Never a borrower or a lender be - Stop the cancer of economic growth!

Stern optimistically suggests that it is possible to break the link between economic growth and emissions Click here for link

Who benefits from our addiction to "growth"? Only the significantly rich. And if you are reading this blog, you are not significantly rich, don't fool yourself. Rich means as many millions as you have thousands. Rich means not caring about what happens to anyone else and possibly your offspring, because they are the vehicles of your genes.

Most of us in the west already have plenty. You can only eat off one plate at a time and wear one pair of shoes at one time. Lets make the most of what we have. Instead of buying more shoes than we will ever wear, more credit cards than we will ever repay, more cars than we can drive, and ever more air miles, it is time to learn to be human. In the last 70,000 years our species has come a long way and now that we have conquered and almost destroyed the earth, it is time to take stock.

Instead of allowing the economy to grow like some massive cancer on the face of the planet, this recession is time to start thinking about what is important. Yes you need money to pay the mortgage, and to earn a living wage, but for everything else? Not so much!!

Far better to live a healthy life, than leave a decadent disease ridden mental corpse as a rotting legacy to how you helped destroy life on planet Earth.




Copyright Dr Liz Miller 2008

More about money

Although I originally put this on Doctor Bloggs, it belongs here more naturally.


Understand what is happening to our money supply
Click here for a link to a film of 45 minutes that explains modern banking and money in way that you and your children have to understand if you are to survive financially




Copyright Dr Liz Miller 2008

This video explains what is happening to our money supply far better than I can
Click here for a link to a film of 45 minutes that explains modern banking and money in way that you and your children have to understand if you are to survive financially





Copyright Dr Liz Miller 2008

Putting the O back in Good

This post comes out of my latest anxiety, first deal with anxiety - Money!

I have already put the post on two blogs and the great God Google gets annoyed if you post the same stuff on different blogs, Money is an ongoing source of anxiety and the link shows one way to deal with it.
so Click here for the link


In addition to mental strategies, I think that we need more.

We need a system that sits in the background, and directs our lives. Once upon a time, this was called faith in God. Between the ages of 3 and 12 I was a committed Christian until Go(o)d refused a request. Before this, he had regularly helped out. My final request was a step too far. Go(o)d and I fell out and our relationship broke down completely. I became in turn, an atheist, a Marxist, an Existentialist, a Humanist and finally a Libertarian.

Nonetheless, perhaps, by the age of 12, the go(o)dly system was already too deeply ingrained to be easily got rid of. Perhaps I failed to make an appropriate commitment to evil. Because throughout my life, I have believed that doing "right" was more important than earning money, getting promoted and becoming an important person.

As a result of my belief in doing right, I am the wrong side of 50, with a large mortgage, no proper job, a plethora of qualifications. The accompanying benefits are being over 50 I don't have to worry about breaking a finger nail. Having a mortgage means I have a house. No proper job means I have time to write about what is important and my qualifications mean I can get enough work to keep my head above water.

Further evidence that I am over fifty comes is that I have resurrected my faith and called it faith in Good.

Although I abandoned Go(o)d long ago, I still believe in what is Right, Intelligent, Good, Healthy and True. And may be I gave up on Go(o)d because over the centuries, few religions can boast that they have consistently stood for those values. Even the Dalai Lama is not above criticism. While he was busy meditating, the Chinese moved in and took his country. Why have the Chinese invaded Tibet? Because they could. It would have taken massive political skill to have maintained Tibetan independence. It is, nonetheless, a trick that HongKong seems to have managed.

Looking back, I never stopped believing in Good. Even when I was sectioned and imprisoned in an Gothic Edinburgh Hospital, I continued to believe that Good would overcome evil. That Right was better than Wrong.

I see every reason to believe in Good, as strongly now as when I was five. And this faith will happily last me for the next fifty years and well beyond.

In the meantime, back on Planet Earth, my book comes out in October - I have only done two or three of which I am proud

Treating and saving one or two patients who might otherwise have died
Setting up the Doctors Support Network with Dr Soames Michelson
Being awarded the Mind Mental Health Champion in 2008

and finally,
Writing Mood Mapping, although to be honest, most of the writing has been helped along by Gill Paul, my starring Copy Editor




Click here to buy the book


Copyright Dr Liz Miller 2008

Sorting out expenditure

I do not know where other people are in life, but I wish I had been able to handle my money years ago - I still can't but I am finally angry enough to make sure I do it.

