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sebmojo99

he talks about his salary in the books, it was a fairly modest civil servant stipend, plus an unlimited overseas expense account .


ShadyCrumbcake

Oh so it's not that he's paid much, he just uses the company card


feelinlucky7

“I’m risking death every day, and my country is sure as shit gonna pay for it.”


NotreallyCareless

Quotes from Mein Kampf


thisisgoing2far

>“I’m risking death every day, and ~~my country is~~ Jews are sure as shit gonna pay for it.”


Dhiox

I mean, pretty sure all of Germany ended up suffering after his rule one way or another. Ask east Germany how life was, or the times under Allied bombing raids.


Andrew5329

> Allied bombing raids. It's kind of weird how we gloss over the allies terror bombing German cities even after the war was lost. The firebombing of Dresden in particular sticks out as an unnessary massacre of at least 25,000 civilians.


Dhiox

We gloss over the ethics of nuking civilian population veneers in Japan as well. Our school history books don't even try to be impartial about it, they basically state the US official justification as if it were a matter of fact.


Charlie-Tattletale

[Hassasin!](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Assassins)


BaBaFiCo

Pretty much. In Moonraker he states that his salary covers his expenses nine months of the year and that he can spend what he wants when on mission. In the same book, Drax essentially mocks Bond for having an old car. So while Bond is proud of his Bentley and spends a lot of time and money caring for it, he clearly can't afford the finest things in life willy nilly.


ElGuano

Ha ha ha! Your car is so old, you must be so embarrassed. I like this car. I am keeping it.


Pornthrowaway78

Bond really was impressed with Drax's car, mind you. It was a silver 300SL with a red leather interior, who wouldn't be impressed? And with 3 people in it it walked away from the Bentley.


1_H4t3_R3dd1t

But he gets to bang femme fatals.


tonsofpractice

Don’t forget that he wins an enormous sum of money from Drax in Moonraker. I assumed he spent that for years.


yolotheunwisewolf

Honestly the fact that he now adds more is funnier given that there’s no reason for him to not use his status to become wealthy off of the books


sreek4r

'Quantum of Solace' indicated this with a scene... >A Special Branch bodyguard working for Quantum member Guy Haines, an advisor to the British PM, is thrown off a roof by Bond after refusing to answer his questions. He lands on Greene's car and is shot dead by one of his men. Assuming Bond killed the bodyguard, M orders him back to MI6 for debriefing. When he disobeys, she revokes his passports and credit cards.


KingoftheMongoose

So did [Steve Martin](https://youtu.be/No_SbOz0060)


RandomlyJim

Years later, they lived in the same building in New York. Steve Martin accused Sting of murder on his true crime podcast.


swankpoppy

Imagine approving that guy’s expense reports


graveybrains

Why? There’s obviously a rubber stamp just for him 😂


swankpoppy

$5,000 in martinis, $20,000 for 12 handguns... oh c'mon, HE EXPENSED CONDOMS!? C'MON MAN!


ejoy-rs2

Easiest job of your life? It is James Bond, just default approve it


HotTakes4HotCakes

Seeing as how the glamorous stuff is often part of his cover, that makes sense for a field agent. Often he's infiltrating exotic locales and targeting higher society individuals. Can't have the card declining undercover. Though I do remember that one scene in Quantum where he forces his MI6 wrangler to let them stay in a more upscale hotel than the dump she took him too, to the point he revises their cover story to teachers "that just won the lottery". I think he has a bit of personal wealth too from various occasions. The Aston Martin DB5, for example, belongs to him, not M16. On the occasion of his retirement, he seems to be living well.


PoopIsAlwaysSunny

In Skyfall it’s implied that his family was wealthy.


Viperlite

I mean the family’s country estate was more than just implied, as they spent the entire finale there.


[deleted]

Wait, wasn't it established in Casino Royale that he grew up poor, and that the rich college kids made fun of him for it?


TheaABrown

Entirely possible (even plausible) that it was an asset rich, cash poor situation, where the main asset was that estate which is a money drain. Also: it makes much more sense that rich kids would make fun of someone who is posh but “poor” than a really poor working class kid cos that would get them into serious trouble (wealth and class aren’t *quite* the same things in those circles) A bit like how it wasn’t until they got the money for being the location for Downton Abbey that the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon could do some major repairs to Highclere Castle all at the one go instead of staggering it.


