Ale showed me an ad for an aquapark today...she showed it to me mainly because the entrance fees are: adults $4, children $2 and parking $1....so she thought this was very cheap (it is!) and we could go there...she also asked me if this is farther away or closer than the hotel we went to last time (all-inclusive resort for the weekend...didn't have to pay for my room because we had reserved it for a training attendee that cancelled at the last possible moment...we would have been charged for the room anyway, so we decided to use it!)...the aqua-park is closer...so, Ale wants to go and she already figured out it's a lot less money and a lot less fuel to get there...but I'm not sure I want to go ...mainly because it's so cheap, that "everyone" can go....am I being snobbish??

Total for September
Challenge statistics:
to discount from challenge this month:
-$20.00

Earned in September: $450.00

net for January: $12.15
net for February: $318.40
net for March:$380.00
net for April: $222.00
net for May:$336.86
Net for June: $32.50
Net for July: $210.00
Net for August: $835
Net for September: $430.00
Total ytd for 2006 (net):$2,776.95

TARGET: $4,000

$1,223.05/ 3 months to go!

we were doing numbers with my cousin last night, about how much we would need to invest if this big company decided they want to buy their toys from us....we need about $2,000....because we figure their total purchase is going to be about $8,000....and our cost is about $6,000....it's customary to ask for 50% advance payment, so they would give us $4,000...where do we get the other $2,000?...if we are lucky, the other company (which is submitting their purchase order this week) will pay us in full BEFORE this one submits their purchase order (because then we could use THAT money)...this bigger company would give us the other 50% upon delivery of the toys...

We'll see....

my cousin is at a meeting with one of the largest factories in the country, to show them a sampler of toys ....yes, they buy the cheaper ones, but, its VOLUME! (we are talking about 2,000-3,000 toys here!)

Please send good business vibes so they choose to buy from us!

Ugh! September wasn’t much better than August!

the only categories where I was at or below budget were:

ENTERTAINMENT
CELLPHONE
OTHER
CAR

That leaves me overbudget in

GROCERIES
SCHOOL
CLOTHES
EVENTS
LUNCH


(no excuses, just plain stupidity!)

so, for September, the result is 4/9
The great news is that, OVERALL, I was on budget this time!!

Hoping to have better results for 061101!

((remember this covers variable expenses only))

I'm barely conscious...I just finished my business plan...and I'm not too sure the last 3 sentences I wrote made any sense...anyway, we have a final final final review tomorrow night, so I might have to work on it again, but, at least it's 98% finished...all it needs is touch ups and then it goes for the "official" review and comes back to be re-written, er, corrected and submitted to the judges...

wish me luck!

Woo-hoo! we have our first order for toys this year!!...it's for 78 toys...our profit should be ~$350 (each) ...

I could put this toward my $20 challenge, but that would be cheating in a way...because this is something we do every year....(it IS, however, going towards debt!)

1. keep better track of my spending- September was BAD for expense tracking…the good news is, October offers me a new opportunity!

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 situation is: $13.9K total: ~$8.1K (refinanced) loan, ~$2.8K car loan, ~$863 personal loan, $1.6K other personal loan… Phone bill is $500...a work in progress...another one that won’t get taken off the list!

5. Help Ale find a way to earn those $3 she's missing to open her account with HER OWN money...didn´t open the piggy bank in Sept…will probably wait until it´s full…she lost another tooth…but, since she LOST the tooth at school (and couldn’t find it!) Raton Perez only left her $0.50 –as a consolation prize!

unfortunately, it'll take $60 to pay for the new lock installed in our house (weird stuff has been going on!)

I got paid $100... I went out of the city this weekend and paid $10 for gas, and $2 for beverages at the gas station...upon my return we ordered a pizza and I paid $8.99....today I gave Ale her $2...but, I only got $57.01 in my purse...meaning $20 are "missing"!...My nephew hasn't had any access to my bag (nobody really has...except at the hotel where we stayed on Saturday, since we were at the pool all day!...)...hmmmm, will have to check my room tonight to see if the bill turns up....(it was all $20's originally, and, I DO have all the "change": 2 X $1, 1X $5 and 1X $10, so I'm missing a $20 bill!)...weird, weird...

much-needed money coming in! $100 more for my $20 challenge...

Have separated $20 for our long weekend and, the rest has to go towards debt!

Made my first payment for boss #2 for the 5% loan...yay!

Some day, I'll REALLY be debt-free!

Well, last year I was also getting over Ale's sickness (financially)...seems to be another cycle, that she gets sick about August or thereabouts...should keep my eyes/ears open to try to find out what happens!....

I was dreaming of paid-out cc's (now a reality!...I'm not debt-free, but it's loans now, not cc's, so, in a sense, it's "better!)...

I was looking for a job that paid more....still at the same place, earning the same money...

all in all, I'd say September 2005-2006 seems "even"...if anything, I'd say I'm in a parallel place, only "higher" than it was before!

