Where to begin. Some would say at the beginning, but if I start in the middle and move forwards and backwards I think I'll find more to say. (but, who will listen).

I'll start with the realization that I was in debt with credit cards to the sum of about 7000 pounds. It all started when we moved to Spain and after we had done our sums and thinking we had enough money we found out there were other things we had to buy.

At this time being skint there was only one way and you've guessed it.

Now that was not too bad but my error was to have the bank pay back the minimum amount each month.

Then we decided to travel here and there a drive back to England Twice (not a cheap way to travel) and various other things we paid for and not quite 'all of a sudden' but it dawned on us that we could not carry on this way.

So, we stopped. Literally stopped. No eating out or things like that. We could have cheap days out if we took sandwiches. We were going to start to pay all this money back.

But, along came a spider in the name of the tax man and could he have about 4500 pounds to be paid immediately Please or he would set the Spanish tax man onto me, what ever that would mean.

I came to an arrangement with the English tax man that I could pay him off monthly. So, I'd solved that problem but, was still left with the problem of paying off the credit cards. Please don't think that I am complaining, I got myself into this mess and it's me that's going to get me out of it.

While all this was going on, unknown to most ordinary people like me, the banks were being ultra greedy and, investing in products which they now openly admit they did not understand, but the interest payback was supposed to be brilliant. It turned out not to be the case and now we have a recession.

Because my Pension is paid to my bank in Spain and the exchange rate because of the recession dropped rather badly. So, my pension in relative terms dropped by nearly 30%, and this at the time when I had just started to payback the tax man. The credit cards are on hold at minimum payments for the time being.

It's rather a strange that when I think back to what my mother told me once about the way I used to spend money when I was young. She said, and it was like a prediction that, “I will never have any money”. Turns out she was right. My twin brother has no money problems but he has health problems which I do not. My younger brother was left quite large sums of money when his business partner Died. Now I'm not envious of these two brothers because the way I see it it is, this is the way it is.

My youngest brother who has never been married and therefore does not know the discipline that married life gives one.

He is a gambler. He has had quite a lot of money in his life but he keeps buying the bookmaker a new 'ROLLER' every year. One time he was playing poker on the INTERNET.

It failed. They start you off with so many thousands of dollars virtual money. While he was playing with virtual money he was winning thousands but when he went over to real money he started to lose thousands, Now I wonder why that was????

I read in the Washington post (It comes by Email) yesterday that any bank that has been shored up by the government will have strict limits on bonus payments to execs.

I never got paid for failure and nor did most people, so why bankers. I'd sack the lot of them and start all over again.

darkstar