Ale's school fund stands at $336 right now...estimated by end of July is $466...from here, I have to pay $54 for the Technokids fee (computer training- the $54 is the fee for the year)...$18 accident insurance ...about $25 for the pants/socks/cardigan...(I still have those other $40 for shoes) ...that would leave me with $369...with that I can cover 2 months tuition...add $42 and I can cover 3 months tuition, which would be ideal....at the end of the year, I'd be able to "save" those 3 months into the School fund for 2007...we'll see how it works out!...I just like to keep these things in mind, and writing them down helps....also, as I go, I can see how my plans change/evolve!

I have made several changes, added columns and some conditional formatting...I have set a max amount for everything now (the "Others" is still murky and, eventhough I have separated several categories, I still need to work on it...just to make sure Others is still Others and does not include anything necessary...but, at the same time, the objective is to recognize that there are Others, and that these need to be reduced...not just to reallocate them to justify them!)...soooo, the conditional formatting: if I go over the budget, the Total for the month cell turns RED...ouch! (talk about getting a visual!)...If I stay under or right on budget, it stays green!

I'll let you know how I do at the end of the month!

the unit's offsite this year will be in Las Vegas...AND, this year they decided to invite us (admins)...we are leaving on Thursday and coming back on Sunday/Monday...all expenses are paid until Saturday brunch....so all we have to take care of is meals on the weekend...
We'll see how I do in a "non-controlled" environment!...(my daily routine keeps me away from places of "temptation"! LOL!)

Things I need to get:

School supplies (need list, have stuff in stock -leftover from sale last year)

shoes (2 pairs)- 1 black school shoes and 1 white tennis shoes...comparison shopping at the moment!

sweat pants for gym class (2) - navy blue... available at many stores, checking prices at the moment

Book bag - need to check if the school has restrictions on these (can they have characters or do they need to be solid colors only...) Size will depend on school supply list!...we also have some left over from the sale...


Stuff I'd like to get

light sweater - navy or white...not very common...keeping my eyes open...the alternative might be to knit it myself...the cold months are still far away enough that I might just finish in time...(might be more expensive than a ready-made one, though!)

coin bag - for Ale to bring her allowance to school...might knit THAT one!

****
will update this list as I find items, including prices, before making a final decision....

OK. Tracking expenses for half of last month has made me realize a couple of things:

1. I DO have entertainment $$...it's just not budgeted!...have allotted $25 to this one (last month spent about $40!)...((sigh)) CREA makes things more expensive, as for the weekends we go, there is always something to buy or pay for...

2. I NEED to set up an emergency fund...even if just $3/month, so that I have $$$ to replace little things (like the fan that broke)

3. I need to set up a "wardrobe" fund for Ale (she IS growing and, buying clothes and shoes will continue to be a recurrent expense!...)

4. My lunch money should also be kept separate, although I did stay below budget for this! (my allocated budget for lunches is $4/week...that means I can buy lunch -if necessary- 1x week and, buy my drinks the rest of the days)

5. Most important, I need to track my expenses on a DAILY basis (and not hoard the tickets/bills/invoices until the end of the week and then input the info in my spreadsheet)...this way I can see the real damage I'm making and can correct as I go, instead of resorting to hitting my head against the wall in frustration, which really does nothing to remedy the situation!

OK. New month = new opportunity for improvment!...will make the best that I can!

At the new school they have a small store where they sell food and snacks...
Ale will be staying there for lunch, which means I'll have to pack a snack and a lunch for her...I have been thinking about givin her a small allowance ($2.50/week)...she can decide whether she spends it all on one day or whether she uses a bit every day...($2 seems adequate since that would be $0.50/day...)...she has never really managed money on her own...apart from when I let her buy her own stuff at the marketplace or at the flea-market...but I'm always around to see that at least they give her her change right and stuff like that!...
Yesterday, I gave her $0.50 for school...and, she told me "Mom, I was lucky that I found something that I wanted to buy and it only cost $0.25, because I lost the other coin you gave me..." ...(EEk!) I told her it was a shame that she had lost the other coin, because she could have 1. used it to buy something else some other day or 2. bought some more of whatever it is she liked at school...I told her she should be more careful with money...but, unless I GIVE her some, how can she really learn to take care of it??...
So, this is the plan: Starting August, Ale gets $2.50/week...if she's responsible with it (doesn't lose the money, manages to save some), then in 3 months she can get $3.00) if not, she'll have to wait longer to get "a raise"...

