this is so great! After 15+ years of working at places where vacation time was according to law --15 days -- well, I totally forgot that here I get 17 days per year...which means that I still have 11 days left to use -- an not 5, like I thought I did!...so, I can take 9 vacation days for the contest workshop instead of taking 5 and asking for 4 without pay!--equivalent to $106-- (I agonized about this, but, had already decided it was worth it, so, now I'm extra happy!)

woo-hoo!

Forgot to post this one!!

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

Earned in July: $210.00

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
Total ytd for 2006 (net):$1,511.85

TARGET: $4,000

$2,488.15/ 5 months to go!

I got paid $100 more for services yesterday (still pending $1,900...this covers 4 months and, should have been paid month by month, but wasn't...at the moment, I feel like I'm doing "salvage" on collecting this money)...since this was work I took in replacement of the English lessons, these $100 go to my August challenge! ...

Consequently, I've updated my excel file again!...what I did today was adjust the "target" amount to be spent per month to last month's amount (I was actually underbudget!...just barely, but, since I already managed to do it once, I don't see why I cannot do it again) so my new target is slightly lower than before (hardly worth mentioning), but, I feel it's a step in the right direction...hopefully, I will be able to be under or at budget again (even with rising gas prices!), and then I will lower the target for Sept-Dec accordingly...I will continue with this trend until I reach a truly "reasonable" point, which is when the amount of money going into "others", "events" and "enterntainment" are at acceptable levels!

gas: 7.10 gallons @ $3.66

... and this is at one gas station that is consistently on the "lowest price" list published by the Center for Consumer Defense! OUCH!

...I tallied up the translations done for my friend and, it comes out to $85!! woo-hoo!...to be added to my $20 challenge once it's paid! (which should be next Friday, as she's currently traveling!)

I would like to say for the rest of the year, or even: forever, but, I'm trying to be realistic!
I brought the teabags and a tall glass from home (LOL! Spiderman glass!) ... my last glass was a generic blue glass, bought at the supermarket downstairs...guess what, it got stolen!!...(somebody "borrowed" it in my absence and I haven't been able to locate it!)...
anyway, it's much cheaper than soda and, definetely healthier! ....so, at least for August, I'm drinking ice tea with my home-packed lunches!

cheers!

Yesterday we passed one and, I happened to notice the prices: $3.66 at the self service pump! ((faints))

At the fair on Wednesday, I found only 1 store that had the kind of bed that I want for Ale (with drawers underneath)...they quoted it at $385! (more expensive than the dept store!...because, this was $385 just for the bed...at least the $399 that the dept store quotes includes more pieces...and, yes, I don't really NEED the extra pieces, but, I thought that NOT getting them would mean I was going to be charged less!)

and, yesterday we were supposed to go to Nahuizalco (a town famous for its furniture), but, we didn't leave Juayua on time to get there...so, we'll go some other day...

Anyway, it's not like I have the money, I'm just looking around checking prices!

we went out to Juayua, a small town in the mountains, where we used to have the farm...they always have a gastronomic festival on weekends..and also for special vacations...I spent $14 total...
We had a nice time there, and, even ran into our favorite aunt!...
There was also a funny incident with a friend of my sister's that lives there...he called another of his friends that is building vacation homes in the outskirts of town...this guy was already a bit tipsy and started hitting on my sister's friend from work (L) that had come with us...what was funny about that is that, my sis and this girl seem to attract these type of guys that think they're Valentino and, that say the stupidest pick up lines...they call it either "animal attraction" or their "fatidic attraction", because it attracts mostly animals of fatidic candidates! LOL!

total damage for today: $25
$7.50 for lunch with sis and friends (to come out of lunch budget)

$17.50 for trip to the fair! ouch!

oh, well, we'll just have to be more restrained the rest of the week!...
didn't find any Xmas presents at the Dollar store but, found a sand art set and puzzles for Ale (sand art kit was $1.50, the puzzles were 6 for $1.25), and a box to put her school supplies ($3)--this is part of the list the school gave us...the rest was parking, entrance tickets, rides and food

I'm making some payments before leaving for the holidays (too much tempation to have that money in my account!)...
I paid my loan with J and also my sister's half of the rent (she gave me the money yesterday)...
I also have to pay the phone bill ($51!)...but, my cousin owes me $15 for her use of the phone this month and, another friend owes us $5 in international phone calls...I'll see if I can collect this before paying that bill...I also have to leave $75 for Ale's school and $40 for her transport (due on the 10th) and, I have to pay my cc on the 15th (or thereabouts, preferrably BEFORE so I don't incurr in late fees!)...

