Things Have Changed

Having the luxury of a whole month off I’m doing a lot of long awaited maintenance on my website. I checked the original “about me” page and didn’t realise how much has changed. Take a look (changes in red)

I am Broke – Still don’t have a lot of spare cash, but I have enough money to make choices with what I do with it, ie my pay is not all going on bills and necessities.

I am single. – Engaged to be married, we had a modest backyard party to celebrate that I’m told was enjoyed by all. Wedding can wait until we can afford to pay cash for it.

I am male. - no change to report
I am a Leo (not that I actually believe in that stuff, but if my weekly horoscope is good it gives me something to actually look forward to) - No Change

I live alone. – I live with my Fiance and two cats.

I am straight (but occasionaly use hair product) - no change to report

I drive a 29 year old car that has been in my family for 27 years through three generations. - Sadly this car become uneconomical to repair, I now have a reliable fuel efficient 18yo diesel dual cab. If it had aircon it would be perfect.

I have a tempory contract with a never to be named government agency. - I now have the luxury of a permanent position and regular reliable income.

I like living alone (most of the time) - I am very happy living with Fiance, though still enjoy time to myself

I am a little over 6 feet tall. – no change, however my feet are bigger….. go figure.

I sail (on someone elses boat) once to twice a week over summer, much less in winter. – Haven’t sailed for a while. miss it a little bit.

I pay rent (who would give me a mortgage, and how would I service that and the credit cards) - Got a mortgage through a less than ethical mortgage broker, this is what caused the global financial crisis…… but my credit is good.

I have an Xbox but i just sold most of my games on ebay, I use it mainly to watch DVD’s. - Don’t use the Xbox much, never got the Xbox 360, though did score a Wii from my Fiance’s parents a couple of Christmas’s ago.

I have an Ipod which I bought as a reward for myself for walking to work, I figure I have already paid for it with the money I have saved in parking fees. - Upgraded to Iphone – awesome.

more to come when I feel the urge to share intimate personal details, or something - I’m a very private person………………. still.

Status Report

It’s time to put my cards on the table and tell everyone just how much of the deep stuff I’m in. I’ve just reviewed all online credit card statements and things aren’t pretty.

At this point in time I have three active credit cards as well as a consolidation loan. I also have an inactive credit card that I got two years ago because it offered a 0% balance transfer. Unfortunately they offered me such a low limit that it wasn’t worth initiating the card because by the time the extra annual fee was taken into account I wasn’t actually saving anything.

So without further ado here is my state of financial ruin.

Gold Card One $8,036 (limit $8,000)

Gold Card Two $15,065 (limit $15,000)

Plain Card $2,964 (limit $3,000)

Consolidation Loan $14,000 (approx*)

I’ve been in denial for some time now and while I was aware of the separate balances I haven’t added them all together until now.

The Grand Total is $40,065

* the consolidation loan sends me a statement every six months, from memory the balance was around this amount last time I got a statement.

I’ve dropped the ball

I haven’t posted here in a while, been a lot more focussed on improving my health and putting some extra effort into my day job. I’ve got plans to pick things up around here but that might not be for a month or two. Work is quite taxing at the moment and I’m not terribly motivated to spend time on the computer when I get home.

I’m also moving house over the next few weeks. I’m biting the bullet and giving the share housing thing a go. It will save me $600 a month in rent, most of which I can put towards the credit cards. I’ll have some extra expenses now that I’ll be out of walking distance to work, but I don’t see them costing $150 a week.

I said before that I’d explain my lack of posting when I was ready to talk, still not quite ready yet. But it will help explain how I ended up in this mess.