$16.87 for 4.84 gallons of gas, due to more "normal" driving this week!

Aval Card is the worst!...when I took an extra-financing about a year ago, they told me that: 1. this would be a fixed amount to pay each month (true) 2. the interest rate on it was also fixed and would not be increased (ture) and 3. that if mid-way through the term established for repayment I could pay a SUBSTANTIAL amount towards the principal, I could either continue paying the same fixed amount until all was paid off or ask them to re-work the payments for the same amount of time (and, obviously, a lower monthly payment!)...well, someone just loaned me $1,000 at a 5% annual rate (considerably better than the 22% I'm currently paying THEM)...but, since I'm practically converting all my cc debts into loans, I'm left with "fixed" monthly payments, as opposed to decreasing ones...so, I thought paying the $1,000 towards this one would be a good idea...but, since I know them so well by now, I went and DOUBLE CHECKED before making the payment...guess what?... you cannot rework the payments!!...if you pay off the whole principal, then they'd knock off the interest...but that's the only deal you can get (and, no, the $1,000 doesn't cover it!...)so, I opted for paying off 2 cc's with a lower balance and putting the remainder towards THE LAST cc!!...

I still havent made those payments, but will post as soon as I do!!

The moral of the story??...ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS re-check any info given to you that's not in writing!! (and, these companies here love to send you to their call centers as opposed to having someone talk to you directly!...i WENT to the bank...the lady in customer service sat me down and dialed the call center for me!!...how's that for avoiding accountability!)

my sis finally managed to call the neurologist at the right time to get the results read via phone (yep, we do that here!...and it's free! - imagine it gets factored in in the original visit's fee!)...there are traces of cysticercos...which means that other doctor that said she'd never had them, but that she had a tumor, was wrong...now we have to wait until August for the new MRI...the really fancy one, with the enzyme reader, which the doctor claims can almost show your hidden thoughts! (LOL!)

...so, while we are not completely at ease, it does help a lot!

I went and requested a debit card from my bank yesterday...I don't know if I blogged about this or not, but, back when I was so loaded with problems, I decided to go without one because I LOST 5 in a period of 6 WEEKS!!...and, the last one I lost the same day I got it!!!...Now that the situation has changed so much, I decided it was time to give the debit card another try!...so, I requested a new one on Saturday...and already used it at the supermarket on Sunday...I'm happy to report that #1. I still have it! and, #2, I spent $66, which is "on budget" - my budget USED to be $40/week, but, things are so expensive, now it varies between $60-$70....depending on whether I have to buy things like shampoo or deodorant or hair color...this time I had to buy a shampoo for Ale and a flea collar for Fiona...so that was $5.53...I also gave in and bought Ale 2 yogurts at $0.49 each, so that's $6.51 total "above" what I would have normally paid...

I'll keep you updated on my progress ref use of the debit card!

...the doctor says the probability of the swelling being a tumor, based on the MRI's, is of about 1%...he has sent my sis to have some blood tests and schedule another MRI for end of July/start of August...says the only medicine he'd prescribe right now would be a couple of beers to help her calm down after that big scare!

Again, since I have to be more careful, I want to know what I'm REALLY spending on Ale's school (notice how I am staying away from the grocery bill, where I might have REAL opportunity for cost cutting??...don't worry, I've noticed, too!)

2006-2007 school period

enrollment fee: $330
(paid $100 on21/apr/06)
books: $160
(based on last year's brochure, not listed for this year)
uniforms: $??
monthly tuition: $137 ($1,507/year)

total, without uniforms, SHOULD be $1,997.00

Well...according to my (very) preliminary numbers, the difference in living expenses from April 06 to August 06 should be about $67....I can "make" that difference by twitching the payments...I hope....it will take longer to get out of debt, but...