Again - ripped off by PC World, who sold me the wrong piece of kit. It would not matter if I could find the receipt, I could go back and give them a bollocking! but I can't because I can't find the receipt.

The reason - I have not kept my system for receipts up to date.

This is what my brother suggested I do three months ago, and I have done it a little bit, but not well enough
1 - set up an expenses system
2 - keep all receipts - not difficult, just put them in my purse when I collect my shopping
3 - Every now and again, enter them on an Expenses Sheet
4 - Each week I can see what I have spent - roughly, then I can cross reference it to bank statements etc and always have the receipts.

This is what it looks like when I have done it - it gives me a set of tables from which I can work out, at least some of the places my money goes. Just glancing at a bank statement is not good enough for the Inland Revenue and in the next few years, in Bankrupt Britain, it is going to be a battle between you and the Government as to how much exactly of their money they get! - this is the only way to win!!! know your figures better than they ever could!!

The picture is an Expense sheet






I have scanned in a completed sheet - so you can see how it works. It almost works at the moment and this is the only system that I have still be working at 3 months after I started.
Mainly I think because it tolerates my fits and starts of activity. It also looks after the receipts, which you staple to the side of the expense sheet.

Somewhere along the line, - a - I have not been disciplined enough about collecting the receipts and b - as I discovered today, I have not been keeping my cash book up to date. I am six weeks behind. It does not matter, as I can still catch up. But I seem to have terminally lost my PC World receipt

It may seem like a lot of extra work - and why not just spend and not worry about the consequences??

Lots of reason

Just spending - is a waste of mine and the planet's resources. Instead of getting a refund, I will have to sell the bit of kit on ebay - without the packaging because of course, that went out with the rubbish. I cant keep my house clean but my cleaning lady has a robust approach to rubbish and so gets rid of it. If she didn't the house would drown, and because she does, I lose things

Anyway - most people cannot afford a cleaning lady, so its irrelevant. She is excellent by the way, and looking for work!

No one said it was easy to be rich, if it was, we would all be. Nonetheless, there is no reason why more of us cannot be self supporting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rambling ideas

In my ideal world, we will all be our own businesses. Jobs will be an apprenticeship to learn tasks which you then sell to employers. In turn you employ other people to do your tasks.

People bank with each other, not with major banks. We have trust accounts with each other - each of us only pays another when he or she needs money for some reason or other. The rest of the time we work on trust. It works as long as everyone is trustworthy!! and does things properly! I have no doubt that out of this banking crisis will come many new ways of doing business. It is the monetary equivalent of Windows getting a virus that crashes every computer that uses it. A few people using a different operating system will look smug (those whose assets are in Land or Gold) Everyone else will have their work cut out, rescuing their data and then they will think of other ways to do things - partly back to pen and paper, and partly forward with new ideas.

Copyright Dr Liz Miller 2008

Money is stored work

Money is stored work. Probably Marx was the first person in recent times to notice it. However that was in the mid 19th century before rampant inflation took hold of our economies.

Inflation is rising prices where too much money chases too few goods. Prices rise when there are more pounds or dollars than goods and there is a shortage of goods. Scarcity economics. When there are plenty of goods, prices drop.

In Zimbabwe, a real life laboratory of inflation, the shelves are empty. When there is only one loaf of bread, it goes to the highest bidder. If only two people able to bid, the rest starve. Prices rise because there are not enough goods and the government is printing dollars. If there were lots of food on the shelves, food would have to sell more cheaply or not sell. Shopkeepers pitch their prices high, because they can and because there are food shortages.

Deflation, falling prices, too little money chases too many goods. The price of goods falls. IT costs are deflationary. A new well appointed computer costs under a thousand pounds. In 1976, my first double floppy disc drive cost £940. Nowadays there are too many computers and too little money for them, most people can only use one computer at once. Similarly, in the High Street, too many clothes chase too few buyers. Despite the Sales, the High Street stores overstocked because they thought wholesale prices were too good to miss. They bought everything on credit, and now the price is dropping.

In the UK there are also areas of inflation - for example food and fuel. We may be able to live with an extra set of clothes, but we cannot live without food and fuel. There is not enough food and fuel on the market to lower prices. For people who can afford neither computers, clothes, nor food or fuel. Life is tough.

