Another one of my bosses (H) --who's been away because he's in charge of a project to open a new company in another country-- came back this weekend and, said he wanted to talk to me ... He had spoken to my boss who gave me the loan (J) and, wants to give me a loan to cover the rest of my cc/extrafinancing debt (actually, they are very good friends and H lent J money to pay for his MBA, that's where J got the idea to lend me money)... his rate is higher than the other guy's (12%), but, still lower than the cc (28%) soooo...I'll move whatever is left over after that last payment I made! (have to look at the account, I don't want to leave $0.01 there!)...I think I'll take lower payments over the same period of time, though, just to make sure I can pay all my debts (or, leave smaller payments for the next 7 months, and go to larger ones once the phone bill is paid off!)..that would effectively rid me of all CC debt...of course, my level of debt would still be the same, but, at least my payments WOULD make a real difference!!-- I would be done with J's loan in a year and, with H's probably in about a year and a half or two years...also about the same time I'd be rid of the car payments!...It would be like getting a HUGE raise!...and THEN I could start seriously saving for a house! (my life savings right now total $700...no, I cannot touch it, they are with the company co-op and, the only way to have access to that would be to resign from the co-op and, to do that, I would have to repay my loan in full -- $2,900...It's a requisite at the coop to put some money into that account each month, and I don't regret it...some day, it'll come in very handy!)

I sold some tickets to the Museum, and got $10, rather than deduct them from our Entertainment budget, I'll put these towards my $20 challenge, since it's cash!...

The answer, of course, is because I'm disorganized!!...the landlady just called...according to her, we are 1 month behind in rent...we just went over all my payments with my bank account vs her bank account and, sure enough, there's one month missing!...(this happens because my sis gets paid on the 25th and I get paid on the 15th and the 30th, so, rather than try to consolidate, I pay my half on the 15th and my sister's whenever she gives me her cheque - anywhere from the 29th to the 7th!)...now, we looked at Jan through July...but, I discovered an additional payment (3 payments) in Dec, so I need to call her again and, I guess we need to make an appointment to sit down and look at it very carefully --because, until Dec, I WAS behind...so I really cannot remember if that 3rd payment is to bring things up to date or, since it was for Dec 29th, if it was already for half of Jan 2006...
My sister, of course, relies on me to keep track!...
shucks, I guess I'll talk to her so she can take a look at HER account and see when she gave me her money and when I deposited it!...it's $157.50 vs $315!! (in my book, I just paid her for the beginning of the month of July, with only my sister's part remaining...but, in her book, this past payment covered the end of June!!)...AAAARRRGHHH!...we need to agree on where we are, and then start keeping accounts all over again!

A couple of days ago, I was craving soup for lunch (we had that kind of weather), so, I bought a bag of instant cream of mushroom (powdered) and a bag of pretzels, I only used half the bag and half the pretzels...and sealed the rest and put it in my desk drawer...
today, I forgot my lunch (I packed it yesterday night to try to save time...now I remember WHY this doesn't work for me!)...I noticed when I dropped Alejandra off, and, was mad that I was going to have to buy lunch...and THEN, I rememberd my soup and pretzels!!!...woo-hoo!!! all I have to buy is a drink today (~$0.35) I feel happy!

My niece got picked to be in an ad for a local dept store...she's getting $60 after taxes...soooo, my sister wrote this on a piece of paper and pasted it on her bedroom door:

This is what happens in real life:
They pay $60
you spent $4 (to have a blouse altered)
you spent $5 (to have your hair blow dried --when you could do that yourself at home)
You owe me $20
and your aunt $5

You end up with : $26

Welcome to the Real World!

This is what went through my head today when my cousin called to tell me that her car needs a new tire, because it's starting to vibrate funny and she took it to her friend that is a mechanic and he told her there is a "bump" in one of her front tires....
Now, I DO believe it, but, I also knows that means paying for the phone bill just dropped a few more rungs in priority for her! ((sigh))

Well, in the end it wasn't $1,000...it was $900 and they took out $160 for the current month's payment (which the office will pay for at the end of the month anyway, so it's like a double payment towards the loan this month!)... so I ended up with $740...Only $700 will go towards the cc...the other $40 I'll keep to help pay for this month's phone bill payment ($100 total!)...

Still, I'm happy...$700 going from 28% down to 9.50% MAKES a difference!

soooo, the bank exec came by today to give me my check (I was out on my lunch hour, having the tape player installed in my car!)...BUT, she's coming back tomorrow morning!! woo-hoo!!...Aval Card: here I come again!! (no, the cheque won't cover the whole amount, but, bringing even part of it from 28% to 9.5% is progress!!)

1. New bed for Ale... Pending, not urgent yet, but increasing in priority as she grows...she'll soon be too big for her bed!--Have started quoting...the dept store to which I have a card has a set of twin bed with drawers (nice!) with headrest, night stand (not needed) and chest of 4 drawers (not needed) at $399.00 --waay to expensive for so many un-needed things!! I'll use this as my "base" though (or, rather, as my "top", considering this the most expensive alternative!)...still looking into having it custom-made (which, ironically,would probably be less expensive here in ES!)...Ale has started asking when we will buy her new bed!

