Katie Radford, daughter of 22 Kids & Counting star Sue Radford, has opened up about her financial struggles and the lessons she’s learned through single parenting.
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The August 30 episode of 22 Kids & Counting covered Katie Radford’s hard times. Through reckless spending, she’s ended up in a lot of debt, but she’s vowed to learn from her mistakes and has learned a valuable lesson.
Katie, 22, moved away from her parents’ 11-bedroom property to a small flat to raise her son, Ronnie Hudson, whom she had last year. She had initially moved in with her boyfriend of 6 years, Connor Carter. But they had since split up. Leaving her alone to raise her baby.
Living two hours away from her family and with mounting debt, Katie found herself in hot water.
“I have £700 for rent,” she explained. Alongside her other bills and taxes that add up to £600 a month, she has a lot of outgoings. “So it is quite tough. I am getting a lot of bills. I’ll pay them as soon as I can, but just not right now. I am afraid to open them.”
The Harsh Reality Of Parenting Hit Katie Radford Hard
“You see all these people with all this stuff, and you’re like, I want that as well. So then you get it, even if you can’t afford it, you get it, just to fit in. In the end, I feel like I can’t match up, so I’m failing,” she said.
“This has made me realize that having a baby does change the way you spend your money. I can’t carry on spending money the way I did before I went on maternity; something needs to change. I can’t give Ronnie the lifestyle I’d like to. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
“I’m the only one that can fix this. I don’t want to be in debt anymore. I don’t want the fear of having someone knock on the door or bringing a letter. Enough is enough.”
To help her situation, Katie returned her car to the finance company.
“I guess I tried to buy the world for Ronnie – I paid too much attention to what I think I should have, but at the end of the day, all I need is a smile from Ronnie, and that costs me nothing. I am very proud of myself with how resilient I’ve been and dealt with all of this on my own,” she said.