Budget airlines and out of pocket passengers: easyJet let us down
As budget airlines go, I have a lot of time for easyJet. The company is profitable yet competitive, runs a very efficient operation, fast turn-round, full flights and is changing to booked seats, getting rid of the dreaded seat scramble. Our direct 18.25 Manchester to Geneva flight last Friday should…
Do you believe in coincidences? The marathon that was not to be!
I trained hard and I trained long! I had the flu and it kept coming back for three weeks before the marathon date – I still thought that I will run it; or at least that I will start it. Then about a week ago I checked the forecast for…
Changing my position on credit cards: a sign of weakness or growth
Last night I was talking to one of my sons – the one who is in his mid-twenties – and what struck me was the unmovable convictions he had on many issues. We were talking about writing because he is the one in the family with real talent; heck,…
Busy or productive: 2,000 to 10,000 or how to catapult your writing productivity
Have you heard about Rachel Aaron? I won’t be surprised if you have not – after all she is a writer and a reputedly a good one since she manages to make a living with it. Until about a year ago when I came across her website – Pretentious Title…
Principled Money Posts #25: ‘being fifty and mad celebrations’ edition
It has been a week since I hit fifty; how is it? Great! It is the time of life when we are suspected of having mid-life crisis and, this applies more to us women, menopausal. As I say, it is the same as being in puberty but so much better…
Our financial optimism: ‘no spending’ to ‘home improvements’
Well, I didn’t tell you that but last Saturday (13 October) was my 50th birthday. I am becoming an ‘old bird’, indeed. Apart from having to work on that day and receiving many messages of congratulation this has a very special meaning for me. Three years ago we first found…
How has the eurozone crisis affected corporate banking?
Banks have been having a bad press recently. My views on the causes are probably better kept out of this article but don’t tar all banks, let alone bankers, with the same brush. Love them or hate them, we need them. In fact we have good reason to be very…
Changing people’s hearts and minds: the magic and practice of enchantment
Couple of days ago my work bought me a new laptop; this was not a privilege but necessity. My new ‘production tool’ is a Samsung, sleek, thin and light, and works like a dream (well, there is no need to get technical). It also looks very much like a Mac;…
Why comparing your budget to this of other people is a really dumb thing to do
Recently I came across a post on a public forum that provided a Statement of Affairs (for my readers in the US this is a tool that sets out income, expenditure, assets and liabilities) and asked how does this compare with the budgets of other people. Of course, people jumped…
Two factors behind debt and what does this have to do with you
Have you noticed that more and more people have more and more debt? This is a fact hard to miss even if you are not one of them. Here are some numbers: Between 1990 and 2000 the number of Americans seeking the help of a credit councillor doubled; The average…
Two conversations and a museum: it is important to face our past if we are to have a future
I do remember that Thursdays on The Money Principle are usually reserved for a book review or for thought provoked by reading something related to life and money. But today I am feeling ill – I had to see a doctor, spend loads of money for the check up and…
Could one have good quality of life in a poor country?
There was a time, over fifteen years ago, when I did believe that one can have a really good quality of life in a poor country; given that one isn’t poor, of course. This belief had no foundation in experience – only in casually empiricist observation. I had noticed that…