Yesterday I was working with Jenny Layton, who’s giving me fantastic help with the text-editing of Edition 2 of “Back To The Black”, i.e. the complete content as an e-book. I am still hoping we’ll get the file uploaded by the end of February.
After that the next project will be a podcast and an audio version of the complete book.
This morning I did another interview with Heart FM, this time with Rob Mayor. This came about because Heart felt that the issue of “Payday Loans” needed exploring further. We talked about why people are tempted by such loans, the benefits on which they are sold, and the well-known disadvantages of the astronomical interest rates. Those rates could be affordable if it’s the only game in town AND if the loan really is repaid really quickly, i.e. on payday, but if it’s rolled over then the problem starts.
We talked about credit unions as an alternative to high-street lenders or to payday loans.
I also stressed the need to take advice, preferably from an independent, impartial (i.e. not-for-profit) advice service such as the local CAB (Citizens Advice Bureau, for the benefit of any readers of this blog who are not in the UK) or CCCS (Consumer Credit Counselling Service) or National Debtline. Then the need to formulate a plan with the aid of that advice, and to inform the creditors that is what you’re doing and ask them to freeze interest while that’s happening. If you don’t ask you don’t get, but many debtors spend too long in denial (and I was one) and don’t communicate, which makes the situation worse.
All this is the kind of advice that most people have read lots of times; however, my hope is that when the complete book is published, people will view the advice in a different light because of what I say about where I went wrong. In fact the book’s subtitle could even be “Learn from my mistakes”.
Today I was a guest on the drivetime show at Bristol’s community radio station BCfm, (link here for website), being interviewed live by Station Manager Phil Gibbons about “Back To The Black”. Although I had been a presenter on the station for much of last year, it was a new and pleasant experience being a guest. For a start, I didn’t have to pay for my coffee this time. Seriously though, who doesn’t like being asked questions about a topic in which they are interested?
My interview was interspersed with two others: with Neil Innes and Michael Palin, no less! This was because the station was running a live outside broadcast from Bristol’s Colston Hall, where both were about to perform in the city’s Festival of Slapstick. Phil said I could now dine out on the fact that I’d appeared on a chat show with these two luminaries; and that they “kept cutting across my airtime!”
Phil asked a very good question about one of the tips from my book. I’d mentioned some of the basic stuff about communicating with creditors, making an offer, etc, and he pointed out that those tips could be obtained in other books, websites, etc. “People know that’s the thing to do” he said, “so why don’t they do it?” My answer was that people like to read stories rather than to be told what to do, so the fact that my book’s advice is interspersed with the story of my own debt problem and how I worked my way out of it, will hopefully make people more likely to act on the tips given.
Phil wrapped up the interview by wishing me well with the book: “Hope it makes you rich – no, sorry, that’s not the point. I guess your point is to stop other people becoming poor”. To which I readily agreed.
In fact the Free Edition of “Back To The Black: how to become debt-free and stay that way” is available as a free download, in .pdf format, at www.scribd.com/michael_macmahon
A new self-help book for people with debt problems has been launched today. “Back To The Black: how to become debt-free and stay that way” is based partly on the author’s practical experience of escaping bankruptcy and partly on the principles of coaching. Chapters 1-3 in their entirety are now available as a free downloadable file, at www.scribd.com/michael_macmahon .
The book’s author, Michael J MacMahon, says: “A few years ago I survived a major financial crisis. While digging myself out of that hole, I became interested in the principles of coaching, especially the idea that most people have the knowledge and resources to solve their own problems, if only they get the right support. One of the best ways of providing that support is to ask the right questions, because questions help to focus thinking, especially at times of stress; and being in debt is certainly one of those times.The book is thus derived from my experience and also demonstrates how those key questions can help anyone get out of debt.”
The book has been favourably reviewed by debt advice experts at the UK’s Citizens Advice organisation. Some of the best advice is simple practical stuff, for example:
Start by listing all your debts, bank balances and assets: knowing the truth is better than a vague feeling of threat.
