The shift change at work has happened, and the department I work in has now been reduced from 5 members to just 2, of which I’m one of them.

One of my colleagues has retired, rather than face signing on, and the other two have been laid off.

Finished. The end of a five year chapter whilst I’ve been there.

That now puts in a “proper” job for the first time since 1987, when I started working nights. I now work days, Monday to Friday, and for me, this is going to represent a massive life and culture change for me. I know, given time, that working days will be beneficial for me, as, as human beings, we are not designed to work nights.

This has been my first designated weekend off for ages. I’ve finished my membership site now, which went live about three hours ago as I write this, and I now only have to update the site on a weekly basis with new downloads for the members.

I’m sorting out my new schedule now as with only two days off in a row, then working 5, my time is really pushed. I am trying to devote one weekend day to the business only; as I still have to do “normal” things like mowing the lawn, household duties and so on, and I’m trying to re-arrange my life so that I work 5 days in the job, the business for one day, and leave the seventh day for the household responsibilities.

It’s hard going fitting everything in. Before I used to work 8 or 9 days/nights straight, then have 5 off. See the difference?

It is even more important now that my business income starts to become residual, repeating and still comes in without any hands on work from me for 6 days a week. That’s the idea behind the membership site. Tying this in with my eBay store and Amazon book store gives me 3 streams of passive income.

You can see my membership page here:

That’s got to be a good start to my 2010 debt free strategy, hasn’t it?

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Isn’t it amazing? For most of us, the weekly shop is just that; buy the food and supplies we need for the week. For the supermarket, or store if you’re American, it’s a major battle for them to get us to spend more more money every time we go in there. Using a vast array of proven psychological tricks, they normally succeed.

By understanding the psychological tricks they play on all consumers, we can fight back. Here’s some of the most popular tricks all stores employ to get us to part with our hard earned money.

By far, the most prevalent and annoying trick they use is to regularily move their stock – and aisles- around, making it harder for us to find the stuff we want. The common accepted psychological reason for this is simply to get us to spend more time in the store as individuals, as the longer we stay, the more we spend. Moving regular lines to different parts of the store is just one way of doing this, as we are forced to look for what we need – passing many other aisles in the process.

Eye Level Marketing - this technique is where the stores place the products with the highest profit margin at eye level. This conforms with a basic human instinct of saving time – we are apt to choose what we see first rather than physically stop and visually scan the aisles for the products we really want. Proof? The cheapest items are almost always on the lowest shelf – keeping them out of normal vision, and forcing us to physically stop and bend down to buy them when we do find them.

The Man Hater Policy – next time you’re in a store, watch out for the men. They’ll be ‘boomeranging’. Men will buy just what they want or need, they simply turn around and walk back they way they came. The boomerang. The stores countermand this by putting popular mens lines, major items, and high profit items, at the furthest point of the aisle, forcing us to walk all the way to get what we need.

Always eat before you go shopping – the stores entice us with smells of freshly baked bread to make us feel hungry as we walk around. Hungry shoppers buy more food and make the superstore more money by buying snacks, chocolate and so on at the point of sale or the checkouts so we buy even more. Whats more, the point of sale units with chocolate and sweets (candy if you’re American) are always low down – just at the right height for children to see and hassle mom or dad for a treat on the way through the checkout.

Never go shopping when you’re hungry. It’s a proven winner with the supermarkets – and a proven money loser for the consumers.

Essentials are never at the front of the store – the idea behind this is simple – it forces you to walk through the store to get what you need – and often, buying things you didn’t plan on buying on the way. Impulse purchases are very big business for all supermarkets.

The supermarkets overall strategy is simple – the longer they get us to stay in store, the more we spend. Couple that with the psychological impulse creating strategies they use while we are actually in the store makes it a surefire winner for the supermarkets – and a certain loser for the consumer.

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Budgeting is an important aspect of living and a person who knows how to budget will go a long way in this commercialised society. Budgeting has a lot to do with keeping the expenses less than the total income of the household. Those who are very good at budgeting can come up with savings even if they have meagre incomes.

The problem starts when a person fails to make an efficient financial plan and his expenses exceed his earnings. When this happens, a person has no choice but to borrow money to make up for his financial deficiencies. Borrowing once or twice because of a mismanaged financial plan is normal but when borrowing becomes a regular thing that can put a person in serious debt problems.

A person who borrows money from another is said to be in debt. The debts of a person can be minimal or be thousands depending on the credit limits of each person. Sometimes, a person who has assets but isn’t “liquid” can use these assets to get cash. Under this term, the person can be indebted for an amount less or more than his assets.

