The Mobile Outlet

If you visit regularly you will have noticed a "mobile outlet" ad in the right hand corner of the page. It is simply there because they are doing the best deal out at the moment. A good 3G phone, 400 any network minutes, 100 texts, + some video minutes, + some video content. you have to pay £35 per month for privilege but you can claim the whole lot back from them via cash back redemption vouchers. Louise and I have never used this company, but we have had two other phones that have used the same cash back system, and provided you don't forget to claim the cash back, it is a cracking deal. The link is through an affiliate scheme, so I get paid a small sum, if you sign up for a phone having followed my link, but you can bypass that if you like and go straight to the themobileoutlet.co.uk.

More on Debt and Credit.

I was thinking about debt the other day here: http://graham.doel.org/index.php/2005/08/05/debt-and-credit/

When you are in unmanageable debt the shame and the feeling of helplessness that it creates often leads to denial. You think that you can manage the debt, and some people do manage to swing from consolidation loan to consolidation loan, using their assets as security. Emmerdale captured the sense of helplessness well when Lesley couldn't bring herself to tell her son Simon how bad it was until it was to late. Simon in turn got hooked into the feeling of shame and couldn't bring himself to tell his finance (Nicola). When I was in debt I learned that to get out of the trap there were several things I had to do:

• Admit to myself I was in trouble.
• Admit to the people I owed money I was in trouble.
• Negotiate with my creditors a solution.
• Work hard.

Things I remember:

• I remember the depressing feeling of never being able to get my balance in the black.
• I remember the joy the first time my wages paid off my overdraft.
  
• I remember the feeling of hope that came as I saw my overdraft get smaller and smaller.
  
• I remember the elation of being in the black month by month.
  

When I was consistently in the black the feeling of liberation and control over my own life was fantastic.

Debt and Credit.

I had Emmerdale on in the background yesterday evening as I replied to some of my e-mails. It seems that Simon's mother (Lesley) has got their business into a right mess and they are on the verge of financial ruin. It got me thinking about the lure of debt and how it traps people in a downward cycle. I have experienced the power of debt and the feelings of hopelessness that it causes. When I worked for a fast food company I contracted salmonella (from an undercooked piece of chicken I ate in a new store in Birmingham while helping them out with their opening). That led to months of sick and living on SSP. Even though I was prudent during that time I ended up with an overdraft in excess of one months income. These are some of the things I noticed about debt:

• It creates a feeling of helplessness.
  You can't see a resolution to your problem and so you lack motivation to get out.
• It serves its self.
  Once you are in the trap it becomes increasingly difficult to get out because the charges mount and left on it's own it increases, getting bigger and bigger until you can't manage it.
• It creates promise.
  Debt sustains its self by promising you that it is manageable. It tells you that you can have what you want now instead of waiting for it. The promise is to provide you with what you want but the reality is that the debt creates a profit, not for you, but for someone else.
  

Aside: If you are reading this because you are in debt there are ways out. Credit Action exists to help people get out of debt. They have really helpful advice on their website: www.creditaction.org.uk