Maria Xinxó: “I have never felt well paid”

The presenter and announcer Maria Xinxó (1982) touched her first money leaving church in the Gràcia neighbourhood of Sabadell, her hometown: "When I was little I found a thousand pesetas under a car and thought 'I'm so rich! '" Later, at the age of 13, she began to work taking care of the current actress Joana Vilapuig, and as a babysitter she learned the value of saving: "The only thing I spent money on was the Superpop".

After ruling out a degree in pharmacy, Xinxó opted to study journalism: "At university I had a great time with my classmates, but I learned in the local media, which is where I grew up." Later, she did an internship at RAC1: "I remember the second day getting into the taxi going back to the newsroom and asking the driver, with tremendous enthusiasm, to tune the radio so I could hear me." Then she "got into the wheel" and chained together different projects in various local and national media. The jewel in the crown, however, she says, was doing Iceland"It was the happiest time working, it was a magical programme. I don't understand why RAC1 decided to do without them."

Last July she left the radio: "My idea was to be independent. And to stop doing a daily programme, because it is very slavish." But she was presented with the opportunity to enter The Jungle, the TV3 afternoon programme: "At first I said no, but in the end I thought I would regret it for the rest of my life, I had never been in the big house and it was a good opportunity." However, she is self-employed: "As it is my first year, I pay 90 euros a month, but as soon as they make me pay 300 euros I might have to quit, because it won't be worth it for me."

As for housing, Xinxó has always lived in a rented apartment: "You are very vulnerable when you are renting, I have had a landlord who did not want to speculate and the price was tight." "However, from one day to the next he told me 'I need the apartment, you have to leave'. I had been living there for ten years. For me it was my home and I had to leave," explains the presenter. And she continues: "I lived in a penthouse where I paid 700 euros, although I ended up paying 875 euros." Initially, she says, she had no intention of leaving Barcelona, ​​​​but she could not afford the prices: "Neither to rent nor much less to buy. So, out of love, towards Rubí."

There she has bought a new-build flat with her partner: "It's the way we've found to be able to pay for the flat." "We're paying part now, in a few months, when they've put the roof on, we'll pay another part, and so on," explains the journalist, who has room to save between the relocations. When they move in, they will ask for the loan: "The mortgage scares me, I'm scared. I'm afraid that we won't be able to pay it and that we'll have to ask for help. I've never asked for money and that's something I don't want to do today."

50 euros savings per month

Years ago she tried to buy a flat on her own: "It was worth 140,000 euros, but I couldn't buy it because I didn't have the initial investment and I've been trying to work since I was thirteen." "I've never been a mileurista in my life, and it's hard to save," says Xinxó, who says that everything "that comes in goes out." "I've never had a loan, or debts, and I've never been in the red because I've been very careful. I've always had a corner. Years ago I made a savings plan, taking out fifty euros each month, which is a small and symbolic amount, but it's better than nothing," she says.

The most difficult economic moment was when Xinxó left the partner she lived with: "I had to do the math and cut expenses because I couldn't pay for the apartment with the salary I had at that time. I earned 1,308 euros a month working all day at 8TV, in 8 a day with [Josep] Cuní". In fact, Xinxó denounces the salaries paid in the communications sector: "I have never felt well paid, I don't think that for the hours you dedicate and the responsibility you have it is right. My highest salary has been 2,500 euros; for someone it may be a lot of money, but it is a job that mortgages you absolutely the whole day." And on several occasions she has had to tighten her belt. In addition, the communicator argues that in school there should be training on finances: "I have missed some basic notions to go around the world."