There are laws that prevent a person being forced to render services as payment for his debts. This is called undue servitude and is prohibited by the laws of some countries. However, there are situations when the person who is in debt opts to settle his obligation by rendering his services.

This can happen if a person is so talented in his craft like painting and he opts to pay for his debts by creating a painting of the creditor or the assignee of the creditor. Sometimes, a person can pay his debts gradually or on an installment basis.

When a person dies, the law has provided for a hierarchy of preferences in the payment of such debts. Of course, payment of taxes to the government will always come first. The second priority for debt payments includes funeral expenses of the deceased and the payment for the wages of people.

Debt is really just a simple concept, which provides that a person who borrowed something from another is duty bound to pay that debt. However, the concept of debt becomes more complicated with the introduction of other concepts like mortgage, interest rates and other charges. Interest makes most debts double or even triple the amount borrowed.

More often, the interest rates due for a certain debt is even higher than the principal amount borrowed.

A person who wants to get credit can do so in the form of a loan. A loan can either be secured to unsecured. A secured loan means the debtor borrowed some money and supported the loan by collateral or a security for the loan. The security or collateral is usually the house, although certain other assets are occasionally considered suitable. An unsecured loan means otherwise.

Most creditors require a security before granting a loan because it gives them something to hold on to or to forfeit in case the debtor defaults in payment. When the debtor fails to pay the debt within the agreed timeframe then the creditor can foreclose the security or the collateral.

However, having an unsecured loan doesn’t mean that the debtor can renege on his debts. When the debtor fails to pay his loans, the creditor can still chase the debt by filing a case in court. When this happens, the debtor who has no cash can sell some of his assets to pay for his outstanding loan.

Being in debt is common even for the rich and the famous; the only difference between them and the common people is that their debts can be in the millions since they have more assets to support their loan. Unsecured loans most often have higher interest rates to make up for the lack of security.

Even third world countries are indebted to more developed countries. However, the debts of a country can go on forever because they keep on paying their loan but they also get new credits as their credit ratings go up.


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How to take charge of your debts
The rising cost of living and dying has made people more reliant on loans and credit. Most people have been indebted to someone at some point in their lives. A debt is an obligation that should be paid and accounted for no matter how meagre the amount.

Being in debt is normal considering that no one has a monopoly of all the money in the world. People will always have the tendency to accumulate debts no matter how rich. In fact, rich people have more debts than poor people because they have more needs and they have more collateral or security.

Being indebted isn’t something that you should be ashamed of provided you are a responsible debtor. This means the money was used for a very good cause or purpose and the debtor is strict about looking after his responsibility to pay his debts.

Even a person who is financially aware can get into debt for one reason or another. However, a person who is good in managing his finances should also be good in managing his debts. Managing debts would include the ability to know how much a person owes and from where he would get the money to pay such debts.

The ability to know the total amount of debt is a must in debt management because the person who is in debt is aware of the total amount he has to pay to finally pay off his debts. There are people who don’t practice good debt management and they keep borrowing money without being able to monitor how much they already owe individuals or financial institutions.

Debt management means that at the time the loan was made, the borrower knows where he would source the payment for such debt. This makes the debt manageable because it would appear that the person has some source of income and he is just not liquid at the time he borrowed the money.

People who don’t have a steady source of income should obviously be discouraged from borrowing because there is a tendency for their debts to pile up without being paid at all. Unemployed people who resort to borrowing for their essential expenses like food and daily subsistence may borrow from another creditor to pay off a debt that is already due and demandable. The same thing happens to the second and the next loans after which it becomes a vicious cycle.

A person who is indebted to someone should take into account his assets that can be used to pay off his debts. There is no problem if the debtor is looking at a possible income that hasn’t yet been paid. Such unpaid income can be considered an asset that can be used to pay his debts.

Debts are easily made but they are difficult to pay. Thus, every person should be careful when borrowing money from others. Make sure that you have something to pay for the debt like an permanent income or other assets that can be sold to pay off the debt.

Some people get in debt through loans that have varying interest rates. This means that as well as the principal (cash) amount borrowed, the debtors still have to pay the interest rate.

A person who borrowed £100 at ten percent interest rate per month will have to pay the principal plus the interest rate of £10 per month. Some interest rates are based on the actual balance so, for example, if the debtor has already paid £20 then the interest rates would only be charged on the balance of £80. However, there are some interest rates charged for the full original amount borrowed.

While being in debt is prevalent, every person should learn how to manage his debt and how to stay out of debt if possible. One of the major factors why most British people are indebted today is the misuse of credit cards.