I just finished another article (3 pages)

2 people just came by to ask if I wanted a coffee, as they were getting ready to call The Coffe Cup....I said no, 3 times! ....
One of the guys actually understood, he said: "oh, it's August, it's a new budget, and it's clean...so, eventhough that means you 'have' the money for the coffee today, it's also a new opportunity to do better and keep the budget 'clean'for as long as possible!"

It is also a month with a 4-day weekend...and that tends to be expensive! (or, at least, tends to cost more than "regular" months!)

At one point, it seemed that my posts categorized under Progress and those categorized as Setbacks were "even"...72/71, or 72/73...a while back I was posting about how the balance seemed to be tipping in favor or Progress....well, looking at those 2 categories now, it's Progress 141 vs Setbacks 114!!!! (And I even get to categorize THIS ONE as Progress)

August 2005 was a turning point for me, financially....this is when the apt finally sold and I was able to "catch up" with my debt!...the outlook is still pretty much the same...finishing with debts in mid 2008...but, although the numbers are more or less the same, the attitude is more positive now...
Hopefully, this August will also bring good things financially (my life seems to move in cycles, I've noticed...July and October are times of BIG life changes --engagement, separation, divorce, pregnancy!...I'm still learning about my "financial" cycles, though!)

I’m doing much better, but there’s still room for improvement:

the only categories where I was at or below budget were:
SCHOOL
ENTERTAINMENT
CELLPHONE
CLOTHES

That leaves me overbudget in

GROCERIES (ALMOST made it!)

EVENTS
LUNCH
CAR

OTHER (no excuses, just plain stupidity!)

so, for July, the result is 4/9

The great news is that, OVERALL, I was on budget this time ($10 under, actually!!!)

Hoping to have better results for 060901!

((remember this covers variable expenses only))

That is the name of a fair...and, yes, it's consummerism (is that a word?) at its height!...I'm going there, because the Dollar Store and Pick and Save have outlets there...even cheaper than usual! (or, they drop their "price applies on 6+ units only" policy!)...I get to look for Xmas presents!...oh, and Ale gets a ride in the gusanito (the kiddie rollercoaster!)

I bought 3 eggplants on Saturday, just because they looked so nice...I had never cooked eggplant, but looked up some recipes and, decided on an eggplant lasagna...
it turned out YUMMY!...even my sister (who's no fan of eggplant) loved it...for $6 I made enough for 9 portions (but, with everyone having seconds, it is already gone!...it fed 3 people yesterday, and there was just enough left over so sis and I could each take 1 portion for lunch!)...this is definetely worth repeating!

1. keep better track of my spending- I’ve been good and have tracked ALL the expenses!...it’s a still a shocker, but, having gained awareness of the problemS has helped me stay on track and, I hope to get better at curbing my spending!...and, this month I was right ON budget (as opposed to overbudget!) with my total expenses!! Yay me!

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: ~$8.2K (refinanced) loan, ~$2.9K car loan, ~$1K personal loan, $700 cc's**, Phone bill is $700...a work in progress...another one that won’t get taken off the list! …so, my level of debt is higher than at the beginning of the year, but, at least it’s “healthier” debt…plus, now I have a car that works!  … >  about the phone bill, though! **My boss still hasn’t given me the money to pay this one off, so this will remain like this until next month!

5. Help Ale find a way to earn those $3 she's missing to open her account with HER OWN money...She did it!!!- we opened the account on Jul 29th, 2006. This goal won’t disappear, though, as I will just change it to 5b. Help Ale save/earn money to put into her account at the end of the month!

for my records: spent $12 downtown (bought 1.5 lbs cheese, 15 tomatoes for cooking, 4 salad tomatos, 12 oranges and 3 green peppers, also a doll for Ale and some pony tail holders)

since her church group wasn't meeting today, we went to open the account...counting some coins she's gotten here and there (from aunts, etc), she had $16.40!!

So, now Alejandra has her own saving's account!
And it's all her own money, too!
I'm so proud!!

I might just make it at budget this month (previous months tallied have both been grossly over-budget, so I can tell already that this month has been an improvement)...there's no way I can survive unless I get much tougher on myself/my family, though, but, little by little...

