Confirmation Bias

I mentioned some time ago, having been spooked by the co-inky-dink of getting a till receipt for £6.66, and then having an identical credit card balance two months in a row, that I suspected that Satan was interfering in my financial affairs.

Today I have cause to revisit that hypothesis. For various boring reasons I sometimes buy my shopping on one credit card, sometimes on another. My life is a constant series of such decisions. And I noticed this afternoon that the balances on both of these two cards were similar. £333.78 on one and £333.98 on the other. Significant in itself - what are the odds of the balances being so similar, and the difference being so neat, just 20p difference between them. And there's nobody who doesn't like a nice shiny 20 pee piece, after all.

Then I turned my attention to the other numbers. 333. Wait! 333! Three hundred and thirty three! The internationally recognised number of half-a-beast! Which means that the combined total balances on these two credit cards is £667.76. Six.. six.. irrelevant.. irrelevant.. six! The number of the entire beast. Or, £666, the sterling currency of the beast, plus £1.76, no doubt the pocket change of the beast. And that part I had not even noticed until I started writing this.

It is probably fortunate for me that I conducted my month's spending in this fashion, across two cards, for who knows what might have happened if one single card would have hit a £666 balance. Clearly that would have been the point where dark forces would have taken me, and it is only my habit of using different cards to get the most cashback that has saved me from my doom. My financial prudence has neutralised the beast once more. But it has reminded me that it is there, and that I must remain vigilant at all times in future.

Pray for me, won't you? :)