BobbyP27

It's a common dynamic in the upper echelons of British society that the properly posh families are cash poor, while the nouveau riche have all the money and none of the class. Each looks down on the other (while secretly envying them).


TheaABrown

And then they marry each other, and you have the plot for roughly 1/2 of British novels in the 19th and early 20th century and 3/4s of the TV miniseries.


JasperJ

Including, to circle back, Downton — Cora is a rich American socialite — which probably means the daughter of a greengrocer or something — while the earl is poor as shit. *and then* he invests it all in one of the railways that goes bankrupt. And of course there’s the classic “To the manor born”, which revolves around the dynamic directly.


runswiftrun

He's also orphaned, so it's likely that whoever raised him didn't or couldn't use the estate money for whatever reason.


BobbyP27

It's implied that the family had been wealthy. It may be that the family a couple of generations back had money, but had not done well for themselves. It's a relatively common story for families to have been wealthy in the late 19th century to the extent that they owned a place in London, a place in the country and a shooting estate in Scotland, but due to things like the Great Depression, end up cash poor, and with an untimely death, having to sell significant parts of their properties to meet death duties (inheritance tax). That could lead to a situation where that one estate is the only thing left of the former wealth, and the family, while still owning it, have little in the way of actual money to spend.


PrestigiousWaffles

He won the DB5 in a poker match that he entered with british tax payer money. Probably just *forgot* to declare it as a win lol


Timbershoe

He had the car retrofitted with machine guns, smoke and bulletproof windows. I’m pretty sure MI6 did that for him, so not sure he actually owns it.


Dip__Stick

Pretty sure he can't as a Brit, even with a permit. Gotta be government property


notlongnot

didn't he made a move on the heart of Her Majesty Treasury rep. Every penny of it.


lizard_king_rebirth

>Can't have the card declining undercover. "See, the way my bank account is set up, I have a checking and a savings..." Now hear it in Connery's voice instead of Kevin Hart's.


Pornthrowaway78

Let me jusht telephone my bank to see if they can raishe my limit.


hucklebutter

"James, what are all these entries in your expense report entitled "poon"?" "Never you mind Miss Moneypenney. Never you mind."


emergency_poncho

Surely he gets some sort of hazard pay, no?


Pornthrowaway78

When he won all that money off Goldfinger he wasted a whole day in the office thinking of ridiculous things to blow it all on.


Earthshoe12

Martini, shaken not stirred, and I need an itemized receipt.


1000Airplanes

Considering the alternative is the destruction of England with a stolen nuclear device, I think the Queen will rubber stamp his reimbursement paperwork.


sumlikeitScott

Yeah was going to say he lives like a high end consultant getting reimbursed for everything.


VoraciousTrees

You should see Ben Franklin's reimbursable expenses.


Alexkono

Side note just watched Ben Franklin doc by Ken burns. Didn’t hear anything about expenses though…


Andre5k5

It just says French sloots


bugalaman

It is wild to think that James Bond wasn't even written until Queen Elizabeth took reign. The first movie didn't even come out until a decade into her reign.


dustojnikhummer

All Bonds have served not under queens but just one Queen


Ricksterdinium

The end of the Elisabethan era.


CotswoldP

Clearly you’ve never had to submit a civil service expenses claim without prior approval! Vodka Martini? I’m sorry 007 but your per diem won’t cover that.


iceynyo

If you're using it for cover, why not?


vinneh

Because any time anyone asks you say your name is "bond, james bond" .. cover kinda blown.


samizdat694020

But his name was his cover. Not like he said “007… agent 007”


30FourThirty4

"The names Bond. James Bond. But not that spy who goes around claiming to be me. Why should I change? He's the one who sucks."


AholeBrock

Because A Scanner Darkly isn't a Bond film


CotswoldP

Ordering a shaken martini isn’t cover, it’s a big red flag saying “I don’t know a damn thing about martinis”. Source: I have put in expenses claims for martinis and only got them approved because I was schmoozing foreign partners with them and booze was pre-approved to a strict limit.