Credit cards are those plastic cards that can be used to pay for almost any purchase even if you don’t have cash. People find it easier to spend when using their cards because they just swipe it and, just like magic, their desires appear before them.

However, most people who fail to use their credit cards wisely become indebted and are eventually faced with legal action for failing to pay their cards when they become due and demandable.

If you must borrow, always take charge of your debts to make sure they don’t lead you to declaring insolvency or bankruptcy.

And it’s really easy to end up in such a serious condition within weeks.

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January is the year’s only five week month, this report is designed to help those in debt crisis start to make headway in clearing their debts quickly and start to make a real improvement in their financial status starting today.

To start off with, here’s a way to stretch out your finances to start this new year. January is this years only 5 week month, but February is this years shortest. So if you must, access a little of February’s cash now. The easiest way is to spend on an empty credit card then repay it IN FULL next month to avoid interest.

If you’re worried that your debts are spiralling out of control, now’s the time to draw up a stricty household budget. Make sure all your essentials are included in your budget, such as the rent or mortgage and all utility bills. With immediate effect cut all out ALL luxury and non essential spending. Immediately.

Make savings where possible, especially when you’re doing the weekly shop. Consider switching utility suppliers.

Switcgh debts to cheaper suppliers where possible, for example, become what’s known as a ‘Card Tart’, switching balances to alternative, cheaper cards. There are still a few zero percent interest deals availablem, and if you’ve got a good credit rating, then this should be an obvious step for you.

If you have alot of really expensive debts, consider moving them all onto a single low cost personal loan account. in the Uk, rates are now under ten percent for those with decent credit ratings.

Look for a second part time job to raise extra income. Pay all extra cash you earn directly to pay down debts. Maki9ng the minimum monthly payment on cards will not clear debt quickly and you obviously end up paying much higher amounts over the long term.

Never take on more debt. Stop spending on all credit cards, dismiss, outright, all expensive credit offers in shops.

If you have serious debt problems, seek advice immediately. I know that this is much easier said than done – and that’s from personal experience. If you are struggling to make repayments, renegoiate the terms of your credit agreements where possible. Ignoring the problem now will store up much bigger problems later

I’ve just turned down a second part time job, or at least, decided not to apply for it. The job pays £6.50 an hour and I would have worked every weekend, making my working week seven days weekly.

This flies against my self imposed debt management plan, and it’s a decision I haven’t taken lightly. So why did I turn it down?

Its a conscientious decision. Working 8 hours two days weekly, less half hour for a dinner break (lunch as some people call it here), would give me a total of 15 hours weekly. 15 hours at £6.50 equates to a weekly wage of £97.50 a week, which on the face of it is good. Take off tax and national insurance though, which I’ve worked out to be £22.43 a week (at 23% – which would probably be more as it would be classed as a 2nd job) leaves me with £75.07.

The job’s in Taverham, which would cost me £7.00 a day diesel to get there, so that’s another £14.00 off the grand total, which means that I would only be £61.07 in profit, or a total of just over £30.53 a day. The £61 weekly pick up pay is still a good sum, but the truth is, I can get that from a car boot in one day, especially if I back that up with ebay sales.

But, even more than that, I’d get more than that staying at home, booking my weekends off as holiday from my job, and working the car boots and ebay. I’d double my weekend take home pay by working my holidays and adding car boots and ebay to the equation.

That’s why it’s not worth working a job to clear my debts. I can do far more myself by leaving myself free.

Hello Keith, it’s Paul writing to you.

Oh, I know you can’t read this message, but I’m going to write it anyway. I just wasn’t to know that the last time I saw you when you came to see us with your wife that it would be the verty last time ever.

A great shame Keith, because you are a really nice man to know. It’s been my priviledge to know you. And I know, that, after working all your life and being really active, the blindness in one eye came as a shock to you. Then there was the recently diagnosed glaucoma in the the second eye a few months ago, when they told you that you were going blind.

I know it’s bad. And I appreciate, now, just how lonely you must have felt. I also wouldn’t like to go blind.

But was it really that bad that you had to hang yourself from your loft? And why did you do it on Christmas Eve? Was it really that bad that you couldn’t give your family just one more complete Christmas? Your wife must have gone through Hell yesterday when she found you after coming back from work.

What a Christmas you’ve given us.

See, Keith, what you didn’t realise is the sheer number of lives you’ve been part of. And every single one of those people have had their Christmas ruined. Why so selfish Keith? WHY did you commit suicide on Christmas Eve? Was it really as an act of revenge on the life that had let you down so badly? why take it out on the rest of us?

