Total for February

Challenge statistics:
invested: ~$6.00 initial (Jan)
~$2.55 (addtnl) gas/Jan
~$5.00(addtnl) gas/Feb
~$21.00 taxies/Feb
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$34.55

Earned in Feb: $344.40

net for January: $12.15
net for February: $318.40
Total ytd for 2006 (net):$330.55

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This would be funny if it weren't so tragic: my earnings for the month at the school are greater than my bi-weekly pay at work!!

1. keep better track of my spending- I somehow have used the car problem as an emotional excuse not to keep track...will have to be harder on myself and start again!

2. Send out at least 15 resumes in January(best time of the year to find a new job in ES!) and, at least one more per week for the rest of the year until I find a job that pays better! Have sent at least 7 this month, so that's good...haven't received any answers, though! But, some of them were sent yesterday!!
3. FINALLY decide on a school for Alejandra, AND save money for her enrollment fee, uniforms and school supplies Same as last month: the looking/deciding part is on hold until May- when schools start accepting applications...Have already set up a direct deposit from my salary into my Coop account ($90/month)...

4. continue to lower my overall debt - I started Jan 05 with ~$17K (out of which ~$4K were for a loan and the rest -~$13K!-pure cc debt) and, am starting Jan 06 with $~11K (with ~$8K for a loan and ~$3K in cc debt)... expect to be able to end Dec '06 with ~$7K, which I expect to be purely for the loan... to come partly from the English classes/$20 challenge. Current debt still at ~$11K due car broke down and need the additional money to try to purchase a new one...in the meantime, pay only slightly above minimum payments!

5. Help Ale find a way to earn those $3 she's missing to open her account with HER OWN money...have not found the training wheels for the bike yet...

along with a very nice (imo) cover letter....All I can do now is sit and hope...and see what happens!

One for a teaching position, and one for a call center...now, the website for the call center was announcing $12/hour, but, I'm not sure if that is what they are charging to the companies that use the call center or if that is what they're paying the agents...I guess I'll have to wait until I hear from them!!...I was thinking, if they pay $6/hour, a full time would pay ~$960/month (slightly more than what I'm currently making)..but, if it were $12/hour, a full time would pay me 2x what I'm making!!....I don't want to get too hopeful, though!

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Just came back from Xerox, across the street. Needed to sign some invoices. I asked the cashier - with whom we have a good working relationship - whether they get requests for translations...she said it's not frequent, but sometimes people do ask. She promised to call me if she gets any requests for translations...so that's another "line" I'm throwing...

wow! what a novel concept: people don't pay because they CAN'T....
In my experience (both with my own debt and with other people's) most of the time you can't afford to pay...and, cc companies and collections agencies tend to think you just don't WANT to...I had one collector once told me - when I said I didn't have money - but, you ARE buying food, are you?...Yes, are you suggesting I should starve my baby to pay you back? I seriously hope that's NOT what you are suggesting!...I've also had similar experiences with other companies/collectors....Actually, the collectors that have been more successful with me in the past haven't been the menacing ones, but the sympathetic ones....not the ones that have said: 'but your minimum payment is $300, and you are offering to pay only $100!'....but the ones that have said: "ok, so you can't cover the minimum payment right now, but are willing to give us $100...do you have an idea of when you'd be able to make another partial payment?"....
Luckily, I'm at a point right now where I don't get calls anymore and where I can at least be sure I'll have enough for minimum payments...unfortunately, the balance is so precarious right now, that any major disruption (serious illness, decrease in current income level -or, say need to buy a car!) could easily alter that!
(If I were a deadbeat, I'd be drivin around in a brand new car bought with the proceeds of the apartment sale!!...but, NO, I didn't even see that money, I just transferred it straight to the cc's!)

Went to the Sheraton this weekend (finally!)...had a good time, although we did spend a lot of money....Ale was hungry and I bought a sandwich...which she then didn't eat....dinner was not included....then, because we were waiting for a friend to come pick us up and she was already hungry, I also bought lunch...our friend couldn't make it in the end and had to take a taxi!...total spend on this weekend was $43...
And the other OUCH! is my poor skin! Ale wanted to be in the pool all morning and, she had wasted most of our sunblock lotion on her dolls at home, so, when I tried to squeeze the tube, there was only enough lotion for one....guess which one of us got solar protection??...obvious, no? ...so, I am as red as a lobster....AND, my niece lost our aloe gel, so I will have to buy a new one (I REALLY REALLY need it!)...

1. New bed for Ale...pending, not urgent

2. New bike for Ale...pending, most definetely not urgent!

3. new(er) car really, really urgent! ugh! looking into loans and such

4. Ale's birthday party!! - She wants to have it at the Children's Museum...will have to call and ask how much it costs to see if it's feasible! ...if not, gotta give her the news as soon as possible!- before she tells her classmates! LOL!