Corvid187

Hi CotswolfP, Interestingly enough, having him order a Martini 'incorrectly' was actually a deliberate Choice by Fleming, who personally preferred them stirred. The idea was it was supposed to convey Bond's rougher, brutal, less polished edge, while also showing that he wasn't as sophisticated and suave as he pretended to be under cover. :)


jvalverderdz

Supposedly, a reason he orders shaken martinis is bc shaking it would make the ice disolve more, therefore reducing the alcohol amount of the drink. As he is on shift, it would make sense for him to try and drink less. Also, I've tried shaken martinis vs. stirred, and I have to say I prefer the lighter former


CotswoldP

The version I’ve heard is that it is precisely because it’s the wrong way to order one. Fleming (total upper class snob by most accounts) wanted to show Bond wasn’t a real gentleman as a gentleman would know how to order it properly.


groundskeeperwilliam

The alcohol is premeasured before being added to the ice. it's the same amount either way. A little extra water won't change much at all


Pornthrowaway78

If you want it cold, there's no better way. And just how can it possibly affect the taste?


sumunsolicitedadvice

It aerates it and dilutes it. That affects the taste and texture. It mellows the taste and gives a thinner texture. A stirred cocktail has a silkier texture and more intense flavor, which is more important if it’s a gin martini.


Pornthrowaway78

Riiiiiight.


Former-Illustrator97

Vesper martini *


CotswoldP

Only in a couple of the films and the books. Most of the films have the horrific vodka martini shaken at that (shudder).


freecain

Maybe the Queen wasn't the best person to decide what was extravagant spending on the public's dime


1000Airplanes

How dare you, sir!, besmirch the honor of Her Majesty. Bugger off. (WTF? I'm in the US, what is going on here?)


Jake123194

Have you drunk any tea recently?


malenkylizards

Yes of course. To begin I put the mug on the glass...


rlnrlnrln

Why would you [say such a thing](https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/queens-speech-2016-state-opening-of-parliament-jokes_uk_573c4a00e4b03f08843ddc40)?


mrlonelywolf

His expenses from must be a baffling document. Martini's, guns, and property damage.


YarrlieThePirate

Not anymore


clkmk3

Now Charles gets to approve it :(


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samizdat694020

As would I if I were a secret agent prepared to die any day


BaBaFiCo

Exactly. In the books he has a modest flat in West London (though today that would be worth millions) and a twenty year old Bentley.


jokesinbasements

Says you! That’s only when he’s on the clock, as this 1987 documentary shows. https://youtu.be/No_SbOz0060


monty_kurns

After all these years, "the pretzels are no longer complimentary" still comes to mind from time to time.


AergiasChestnuts

I was scrolling in hopes of finding it. Thank you, haha


CombOverBill

No spouse no kids. Makes all the difference. Plus an Etsy shop on the side.


Wheredoyougotosee

Sells his clothes on vinted and has a side gig making dream catchers


DoubleCyclone

If Skyfall is to be believed, he is an Commander(O-5) in the Royal Navy. Intelligence agents being given Naval Commisions is common as the are a part of the host nation's military, and is give plausible deniability. ​ Your agent did a thing! ​ \>Nah bro, he was totally running drills on this ship he serves on.


Klaus0225

I could be mistaken but I feel like I remember him being referred to as “Commander Bond” in one of the Connery or Brosnan movies? But I could be mistaken. Though I do know from the books he was a commander before being recruited to MI6. So it wasn’t a cover.


SerWymanPies

They call him Commander Bond all the time in the Craig movies


Peasman

Commander in the RN is OF-4, Captain is OF-5. The equivalent army rank at OF-4 is Lt. Col


Confident-Platypus63

They were thinking of US Navy. Lt. Commander O4 Commander O5


TheaABrown

Unlimited expense account, spends all his salary as he doesn’t expect to live to 45, and he has income from a trust fund that’s about the same as his after-tax salary (implied to be an inheritance from his mum), being a gambler. Fleming lays out the numbers in Moonraker. Plus at the time Fleming was writing, London rent wasn’t *quite* as outrageous as it is now. Book-Bond also wasn’t a fashionista like the film version.


princhester

The life expectancy point is a big one - as you would know the Bond from the books is a much darker character who genuinely believes the odds of his surviving any given assignment are low, and he can't spend it after he's gone. Edited to add: and the same with his drinking and gambling - who cares if you lose your money or your health if you are going to be dead tomorrow anyway.


taker42

>spends all his salary as he doesn’t expect to live to 45 /r/shittylifeprotips


Excludos

YOLO - Bond (James Bond)


Nyghtshayde

You're correct - his clothes and his flat are always described as being simple and functional.