I guess there’s two sides to the story, and I don’t know what’s been going on apart from the blindness, maybe there was something else happening that I don’t know about? But we’ll never know now, will we Keith?

And, at the moment, I’m having severe problems matching the Keith I knew a few months ago to the image in my mind of the Keith who hanged himself from his loft.

Sorry Keith, I’m just one of the people who’s been affected by this news.You should never, ever give up, no matter how bad things get.

Paul

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If it’s not yet obvious to you, the real reason for this, and all seasons, is you, A more perfect child of the Universe has never lived. Until now, only celebrations cloaked in myth and mystery could hint at your divine heritage and sacred destiny.

You are life’s prayer of becoming and its answer. The first light at the dawn of eternity, drawn from the ether, so that the universe might know it’s own depth, discover new heights, and revel in seas of blessed emotion.

A pioneer into illusion, an adventurer into the unknown, and a lifter of veils. Courageous, heroic, and exalted by legions in the unseen.

To give beyond reason, to care beyond hope, to love without limit; to reach, stretch, and dream, in spite of your fears. These are the hallmarks of divinity – traits of the immortal – your badges of honour. May you wear them with a pride as great as the immeasurable pride we feel for you.

Your light has illuminated darkened paths, your gaze has lifted broken spirits, and already your life has changed the course of history.

This is the time of year the universe celebrates YOU.

Bowing before Greatness,
The Universe

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Just in case I don’t post again inbetween now and Christmas, can I take this opportunity to say thanks to all my regular readers and twitter followers. Irrespective of whether you’ve joined me through my business blog, or one of my personal diary blogs, thanks for being with me. Your support means so much to me, your comments are always welcome and I’ve learned lots of new things from some of my 7,000 readers this year, which is the reading from my page counter on some of my blogs.

Thank you.

It’s been a difficult year, yet it’s been one of the most exhilerating for me as well. Although my marriage may be in tatters, I have successfully fought two redundancies notices and kept my job; I have taken the baliffs to court and won that case, and I have successfully battled against the mortgage company’s repossession order and kept my house.

I am now almost at the end of my first year of my three year self imposed self improvement programme; and although I have not yet achieved my main goal of earning £30,000 per year by the end of 2009; I’m only around £4,000 short, which equates to a daily shortfall of £11.30. That, I guess, is not bad from a job that only pays £17,000 basic. But this year has been full of small achievements for me on my way up as well. I now have 7 books published and being sold worldwide through Amazon and other similar online places.

Royalty payments are now starting to come through my Paypal account, and although they are really small and insignificant, every penny counts, and it’s a good start to my recurring income business where I get paid for ever for work I do once.

Over the next week or so I’m going to concentrate on writing out my goals for next year, and as a basis for this, I’m using the guidelines again from my Debt Free Lifestyle book to help increase the recurring income and reduce all the debts. I will continue using the same power of Focus that I have this year, as readers of my wordpress and blogger.com blogs will notice from my daily income table updates.

My first membership site is now on line ready for the new year selling Private Label Right products which I can’t advertise on my itsmymarket.com blog, but for other readers you can check it out here.

Next years going to be difficult, again, but it’s also going to be great as well.

Thank you readers, no matter whether you’re reading my blog on wordpress.com. blogger.com., or itsmymarket.com. You are my witnesses to my struggle. And I hope that, by continually writing like this, I help others as I help myself. Because if I can do it, so can anyone else.

Stay with me, dear reader, and I’ll show you that you can do it as well.

My son came around tonight just before I left for work. I strongly suspect that, as I’ll be on nightshift when he leaves for Spain very early on the 19th, that this was the last time I’ll see him before he goes, and then it was only 20 minutes or so.

Found out that the initial 6 months stay over there may not be that now – when I asked him about it, he said he wasn’t sure when he’d be back. Maybe he’s going to Spain for ever now. Hopefully he’ll pop back and see us occasionally if that is the case.

This Empty Nest thing is awful. I’m not the first to go through it, of course, and having “met” a fellow empty nester on Twitter tonight it’s just nice to know that I’m not alone. How’s the wife feel about it? I don’t know, she hasn’t said anything to me about it. As Normal. So, maybe in my house, I am on my own.

Payday today, so didn’t get to bed until 10am after last night’s shift. Had to get diesel from Tesco (remember the Brucie Bonus – points make vouchers!) then had to go to the post office to post some eBay orders out. I hit the queue at just before nine and didn’t get out until almost half nine. got up at three after being woken up twice by a paint lining lorry that ran out of paint just outside my house – twice!

Carrying on carrying on.