Now you know that I am normally not the stingy type. If you earn it then you should spend it lavishly up to a ceiling of 35% of your total income on disposables but not exceeding 100% of your expenditure on house rent, this is without taking into account Sodexho vouchers, is one of my most important personal finance mottoes as you are already aware.

But ever since ‘Salt Water Girl’ has made me shift to Bandra from Wadala, money has been a little tight. I hardly have any left over for my PS2 fund.

Now 3000 pounds a week is solid money in London. I could have lived anywhere in the city, bathed in Guinness beer and had caviar dosa for dinner. All this while my Dufresne India salary beautifully credited into my salary account each week.

How beautiful. Like a symphony of money. A symphmoney. Ha ha. Ayyo.

But then tragedy happened. Just one week into my secondment and Boris decided that getting paid from two employers at the same time was unethical. Bastard then asked HR to hold my Dufresne salary as long as I was on secondment.

This was embarrassing. I had already casually told our friends, updated my Orkut, and emailed to the institute alumni list that I was now the highest paid graduate (Indian salary) in our batch. (Which is true Diary, after converting pounds to rupees.)

That lasted for just one week. Now I am only 17th or so. Not that I keep track of these things.

On top of all this financial back-stabbing, Gouri now wants me to go and take a photo with the Shah Rukh Khan statue at the wax museum. At first I thought this was a good idea. I am not exactly a big fan of SRK. But a photo with a statue is better and cheaper than buying her clothes or handbags from Benetton or Marks and Spencer.

So I went there today after work. I had my camera ready and had a coffee in advance from the Lederman canteen so I would not be tempted by the UK’s highly overpriced museum cafes. I stood in line for half an hour. And then the lady at the counter told me that I had to pay 25 pounds for a ticket.

25 POUNDS!!!!!!!!!!

I told her I did not want to take any of the statues home. (With a 50% joke look on my face.)

She told me that was the cheapest ticket available.

So I immediately used a Lederman company telephone calling card to tell Gouri that the photo with Shah Rukh Khan was not happening.

She then gave me a 45-minute lecture on how I was being very cheap by not spending even 25 pounds for her. I asked her when was the last time she checked Indian Rupee—Sterling Pound exchange rate. She cut the phone. I also quickly cut to avoid any unnecessary billing.

I was very upset but then ran back to the hotel for the complimentary evening tea. (Free with room. Otherwise 15 pounds.)