Communicate with creditors: the problem gets worse if you ignore it.
Make an offer: any offer, no matter how small, is better than none.
Never negotiate on the phone: do it in writing; it’s less stressful.
You don’t need to be alone: get help from a debt advice organisation.
Keep records of all communications: it pays dividends.
The free download version, containing Chapters 1 – 3, of my book “Back To The Black: how to become debt-free and stay that way” is now available as a .pdf file.
It’s on the social publishing site Scribd.
Click on this link, or copy and paste this URL into your browser:
Tomorrow is a crucial day for cricket-lovers. England are playing South Africa, until recently the no. 1 side in the world, in a Test series in South Africa. What’s more, against all expectations, England are one-nil up in the series with only this final Test match to play. If we lose the match we will draw the series one-all, but if the game is drawn then we’ll win the series one-nil. Add this to the fact that we won the Ashes by beating Australia last summer, and you’ll see that this could be a crucial day for English cricket.
As I write it’s the end of the third day’s play. England are on the back foot – an appropriate metaphor – and will be hard-pressed to avoid losing the match, which makes the situation all the more nail-biting.
On this important day for English cricket, comprising maybe six hours of play, how much coverage will I be able to enjoy on TV, either terrestrial or freeview? Nothing, nada, rien, nichts, zilch. Not even five minutes of highlights. I could watch it by subscribing to Sky Sports, of course, but I don’t think it’s worth committing to that monthly cost for the occasional overseas Test match.
So the BBC did not think it worthwhile to cover this series. What other sporting delights does the Corporation offer in its place? The answer is snooker, which dominates airtime this week in “BBC Sport”. (I use the quotation marks advisedly) Last week it was darts. And when I say dominates, I mean it: up to six hours coverage in every 24 when there is a major tournament on, sometimes even more.
No doubt snooker and darts are cheap TV compared with cricket. But are they sports, as BBC branding insists they are?
Right now, by the way, the snooker competition that swamps the schedules (especially on BBC2, which was promoted as the culture channel when launched) is called the Masters. No, let’s give it its full title, as a sponsor has no doubt paid handsomely for the privilege. It’s the “Pokerstars.com Masters”. I know this, because I saw it in a graphic alongside the BBC Sport logo. Maybe, in future, the BBC Sport schedules could include poker too? And why could not snooker, darts and then poker become Olympic sports?
I’m about to stop writing this before it becomes a full-on rant, so that I can watch the football on “Match of the Day”. I am not really a football fan; after all I don’t really support any particular team. Rugby is really my game and I’ve never played football except five-a-side. But I appreciate – and often watch with pleasure – the superb quality of English Premiership football: the skill and, yes, the athleticism and fitness levels, which seem to get better and better every year. (although some of the pundits say this is a lacklustre season.)
Where am I going with this? Snooker, darts, (and poker too) require great skill of course. But athleticism? Fitness? What constitutes sport and what constitutes a pastime? Discuss, as they say.
Simon Barnes in the Times did indeed discuss that, very recently. (see link) He praised the skill of the darts player Phil Taylor (no problem with that) and suggested that anyone who says darts is not a sport (and that includes me) does so out of snobbery. Well, who am I to disagree with such an eminent sporting journalist, but I shall. If you were to suggest that croquet is a sport I would say that that is a pastime, just like darts and snooker; snobbery doesn’t come into it. Tosh, Simon, no matter how brilliantly you expound it. Frankly I think it’s marginal as to whether golf (now to be in the Olympics) is a sport; or whether it’s “a pastime that’s almost a sport”, as one of my all-time favourite Dilbert cartoons memorably described it.
Greetings to my readers in Bristol (that’s the one in the UK) and surrounds. I wish you a very enjoyable (and, of course, cultural) 2010.