People charge what they can get away with. Where there is plenty of competition and plenty of goods, the price is close to the cost of production, or what the goods cost to make. Where there is a monopoly, a shortage of goods and plenty of money, the price becomes speculative and reaches what the shopkeeper thinks he or she can get away with charging.

How to get out of this spiral? These are the principles of a good citizen of MatrixEconomics.

Principles of good citizenship

Tell the truth and obey the law where it does not oppress another human being or animal
Pay as little tax as legally possible
Work and provide for yourselves, your family and your friends
Stay healthy
Be self sufficient
Do not use credit - ever, unless you are starving or homeless
Owing money is the first step to twenty first century slavery



Copyright Dr Liz Miller 2008

Getting Organised

Discipline, focus, and concentration !!

The Deep Tidy was the essential foundation and it has to go on - and I am not as tidy as I would like to be and I have a dip at the moment. But fundamentally, if it is not beautiful or useful it has to go. A bit like people, - they must be entertaining or useful or you need to get them out of your life. There are enough sinks, drains and sewers in the world without making a personal collection.

A business is only as good as its systems.

A place for everything and everything in its place.

At the moment I am attacking my money and it is an attack. I have to maintain focus, drive and motivation. Thank goodness I have a brother and that he is in a position to help me. How do people without a brother get back on their feet?

This is not about getting accounts right, this is about getting yourself right first. It is only when a person can step back, observe what he or she is doing, review, and plan, is it possible to fight. It is a hard and disciplined road to storm their citadels and raze their temples to the ground.


Copyright Dr Liz Miller 2008

Getting organised - Finding the Inner Bean Counter

This is for my brother, and if everyone had a brother like mine all kid sisters would have enough pocket money. Not to say he is an unfettered delight all of the time but he is helping me sort out my money. And this is what is needed.

There is no way that anyone can run a business until they have their eye on the bottom line and that does come down to money - to being a bean counter. No one can make bean stew until they have awakened their Inner Bean Counter.

My brother is visiting on an almost weekly basis at the moment. He wants to get my finances set up efficiently so that not a penny is wasted and not a penny more than necessary is given to the government to spend on the War in Iraq and arresting MPs. This means developing three key identities

Liz the company director of Well and Working Ltd
from Liz, the self employed writer and journalist
and Liz, the spendthrift, head in the clouds, daydreaming clown

These identities are powerful - not least because they are tax efficient! -
The only one that has to pay standard tax is the spendthrift clown - and this is the one that should not be trusted with anything more than a sixpence.

Most of all, Chris - thanks for being patient, while I act out my two year old toddler neuroticisms and anxieties over money - I will do my best to grow and develop a mature persona regarding money so that you and I, Salma and Martin can get rich together. In the meantime, we will keep a roof over our heads and food on the table.

This weeks lesson - Organisation gets the money organised!

This weeks targets:

1) Each set of bank statements in their own ring binder (see 3)
2) Find Well & Working's missing statements (I hope the bank doesn't have my attitude to paperwork and has kept copies)
3) 12 red ring binders - (the shop - easy)
4) Bank statements for income tax return 2007 / 8
5) Phone Inland revenue help desk 0845 6055999 to get the information to submit my income tax returns on line as it is now too late to send off the form
6) Start keeping some kind of record of the money I spend

Copyright Dr Liz Miller 2008

Deal with Problems on the day!

Whatever your problem : Get expert advice quickly

This may come from established experts, your friends, reading, the Internet. If you are faced with a problem with which you are not familiar, its time to Get Help

Where ever possible, don't let problems fester - knowing your luck, they will only get worse. Finding other people who have also been through the mill helps too! for example http://www.standtoreason.org.uk/home



1 Financial

2 Employment

3 Health Advice

1 Financial Advice

Money Guardian
Learn about money where you can. Web based information on a wide range of money related issues
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money

Money Saving Expert
A useful web based source of money saving information and ideas. http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/

National Debtline
A free, confidential, independent telephone helpline for people with debt problems in England, Wales and Scotland. Telephone 0808 808 4000
http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/

PayPlan
One of the country's leading debt advice agencies with over 12 years experience in helping people with their debt problems.
Telephone 0800 917 7823 http://www.payplan.com/

Consumer Credit Counselling Service
A charity that assists people who are in financial difficulty by providing free, independent, impartial and realistic advice. It is run by the Credit Industry, and has an interest in helping you pay your debts, as opposed to going bankrupt
Telephone 0800 138 1111 http://www.cccs.co.uk/