...she scans through and reads one word here and one word there...today she read an ad for beds (ooohh, they're made of sheep! -- actually, the TV ad for this bed says the sheep are out of work because with this bed you don't need to count them off to fall asleep!)...so, she read that whole ad...including prices...now she has learned that if it has a dot "." in the middle, you read first the number that is before and then the number that is after the dot (so $3.99 is three/ ninety-nine)...she's also counting down in English...twenty-six, twenty-five, twenty-four...
She had a period when she really was having problems with number recognition at school (she could recognize 1-4, her classmates could recognize 1-30!!...not all children HAVE to be the same, but you'd expect them to be in more or less the same range if they are in the same class!- no matter their age)...there was also a slight problem with the dictation (still there, it still hasn't "clicked" 100% yet, but it's getting better)...but, she loves reading, and, she's really improving fast at that! - she's reading to me, a book called The Most Famous Egg in the City...so far, an Ant called Doña Barriga woke up one day and felt like laying an egg, but then she saw an ad that said if you went to the city you could win some nice prizes, so she decided to go to the city, but walked for an hour and got tired, met a snail, and the snail allowed her to ride in his shell, and after an hour he got tired, and they met a turtle, who allowed the snail to ride in her shell, but, after an hour she got tired, and they found a sheperd girl, who allowed the turtle to ride in her basket, and after an hour the sheperd girl got tired, and she found a farmer, who allowed her to travel in the back of his tractor, and after an hour they arrived in the city....
We are now at the gates of the city and, believe me, I cannot wait to hear what is going to happen! (I promised myself I will not "peek" or read ahead!)

...car insurance here in ES is not mandatory, but it's really necessary ...so, for starters, I will enroll it with the company's insurance (they have a collective insurance set up for employees)...since the monthly payments for the loan to the coop will be $79, I can afford the insurance! (I think)

they checked my co-signors and, said this goes to committee tomorrow and, if approved, the money would be deposited on Thursday! ....back to waiting! ((sigh))

...they did not grant a new loan, they just re-financed the one I had...which effectively means I got $400...
Oh, well, I'm keeping the cheque...and applying for a loan with the company co-op!... I already have my two co-signors...I'm going to fill out the paperwork today... I had to move some money from my savings account with them to my contributions account (these cannot be touched unless you leave the co-op or leave the company), so that I have enough in my contributions account ($387) to request the amount of money that I need!...
...still moving in the right direction, I think!

Says they told her the application had been approved...she submitted it for $4,000 but she still doesn't know if the whole amount was approved!...

I'll keep you posted!!!

The friend that is selling it to me brought it by, saying he's sorry it has taken so long, but that he's still got to do a couple of things (experticia, which means he has to take it to the police so they issue a certificate that it is NOT on their stolen cars list! and emmissions certification) before we can process the salvadoran license plates...says he estimates things should be ready by the end of next week!...
It looks beautiful and it truly is in great shape! ...he will also give me the receipts of all the work that he has had done on the car (brakes, new battery, new time belt, etc)...
end of next week sounds great to me! By then I'll know (or I should know!) about the money!!

Ok, I just re-sent the documentation to the bank again...let's hope noone loses them THIS time!...

back to waiting for an answer!!
AAAAAAAAAAARRRRGH!!

((sigh)) PATIENCE!!

I called the bank exec today to find out why my loan was denied and, she said the loan wasn't really denied...that it's just that someone at the bank had lost my paperwork...("someone"??)...I'm re-submitting all the paperwork again tomorrow!...oy!- and I thought the bank exec at the OTHER bank was hopeless! (took that one 4 months to set up a savings account for one of the Directors!)...
...worst thing is, I really CAN'T ask for another exec, as she (or rather, they) are the ones assigned by the bank to the company, so even if I go through someone else, it gets re-directed to them!...

Lord, grant me PATIENCE!!!

1. keep better track of my spending- I still having a hard time sticking to this one!

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! Interesting development in this area

3. FINALLY decide on a school for Alejandra, AND save money for her enrollment fee, uniforms and school supplies Went to see a school that had been recommended. Think it's a good fit for us!...reminds me of the first school I went to: small, few children, re-converted house conditioned to be used as a school...strict but loving owner/director...AND, the initial enrollment fee is $380, and the monthly fee is $110!!...(at the preschool I pay $200 and $70, so the differnce is not THAT much!--at least, it's not $1,000 and $200!!!)...I think this one's a go, so, now I can really do numbers and work on the rest! yay!! Have to take care of this before April ends, though, to ensure there's a space for Ale at the proper grade!

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. Same as last month, all "additional" income going towards the "car account"...

