Job Discussion Forums

[leeroy]

In class today, we were doing "Body Idioms" (from Idioms Organiser - know it?) - and "to bury one's head in the sand" came up..

"This", I explained, "is when deep down you know there is a problem - but you try to ignore it and/or pretend it doesn't exist..."

('Fair enough leeroy' I thought to myself, 'but perhaps now what the students need is a concrete example'..)

"Like, say, take an English teacher who has spent more than he earns every week for the last 2 years. Every time he gets a credit card statement or bank balance he quickly pretends to read it then sticks it on top of the fridge out of harm's way so it can be quickly forgotten.."

A few of the students smiled knowingly, they had clocked that the teacher's examples had moved quickly from hypothetical to personal (students respond to this, I find).

The pile of bills on top of the fridge had become a fire hazard, however, and some home truths finally came crashing down. My head had to raise from the sand. It wasn't pretty...

After authoring a rather nice Excel spreadsheet detailing expense and income forecasts for the next year, I have deduced that I can be out of the shit by next November - if I don't spend anything at all, ever. It has to be by November, because after that the credit card people will start charging me money - the sand will turn to quicksand...

This means riding a bicycle to work (not fun, nor safe in the London rush-hour), surviving on a food budget of �10 a week (rice, anyone?), giving up smoking (half way through now, in fact), giving up drinking (!), forgetting about luxuries like new clothes, the cute African kids that I was sponsoring will no longer write to me and anything resembling a social life will die a horrible, horrible death.

Bizarrely, a masochistic streak in me is actually quite looking forward to this year of monasticism. A year of sobriety (and, implicitly, celibacy) - away from the follies of consumerism! I might actually get fit! Learn new things on the guitar instead of that same-old blues stuff I keep regurgitating at the moment! Pay proper attention to university (yeah - I'm a full time university student too). Go to the library! Go for walks around the park! Wow - a new leaf indeed; a time for self-improvement.

Perhaps, though, I'm just in denial, and deep down know that this year is going to completely suck (ironically burying my head in the sand once again...)

OK - end of OP questions...

Relatively speaking, how are your finances at the moment? (exact figures not necessary! )

Ever done a year of monasticism like the one facing me?
If so, how was it?

Any more suggestions for how I can exploit a year of lots of free time and no money?

What do you think about the war in Iraq?

[moonraven]

Are you asking us if we think you should go to Iraq as a soldier of fortune, or what?

[leeroy]

Well I wasn't - but come to think it....

[moonraven]

Toss your spreadsheet in the trash and have a good weekend!

It's bad enough to be broke. Why make yourself unhappy to boot?

[Gordon]

Sounds like you want to hear worse stories than what you're going through. Misery loves company and that sort of thing.

I think you need to get out of London if you want to save a bit of money teaching. I think London is a great city to visit (for a short time, too darn expensive), but I don't think I could ever live there). When are you done school? Come to Asia and you won't need to live the life of a monk, mind you the monks seem pretty happy.

[juststeven]

Leeroy,
Just walk away from it! Throw the plastic away and start a new adventure. So what if your credit is ruined; it's the best thing that could happen to you! Don't be sucked into their game and be in debt until you die. The world is yours; go for it!

[leeroy]

Thanks for the inspirational words folks - but I owe the credit people money. And the phone people. And a loan company. And my bank. And, worst of all, my mother. These are all scary people, no matter where I run they will find me!

Still, life could be much worse

[Josh Lyman]

[merlin]

credit cards - believe it or not, it's best to default. Don't pay them for 90 days and they have to stop charging interest and close your account (oh, yeah, this is US law )
Then when you're ready to get more credit cards (like when you return to the US and need it just to rent a damn DVD) you just write a letter to the credit card company and say - look, I'm defaulted on a credit card for this much money and I'll pay back half if you cancel my debt and send me a letter stating so.
Don't give any money to a collection agent of any kind. You pay them the cash and the credit card company just gets 10%.

Of course, this course could destroy your chances of working for the FBI or CIA

[Twisting in the Wind]

Isn't this what the French Foreign Legion was invented for?

Adieu, mon Leeroy, adieu!

( and the next letter from Leeroy will be posted: Dateline: Tangiers)

[Aramas]

God I love my Visa debit card. I'll never again use credit. Last year the Reserve bank here in AU raised interest rates by around 3/4 of a percent. Mastercard promptly raised their interest rates by four percent!

Bankruptcy also has a certain appeal. There's nothing like a fresh start. It's a bit like divorce - messy, but such blessed relief!

[valley_girl]

I maxed out a VISA years ago and then had considerable trouble paying it off. This means I am unable to obtain credit from any of the banks at the moment. However, I'm actually kind of happy about that. I know so many people who are in way 'over their heads' in debt - some have passed the $50,000 mark!

I manage to pay my bills every month, but just barely. The main problem is that there is a failure on my part to budget properly. It's one of my New Year's Resolutions - I just haven't gotten that far down the list yet.

[Roger]

I stashed all my meagre pecuniary resources away on various bank accounts, then the greedy thiefish missus discovered them and made photocopies; I withdrew my money and showed her the near-emnpty account books - and she went mad!
So I put my money in shares and elsewhere; the shares kept going up and ever more up; every month the bank would send me a statement... until the bloody missus discovered that fact also... An new drama in the household.
Then, one day, as I went to the bank I received the news that the shares had over the past couple of weeks been plummeting, plummeting and then, plummeting some more... what I got from the bank was a lousy fraction of my initial infusion, and a receipt.
I showed the receipt to the missus... more anger tantrums...
So, nearly broke, I delved into the larder: empty!
I checked my wine cooler: all my shiraz and merlot and chardonnay gone, drunk, consumed, turned to p#ss...
I looked under my mattress: nothing but a couple of year-old bills from the computer shop... they had closed, lucky me, so couldn't cash their dues from me!

I already decided to go hungry (for the next two weeks before my next salary is credited to my bank account); without any hope I opened the freezer of my fridge (I used to keep beef there); it was nearly empty - no beef, no ice cream, but what was that?
A thick envelope with a thick wad of red Mao bills.
The next few days are saved...