Before I met my husband, I lived with another man for a couple of years. He was 6 years older than me — which is a huge age difference when you’re in your late teens.

We moved into a rented apartment in a worse area because it was the only one available in 1988. What we didn’t know was that the nearest neighbor was a seriously alcoholic man whose rent was paid by the National Board of Health and Welfare. Almost every night one of his equally alcoholic friends would ring our doorbell by mistake.

After 8 months I had had enough and we panic-bought a townhouse. Back then in 1989, the banks happily let you borrow 100% of the purchase price plus some extra.

The biggest financial mistake I made was letting him include his unsecured loan in our mortgage. When we later separated in 1991, I suddenly found myself responsible for half of his consumer debt — 50,000 SEK that I had to pay off.

We also had to sell the townhouse during the financial crisis. Property prices had collapsed, especially in less desirable locations, and we sold at a loss of 400,000 SEK.

As my dad always says: Tuition paid.