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.