Rosa Talamàs: "I'll never be rich because if I have money, I'm very generous."

Rosa Talamàs, TV3's current correspondent in the Pyrenees (Terrassa, 1978), studied economics following the family tradition of her father and two of her brothers, but quickly realized her passion: "I'm good at getting information out of people, getting people to tell me stories and seeing what the problems are." She wanted to dedicate herself to that and, therefore, study journalism: "I thought I could dedicate myself to economic journalism, because it's what could most differentiate me from the rest, and that's why I did an internship in the economic media." Although her first job was at Caixa Catalunya during the summers, she took the plunge and began working for print and radio media. She did an internship at the program Added value from TV3 and has since worked for public television: "When 3/24 was created, they needed extreme hours, and I started working in the newsroom from four in the afternoon to one in the morning."

She has always worked between the Society and Economy sections, writing and also coordinating. One of the most stressful moments was working as editor-in-chief during the independence process: "It was very intense and probably more political than journalistic; it was a type of journalism that probably didn't fulfill me much, and I wanted to talk about people's real problems." The reporter decided to leave coordination and move to the Pyrenees: "I'm very curious, and what I like is journalism in essence. My way of making a country is to set foot on the ground." She also wanted to be able to balance work with motherhood: "Being the mother of two very young children and working long hours every day makes it more difficult to be present. Also physically, I wasn't feeling well." She also claims that she had always been "very attracted to the Pyrenees."

As for her salary, she says she feels well paid: "I probably would have earned a much better living if I had continued in the world of economics. But in life you also have to weigh up what you like most." She adds: "TV3 is probably one of the places where the pay is best in the sector, although we will never get rich. I've already accepted that if I decided on this profession it's not to earn money, but you can live decently."

In this sense, she doesn't consider herself a thrifty person: "I try, but if seven people have to eat dinner every day, and five of them are teenagers, including my partner's children, it's hard to save." "Anyway, I have to say that I'll probably never be rich, because if I have money, I'm very generous. I have no problem buying things for one person or another; I'm quite generous," she says. She also points out that it's even harder for separated people to save. Even so, she always tries to have a little corner in her bank account, in case of unexpected events.

Household Expenses

Her biggest expense is paying for her children's skiing lessons, along with food: "I don't have any expensive expenses or hobbies, but I can't afford them either." "If I could, I would travel more and spend more money traveling the world. If I won the lottery, I would use it to travel," the journalist emphasizes. Along those lines, her worst investment was buying a secondhand van for traveling, because "buying cheap can be expensive," and now she's sold it.

On the other hand, the best investment she's ever made was buying a house in Terrassa: "It's very well located, and when I haven't lived there, I've always been able to rent it out." It was after the real estate bubble, and she only paid "€300,000, when it was previously worth €450,000." However, she now has 15 more years of mortgage payments to make. It's the only one she's taken out, along with the loan for a car she bought when she was young. "If I had money, in the future I'd like to buy a house in the Pyrenees, because we've put down some roots," she says.

On the other hand, owning a property gives her peace of mind when it comes to retirement. Although she hasn't made any pension plans, she says, "I don't think about it much; I still have many years of work left." In fact, she really enjoys working: "I'd like to work as a correspondent somewhere. If I didn't have the children, I'd be heading to London now."