The UK Insolvency Helpline
The UK Insolvency Helpline is a national telephone helpline for people with debt problems all over the UK. The service is free, confidential and independent
Telephone 0800 0746918 Website http://www.insolvencyhelpline.co.uk/

For doctors Royal Medical Benevolent Fund
Helps GMC registered doctors and their dependants in need, if resident in the UK. http://www.rmbf.org/

2 Employment

Advice Flexible working Advice about flexible working and helping develop a life work balance that supports you and your family.
http://www.workingfamilies.org.uk/

Disability Discrimination
For Employers
A quick guide to your obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act
http://www.shaw-trust.org.uk/page/6/92/

How to approach the problem of mental health in the workplace http://www.tacklementalhealth.org.uk/

For Employees,
Mental ill health is included in the Disability Discrimination legislation.

Disability is
(as described by the Disabilty Discrimination Act)
a) Long term, ie it has already lasted or is likely to last more than 12 months
b) Substantial - nothing too trivial
c) It has to affect a person’s ordinary day to day activity, even if treatment effectively controls the symptoms.

Addictions are excluded
Find out more http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/RightsAndObligations/DisabilityRights/DG_4001068


3 Health Advice

i) Mental Health

Mental Health Foundation
http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/

Mind Apples
A healthy mind
http://mindapples.org/

Information about depression
www.bluepages.anu.edu.au/symptoms.html

Free online Computerised Cognitive Behaviour Therapy

http://www.moodgym.anu.edu.au/
http://www.myray.com/

ii) Lifestyle

Dr Liz Miller Top Ten Health tips
http://doctorbloggs.blogspot.com/2008/08/dr.html

iii) Diet

Improve your diet
http://www.sustainweb.org/pdf/MHRep_LowRes.pdf

The scientific evidence linking diet and mental health http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/publications/?EntryId5=40150&q=0%c2%acchanging+diets%c2%ac iv)

iv) Reading list
The Natural Way to Beat Depression - Basant K. Puri, Hilary Boyd
Potatoes not Prozac - Kathleen DesMaisons
Manage your mind - Hope & Butler
Healing without Prozac – David Serban-Schreiber

Copyright Dr Liz Miller 2008

Financial meltdown cracks global warming

Unrestrained, unsustainable financial growth is wrecking the planet.

Financial meltdown offers the planet hope - we are a long way from starving. A little bit of belt tightening and a sound economy might yet clear the coronary arteries of the western world's self inflicted heart disease

I don't think we need to bail out bankers.

I have more compassion for polar bears than bankers. Polar bears are polar bears. Bankers chose to be bankers and could still choose to be of some social benefit, assuming they are fully paid up members of the human race

Copyright Dr Liz Miller 2008

Money - time for a new currency

With billions of dollars of Money flying around, and everyone looking worried even though so much money is meaningless, why are people predicting doom and gloom? Three facts about Money

1) Money is symbolic
It represents something. If it did not, we would sweep up leaves, to use as currency. The hairdressers and estate agents did just that, at the end of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

2) Money represents work
Money allows people to "store work". I help you plough your fields in March and you help me pick my grapes in September. In order to make sure that we keep our sides of the bargain, you give me some money in March and in September I give you some back.

3) Money no longer has a fixed value
My house costs two and half times as much money now, as when I bought it ten years ago. It has not grown an extra storey or two, it is still the same house, with the same number of rooms in roughly the same condition as when I bought it. My house has not changed, it is still "worth" the same, but the value of Money has gone down. There are "more pounds per house" than there were ten years ago.

The currency is unstable because prices change independently of worth, be it your house, my house or what we are paid.

The bargain of money as "stored work" depends on a stable currency. When the currency is unstable this happens: I work three days on your farm, but six months later you only work one day on my farm. This breaks down trust between people.

Speculators, who never do a hands turn, end up with vast amounts of other peoples' "stored work" because they learnt to play the Money Game. For them, money no longer represents work but counters they manipulate. Fine, if they played with their own counters. But this is not good for the rest of us, who lead traditional lives, earning a living and "storing the benefits of our work" for a rainy day, ie a pension. Money markets have become so complicated that Money has become a game best left to people who care about nothing else.

Those of us who use Money properly, as a way of storing and exchanging work, in order to put bread on the table, at present have no choice. But it may be time to think of alternative ways to store and exchange the value of our work.