2. New bike for Ale...Has dropped even lower in priority...depending on how things go, maybe Santa can bring it!

5. Dresses and shoes for friend's wedding! (she's getting married in Jan 2007, so that gives me time to save!...and to lose some weight, too!)

Yesterday, we were going to pick up a friend and we went by a church...Ale said: people have weddings in churches...people that go to church must have money...
I asked why and she said: because to get married, you need a cake...
(MIC)Not really, you can have a cake if you want to, but you don't NEED one...
(Ale) You also have to buy a dress, and the man has to buy the thing he wears, and that's expensive....
(MIC) that is nice to have, but you don't NEED that, either...
(Ale) still, if you want to have those things, it is expensive, so what parents should do is save their clothes for when their children get married, because, after all, you only use that dress for one day...

Remember the charge I disputed with the CC??..It appears credited on my latest account statment (finally!)...woo-hoo!!!...

my grocery bill was $76...my goal is $70 or less...if you take into account that I didn't NEED the hair dye, which I bought 2 of because they were $2.75 (vs normal price $4.76!) and, that my niece also included 2 boxes, which she has vowed to repay next week (she's going to be in an ad, and will get $100 for it), then my "normal" total would have been $11 less ($65!!! -- on budget!!)...and, if niece DOES pay (and I'll make sure she does!), I get $5.50 back!...so that the actual price for my groceries will be $70.50....$0.50 above budget...I can live with that!

I "gave in" and bought music for my car....
No, I did NOT buy the $119 cd player...
I found a $22.50 radio/tape player...they store will install it for free, too! (after all, what I REALLY want is the radio!!)..and, yes, I am very counscious that this is a WANT, not a need!...still, since I{m not celebrating my bday in form, I'm putting this expense under Events!...and it's still underbudget!! :P

$24.54 --gas, @3.551 per gallon ((faint))

This month had to be only slightly above minimum
Have not received my payment for some services yet...have to consider the phone bill ... and payment was due tomorrow...If cousin comes through and pays me for the phone bill -- even if little by little -- I'll put that $$ towards the card...If the bank approves my loan, that will go towards the CC, too...I'll deal with the phone bill separately... ((sigh))

I'm currently trying to help my cousin make some money (NO, I'm NOT lending/giving her any money!)...she's back to selling clothes...so, I asked a friend and she said whenever SHE wants to sell something, she just sends an email to all her friends, asking them to forward it on...and she usually gets many responses...sooooo, I created an e-mail regarding the clothes and listed both her and my numbers..I already received 1 call...we'll see how it goes...after all, it is in MY best interest that she make some money!!

Night before last I dreamt I was in love...and that I was showing my beloved a duck and a child playing "tug-of-war" over a leaf...

the dream dictionary says the duck, the children and the romance-love part are all good omens for my finances...

Today, I got a call from the bank executive, stating that the bank has changed their policies and now is offering employees from my company loans, without a cosigner, for 10x their salary (as opposed to 7x their salaries)...if they approve it, they'd give me $1,000 (as they would refinance what I already have)... the payment would remain unchanged, only for a longer period of time...

I have to wait and see if they WILL give it to me (as I now have the loan for the car, which I didn't have before...but, still ...if the payment will remain the same...)...if they DO, then I have to decide what to do with it....common sense says: put it towards the CC, which is at ~28%...but, I don't know whether it would be wise to pay off the phone bill ($700) and pay only $300 in the cc... the advantage would be: the phone bill is 7 monthly payments of $100...I would eliminate that, while the CC is at least a "variable" payment, I could make payments that are only slightly higher than the minimum and have a bit more cashflow, which could be good given that I am still unsure of how high the school expenses are going to be...the disadvantage of this is, the CC is at ~28% and the phone bill is at 0%....

Decisions, decisions!

You just have to laugh...
My niece was telling me yesterday that a friend's father had told her he could find her a job as a cashier at some store once she's out of school, so she can earn some $$$ while going to college...she then said: It's a job...AND, then she said: and I'm sure I can do something with $1,500 (whenever we speak of salaries in ES, it's always monthly salaries that we speak about)...
so I said: $1,500? ...she said-- very defensively -- it's SOMEthing...
and, I said: sure it's something...I make $800 and your mom makes $1,100....
she then goes: Oh!...it must be less, then...
Yeah, if it is 1,500, then it's probably Colones ($171.42), pre-tax!...she figures she'll spend about $30/month for her Peugeot (that her father says he's getting her!-- she should know by now, he'll find some lame excuse...HE'S NOT EVEN PAYING FOR HER SCHOOL!!!)...

I swear, that child lives in Fantasyland! ...

I can send Ale in with her Air France 2006 agenda! The school ok'd it!...so...officially, I'm only missing the books (arriving at the school in the first week of August) and, the labeling of all her stuff!

I feel sooooo liberated!

ok, The List, at retail prices, would be $52.34...at cost, with some items at retail prices would be $43.12 and, "out of pocket" to me is $20.61! (this is estimating the stupid planner at $9.00 for the wholesale/retail lists....a friend just gave me a very nice agenda, so I'm not adding that to "my" total...the plan is to use that, unless the school specifically prohibits it!...if they don't I'd have to add whatever it costs to find/make one!)