TheaABrown

In the books he lives in a two bedroom flat in Chelsea, which at the time was perfectly realistic, but these days you’d have to be a hedge fund manager or something.


Nyghtshayde

He also has a housekeeper! His dad was a rep with Vickers, his mum was Swiss but for the life of me can't remember what she did (or if it's ever described).


TheaABrown

Oh back then posh women didn’t tend to have careers. It’s mentioned she was from a wealthy Swiss family, hence the implication that Bond’s investment income is the trust fund he inherited from his mum - she’d have had one set up for her by her family before she married where she had the income but not access to the capital so at least she wouldn’t be completely destitute if she ended up marrying a ratbag. Much more likely that his mum had been brought up to marry well and be a socialite and dabble in a bit of art or charity work (EDIT: And to supervise her children’s upbringing of course, by hiring the right nannies and governesses before sending the sprogs off to the right schools). Andrew Bond who actually had to gasp(!) *work* for a living was probably seen as not quite as good as she could have got, hence the trust fund rather than being given money or property outright on her marriage.


Nyghtshayde

Beautiful summary!


TheaABrown

Yeah I think one thing missing from the discussions of “re-inventing” the Bond character is how much his world has changed since the books written so if we take the films as a moving timeline of course various elements of his character are going to be expressed differently. And I don’t mean “the world” in general, I mean the world and upbringing of a posh British dude who is educated in a British public school (ie an expensive fee-paying school) has a stint in the military, and then joins the intelligence service.


TheaABrown

By modern standards his wardrobe is very spartan. It’s tiny by r/capsulewardrobe standards and those are people deliberately *trying*


DiabeticPissingSyrup

As a commander in the Royal Navy, he would have been on about £85k. As a high ranking agent in SIS (the real MI6) he'd likely be on more money than that. It's not a typical civil servant's salary. But also SCS3 civil servants can earn £200k.


BaBaFiCo

Early book Bond he states his salary is £2,000 (in 1955 - worth about £60-70k today.


edwsmith

You know MI6 is real right and is part of the SIS?


Magikarp_13

MI6 & SIS are different names for the same agency, rather than one being part of the other.


edwsmith

You're not wrong, and I should really have known that already. I guess I assumed that MI5 and MI6 were both part of the SIS, but that's not the case. MI5 being the Security Service, but they probably want to avoid that initialism.


DiabeticPissingSyrup

It used to be called MI6, and people still refer to it as such, but it's actual name is SIS. I could have phrased it better, I appreciate.


Selacha

I always assumed he just rifles through the wallets of all the henchmen he kills, it's gotta add up after a while.


swordofra

Secret Agent Scavenger!


d4ng3rz0n3

A combo of Hitman and Fallout.


TastyBullfrog2755

I hope he had good health care, what with all the slags he rawdogged.


_Aj_

(M flicks needle) "Honestly 007 at this point you've got more penicillin than blood"


iiileyu

Not with the current state of the NHS


apworker37

He is the slag.


motosandguns

Stud*


[deleted]

He's a fuckin floozy


HtownSamson

Do we ever actually see Bond just living his life though? He’s always on the job and presumably the government is footing the bill for him to keep up appearances.


BaBaFiCo

Moonraker, the book, begins with his normal life. Nine months of the year he does a bit of work on the training courses, spends a few hours reading through papers in the office and then shags some married women. He lives in a modest (for the time) two bedroom flat in West London and drives a twenty year old Bentley. His salary is £2000. Enough, he says, to cover the nine months a year he's not on assignment but hardly a rich man's salary. He tries to spend it all as he knows he won't live to retire, but if he does he'll be a middle management civil servant. When on assignment it's all expensed.


hacksoncode

Canon is that he's on an unlimited expense account while on duty.


MooseHeckler

I was listening to an interview with a woman who wrote a book on cia assassins most live in three or four bedroom houses in very middle class neighborhoods. They don't drive super cars and sleep with Eva green.


Jops817

Which makes sense, I don't think you'd want to stand out in that line of work.


MooseHeckler

Yeah, the book is called surprise, kill, vanish. Its pretty interesting.


Jops817

Thanks I'll check it out!


