SPLENDID. That is definitely the word for the feeling and the smile that accompany those rare but lovely occasions when you put on a jacket and find a crumpled note in the bottom of a pocket.
It does not really matter what the denomination is, because since you did not know you had it, it is a bonus either way. £1 is great, £20 better, but in essence the feeling is just the same – an unexpected and, for once, pleasant surprise that you can quite legitimately spend it on something utterly frivolous because you had not accounted for it.
The opposite end of the scale, obviously, are those disastrous months when you completely underestimate how much has been spent and that cold feeling rises from the pit of your stomach.
Ever wondered how it feels then when this happens with large amounts? I don’t know, something like finding £10 million in your back pocket. That would be nice.
The Treasury did that this week. Not having taken some other figures into account, they found a touch of additional cash resulting from GST.
This is not the first time in recent months that the Treasury have found that they had too much money, and whereas being conservative with estimates so that there is always enough is not to be scoffed at, it is not such a great look in a year when people are struggling.
Everything has gone up and things are a bit gloomy everywhere. Except the Treasury.
All right, so all this information is based on a leaked memo, and there are – because there always have to be – other things to be taken into account. Of course, what these other things are will probably remain a mystery, but they will afford the opportunity for those in the know to nod sagely and wince a little at everyone else’s ignorance on the subject.
And, of course, the treasury Minister is right not to want to base anything on the result of only four months of GST. But come on, £10 million?
I have begun to wonder recently whether I am actually as bad at maths as I had thought. Perhaps the real answer is that I was actually being too exacting.
Use some old figures, round them up a bit and take out a few variables and you’ve still got a number. It might be a few out, but it’s a number nevertheless.
Anyway, a forecast is just a forecast and not a prediction, and a bit like the weather it can change without warning. The important thing is to know what to do with it.
Which is … ?

THERE is just no getting away from it here – it is all about the money.
Whether you have it or you haven’t, whether you can spend it or need therapy before opening your wallet, the fact is that however much some people try to put it in the background and not let it dominate their lives, money does make our world go round. And it seems to do it even more here than elsewhere.
Many conversations are dominated by what you can put your house on the market for, what you would then be able to buy should you do so, or whether you can even make that first move onto the ladder.
The aspirational treadmill is extremely strong in Jersey. What you’ve got or how you are going to get it is what dominates our lives.
The fact is that we have worked ourselves up into such a lather in Jersey about property purchase being the way forward that there now seems to be something inherently wrong with choosing a different path. But if you can’t afford to buy and, in fact, renting would be better anyway, then will everything in your world really grind to a halt?
It would be fair comment to claim that this is easy to say, when the toes of both my feet are desperately clinging onto the bottom of the property ladder, especially as I was as driven as anyone else to scrape together a deposit and reach for the sky. Well, the first rung, anyway.
The question is why we all feel that this is the ultimate goal in security, to the extent that our own housing department is aiming, apparently, for a state of 100 per cent ownership. What is it that is driving this policy of home ownership above all else in an Island where achieving that goal can do more harm than good to a household’s finances?
Yes, the notion of owning is a peculiarly British concept, but rather than simply deciding to roll with it, wouldn’t it be better for our ministers to be asking if there is a more sustainable way of tackling the Island’s housing problems?
I simply cannot agree with Housing Minister Terry Le Main that the whole issue is about availability and lack of supply in the market. But stepping back is no easy feat in Jersey, because we are all supposed to be reaching for a particular goal so that we can ‘feel secure’ and know that the future is not going to surprise us.
In recent months it has become harder to get a mortgage at all, as rates continue their upward creep. This week came the news that Jersey Home Loans would now be shutting their doors to new customers, having announced earlier in the year that they would not lend to anyone who could not produce a 25 per cent deposit. For most of us, that represents a laughably large amount of cash.
When lenders pull out in this way, it is not just because they are being stingy, but because the risk has become far more negative than positive for all involved. Saying no now can create less hurt in the long run, surely?