5. Renewal of my car registration card....hmmm...include this with the new car $$$, as I'll probably get a registration valid until my next birthday (2007) instead of paying just for 3 or 4 months!

said it's because she's alreday co-signed for someone else...have a feeling it might be because she's afraid I won't be able to pay...she knows that, as long as I CAN, I WILL, but, she KNOWS how precarious my financial situation is...

((sigh)) she suggested I call my ex-husband (been there, done that - he would never do it, if only because his SISTER left him with a $10,000+ debt about 7 years ago...he swore he'd never co-sign anything ever again! - can't blame him!)

So, now I'm left with 2 options, my sis (if the bank accepts her, she co-signed for my cousin and my cousin was late on payments and that affected my sister's credit!) or my best friend...who hasn't been at her current job long enough...

Yesterday, in the teacher's lounge, somebody mentioned that there is a school that is hiring full-time teachers...at $800/month....now, that is more or less what I make here, but, if they were willing to throw in Ale's tuition, it might be worth it...the only thing I'm not so sure of is that this is a Catholic school....I'm wary of religious schools in general...in my own experience (the "B" class at the German School was made up of children -like me- who had come from other schools, and, honestly, kids from religious schools tended to be very close-minded and, also, they seemed to me, to be followers rather than leaders....) Being the daughter of a single mother might also pose a problem for Ale at such a school...so, all this is on my mind...I'm thinking I might go there and try to find out...what's the worst that can happen, right??

practically as junk...but, the engine was damaged...I got $300 for it, which is prettty much what I expected to get...I have been looking at new(er) cars...so far, just checking the classifieds...the price my friend's husband is offering me sounds reasonable, even a (tiny) bit below market...so I may just go with the car he's offered...I still don't know...in the meantime, I'm spending money on taxis to go from the office to the school...not good, as I spend in 1 week almost what I used to spend for gas for 2 full weeks...
oh, well, at least I get rides from home to the office in the morning and from the school to home at night!

I sent out 2 resumes today (one just an "update" to a placement agency, another one in answer to an ad for an HR assistant)...I also saw one requesting English teachers...need to work on a cover letter for that one, but will be preparing it tomorrow (it has to be sent via snail mail to the newspaper!)...

I overheard a conversation the other day that REALLY bothered me...two people from my area were discussing the monthly bonus all employees get, and one of them said: but, people don't look at it as a bonus anymore, they consider it part of their salaries...
Now, people in my area do NOT talk idly, if this was mentioned, it's probably because the bonus is "in danger"...most probably, they want to change the way it is calculated, so that we only get it (or only get it IN FULL) if the whole company reaches its goals for a given month...hey, I think it's a neat idea...but, if this is done, it will probably go down for at least 6 months...and I cannot afford to lose any income! So...now I have extra motivation to keep looking!!

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I also sent a reminder to all my contacts ref: translations!

the Sheraton hotel sent our company letters for 1 free weekend for each of the admin assistants...they expire on Feb 28...so, I just made my reservation for this weekend!...I'm taking Alejandra with me!....we'll check in on Saturday afternoon, go to the English lessons/Scouts and then grab something to eat (probably pupusas, which are cheap!) before going to the hotel...Ale can enjoy the cable TV and the air condition before going to bed...after she has gone to bed, I can enjoy a warm bubble bath (I don't have a bathtub at home!) and, the courtesy includes buffet breakfast for 2...we'll probably wake up early and, Ale can play in the garden for a while (2 hours) and then we can hit the pool until noon! --aaaahhh!

Ugh! I hate to admit this, but, I haven't filed my taxes and I haven't called the call-center from the ad...

I need to call Padre Vito's home to see if they can fax me a copy of the letter detailing my donations (tax deductible)....and, I need to find a phone to make the call (yes, there is one on my desk, but, the acoustics here are soooooo good, I can hear everyone's conversations...and, if I can hear theirs, they most probably can hear mine!...

My goal for TODAY is going to be to make those two phone calls AND post an update!

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called the home and they'll fax me a copy! yay! - so my homework for tonight will be to fill out the form so that I can file the taxes tomorrow!! (11:00AM)
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I called the call center...they do have part time positions available, a part time is 7 hours a week, you choose your hours...they open from 6am to 10pm every day (Mon -Sun)...they wanted to schedule me for an interview on Tuesday, but I said no, because of the location of their offices (not the best area of town)...I gave the info to the other admin in my area and she already scheduled her interview, so I'll get the info regarding $/hour from her next week!

Ahhhh, the peace that comes when you stop procastinating (sp?)