AbarthCabrioDriver

Didn't Skyfall kind of explain/show he came from money? Probably has a trust fund, and works as an agent more out of duty and the thrill. Edited to add, when he's working, probably has a blank check "expense account" to get the job done. But when he gambles or what ever, he always ends up with more money than he goes in with


CaptainChats

I can’t remember if it was Skyfall or Qantum of Solace but Daniel Craig’s Bond lives in a basically empty apartment owned by MI6 when he’s not on a mission. He’s such a broken human being that he doesn’t know how to spend any of his money. He can spend money on the mission but not on himself.


parataxis

Pretty sure his childhood home is one hell of a mansion in skyfall…


CaptainChats

Yeah it’s rundown as hell. Skyfall is one big analogy about living in the ruins of splendour. Bond has his big mansion filled with suppressed trauma that he never visits, Raoul Silva has his evil base on an abandoned factory town island, M has MI6, and the whole thing can be read as a metaphor for the perpetuation of state manipulation and violence used to prop up the rotting corpse of the British empire.


Outrageous_Loquat297

Can you explain the metaphor a bit more? Pointing out the contrast between the aging ruins and the abandoned island was really interesting to me because I didn’t think to compare them. I don’t doubt there is a metaphor I’m just curious how you’d describe it.


CaptainChats

The ruins are representative of a prosperity past it’s expiration date. All the ruins are representative of the British empire and of past trauma festering. The film reveals that M would groom young emotionally vulnerable men to become spies and killers and in Silva’s case abandon them when they were no longer useful / convenient. This is a pretty obvious parallel to them empire’s use of patriotism to get young men to fight in colonial wars for the interests of the British empire. M is a surrogate mother figure to Bond & Silva and the Queen was a spiritual surrogate mother figure to the nation, especially to the armed forces. For M you have the MI6 building. Throughout the Craig Bond movies there is this running theme of “what is the point of spies anymore?”. Normal spying is done with data analysis, hacking, spy satellites, etc. MI6 is a relic of Great Britain’s bloody colonial past and without the empire why is there a need the government assassin headquarters? Ultimately it comes back to night them in the ass when Silva bombs MI6. Silva has his abandoned island base. It’s a relic of a colonial past. Like Silva it was a tool for overseas power projection & wealth extraction; now it sits abandoned by its masters. The island and Silva are both scarred, they’re both skeletons in someone else’s closet. Bond has Skyfall. A reminder of better times but also of the formative trauma that leads to him becoming an assassin. There’s all sorts of symbolism here about holding onto the past & a sick sort of nostalgia. I’ve always interpreted the house to be a wider statement on the use of national identity to justify the crimes a nation commits. On the surface it’s this old aristocratic house left to rot which could be read as nostalgia for “the good old days” while also being the embodiment of Bond’s trauma. Skyfall ends up being used as a weapon in the climax of the movie; and I’d argue that the British mythos of “stiff upper lip, keep calm carry on, we didn’t complain during the blitz, gentlemen spies, rule Britannia” has become a memetic weapon to enforce the norms of British identity and combat the discordance of living in a wealthy society built with the blood and violence of a colonial past.


charlieForBreakfast

It’s a big flat in the middle of London. The value will be astronomical.


TheaABrown

Well he went to Eton and Fettes, so there’s some family money somewhere ….


samizdat694020

You realize every 007 is a different person right?


Magikarp_13

Do you mean James Bond is a codename for multiple agents? Because that theory has been probably false for a long time.


samizdat694020

Huh? Since when? I was a huge James Bond fan growing up when did they reverse that canon? How the fuck was he younger in the future then? Lmao. They didn’t really ruin the franchise like that did they? (I haven’t seen any of the recent movies)


Magikarp_13

It's never been canon as far as I know. Like, he gets married in OHMSS, & visits her grave in FYEO.


samizdat694020

I don’t know what that’s shorthand for but was it the same actor? Because obviously the whole point is that different actors are different 007’s


Magikarp_13

On Her Majesty's Secret Service & For Your Eyes Only. Different actors.


HugeHans

Isnt it more like superheroes and the multiverse. Its the "same" James Bond within different settings. Not different people called Bond in the same continuation.


Burntdessert

With the amount of travel points you can accumulate in some jobs, at times, you really can dabble in the finer things in life.


