I just came from the store and, am having a heart attack! - I spent $62 instead of my budgeted $40...but, the only "extraordinary" things were a bottle of shampoo ($2.77) and a box of hair dye ($3.96 on sale!)....I did't even buy chicken (they were out of chicken) or dog food...((sigh)) will have to convince the sis to go on a rice-and-bean diet for at least one week out of the month!

Oh, and, half a carton of eggs (a carton here is 30 eggs!) is "on sale" at $1.50!!!

WOW!Writing down every single penny really is a shocker!...I am using my agenda. Since it has a monthly and daily planner, I write down everything as I spend and, at the end of the day, add it in two entries into the monthly planner...the categories are: Main (NECESSITIES or pre-budgeted stuff, like Ale's school, nanny, groceries) and Other ("preventable" spending)...well, my "Other" total for this week was: $23.94 ....what did the most damage was yesterday...we went to CREA (where my nephew did his re-education to get off drugs), and, because I got up late and didn't cook, we ordered pizza (total was ~$17, of which I paid half) and, since we came late from there, we stopped for pupusas (only sis, Ale and I)...since my sister generally pays, I decided to invite her this time (she invites about 90% of the time!)...total was $7.00...add the pizza and sodas Ale had at CREA and SMACK! big dent in the budget...well, I guess that means I'll have to be A LOT more careful this week!

I just got a request for a translation...they send me part of the document, and still pending on the other pages, but, still, only with what I have right now I should get $100-$120....add the rest (say it's only half of what they've sent) and it should be AT LEAST $150-$200... woo-hoo!! AVAL CARD, HERE I COME!!

Oh, since this is extra, it would count towards my $20 challenge...but, I'll post a summary of the earnings for this at the end of the month!! (just this morning I was praying for some extra $$$ to pay debts!!)

Of course, now I have to stay late at the office to get started (our computer at home just died...we should get it back on Sunday...it'll cost $15 to repair it!! - we asked a friend...the technician we called first said it would cost $190!!!- could you believe that??)

1. keep better track of my spending- although there seem to be less "leaks" than before, I'm still not as accurate as I should be! - I'm going to buy a mini-notebook and keep track of every penny!!- haven't done this yet!! - I know, I know...- have started as of today 060201

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! managed to send out 4, in answer to promising-looking ads...This is an ongoing quest!

3. FINALLY decide on a school for Alejandra, AND save money for her enrollment fee, uniforms and school supplies the looking/deciding part is on hold until May- when schools start accepting applications...$$ for fee, etc to come out of the English classes...

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 repairs in Dec 05

5. Help Ale find a way to earn those $3 she's missing to open her account with HER OWN money....still at a loss with this one!...perhaps get her to sell more toys at the next flea market??- decided on selling her bike, which is already to small for her!...where did we put the training wheels?? hmmmm (060402)

I received my first payment yesterday!!...due the cut-off date for accounting, I only got paid for the first weekend, so I only received $20.70...oh, well, I paid it towards the cc with the highest interest rate! yay me!!...Did I mention my challenge earnings are going towards debt repayment??...AVAL Card SA de CV practically owns my salary!!...When the next payment comes in, I will divide it between AVAL and "Ale's school fund"...Need to find another way to make more $$$...but, at where will I get the time??

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Challenge statistics:
invested: ~$6.00 initial
~$2.55 (addtnl) gas/Jan
=======
$8.55
earned: $20.70

net for January: $12.15
Total ytd for 2006: $12.15