Making education pay

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Let's face it. Most education does not pay. Learning new skills is useful but collecting pieces of paper rarely is. Many readers of this blog have been saddled with huge debts as a result of education- and some of us realise just how much it can narrow the mind.
If you doubt this just try to talk to an 'educated' person about real life. They believe that sitting in a classroom listening to some jaded Marxist telling them about life is better than actually living it. It is impossible to talk to such a person- they are 'educated' you see.. and have no reason to learn anything first hand.
My solution is to buy a succession of short courses that teach me to DO THINGS. I cannot allow this to become an expensive hobby.
My first priority is to secure what I have- a low paying security job that allows me to spend hours on the Internet writing blogs such as this one. I am a receptionist but this is not recognised because 'everyone knows' men cannot do reception work. The most I can achieve is re frame my present job so that I am paid the same as a woman doing the same thing.
I have purchased an online receptionist course that is frankly rather a joke. It consists of a couple of booklets that I should read before sending in my 'examination essay' to receive my certificate. The operation is a bit of a qualification mill and I cannot see this taking very long. Fortunately the qualification is accepted by the government as equivalent to a low GCSE pass. It includes an NUS extra card that should save me a few pounds as well as a CV service. The package is quite cheap (�244) and may be useful if I should change my job. If you want a piece of paper for cynical C.V building purposes this is probably the outfit for you. If you agree I would be grateful if you would contact me first so that I can recommend you. This will benefit me without costing you anything extra.
Open Study College
I will assume that each nationaly recognised qualification is worth one pound a month to me.
TIME FUND.
I have made a couple of purchases that are designed to save me time. The first is a rather neat egg timer that is shaped like an egg to be dropped into a saucepan along with the eggs. It works very well and probably saves money as well as time because I no longer overcook eggs.
The second was a very cheap Chinese iron. This will save me about an hour a month because the iron I was using was just dreadful. The combined cost of both items was �11 and this will be paid for by the following formula.
Assumed value of time saved = 60p per hour (I like to be conservative).
This means that my purchases will pay for themselves in less than two years by which time one of them will have broken.
PICCADILLY FUND.
This is my favorite. The object is to game various loyally schemes so that I obtain luxury goods at the same price as ordinary ones. I currently have 346 airmiles and want to exchange them for a crate of wine. I cannot do this without getting at least another 300 airmiles from somewhere. I call this the Piccadilly because most of my favorite luxury goods shops are in this area.
This is where it gets interesting. I have allocated �500 to this project which is simply not enough considering that the best earnings rate available is one mile for two pounds. This means that my products have to earn their keep by making money for me. I have spent �21.43 at John Lewis to buy strange magnetic and stainless steel devices that are alleged to eliminate bad smells and limescale in the toilet. If they work (we shall see) then I expect them to save around �1 a month in chemicals and labour. I will also have earned four airmiles in the process.

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