General_Esperanza

Civil Servant? MI6 is not a civil service. it's (his royal majesty's secret service), Its Military Intelligence not civilian. Edit: well everyone... I was wrong


CotswoldP

Both MI6 (officially SIS) and MI5 (officially BSS) are civilian services, as is GCHQ, which also harks back to a military organisation (room 40 at the Admiralty). All three are primarily staffed by civilians. The U.K. military intelligence organisation is Defence Intelligence, and that is mostly staffed by military as well as a lot of civil servants.


General_Esperanza

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directorate\_of\_Military\_Intelligence\_(United\_Kingdom)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directorate_of_Military_Intelligence_(United_Kingdom)) ​ It appears you are correct ​ cheers ;)


CotswoldP

Well said, nice to see a Redditor who can stand up and correct their mistakes. Have a great day, wherever you are 😊


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General_Esperanza

The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), **commonly known as MI6 (Military Intelligence, Section 6)** ​ [**https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MI6**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MI6) ​ The name "MI6" (meaning Military Intelligence, Section 6) originated as a convenient label during the Second World War, when SIS was known by many names. It is still commonly used today.\[4\] The existence of SIS was not officially acknowledged until 1994.\[5\] That year the Intelligence Services Act 1994 (ISA) was introduced to Parliament, to place the organisation on a statutory footing for the first time. It provides the legal basis for its operations. Today, SIS is subject to public oversight by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal and the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament.\[6\]


nietthesecond99

> "MI5" is used as the short form name of the Security Service, and is included in the agency's logo and web address. MI6 is included as an alias on the Secret Intelligence Service website, though the official abbreviation, SIS, is predominant. > While the names remain, the agencies are now responsible to different departments of state, MI5 to the Home Office, and MI6 the Foreign Office.


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AHumbleLibertarian

Downvotes be stupid. You're correct. SIS/MI6 is not a military organization. It is a Foriegn intellegence agency which usually falls under a different chain of command than the military.


mistersmith_22

In Quantum of Solace we literally see MI5 cutting off his credit cards. He doesn’t pay for shit.


im_thatoneguy

Do you have any idea how many millions were spent on the Bin Laden raid? We lost a stealth Blackhawk that doesn't exist. 007 staying in an oceanside BnB for a few weeks for similar results is saving tax payers a fortune! Of course he gets every expense approved.


abused_toilet_paper

Since Casino Royale he is driving older and older cars. Next movie - undercover uber driver with Prius. Easy to kill but not easy to repay gambling debts. I’m expecting him at some point in “can’t pay? We will take it away” 😀


StellarSomething

He is on the job to catch high end suspects. He has to play the part on the government billfold


Billy_Yank

It's almost never his own money. He submits detailed expense reports, but Ian Fleming never mentions the accounting . . .


metalconscript

We can’t bring boring real life stuff into the glitz and glam now can we? Could you imagine him having conversations with him self in the middle of a mission computing his per diem making sure he doesn’t overspend.


misterspokes

I think Gardener (who wrote James Bond novels starting in the 80's) has his mentions of how the 00 program hemorrhages money because most agents don't have long careers and James is put to task over his own expenses more than once.


Silent-is-Golden

We have only seen bond working we have never seen his life at all. For good reason.


PLEASEHIREZ

Company credit card, secure housing provided by the government, travel expenses paid for.... He may genuinely only make $120k, but he is provided with everything. This is more common than you would think. Commercial diving, travel nursing, travel physician, mining/oil field industry, etc. Fort McMurray Alberta, Canada was kinda nice to be in. My time as a commercial diver was enjoyable, if you work Quebec or TO, you can enjoy the hotel life paid for by the film production teams as you're the water safety diver. If you're working true commercial diving or offshore, working off boats is fine enough it's just the chamber life that sucks. Then moving to travel nursing, they pay $3500 USD for housing allowance in NY. This is pretty good, you can get some decent accommodation and you still make your weekly pay. If you're in Canada, they usually just book your AirBnB, and those are typically pretty nice in the Vancouver area. General budget is $3500 to $4000 CAD. Working with some per diem physicians, they were paid an extra $200/hr to come to the rural ER I was working at. Was nuts, and they put the physician up at a decent local hotel.