5. Help Ale find a way to earn those $3 she's missing to open her account with HER OWN money...Pending...

The company works very closely with 2 of the major banks here, so we get "special treatment" (or so they say!)...One of the banks rejected my loan a couple of weeks ago, so I applied to the other one...see what they say...I already have a loan with them (have had it for 6 months) so, worst-case scenario they'll just let me have an amount equal to what I've already paid...which would be a bit over $1,000....I'm done with the coop loan, so I could ask for yet another one (the most you get is $500 without a cosigner)...so that would mean $1,500 + the $1,000 that I already have...I'd still be short, but I think I could come to some sort of arrangement with the car owner...
I'll let you know what happens...

at least, the car I want to buy is here...now, all I need is $2700! ...the car will be ready for delivery next week...the guy has promised he won't sell it until I've seen it and decided whether I want it or not!...woo-hoo!!!
(I'm fed up with asking for rides!!)

IF I get this car (or WHEN I get a car, even if not this one) I'll come back and post a picture!

I got the package - turned out to be an envelope!, and left the documents at the Ministry. I called a school ref info for enrollment and have a meeting with the principal tomorrow (HAVE to look into this!)- I called the Ministry of Education ref teaching accreditation, definetely a no-go unless you have your diploma...hmmmm... found the website for the university I attended...turns out now you can do a lot of stuff on line...for other things, though, you have to go there!...they also don't list the courses on line, so I'd have to go there and get a list of the courses required to graduate nowadays (the plan is probably different, if it isn't, all I need to do is make my social hours - translations, maybe? and I'm set!)...if the plan is different, it might require going back for a course or two...or taking a test! ...depending on what the courses are, this would be a good option...
All this and it's still 2:26 here!....Oh, and I graded the listening comprehension/structure part of the English tests!...still have to do that pivot table for the modules feedback... (waiting on 1 overall final survey to update the presentation, though)..
Not bad, not bad at all!

I have a car (my sis is out of the country and I can use her car today and tomorrow, yay!), so I'll go drop off some documents for one of our trainers, pick up some mail that has arrived for one of our PM's, drop off a letter for one of the directors (yes, I also run errands on occasion!...but, if I leave these things with General Services, it takes about a week...I can do them in just one day!)...I've finally finished inputting all the data from the feedback forms from our training, so all I have to do now is the pivot table and update the presentation, so that can be ready for Friday (I promised it for next MOnday, so...I'll do that this afternoon)
I left the documents for my loan application for the car at the bank yesterday, so I have to remember to call the sales rep and see if the preliminary investigation is ok (they do a credit pull)...then I can either relax or go back to fretting about it! LOL!...
I also have to call the Ministry of Education (they wrote back "please call this number") to see what can be done about accreditation...OK, break's over, back to life!

I went to the interview yesterday...I feel it went ok...as stated before, maybe the things I had against me were: my divorce, the fact that DD's father is not involved in her life (it came up), the fact that I'm not actively involved in the Catholic church (it came up, too, although, at least I mentioned Ale is going to weekly meetings!)...we'll see. I think the interviewer liked me (she kept looking at me while asking me the church things as if pleading: PLEASE say you're active!)...
The things that might weigh in my favor are: I have this wonderful (true!) teaching story about helping a child realize he wasn't "stupid" as everyone said he was, and about being able to stand for himself against a group of teasers after that! (it IS my proudest moment as a teacher!), also the fact that I'm concerned about DD's education and want to spend more time with her...and the fact that, at least we are TRYING to be closer to the church...she said they'd let me know in a couple of days whether I need to come in for tests and more interviews...it's really in God's hands now!

I just filled out an on-line job application for another school...continuing with my "evil scheme" of getting myself hired and asking for a discount in tuition...lol!...
at least, it feels good to be doing something about my present situation!

The person who is going to interview me is not available on Monday at 4pm, so they rescheduled it for Tuesday...
I{m really getting excited about this!!
Can you imagine?? Even if I don't have DD at the same school, I could go home after work and help her with homework, play a while and then go to the other school for my lessons (I need the money!)

They (the school) wrote almost immediately!!!
they want to interview me on MOnday!!! (i'm trying to change the time from 4:30 to 4:00, though, to make sure I arrive on time at the other school for my English lessons!)

::HAPPY DANCE::