Valerie Healy is a single mother who lives with her four-year-old daughter in Ratoath, Co Meath. The good news is that Valerie has a well-paid job as a pay roll manager for an American multinational. The bad news is that Valerie's payroll just isn't enough to cover her enormous living expenses.

She spends almost the same every year on creche fees as she does on her mortgage, and every trip to the supermarket is a financial calamity. She dreams of sending her daughter to the private school she went to as a child, but as she is currently adding about €16,000 to her debt every year, that dream is actually becoming more and more distant.