Patting myself on the back

I know I am my biggest critic.

But I need not only to cut me some slack, but also to pat myslef on the back!

I have stuck to a really hard financial plan and it has paid off.

I have been freed from the vestiges of the Students' Loan Bureau!

I am almost completely debt free, with absolutely no desire to use a credit card as a charge and pray card again!

So yes, I really got to cut me some slack!

As we head into a troubling global economic recession, it is good to at least break even. If I am rendered jobless in a few months, I will owe no one.

But until I find another opportunity, I will trudge on... with the hopes of going to the next level- accruing savings and medium term investments.

And I will also grant myself one luxury- my dream camera. I will have you know that in the year and months I have been looking at it (and came so close until my Mac was stolen and I had to use the money to replace it)... the price has dropped from over 2000 uSD to roughly 1400! It is the Nikon D200 with a Nikkor 12-200mm lens. I think I will be able to afford it in a few months. I am also going to get a point and shoot (which has also significantly dropped in price to just litte over 100 (Canon Power/ Nikon Coolpix/ Sony Cybershot). I have done ALL the research already. I know there are newer models but dont need em. I dont need the latest- just solid tools.

I cant call myself a photographer when I do not have my own tools. And my two film Nikon and Canon SLRs have long been made redundant in this the instant age.

I need the point and shoot for all those daily moments that beg for a discreet photo.

The house will come later on. And capital injection for my company will come later on. In the meantime, I am working on sticking to the plan and keeping my expectations modest. The least I can get out of it is something that I have waited 10years for!

I believe I made a list of things I would get for myself about two New Years ago and a the cameras and an ipod and something else was on it. I got the iPod (no regrets because it saved my 13 year music collection when my Mac was stolen)...but the cameras... I have waited, and waited and waited for. I just wanted to get what I wanted. I did not want to settle. So I gave up a lot... but in the end... I will have so much more to receive.

There is really something about delayed gratification!

Some things are truly worth waiting for.

Bruk Like Church Mouse

"Bruk" is a Jamaican word for being broke that somehow conjures a worse state of having no money than the otherwise clinical "broke."

The saying, inherently Jamaican, is a term that we could use to describe personal finances in the wake of rising prices and stagnant salaries. But it is a little ironic.

Church mice should be poor because the church has no money. And for a country that has more churches per square mile than any other world wide- we should know about churches! But herein lies the irony- Church mek money!

There are exceptions mind you- like those small flailing churches that struggle to pay their electricity bill, but many churches make a lot of money. So church not necessarily de facto poor after all.

Who says that Jamaican folklore doesn't hold classic elements of literary genius?

Anyway, I straying. Fact is I bruk like the poorest of church mouse.

But is a good bruk.

Yes- not all bruk is created equal.

Bad bruk is when yuh owe people money way pass yuh ability to pay or when yuh pay cheque done fully spend fi di next 5 years wid not even room for a streetside cheap china slippers purchase.

Good bruk is when yuh pay off everybody yuh did done owe in less dan the 5 years and yuh still no have not even dollar towards the purchase of a street side cheap china slippers.

So what is the difference?

The difference is dat wid good bruk, yuh CAN afford the cheap china slippers in very short order.

And so, having demised a genius plan to be DEBT FREE and UP TO DATE ON (Insurance and Pension) INVESTMENTS, I bruk.

But it means that if anything happen to me, my estate is fully protected and my pension is secure.

Due to the Jamaica trip in December, I will have to carry over a relatively small balance until end of February, but coming from where I am coming from, that is still home free for me.

Honestly, this is the best gift to myself after a REALLY rough year. Entering the New Year without this financial baggage makes up for all the distress that I have faced.

It means that I will have to suffice with holiday events that are free (or near there) that allow me to dress up and go out without breaking the already bruk bank.

What am I Longing For?

My space.

I am sooooo looking forward into moving into my new place. No more studio living, mi re-instated to one bedroom mi dear!

I am thrilled! Big kitchen, big bathroom, big enough bedroom and a lukkle tuups a living room that will have to share as workspace but you know what? I dont care! At least I wont have to lock myself in a bedroom in a three bedroom townhouse because I feel uncomfortable.

And u just wait till I buss way pon the decorating because you know that a fi me sinting!

I just got an urgent project which is going to throw off my moving schedule (which was suppsed to begin today). It is not likely that major movement will start before Friday as I have to ensure that my company meets this deadline.

In addition to all that, I have my first live show that I am producing this week. So the news just in: I am back in broadcast big time! Dont ask me how I going to do everything. All I know is I must. These are indeed exciting times!

A gone go do the people dem work...




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