The credit crunch has crunched the Escape

Yes its just dawned on me in the last few days.

The credit crunch has crunched my Escape.

The recent economic woes have definitely had an impact on my financial planning. The pound has fallen sharply with the dollar. Furthermore the pound and the eruo are now almost even. Now our money is simply not going to go as far in the US or Europe.

I don't know how much my apartment is worth. It might not be worth much more than we paid for it in 2003. The saving grace is that at least we have a repayment mortgage so there is equity in it but probably not enough to finance a permanent Escape.

The drop in interest rates has also had an impact. At the moment we are not worse off as most of our savings were in fixed rate bonds which I took out before the crunch. But these are going to mature in the not too distant future. I have a feeling that interest rates are not going to recover for some time. This also has an impact on the Escape. We were getting several hundred pounds a month in interest from these bonds. By the end of the year that will probably be halved.

Ha! There goes my plan of living in a magic bus in California or Oregon on $1k per month! Or my idea of buying a home in Nova Scotia outright and living off the interest from our savings. Perhaps that will happen one day but I cannot see it happening for at least a few years.

There is nothing I can do about it but sit tight. I have to think of my DH, not just myself.

We will probably have to work for longer. That means staying put for longer. Sigh.

But I remember to be thankful for what I have. Remember gratitude.

Back to work

Well my first two weeks at the new job have been ok.

Actually I am quite enjoying the work. Its relatively hassle free. I only wish it could be permanent.

I wish I could find a permanent role. The feedback I am receiving from my applications for permanent work is that potential employers apparently don't like the fact that I have been working as a Locum. What planet do these people live on? There is no tenure anymore, no security. The annoying thing is that most of the decision makers are probably middle class, middle aged, white men who have probably worked for the same employer for the last 30 years.

But I digress.

I haven't written about finances lately but 2008 was a good year for us financially. We managed to save circa £45,000 towards the escape fund. Not bad.

Demons

Post Christmas slump I can feel the black cloud approaching me.

I can feel the demons circling again up overhead. They are chanting.

They are chanting the usual messages of insecurity. They tell me that the future is dangerous and uncertain and doomed to failure. They tell me that I am alone, isolated and two steps from deprivation. They tell me that the only person that is good, wonderful and secure in my life can be snatched away from me in a moment.

"Face it" they say, "you are no good, worthless, useless and all alone."