UNDER 10K ALERT UNDER 10K ALERT

I can't believe it I am under ten grand, that's pounds not dollars and so I am well chuffed. There is even one more pay day for this month so my final figure will be even better. Still this is really a major break through for me and I am very pleased!

So as you can see it is HAKA time!

Paying For Medicine

I had some vaccinations last week in preparation of my trip to Africa, I turned up at the doctors surgery at the appointed time but before I saw the nurse I was given a bill for £50.00. I was amazed as I have never had to pay for medicine in my life, not when I was growing up in New Zealand where they have/had? free health care based on the British NHS system and now living in the UK where I am under the NHS it's self.
However it doesn't include things like Yellow Fever vaccinations or Cholera medication, the latter I think will put me back about £38.00. I also have to pay for the Malaria Tablets which I did know about before hand and am expecting it to cost me about £70.00 or so.
I wrote out the cheque with a heavy heart and thought to myself "there goes my spending money of this week and next".
Tuesday will be soon enough for the Cholera medication (not a vaccination thank goodness).
So my medication bill for Africa is something like £158.00 which takes away from the good deal I had on the flight costs. Haven't paid for the accommodation yet either.

Do I Stay or Do I Go?

On Monday I was contacted about some local week day work, for three days a week and it is walking distant from where I am living. I have been in to have a chat about it all and stated quite clearly that it will only be for three months, which doesn't seem to be a problem but don't think they want to pay me what I am asking.
My accommodation comes with my current job and I have been told that I can continue with my bed and board here but the details haven't been clarified. So am I now to be charged for bed and board? If yes, how much? And really is it worth staying on if that is the case?
It is all getting a little messy - I don't want to get less than what I have been paid up to now, as my current budget is dependent on that amount. I could be earning more than what I am getting now but that would be a brand new job and in a brand new location.
Should I just cut and run? Just get a job that pays more and clear my debt a.s.a.p?

Back to London in September

Well, my signing up with the employment agencies all seems to have been a total waste of time. I haven't heard from any of them, nor have I seen any jobs online that would be any good for me. I am now working 14 days straight so will not be available for any interviews. Still I had to try and I did get my CV updated.
So will be back up to London in September and looking for a 12 week job before my trip to Africa in December. All going well my budget should not be effected and I should be on target for ending the year below £7,655.00.
However anything could happen between now and then, and "something is afoot" which could blow all my current plans out of the water but that is for another time.

Lucky Number 8

If your Chinese then today has been your day - it really couldn't get any better, only the 8th August 800 could really top it and who was around then? OK, if your going to go into the whole history of the Christian calendar, I already know but you understand what I am getting at.
I am not a big fan of China and if I have the option I usually don't buy China made products - that is not really an option these days is it.
Don't watch a whole lot of sport so the Beijing Olympics is not a whole lot of interest to me, although I did watch some of the opening night, just to see if I could spot my countries flag. To have seen the team as well was to much to ask I know. And yes - I did get a good glimpse of the red, white and mostly blue!! Yep! and I did feel a little bit of national pride too.

Looking To Stay Around?

I am going to spend most of the next two weeks trying to find a part time job in the area where I am currently working and living. As of September I will only be needed three days a week and have been offered food and board for the rest of the week if I stay on. The in's and out's of it all haven't been sorted as yet, so I don't know what this means as far as how much I will be getting paid and if some of my pay will become board. Finding a job that is happy for me to have Mondays off is not going to be easy either.
The big problem really is that my friends mostly live in London, an hour away from my current job which is in Surrey. I would like to say on at the job as I would mean I wouldn't have to move house (yer I am sooo lazy!), also the kind of work I do makes me want to stay around for the good of others.
However I have decided that if, after a really good effort I am not able to cover the wage I am currently getting, I will have to say sorry and go back up to London. So I have only two weeks to find something and then two weeks that I will not be available to even go to any interviews. Lets see what will happen!

Rant Alert!

I get the odd bit of junk mail like most people, usually it's banks trying to help me cut my home or my car insurance - of which I don't own either. But I got a new one this week from a loans company or should I rephrase that to "loan shark company"?

Can you believe the interest rate on offer here?!

I was ranting to a good friend of mine about this letter and asked him "who in their right mind would sign up for such a deal?". He told me his girlfriend used to quite often but he of cause has put a stop to it. This is a company who will knock on your door once a week to collect a weekly repayment (there is your major costing already). They will knock a lot more often if your not home when they call, I bet! But there are folk who will look at such a deal and think it is just what they need. To me - it is daylight robbery!

A couple of weeks back I was looking at consolidating my credit cards and one company offered me a loan for £5,000.00 at 42% interest. I told them I wouldn't touch it with a barge poll and was amazed that the lady seemed to think that I was mad not to take it. I told her that I could get twice the loan amount for way less than half the interest she was offering, which was very true.

In the letter pictured above it says and I quote:

...we've spent the last 125 years helping people when they need it so you know we really are here for you.

They have been ripping off the poor for the last 125 years they mean! The one good thing it would seem is that the most your can borrow is £500.00 but that is still just under 1k to pay back.

The whole credit debt issue really goes back to our very instant society and the belief that "your worth it". No, sometimes we are "not worth it" and other times "it's" not worth it either. Instant gratification doesn't satisfy nor does it teach us worth.

August Update

Bank Loan £ 767.66 (two payments remaining) £5,373.62

Flexiloan £ 1,000.00 (clear by October 2008) £4,038.16

Credit Card #1 £ 4,216.26 £2,975.51

Credit Card #2 £ 3,694.44 £2,782.80

Credit Card #3 £1,044.00 (need to clear/transfer by October as 0% ends)

Tax 07/08 £ 516.95 (this will be cleared by the end of the month) £1,959.13

Total £ 11,239.31 £17,129.22

(£ 9,952.76) Estimated balance for the end of the month.

If I am good this month I will get my total debt balance below the 10k mark for the first time in two years. The only shadow on the horizon is the fact that I have no work after August.

(Figures from 2007)