Swati and Lakshmi: good friends with very different attitudes to money.

Swati and Lakshmi are flatmates. Of course, there are a lot of expenses involved in sharing a flat, and, fortunately, they get along fine with those. But in all other ways they are very different in how they think about money.

Swati 's hopeless with saving. If she has cash to spare, she'll be spending it. She's more likely to be tempted by risky money-making schemes. She lost her money the one time she actually tried one, but the experience hasn't made her change her ways.

Lakshmi's the opposite – she's very cautious with money. She knows where every paisa of her salary ends up and she has a regular direct debit going into her savings account.

While Swati and Lakshmi's attitudes may be poles apart, they both need to start thinking more clearly about the future. After all, perhaps one day they'll both want to buy a place of their own. And then there's their long-term future too.

Swati needs to tame her wild impulses, sort out her budget and start saving – preferably somewhere where she won't be able to get her hands on the money.

Lakshmi has the saving habit but her savings are growing very slowly. She's naturally cautious, and needs to consider what level of risk she's comfortable with to achieve higher returns.

They both commit to making a plan and set up appointments with few financial planning adviser.