From Louis Vuitton to Financial Freedom: Christelle Colman's Story

In this captivating personal story, the author takes us on a journey to the posh flagship store of Louis Vuitton on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. Read on to discover how a simple decision to sell her car and master her finances opened up a world of possibilities for her.

Christelle Colman, CEO of Ami Underwriting Managers (Pty) Ltd
@AmiInsure

MONEY SHOULD BE MASTERED NOT SERVED.
 
For many years, it was a dream of mine to buy a brand-new Louis Vuitton handbag at the original flagship store on the Champs-Élysées in Paris with my own money. 
 
As chance would have it, I worked for a global French company at the time and in between meetings on the 14th of June 2016, I bravely entered the store and bought my handbag and paid a small fortune of R17 500 with a quivering hand. The whole experience rattled me to the core and not even the complimentary glass of champagne at 10:30 am could calm my nerves sufficiently, so I stumbled into the closest restaurant for a cup of coffee. This came at another small fortune of 10 Euro – the fact that the bistro was located right next to the LV store on one of the world’s most expensive streets should’ve sent alarm bells ringing, but I needed some good old “boeretroos” to try alleviate the immense buyer’s remorse, and guilt I was dealing with. All of this while staring at the massive orange LV bag on the chair next to me.

 
And then it came to me in a moment of complete clarity. At the time I was I spending the equivalent of the cost of this handbag on car repayment, insurance, and petrol each month to drive a car that no one ever sees me driving, I decided right there and then to sell my luxury car and start using Uber instead.  After taking the cost of Uber into account, I realised I could save between R10 000 and R15 000 per month.  Hell I could buy a new LV bag every month if I wished!


 

Back in SA, I promptly sold my car and instead bought a small second-hand Fiat 500 (very European for city dwellers) and paid for it in cash.  And no, I did not buy a new bag each month. In fact, I am still using the original LV bag seven years on every day of my life, so in my mind an excellent investment.  With one simple action I mastered my money and freed up huge cash flow to invest, save, pay for my children’s education, buy property and travel the world.
 
Fast forward 3 years and one Sunday afternoon I was reflecting on my self-induced stroke of good fortune and decided to tweet about it. The tweet went viral with more than 500 000 impressions and a robust social media discussion about managing money. The overwhelming sense was that the mere act of selling a status symbol translated into something aspirational.


 
So I say it again, think wisely about buying those status symbols, do not serve money, rather be the master of it. 


If Christelle's investing journey has inspired you, why not take a peek at the European market and see what's in store for you? Or, if you want to see what the experts are up to, explore our managed products here!