Busted!

So here's a big shout out and a 'Thank you very much' to journalist Nick Foulkes from the Financial Times How to Spend it Mag, who surpassed himself this weekend with an article that 'him indoors' found and took great joy in fluttering in front of my face. 

Now I know hubby doesn't read that much - the odd travel novel by Bill Bryson here, the odd page turning autobiography by Chairman Mao or some such dictator that catches his fancy there... but he does read the weekend FT - avidly! 

So I was minding my own business knocking up a Sunday roast for 11 when he marched in & slapped a magazine in front of me with glee. I skim read with horror as it seemed to be about a kept woman who spent her days shopping & hoarding items in multiple wardrobes, then cannily hiding the evidence of purchase - bags, boxes and whatnot.... sounds familiar I guess, but this is where the similarity ends. The character in this tawdry tale was actually buying top designer goodies - no wonder she hides the booty. The only problem now is that hubs thinks my similar behavior is masking high end purchases from Gucci and Prada!  

My skills on the spending front have long been dissed and treated as an affliction, the 'shopaholic' series served only to encourage the uneducated observers view that fickle fashionistas must get their come uppance. Yet I would argue that this minority group does have a rightful place in society ; Mr Foulkes opinion be damned!

When we first arrived in our brave new world this side of the pond a few years back, we had no credit rating at all. "Apply for store cards" said a sharp friend who had been in the same boat – "before you know it you will have a 600+ credit score." 

Brilliant – I figured they would clearly realise my expertise in this area – I can whisk up a credit card bill in a matter of hours if I really put my mind to it. The creative thinking I may have used in a past life as a marketing guru had morphed into a unique ability to ingeniously think an object from mere whimsy to a ‘can’t live without /must have’ purchase within a nano second.

Sadly the authorities had not been advised of my ability & in a move that can only have increased the demise of the dollar to the pound, I was turned down flat by whomever I approached – fools !

The credit crunch had clearly arrived. Instead of spotting the opportunity that I could single-handedly save their sagging markets through my spending ability the USA continued to flag in a recession - the rest is history. In years to come when young bairns sit at their aged grandparents knee and ask in awe how that awful recession began in the noughties, let the legend prevail that the tipping point was a super heroine squanderer spurned.

Pleasingly my rating vastly improved over time through sheer diligence on the spending front on my part .  So next time Mr Foulkes decrees that a skill set such as  mine should be relegated to ridicule.. please note... do not mess with a fashionista and her foibles.