You Say 'Zero' Like It's a Bad Thing

There's lots of negative connotations with the number zero. If you lose a rugby match 60-0, that's a beating. If you have zero friends, you are a socially retarded, and if you have zero money then you are poor.

Right now, a certain zero in my life is making me very happy right:
It's my current balance for my Visa card! If you knew the starting balance after I returned from abroad, you might have told me to fake my own death to get out of it. Instead of ignoring it, I picked up a few extra jobs and after months of working my tale off serving crab cakes to rich people, posing nude for artists, and generally being a homebody in an effort to conserve funds, the fruits of my labor have finally come to fruition! I never thought I would pay this off so soon after returning to the USA. It's amazing what you can do when you simply stop buying stuff and only worry about the necessities - food and shelter with a few bottles of wine for sanity's sake. It was really hard at some points denying myself new clothes or eating at restaurants, but I'm glad I stayed strong and looked at the big picture. Now I can go back to my regularly scheduled programming!

Next I'm going to work on the savings. I guess you've heard about this whole recession thing and yes, it majorly blows so I'm going on the offensive (financially speaking) and saving up for any rainy days ahead. First though, I'm going treat myself to a few items I've gone without like a facial at Pierre + Carlo or a big cup of latte from the Tuscan Cafe before work or possibly replace my long lost iPod that is floating around Down under somewhere.

Financial solvency is my co-pilot :)