More London! More Credit Crunch!
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When first looking at London on a smaller bonus, it was driven by considerations what could happen if - against all odds - bonuses weren't up 20%+ like in the years before. Several billions of asset write-offs later, the credit (and equity) markets are still ludicrously crunchy.
A smaller bonus might not be the last word regarding newly-imposed budget constraints.
Four months after the original article, things look slightly bleaker. In fact, a lot bleaker.
Respectable firms are pulling out of structured credit, sometimes out of exotic derivatives altogether. It's not hard to imagine what this does to the (maybe not so) few of us whose personal business model has been based on regularly threatening to apply our trade elsewhere, because if your trade (such as structuring CDOs of ABS) is not applied anywhere anymore, the leverage of this strategy quickly approaches zero.
So there is no harm in cherishing the basics: Having your health, and a job that pays the bills. With the asset side of your personal balance sheet stalling, it's not rocket science: you need to focus on limiting expenditures.
For starters, have you realised that your Docklands penthouse has more bedrooms than inhabitants? Why not follow the advice I once heard from an estate agent when viewing a flat? You can always rent out additional bedrooms to Swedish language students. And while I can only guess what he had in mind (particularly when he referred to the flat as 'kn*cker-dropping'), getting lodgers in might do more for you than just help cut costs.
Spending £50 every few weeks on a haircut? Get over your vanity and help someone in the process: For £5 you can become a hair model at Toni & Guy's academy and have your 'do done by up-and-coming talent. Not unlike in other jobs, if the result is too horrible, there are always the experienced ones on hand to do damage control afterward.
And finally, since it is well-known that London cabs are spacious but not necessarily inexpensive, why not do it the old way: go public and get on the Tube. Nowadays, TfL even throws in 5 free songs from iTunes when you sign up for Oyster Auto-Top-Up.
What better to start your commute than with a FREE selection of songs, which - quite topically - could include a few of the following:
Four months after the original article, things look slightly bleaker. In fact, a lot bleaker.
Respectable firms are pulling out of structured credit, sometimes out of exotic derivatives altogether. It's not hard to imagine what this does to the (maybe not so) few of us whose personal business model has been based on regularly threatening to apply our trade elsewhere, because if your trade (such as structuring CDOs of ABS) is not applied anywhere anymore, the leverage of this strategy quickly approaches zero.
So there is no harm in cherishing the basics: Having your health, and a job that pays the bills. With the asset side of your personal balance sheet stalling, it's not rocket science: you need to focus on limiting expenditures.
For starters, have you realised that your Docklands penthouse has more bedrooms than inhabitants? Why not follow the advice I once heard from an estate agent when viewing a flat? You can always rent out additional bedrooms to Swedish language students. And while I can only guess what he had in mind (particularly when he referred to the flat as 'kn*cker-dropping'), getting lodgers in might do more for you than just help cut costs.
Spending £50 every few weeks on a haircut? Get over your vanity and help someone in the process: For £5 you can become a hair model at Toni & Guy's academy and have your 'do done by up-and-coming talent. Not unlike in other jobs, if the result is too horrible, there are always the experienced ones on hand to do damage control afterward.
And finally, since it is well-known that London cabs are spacious but not necessarily inexpensive, why not do it the old way: go public and get on the Tube. Nowadays, TfL even throws in 5 free songs from iTunes when you sign up for Oyster Auto-Top-Up.
What better to start your commute than with a FREE selection of songs, which - quite topically - could include a few of the following:
- "Money's Too Tight to Mention" by Simply Red
- "Rent" by Pet Shop Boys
- "Things Can Only Get Better" by D:Ream
- "If I Were a Rich Man" by Original Cast Recording Fiddler on the Roof (1964) and/or
- "If I Was a Rich Girl" by Gwen Stefani
Here Is The Writer : Billy No Box
Billy No Box has worked in the city for six years, and currently works in Derivatives for a North American bank. He enjoys playing golf, reading books by Umberto Eco, singing "Copacabana" in the shower and at karaoke bars, and occasionally updating his blog about London and everything else.
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