Princess Perky,
I found an even easier alternative! I found some very nice hard-bound notebooks which I could have used! (or, will use, if the school doesn't like the agenda idea!)

I can't find one!!!...the "normal" school year here is Jan- Nov....so, most companies don't bother with the few bilingual schools and don't stock up for the middle of the year...
And the school is requesting a school planner ... :0
What is there to do??...I'll keep calling the stores to see what I can find...

Stuff that was pending:

School supplies --nearly done!

sweat pants for gym class (2) - navy blue... found them downtown, $6 each!...very nice quality, too!

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...

We're almost done!

I'm missing 5 items, which we didn't have in stock...

All I need is to label everyting!

Will do the numbers once I have everything and, will post about it!

1st price vs shop around

notebook (blank, no lines, 200 pages)
$0.60 vs $0.50

plastic placemat
$1.25 vs 3X $0.99

toothbrush & toothpaste **she has to stay until 3pm and has lunch there**
$3.00 vs $1.94 (buy a children's toothpaste, get the toothbrush free package)

Wetwipes
$1.80/ 80 wipes vs $1.00/ 100 wipes

So far, so good! I've lowered the estimate from $38 to $36!...I've also decided to calculate what it would cost to buy everything retail (based on the prices we gave the parents back in January, which were average market prices...just to see the difference!)

just for the fun of it (and to see how much I'll be saving) I plugged in the numbers of the COST (at cost, wholesale prices) of buying everything on the list... some of the stuff we don't have (those 9 items) I really don't know how much they would be, so I just guessed at normal retail supermarket prices and, the list would be about $38!!...I estimate I will end up paying less than $15 for the items that I DO need to get, but,we'll see...

This will also help me estimate how much I will spend next year (taking into account materials for Preparatoria are usually more expensive than those for 1st grade!)

I'll keep you posted, this is an interesting exercise!

I finally have the school supply list!
Out of 35 items, I need to find 11! (and they are not expensive/difficult to find, either!)
I need a construction (cover) paper and a luster paper booklet...I'm drowing in plies of it, so I'll just have it cut down to Legal size and use fasteners (of which I ALSO have tons!) to make the booklets...that will leave me with a total of 9 items to get...of which at least 4 are Dollar store items! -- woo-hoo!!
I'll post total paid for all these once I have the stuff!

yesterday I had the bad luck of finding an ad for car stereos...they had a nice CD player for $109...and an even nicer stereo/CD player --Pioneer for $119...

and my precious Trollmobile doesn't have a stereo....it was SOOOO tempting...and, the ad was from the dept store to which I have a card....(which is currently at $0 balance!!)...

This is pure WANT...

I had to make myself think of my "newly acquired debt" and of Ale's bed to make myself stop consider it...

I got paid a portion of my services. Since this is additional income, I'll add it to my challenge for July: $200

and, trying to curb my compulsive eating/spending...Whenever I feel mad or depressed, I tend to either spend or eat compulsively...which really isn't helpful at all!...with all this thing with my nephew, yesterday I was feeling like buying something...after all, if I have to pay for this debts anyway...but, then I fought the impulse and, told myself: DON'T be stupid! Adding to the debt yourself doesn't help, quite the contrary!...so, I'm trying to look at the brighter side of things, so as to bring my feelings to a level where I don't feel like overeating/overspending...
1. I have some money owed to me for services (should be about $1,500 in total...asuming I get at least half of that, then things will be ok and at least I won't be short this month--although, this money was supposed to go towards cc, but..trying to stay positive here!..at least it would prevent additional hardship!)
2. I have a steady job/steady income
3. I did have some $$$ saved up for Ale's tuition...I won't be able to pay the 2 months in advance like I wanted, but, I shouldn't have a problem paying for the month of August

Breathe in, breathe out...breathe in, breathe out...

Ok, gotta go to the phone company now to pay the $300! -- I think I can stomach the mall now!, but, just to be safe, I'm not bringing any extra $$$, nor my debit card!

It went just as I expected...he's acting as if he were the offended party!...at one point, he was slouching in his chair and my cousin said: sit up straight...his answer: I can't help it, I'm sleepy! ((said with an attitude,not in a nice way!))...
When I left she was in her car, and he was standing next to the passenger side of it, with his door open, but visibly arguing with her!...I imagine he was scolding her for putting him through all that!...I hope he says something stupid enough to make her mad enough to react!!...In the meantime, I have to cough up $300 today and $100/month for the next 7 months...at least they didn't include any interest on the money!
...OH, and I made it VERY clear that HE DOES owe me interest...same interest as the highest card and, until HE repays me, and even 3 years after the day he finally does, I have EVERY right to remind him 24 times a day --if I want to-- that he made those phone calls on MY line and damaged MY credit!

**********************
Latest update: what he did was get out of the car and get lost for a couple of hours...he just returned home...of course, my cousin was already worried...(which I imagine was his intended purpose!) ...some days I feel like punching him...but others I just feel like slapping her into her senses!