$100 collected on 060909
$100 collected on 060912

This goes to my $20 challenge for Sept.

by "our" I mean mine and my cousin's...our catalogue CD is ready, packed and the presentation letter is finished...that means we (or, rather, she) start distribution today! ...we made a list of 25 companies to which we are going to send the CD's ...of those, 5 are customers from last year...so, our goal is to have at least 5 new customer this year!...

Once those are distributed, we are going to once more approach the principal of the school where we sold supplies last January, to see if we can do it again next year...we wouldn't have to buy much, as we have so much left over from last year...just some glitter glues, foamy and felt...

wish us luck! as this could be my "$254/month" difference for next year!

...it's September, this month we commemorate our independence from Spain (Central America on the 15th, Mexico on the 16th)...so, today, the K4, K5 and Prepa students are having a "typical breakfast" at school...I was asked to bring fried platains (thank God! this is inexpensive!...12 platains/ $1!)...other parents are bringing other stuff...AND, on Monday, they are having their Independence pageant, so Ale has to wear a traditional costume (either volcaneña - more colorful, less expensive if done in shiny fabric than if done in "manta"... or Izalqueña - I like this one better, seems more "traditional"...the other one really is from after the "Conquistadores" ...but, it's waaay more expensive...so volcaneña, I guess...) Her old one no longer fits!...so I need to buy her one and the leather sandals, too...these get worn 2x a year in ES, as you also wear them also for Oct 12 (which is Dia de la Raza in Latin America, as opposed to Columbus Day! ...and, yes, we get protests, too!)...oh, and on December 12 if you are a Catholic, in commemoration of the appearance of the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe to Saint Juan Diego (he was sainted last year!)...this is part of the Salvadoran school reality: you HAVE to have a traditional costume!...I got lucky the first few years, as a friend from work gave us some of her daughter's (who was 2 years older than Ale...) but, we have since lost contact...and we don't have my niece's from so far back (only from about 2 years ago...we are saving those!)...
so, off to the market I go!

...I went shopping...My cousin called me to let me know about some sales: Brown Hush Puppies shoes for me at $10 (for work) and a pair of leather sandals also at $10..., and, 2 pajamas for Ale (she's outgrown all her pajamas!)and a pair of pink pants (she has a bunch of size 4 clothes that barely fit and a bunch of size 8-10 clothes that don't fit yet!)...total for all these was $45...and, today, I went into a dept store that is having a clearance to look for the bed for Ale....and, they didn't have the kind of bed I want, but, they had toys at 50% off (no, I didn't buy any toys, I just looked at them and called my cousin to see if we can use any of what they have for our Xmas toy business...)but, to do so I went through the children's clothing section...and found some Xclamation jeans at $3.99 and a nice skirt at $2.99....I also spotted a nice picture frame with "graduation" embossed in it (50% off $9.98), which would be perfect for my niece (she graduates high school in a couple of months)...
so, now I feel very guilty....but, looking at the bright side...it went on the debit card! (no interest and no fees!)...so...now I have to find a way to earn enough money to replace what I spent: ~$57 in total...

As an exercise to keep me focused (or rather, to re-focus me), I worked on a "budget" for next year ...actually, not...I just took the total budget amount per month for variable expenses (from my expense tracking excel sheet)for this year, upped it by 4% and then multiplied by 12...then added up the fixed expenses per month (utilities, rent, nanny, savings account - all $20!)and multiplied that X 12, then added to the previous total...then took my net monthly salary + vacation + yearly bonus and compared the two: TADA!!...
there's about $325 difference per month...that is, my salary is BELOW the "budget" by $325/month...the good news?? Last time I did this, the difference was $400+....so, if I keep working at lowering the variable expenses/debt this year, AND to find ways to earn more ($20 challenge), I could reach "break even" point by June 2007! ....I would be finally be living "within my means"! LOL!...six months more and Jan 2008 would find me living BELOW my means! ....this is faaaaaaaar better than the black hole of debt in which I was last year!

Plus, this exercise helps me retake the tracking and other frugal exercises!

Praying for more translations to come my way in these last few months of 2006!

I hate it!...that 1.5 week out messed everything up!...I lost my habit of recording every expenditure (trying hard to get it back!) plus, I had so much backlogged work, I feel swamped!....AND, since I wasn't here to take care of payments, and the other admin hasn't processed any in so long, she processed them wrong, so we defaulted on ALL utility payments (which means you cannot pay at the bank, but have to go directly to the utility company) AND, that next moth I'll also have to go to the utility company because the invoices will include this month's amounts...so you have to go there to have a new invoice re-issued! (not to mention that I'll get chewed over the overdue fees!)......then there are the problems with the cars (the managers managed to lose 1 license plate - you cannot drive with just one here, you HAVE to have the 2!....and also to lose the car registration card for another car! ugh!)...one of our major trainings is coming up, too, and I'm in charge of logistics for that one...and we don't even have the final attendee list~

I guess I'm feeling overwhelmed!