My random selection of imminent events starts here:
Sun 10 Jan, 4 pm: something new at the Coronation Tap, Clifton. The Neil Smith 4TET: standards from Coltrane to Carmichael. Neil Smith, guitar; Jon Short, bass; John Blakeley, drums, Dino Christodoulou, sax, with some Greek-flavoured originals. www.thecoronationtap.com/calendar.php
Sun 10 Jan, 7.30 for 8 pm: “Sunday night at the Lansdown”. Acoustic Evening, featuring Emily Grist, Rosie Garrard, Bashema. Lansdown Inn, 8 Clifton Road, Clifton, BS8 1AF.
Tues 12 Jan, 8 pm: Science Café at @Bristol. “Waste not, want not”. Forum for discussion of waste. Representatives of local organisations, e.g. James Sessions-Hodges (Ethos Energy), Sean Spencer-Worte (Bristol City Council) and Katie Winterborne (Resource Futures) share experiences and viewpoints. “Bring an item of rubbish for a warm-up activity!” www.at-bristol.org.uk
Weekend of 15 / 17 Jan: Bristol Acoustic Music Festival at St George’s. Too many acts to list: see www.stgeorgesbristol.co.uk
My name is Michael MacMahon, a septuagenarian with no interest in retiring who has developed a portfolio career drawing on a lifetime of personal and professional experience instead. I am…
a speaker on a wide range of subjects; I also coach speakers
a voice actor who makes occasional forays on to screen and stage
I have written a book called Back to the Black, about getting out of debt and managing your personal finances so you stay that way. I also blog from time to time (see online home) about the challenges of public speaking and other subjects that interest me.
Biography
A native of Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire, I spent my university years at Imperial College, London and afterwards had a 25-year career in the chemical industry, ending up as Managing Director of a sales and marketing company in the Swedish-owned Holmen group. I left to set up and run a training consultancy where I designed and delivered courses for major corporate clients in Scandinavia in business communications skills – delivering impactful presentations, running effective meetings, telephone skills and the like – combined with teaching the English language. I then spent five years working with a major UK health charity, first in fundraising and then in media relations.
I have been a frequent speaker at corporate events, fundraisers and social functions for 35 years.
Nowadays I live in the great city of Bristol, in the West of England, avoiding retirement and enjoying a wide range of projects.
Consumer debt has spiralled in recent years and average household debt in the UK, according to Credit Action, is approximately £58,000. Total UK consumer debt, according to the same organisation, was £1.46 trillion at the end of March 2010. That’s almost £1,500 trillion, or £1.5 million million; a mind-numbingly large number. To put it in perspective, it is slightly more than the UK’s total income (GDP), which was £1.396 trillion in 2009 according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS).
As Credit Action’s website succinctly puts it:
“Individuals owe more that what the whole country produces in a year”
The trend of increasing personal indebtedness, a by-product of our consumer culture, certainly contributed to the financial crisis.
Mortgage Debt
Most personal debt is, at least in the UK, secured mortgage debt. Levels of home ownership have traditionally been higher here than in most other European countries. It has always been considered that mortgage debt is safe debt; that was true for as long as the housing market continued its customary rise but at times of recession in the housing market, mortgages have led and will lead more and more borrowers into negative equity, where their property’s value falls below the amount borrowed. Whenever these conditions apply, then mortgage debt certainly does have to be factored into the equation.
In my last post I said I had decided to write a book about my debt experience and what I had learned from it; and that I had decided to self-publish, first as an e-book.
I’ll be blogging about the topic too. One of the obvious advantages of this form of publishing is its immediacy and flexibility and the way one can link to other sources of information. Thus I’ll certainly aim to signpost people who want advice on debt problems, to helpful websites and blogs. Here are two absolute “musts”.
2. The Motley Fool website is another well-known resource for financial advice of all kinds and they have a “Dealing with Debt” stream among their discussion boards: http://boards.fool.co.uk/Messages.asp?bid=50079