Rising gas prices are not helping, of course, and, neither are electricity rates (which just went up by 14%, according to the Superintendency of Energy and Communications!)...with these 2 rising, groceries will soon follow ((sigh))...sometimes I feel like this is all wasted effort, but then, all these past efforts mean that the impact will at least be minimized! (trying to look at the bright side here!)

well, I've seen my deposit and, it seems a bit higher than what I'm used to...I'm wondering why, but, cannot access the intranet to look at my payment voucher (imagine half the company is looking at it right now, too!)...
***************************
woo-hoo! I WAS right, the pay WAS higher than usual....$80 more!...since the bank discounted the $160 for July's month payment and, since payroll tried to deposit it just to find it was paid, the company is reimbursing me!!...this means I get to put those $80 (and, potentially, another $80 next payday) towards my CC!!

I promised Ale that once she finished reading The Most Famous Egg in the City, I'd buy her a new book... well, she finished, and she already asked when we can go buy the new book!
The good news is: my debit card gives me points and, I can exchange them for $10 gift cards at some bookstores (900-1100 points depending on which bookstore)...I have 813 points...so, if I add this week's gas and grocery bills, I might have enough to get a gift card!...I can then tell her that she's allowed to buy any book(s) she wants, provided the total does not exceed $10!...
If not, I can use the debit card to buy the book, restricted to $10, and save the points until I have enough to buy a $15 gift certificate for the supermarket ....

well, I have thursday and Friday off next week (and, I think we'll do what we always do in our unit, which is just not return from lunch on Wednesday! :P )
If we do this, I'd probably go to the movies on Wed...to see a "grown up" movie...either by myself or with a friend or my sis...depending on what is playing... AND, Wednesday is "half-off" at all movie theaters here! (normally, tickets are $3.50, so I'd pay $1.75)
We have been invited to spend a day at a friends house at the beach, so that'll be about $20 (for gas and food)...I have the free tickets to the movies, which I'll enjoy with Ale on another day...I estimate I'll spend about $5 in goodies...unless we go for pizza afterwards (Little Caesars has a special: 1 large cheese pizza for $3.00, add 1 ingredient for $0.50) then it would be closer to $10...and, we have to fix our DVD player so we can rent the 2 Trollz movies and watch them at home (complete with popcorn!) some other day...on this "stay at home" day, we might also do some baking and crafting (I do have some of the instant mixes handy!)...I have also planned to take Ale to the Saburo Hirao children's park : nice park, plenty of green and nice landscape, games for children and, the Museum of Natural History is inside, too! -- Ale's never been there and, now they have the new exhibit on all the antediluvian (sp?) fossils they found (including the head of a mastodont!) and, also just opened a children's library (inaugurated yesterday! I read about it in today's newspaper!)... they also have a lot of traditional japanese games for the children (the land and the money to build the park was donated by Saburo Hirao, a Japanese that lived in El Salvador and, the Embassy of Japan makes regular donations...the new library is actually a donation from a Salvadoran living in Japan!)...entrance is $0.57 per person (not sure if Ale already pays hers or not!) plus $1.71 for parking...
I estimate we'll spend about $50 (depending on what it costs to fix the DVD!)...luckily, this all comes from the August "Events" budget!

HR's new thing is to give employees a present on the month of their birthday...today I finally made the time to go...it's a special pass to the movies for 2 people... I'll save it for our holidays and go watch Garfield 2 with Ale (or see what else is playing that she might like!)

#1. My boss sent the chart for our loan, and he is not asking 12%, since he considers me low risk, he's only asking for 5% annual interest! woo-hoo!

#2. My niece's aunt (whom I know and trust) has a school transport van...she has agreed to take Ale from the new school to her old preschool (to do her homework)...that means that Ale gets the help she needs and, I get the peace of mind that she's with someone I KNOW will deliver her unharmed! (of course, this is what she does for a living, so I have to pay for it, but, I would have had to pay for SOMEONE else, too...only with her, I know Ale is safe!)

On Saturday, a friend of my sister's (L)came over to celebrate my birthday (I cooked, she brought the wine!)..she had on an amazing pair of sandals...and, C fell in love with them...and asked where L had gotten them and how much they cost...Next, she started hounding my sis to give her an advance on the money for the ad (the cheque will be ready in 2 weeks)..sis said:no...and I said: you have to wait until payday, like the rest of us...Mommy, Mommy, PLEASE...NO. You don't have credit!...she kept insisting all weekend, but, sis is not budging! (good for her!)

A friend of mine has asked me to do some (paid) translations...I just sent her the first item (3 pages)...
I know she'll pay me when she comes back in about 2-3 weeks (is currently working on a special project and is traveling frequently)
woo-hoo! this will go towards my $20 Challenge!