What holds its value?
Property and Gold, but only when bought directly and owned outright.
Vouchers between trusted traders

Oil prices depends on how much is pumped out of the ground, rather than what oil costs to produce. Its price is largely speculative.
Wheat prices depend on supply, demand is relatively fixed, we can only eat so much bread but the amount grown and harvested is not so constant.
Savings accounts depend on whether Money itself has any value.

Where next? The lesson from this current financial crisis is that Money has become a game that few people can follow. Warren Buffet is finds it too much and he has a personal fortune or Gross National Product (GNP) larger than some small countries.

It is time for a new Money, one that real people can use for the purpose it was intended, ie. to store the value of work. Let the big boys play with their counters but the rest of us need to get on with our lives.

Copyright Dr Liz Miller 2008

Why The Secret is Bollocks and Rhonda Byrne writes Rubbish

This book is BOLLOCKS and Rhonda Byrne writes RUBBISH

I used to joke that you could always tell someone who had been to Anthony Robbins Seminar:
They were deaf, hoarse, divorced and had just set themselves up as a consultant.

I have spent as much as time, money and effort as anyone else I know on self development, and it doesn’t work. It might if I could do it but, despite trying harder than I have ever tried before I have to all intents and purposes failed in my ambition. I cannot be Tony Robbins, or anyone else like him. Three years after writing a long list of goals during an extremely intense seminar, I had achieved one – a (second hand) bicycle which was stolen shortly afterwards.

Financially and emotionally I am worse off. It has taken me four years to recover from the burnout and my programmed vulnerability to a lot of daft "Get Rich Quick Schemes". Wanting stuff is not enough! Emotion clouds your judgement. Rich people are not emotional or impulsive, watch Alan Sugar, Theo P, Duncan Bannatyre and Barbara Needham if you want proof.

THE MIDDLE START TO LIFE: Progress to date

1) I am largely tidy
2) I have a micromillmeter of slack in my life that gives me time to start planning my day and week
3) I have a vaguely realistic assessment of what I am doing and where I am going
4) I have found a cheaper and more direct route to making the difference I want to see in the world

First understand the APE cycle - Acquire skills, Perfect skills, Exploit skills,

Playing the Lottery is not a reliable way to make a living. You need to have something people want enough to pay money for, if you are going to get other people to pay you.

STEP 1
Read this book

It will start to change the way you think about money, assets and earning a living

STEP 2
Buy a company - from the Internet. It will cost you £30, begin to set up bank accounts and start to get familiar with the ideas. It is not that difficult but it takes time.

STEP 3
Start to learn the nuts and bolts of business and how companies and VAT etc work. These are basic skills. Open the bank account, start to put spare money into your business, use it as a vehicle for saving. Understand the mindset of the business person.

Do not wait until you have a winning business idea before you start finding out about business.

YOU DO NOT NEED A BUSINESS IDEA TO START A COMPANY.

I have got to Step 3 without having done Step 2 first. It is making life difficult. I now have a winning business idea but I am bogged down in learning how to run a company when I should be making hay. I would have better learning about business instead of jumping up and down to “Life will never be the same” –

Never mind, I needed the exercise

Copyright Dr Liz Miller 2008

Family Money and incompetence

Most people want money and this is a mistake. Because wanting money makes you greedy and greed makes people foolish. On the other hand, if you don't want money, like me, you will soon lose it. For me, money is a source of massive anxiety - not (just) because I have huge debts but because of my experiences with it, my beliefs and how I have been conditioned and the person I am. Money makes me anxious and it doesn't matter how much I have or spend, I am still anxious about money.

The only way to get rid of fear is by desensitising yourself. It is never going to be fun. Some of us are more fearful than others. It is the price we pay for our sensitivity. Expose yourself to the object of your fear and then manage the anxiety. If you feel comfortable you are not getting rid of the fear. Just get frightened, wait for the fear to subside and start thinking clearly. As therapists get rid of anxieties about spiders, you and I need to get rid of our anxiety about money. "But", I hear you say, "I have bills to pay, how can I not be anxious?" How does being anxious help you pay those bills? Maybe that anxiety motivates you to go out to work in the morning to a job you hate. But is it easier to write a cheque when you are trembling with fear? Or is it easier when you have a clear head and are already thinking what you can do to earn some more money so you can get more of what you want?

