tax, changes to the mansion tax threshold, the pension tax free lump sum, and Andy Burnham’s comments on the state pension triple lock. Mik explains which rumours are likely to hold and which ones probably won’t.

With bullet points:

Connie and Mik go through the rumours circulating ahead of this year’s budget.

• Why there was talk of equalising capital gains tax with income tax, and why the Chancellor has ruled it out
• The mansion tax threshold and the problems with valuing every property over 2 million pounds
• Fiscal headroom explained, and why the government needs to raise more tax
• Employee National Insurance and why Mik thinks it’s effectively income tax by another name
• The state pension triple lock, and what moving to a double lock would actually mean
• Rumours around cutting the pension tax free lump sum, and why some people took theirs out early

This week Skint welcomes Sally, who opens up about getting into serious credit card debt after her divorce. What started as one gifted credit card turned into a two year spiral of designer shopping, hidden bags under her desk, and a debt she told nobody about. She talks through what finally made her ask for help, and how she rebuilt her relationship with money from the ground up.

We cover:

• How easy credit card offers turned into a two year shopping spiral after her divorce
• Hiding the debt from her family and colleagues while working in fashion
• The moment she realised she had nowhere left to go
• Why asking for help felt like such a relief
• The cash envelope system and budgeting habits she built afterwards
• Why she now sees getting into debt as the best thing that happened to her

The financial industry loves its jargon, and this episode is here to fix that. Connie and Mik go through the terms you hear all the time but nobody ever really explains.

• The Bank of England, the Fed, and why interest rate decisions are kept independent from politicians
• The FCA and the difference between financial conduct and financial stability
• Passive vs active investing, and what "alpha" and "beta" actually mean
• Bull and bear markets explained, and why trying to time the market rarely works
• IPOs, private equity, and what really happens when a company like SpaceX floats
• EBITDA, dividends, and why some companies pay out and others don't
• The FIRE movement, retiring at 40 by saving up to 70% of your salary, and whether it's actually worth it

If you've ever nodded along in a conversation about finance without understanding a word, this one's for you.

Mik was nearly scammed. A scarily professional WhatsApp message asked him to "verify" his card for a holiday booking in Sicily, reference number and all. On this episode of Skint, Connie and Mik break down what happened and the other scams doing the rounds right now.

• The fake booking confirmation that had all his details, down to arrival and departure dates
• The O2 phone scam where fraudsters order a phone on your account and get you to post it back to them
• Why hovering over an email address before clicking anything can save you
• A Facebook Marketplace scam that cost a friend £700 for a peloton that never existed
• The 17 year old who unknowingly bought fake car insurance and ended up with a criminal record

Buying a house in England is famously one of the most stressful processes in the world — no real commitment from either side until the very last minute, surprise gazumping, and estate agents with zero formal qualifications. In this episode of Skint, Connie and Mik dig into the government's proposed overhaul of the home-buying system.

• Sales packs: sellers disclose chain position, covenants, leasehold/freehold status and planning history before a property is even listed
• Earlier commitment: moving toward binding agreements sooner in the process, as seen in France and Scotland
• Digital property records: what's changing and the security questions still being worked out
• Professionalising estate agents: from a non-mandatory code of practice to future qualifications
• Stamp duty pain: now over 10% on properties above £1m, and how it's stalled the market and killed off quick property flips

Whether you're buying, selling, or just skint and curious, this one's for you.

ISAs were designed to be simple, tax-efficient savings accounts, but over time, they’ve gotten surprisingly complex. In this episode of Skint, host Mik breaks down everything you need to know about Individual Savings Accounts.

The discussion covers:

• ISA Types & Limits: Navigating the £20,000 annual allowance across Cash, Stocks & Shares, Lifetime (LISA), and Innovative Finance ISAs.

• Junior ISAs (JISAs): How to build long-term wealth for children with the £9,000 allowance—and why holding too much in cash can backfire.

• Upcoming Rules & Policy Changes: The new £12,000 cash ISA limit for under-65s, tax on cash interest, and the transition from Lifetime ISAs to First-Time Buyer ISAs.

• Smart Investing Strategies: Why ISAs are tax wrappers rather than standalone investments, the benefits of global diversification, and why long-term investors should ignore short-term market noise.

Whether you're starting with £5,000 in savings or just trying to sound smart at your next dinner party, this episode offers a clear, low-pressure guide to making your money work harder.

In this episode of Skint, Connie sits down with Debbie, a chartered accountant and former Deloitte partner, to break down the complex worlds of corporate finance, career progression, and personal data privacy.

Debbie shares her 23-year journey through professional services, the realities of navigating high-level finance roles as a woman, and how she managed work-life integration while raising a family. We discuss the hidden pressures of Big Four firm environments, embracing neurodiversity in the corporate world, and why the traditional career mold is changing.

Later in the episode, Debbie introduces her new venture, Mercury Me—a platform created to disrupt the $1 trillion data industry by giving consumers complete control over their personal data. Learn how data algorithms target you, why you should change your cookie habits, and how you can actually start earning rewards or making charitable donations through Project Hug just by answering questions on your own terms.

Key Topics Covered:

• Life in the Big Four: The realities of long hours, audit standards, and career progression at Deloitte.

• Women in Finance: Overcoming industry stereotypes and balancing partnership with parenthood.

• Authenticity & ADHD: Navigating neurodiversity, team dynamics, and breaking the status quo in corporate environments.

• The Value of Your Data: How tracking algorithms work and how Mercury Me helps you protect, collect, and monetize your personal information.

• Giving Back Digital-Style: How Mercury Me's sister initiative, Project Hug, allows users to redirect rewards to global causes.

Holiday season is here. Let's make sure your money goes as far as you do.

Mik breaks down the stuff most of us get wrong when it comes to spending money abroad. Which exchange rates are actually good, which ones are quietly robbing you, and why where you convert your money matters more than you think. He also covers prepaid travel cards, what to watch out for with data roaming charges and the small things that can save you a surprising amount.

Connie shares some personal highlights from her own experiences with money abroad. Let's just say lessons were learned.

If you've ever come home from a trip and wondered where all your money went, this one's for you.

New episodes every Wednesday.

For entertainment and educational purposes only. Not financial advice.