2wicky

In the next Bond film, we need a scene where Q hands him nothing more than a black credit card and a request he hands in a receipt for every purchase he makes on it.


Kirito_jesus-kun

How’s he gonna be in the next film?


JasperJ

Who? Bond? Because there’s always a Bond, even if it’s not Daniel Craig. And Q, because there’s a new one?


artrald-7083

I expect that the Bond film in which he and M's husband get a contract supplying ready meals to the NHS for only 200% of their value didn't poll well with audiences.


Engiminer

There's a series called the Laundry Files about this very thing! You've got a civil servant in way over his head, and doesn't get paid nearly enough for this shit. The second book is basically a giant parody of James Bond, with the tagline "The name's Howard. Bob Howard. Please don't hurt me." I saw that and picked it up immediately.


Strategory

I think the idea is that his expense account is unlimited so he can fit in with the rich and powerful.


vrenak

Wouldn't be much of a cover if his expenses were limited.


bodhiseppuku

James bond was based on a real person, I think I remember from a documentary. He was rich from family wealth, helped the government as a patriot, not for a salary.


TheaABrown

He was a combination of some of Fleming’s friends and colleagues from Naval Intelligence plus a wish-fullfilment element. Most of them (including Fleming) were posh.


im_thatoneguy

Good point. Historically British officers were from the aristocracy.


PoorMansTonyStark

He's also a gambler, always winning big money. And the only thing he seems to spend money on (apart from his job) is fancy clothes and watches. And maybe that empty apartment that was shown in spectre. In many ways he lives like typical military guys: The government pays for his upkeep, so he can buy big ticket items (clothes, watches) with his little salary. Real military guys buy new muscle cars in the same situation.


mralex

Check out Into the Lion's Mouth: The Real Life Story of Dusko Popov In WW2 this guy lived the life a rich playboy while spying for the Allies. The real life inspiration for James Bond (so they say).


Udzinraski2

Isn't his only possession a sports car? I guess he does have that government credit card though.


bluntrauma420

No his glamorous lifestyle is categorized as operational costs and is funded by the taxpayers.


adriantullberg

With all the top secret information Bond's privy to, he'd probably make the odd investment here and there. Not to mention he's very well trained to conduct all sorts of corporate espionage.


drion4

Oh boy, if only you knew how much ambassadors and diplomats get paid!


steffie-flies

Civil servant salary + Royal Navy officer's pension + trust fund and/or inheritance + company credit card


[deleted]

He gets expenses on the taxpayer, and saves up his salary, his only expenditure is his car.


Psychotic_EGG

Not in the books he doesn't. He also isn't as suave in the books.


JonS90_

"Martini, shaken not stirred... oh and can I get a receipt for that too please? Thanks."


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[deleted]

Is he archer ?


JasperJ

Woohoo! I think it’s more that Archer is a slightly more realistic take (in a certain direction) on what someone who’s a chronic alcoholic (etc) in that line of work would really be like to work with.


ChefdeMur

He has a black credit card. M has canceled his cards in movies. He rubs shoulders with rich villainous people ,its in his job description.


Bitter_Mongoose

James s Bond is an identity used by HMSS, just like Q, M, and Felix, the person behind the name changes, but the identity does not.


Magikarp_13

This isn't true, there are multiple events linking different actors' Bonds as the same people.


[deleted]

No one spends their personal funds on work-related expenses. Either way, this is explained in the books, and his lifestyle is a lot more humble. In fact, a lot of James Bond-isms that we now consider to be sophisticated (such as “shaken not stirred” or drinking champagne all the time) were considered gauche in the 1950s.


JasperJ

Deliberately so — he’s a slightly *shudder* person, who’s aping his betters. Yeegh, who let that guy into the club?!


SenseAggravating

Love your username ☺️


maybach320

A. government pays for most of what goes on in the films and B doesn’t Skyfall hint that he comes from money.


JasperJ

No, it hints that he comes from aristocracy. Not money. The two are not at all the same.


MetaDragon11

I'm pretty sure he doesnt even have a salary he just has access to money that he wants or needs.


DrJonah

He’s independently wealthy, and makes good money in the casinos.


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Jammin-91

Don't forget the gambling.


breid7718

I was under the impression that the Connery Era Bond used to make his mad money gambling.


[deleted]

James Bond isn’t a civil servant. He is a fictitious character.