And yesterday was great day for desensitization, in other words it was emotional hell. But today, I still feel anxious but I am not as paralysed as I was before. Yesterday I finally tackled the tiny family trust - now split between 16 people. I discovered XXX Commercial Surveyors have been sitting on the family property using the rents and major works as sweeteners their friends. This is a wild rumour, I can’t prove they have any friends. Nonetheless if someone could explain why a property possibly worth close to £3 million pounds has yielded no income for fifty years, I would be grateful.

How did this happen? First, - it is 'family money' which makes it highly emotional. It was the place where Grandfather did his best work. The work that still gets him an occasional mention in books on the subject, eighty years on. None of his own children have a bone in their backs when it came to thinking for themselves. The property was left in trust and the trust was not to be touched. There must be thousands of such properties around the country. Because the family is too 'nice' or too 'frightened' to broach the subject, the agents get away with murdering the investment. They gently milk the family cow, cushioning their own businesses against harsh economic reality

Back at Home Farm, mentioning The Property or talking about money in anything other than hushed tones was like launching a Scud missile at the Pentagon - massive retaliation. The war zone only quietened down when no one was left standing. I would love to what proportion of families population argue about a) money and b) floorboards. To live a house, a person needs money and floorboards, but one creates volcanic emotion and the other gets polished or covered with carpet. In a rational world, we would handle both with equal calmness.

Yesterday I got stuck in!! Because I am anxious and go from paralysed passivity to wild nuclear aggression in a split-second, I am not necessarily negotiating sensibly. However, at least I am trying to sort the mess out before another generation allows XXXX to keep passing Go without going round the Monopoly board. For me, the gain will not be so much the money but the chance to flush out my own taboos. I am excited and mad about this one. Nonetheless if I am going to learn to manage money, I first have to learn to manage myself in the presence of money



Copyright Dr Liz Miller 2008

Citizen, Freeman or Wage Slave

Wage slavery is not a lot different from any other kind of slavery. As a wage slave you are tied to your house, your relationships and your job. You have to do what your employer tells you and when he says 'jump', you say 'how high'. You cannot afford the divorce, the separation, even to fall out with your pals.

Your lodger is more free than you. If he loses his job, he can find another. He cannot pay his rent, you put him onto the streets. He gets a place in a hostel and gets another job. He is at least a Free Man, he may not own much but he or she owes nothing.

You lose your job, you are unable to pay your mortgage, you lose your house. If you have paid more for your house than it is sold for, you go into debt. You go onto the streets, your credit record is ruined. You cannot borrow, you do not even know how to live. You cannot get another job. The only work you can do, expects you to have a credit card and a credit record.

Twenty first century Citizenship is financial independence. You own your house and you have sufficient money or resources so that you can sell your work to live but you do not owe any significant sums of money. You may borrow but you do not borrow money because you need to. You borrow to improve to your credit rating, you stay in control.

Middle Start is my journey towards Citizenship. I have not even earnt my freedom yet. The first step is to make sure that more money comes in each month than goes out. Doing the books each month, is my financial gym and I have not been for January.

This journal is so that when you read about self made multimillionaires, you will know it is not as easy as it looks. They will go up in your respect. The intention is to show exactly what happened, with no glossing over the truth. You may decide that it is easier to let other people do it, and that slavery has its benefits. After all, empires need slaves, and World Government is on its way.

Money

One of the objectives of the Middle Start is to get enough money to pay for a reasonable old age, not of course that meaning that I am about to sign off or claim a pension yet. In truth, I do not have a pension to claim, or investments to live off.  

First thought of the day. The ability to earn money is more important than money. This covers a lot. Of course, having money brings with it the ability to earn money.  Health helps too. A demented 90 year old is not going to make good investments and even the most secure fortune can be squandered. 

Nothing beats McCawber's advice. Annual income £20, Expenditure £19 19 shillings and six pence = heaven Annual income £20 Expenditure £20 pounds and six pence = MISERY 

I woke up with half a dozen schemes as to how I might make some money. The best one was using the ideas that Dearest and I are putting together, put them into a company and sell half to a Pharmaceutical  company. This is not so absurd, since if you read my other blogs you will understand my interest in psychology. However, no one gets anything for nothing, and any scheme that is going to sell, is going to take a lot of work to get together. 

