Why Being Financially Dependent Is Risky – And How We’ve Done It Anyway

In the world of personal finance, there’s one message that gets repeated over and over: never be financially dependent on anyone else. And to be honest? We agree. It’s risky.

But in Episode 75 of The Vault, we shared something we don’t often talk about – that for a long time, we were financially dependent on our partners. And it wasn’t a mistake. It was a calculated risk. One we made with eyes wide open, emergency funds intact, and a mission in mind.

Because sometimes, building something life-changing means backing yourself, even if that means temporarily leaning on someone else.

Building Financielle… Without a Salary

When we started Financielle, it was just an Instagram page. We were both still in our jobs, selling a PDF version of the Playbook to a small (but mighty) community. But we knew it had potential, and we wanted to go all in.

That meant walking away from secure incomes, long before the business could pay us anything. We didn’t take salaries. Every penny we made was reinvested into building the app and growing the platform.

So we relied on our partners’ incomes to pay the bills. But that decision didn’t happen overnight. It came after years of building strong financial foundations.

We Could Only Take the Risk Because We Were Prepared

It’s easy to look at someone launching a business and think, ‘how can they afford to do that?’ The answer, for us, is simple: we planned.

We didn’t have car finance. We weren’t stretched to the edge of our mortgage. We weren’t splurging on holidays. We’d cleared debt, built emergency funds, and kept our monthly outgoings lean. That gave our families enough breathing room to survive on one income – for a while.

We weren’t rich. We were just intentional. We followed the Playbook.

Maternity Leave Was a Wake-Up Call

There’s another moment in life when financial dependence becomes real… maternity leave. Even with savings, even with a supportive partner, it’s a vulnerable time.

When you pause your own income, by choice or necessity, it highlights just how fragile one-income households can be. That doesn’t mean you’ve done something wrong, but it does mean having a safety net is essential.

It’s Not Just About If You’re Dependent, It’s How

Looking back, we realised we weren’t just lucky, we were strategic. We weren’t dependent without a plan. We had emergency funds. We knew what our minimum living costs were. And we were still building our own long-term wealth through investments and pensions, even if active contributions paused for a while.

The real danger in financial dependence isn’t the dependence itself, it’s not having a backup plan if that support is suddenly removed.

So… Would We Do It Again?

Honestly? Yes. But only under the same conditions.

We’d only rely on someone with a stable income. We’d only do it with savings in place. And we’d only do it if we’d already built a lean, low-pressure lifestyle that could absorb the short-term strain.

It’s not a path we’d recommend lightly. But sometimes, a calculated risk can open doors that caution never could.

Final Thought 

There’s a difference between being reckless and being resourceful. Being financially dependent can be risky, but it doesn’t make you a failure. If you’ve got the right foundations, the right partner, and the right plan? It might just be the risk that changes everything.

🎧Listen to Episode 75 of The Vault
Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube

P.S. The Money Playbook is now a digital course! You’ll learn how to budget, ditch debt, build savings and grow wealth. Click here to check it out 💸