Silver lining, eh?
Huh. Actually, you know what? It's amazing what happens when a sudden financial blow causes you to sit down and actually do a personal budget for once.
If I cut down the things I'm currently wasting money on, sell the things I keep "meaning to" sell, get determined about earning this bonus I've been offered, and chase up the overpaid taxes I keep "meaning to" chase up -- then even with the phone thing, I actually have enough for a decent living budget, a modest but not stingy entertainment budget, and two modest but not shoestring holidays -- with enough left over to wipe out my lingering student overdraft.
It's also a very literal and immediate motivation to do edifying things like try and get freelance/commissioned creative work on the side. And if by chance I should manage to get some kind of recompense for the phone fraud, then hey, more money.
If I cut down the things I'm currently wasting money on, sell the things I keep "meaning to" sell, get determined about earning this bonus I've been offered, and chase up the overpaid taxes I keep "meaning to" chase up -- then even with the phone thing, I actually have enough for a decent living budget, a modest but not stingy entertainment budget, and two modest but not shoestring holidays -- with enough left over to wipe out my lingering student overdraft.
It's also a very literal and immediate motivation to do edifying things like try and get freelance/commissioned creative work on the side. And if by chance I should manage to get some kind of recompense for the phone fraud, then hey, more money.