My resolution for this year has been more money in than out. So far January has not been a great success. Even before tax, there was a lot more out than in. I can make excuses, but I have spent money I have not earned, although in fairness, I have started back to work, even if I have not yet got a job. 

The problem with money is that no one teaches about it, at least not in a reliable and consistent way. There are numerous courses on 'How to make a million on the Internet'. Mostly these are variations on the old scam 'How to make a million' - Put an advert in the paper that says 'How to make a million - send £10 to PO Box 295 for full instructions'

'How to make a million on the Internet' courses sell information that will persuade people to 'send £10 to PO Box 295 for full instructions'. Nowadays, everyone is chasing smaller and smaller rewards for greater and greater effort. 

I know this because I have sent a large number of £10s to various schemes or scams. The information is all the same, and a year later it is everywhere for free. It is very difficult to sell information, except perhaps in a niche market.  

My attitude to money runs deep. At the start of the Industrial Revolution, the factory owners wanted to get people to work in their factories, so they offered them money, lots of money. However the workers found that they only needed to work for a couple of days in order to get everything they wanted or needed and they did not turn up for the rest of the week. This meant that orders were not fulfilled and and the factories lay idle. So the factory owners cut wages. This then meant that the workers had to work the whole week to buy what they needed. 

The modern freedom is financial independence. This is freedom from job slavery. The modern citizenship is financial independence. Only people who are financially independent can make objective decisions as to how the country should be governed, as to how children should be educated. The first step of government should be to help its people achieve financial independence. 

Middle Start is the journey of an ordinary somewhat misguided 50 something towards financial independence. I am documenting this journey, mostly for myself. But may be one day it will serve as a guide to other people in my position who want to avoid the mistakes that I am about to make.

The Deep Tidy II

The Deep Tidy continues. The purpose of a Deep Tidy is to get everything tidy. It is like preparing for death. Tidying up your affairs so your relatives do not have to do it. The Deep Tidy is a preparation for death. As someone said 'the good thing about old age is that it doesn't last long'. Another way of looking at it 'Have nothing in your life that is not either beautiful or useful'.

A place for everything and everything in its place, but I first have to get rid of everything I don't need. Everything that I do not need has to go, either given away or thrown away. It is hard, sometimes it takes an hour or more to tidy a single drawer, getting rid of lipstick I never wore, wrong coloured eyeshadow and spare pairs of uncomfortable shoes. My house has risen three inches on its foundations since I started.

I have struggled for years with my administration and bank statements. If I cannot organise my own money without having a panic attack, I am not going to get rich. Years have gone by without opening a bank statement.

Amazingly, I never had my identity stolen and no one defrauded my account. It was fine until I decided I wanted to get rich. That was where the 'Fly by night' schemes came in and I lost many thousands of pounds. The wounds are still too sore to go into details. However being scammed has desensitived me to money when years of therapy, counselling and coaching never helped.

The Deep Tidy has been going for some months and it is gaining momentum. This time last year, my own paperwork and mess overwhelmed me. I had bookshelves lining the walls of every room in the house and it was still a mess and unsurprisingly I did not know where anything was. I am entering the zero tolerance phase. I have gone through everything I own in the last six months. I have rid of at least a bag of rubbish a day. Some days I manage six or more, other days I don't manage any. If I buy something new, I try to balance it by getting rid of something else. As they say in government "The process is continuing". I never want to experience such a build up of entropy again.

System X is made up of Fractals. A fractal is a pattern with a common design. A fractal can be multiplied a thousand times or more without losing its underlying structure. The Fractals of System X constantly reinterpret the ways in which we understand the world.

The Fractals of System X constantly bring in new ideas, ready for the Deep Tidy to sort, classify, keep and develop them or throw them away. The purpose of the Deep Tidy is to make room for the Fractals of System X to grow and develop.

The Deep Tidy works like the good fish on the coral reef and the birds on the back of the rhinoceros. It keeps the parasites, fleas, trivia and rubbish at bay, which would otherwise clog up and suck the life out of the Fractals of System X.

I realise I want more than money, the money will follow. After all if it was easy to be rich, we would all be rich. Was Julius Caesar the richest man in Rome? No, but he is Rome’s most famous son and still has more influence on the minds of schoolchildren, than any individual businessman or woman alive today.

System X is setting the fires for a change in biology, medicine and psychology. The Deep Tidy is making room for the Fractals of System X.

The Middle Start is under way.