1. keep better track of my spending- The last two weeks were awful!...since I was “away” at the workshop for 1 full week, arriving home late and obviously not in the mood to track spending (see? That, according to Dr. Camilo Cruz, is a “cow”! aka an excuse or habit that keeps me from doing what I want to do!)…well, I have tracked as much as I could and, I’m overbudget again this month! …Ale’s sickness hasn’t helped and, to top it all off, I gave in to “temptation” and bought way too many books at the training center’s bookstore!...This goal has been included in the “contract” with myself that they made us draw up at the workshop!!

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 situation is: $14.1K total: ~$8.2K (refinanced) loan, ~$2.8K car loan, ~$900 personal loan, $1.6K other personal loan… Phone bill is $600...a work in progress...another one that won’t get taken off the list!

5. Help Ale find a way to earn those $3 she's missing to open her account with HER OWN money..have to open the piggy bank again and count the $$ to take it to the bank!

Total for August
Challenge statistics:
to discount from challenge this month:
-$0.00

Earned in July: $835.00

net for January: $12.15
net for February: $318.40
net for March:$380.00
net for April: $222.00
net for May:$336.86
Net for June: $32.50
Net for July: $210.00
Net for August: $835
Total ytd for 2006 (net):$2,346.95

TARGET: $4,000

$1,653.15/ 4 months to go!

collected another $200 for services! yay!...this one goes with August!!

We are now in the middle of Phase II - training
We finished our Entrepreneurship Abilities Workshop and our Business Plan drafting seminar....now we will be paired with special counselors to draw up the business plan and get it ready to be presented to the jury....this will e theend of phase II, on Oct 2nd.... then they'll choose 24 finalists for Phase III and, from these they'll pick the 9 winners...wish me luck!....I like my idea and, from what I see, even if I didn't win, it wouldn't take that much money to set things in motion...getting it to the point where I could quit my job to dedicate myself full time to my business would be something else, though! ...still, it would make a good "side" source of income ....

ugh!...the event really messed up my record keeping...all I know is I'm waaaay oberbudget and I have this feeling that there are expenses missing (I have input what I could based on invoices and bills...but, I still feel like some things are missing...) --sigh!
I'm back on track as of today, but...

another $250 collected to be added to my $20 challenge for August....
pending $1,450....

$120 more paid for services - delayed payment....to be added to my $20 challenge for August...

paid for services...
to be added to the $20-challenge
(August will be a good month!)...
I'll keep pressing to get all my money this month!

stupid me! procastinated all weekend and then forgot all about it...luckily, I rememberd while I was watching CSI (starts at 9:00pm my time!)...so, here I am, just finishing up and sending the translations to my office email...they are for the company, but, contrary to custom, they are paying for this ones! ($60, yay!)
This goes to the $20 challenge for August (since it's less than $75, it gets paid via petty cash!)

LOL! she forgot her money today!...for about 2 seconds I considered loaning her the $0.30 from my money, but, then I decided that wouldn't be right. If she fortgets her money at home, she has to make do without...it won't kill her (she has a lunch box and enough food, anyway) and, next time, I bet she will remember! -- I already told her the $0.30 will go to her piggy bank this afternoon!

I asked the receptionist at work whether I could pay the Technokids fee for the whole year ($54 total) and, she told me that this year, eventhough they are going to have the sessions, this year the price has already been included in the monthly fees! YAY!!... another $54 saved!!

today was Ale's first day of school...I dropped her off half an hour early (LOL!, we weren't sure how long it was going to take to get to the school at that time!)...she was nervous, but seemed positive about the whole thing...
her cousin Clau "ironed" her hair flat yesterday night (Ale's hair is curly!) and helped her choose her First Day of School Clothes (they are allowed to wear "normal" clothes today and tomorrow, they have to wear their uniforms as of Monday)...I gave her $1 (since this week only has 2 school days, it seemed logical not to give her $2)...

Oh, and, I spoke to the lady with the transport service yesterday night, she likes to receive her money between the 1st and the 3rd of the month, so, I only have to pay for 15 days on Monday and, pay for Sept at the beginning of the month...Also, she found another little girl with the same route, so instead of $40, she'll charge me $30...that's a "savings" of $10 a month!!

I'll let you know what she thought of her first day!

************ UPDATE
she enjoyed it and, I met her Spanish teacher (they have a Spanish and an English teacher, I had met the English teacher when she went for testing)...she told me Ale is extraordinarily well adjusted, has already made friends (all the while we were talking, Ale was hugging her, so I guess they like each other already!)...the kids were asked to draw a picture of their family... Ale is just as tall as the rest of us in the picture, so I imagine that means her self-esteem is good...

On more mundane issues, she spent $0.70 on a brownie and an apple juice (good choice of beverage!)...so she's got $0.30 left for tomorrow! ...I'm happy, she didn't lose the money!!