Actually, it died last night, about 1 block away from home...managed to get it started again today and it is sitting in the garage...waiting for the mechanic to come, since I WAS going to take it to the workshop, but then it just refused to start again...I was putting water in the radiator every day...but yesterday there was a huge traffic jam and it overheated and then just boom, it stopped...so now I'm sitting here feeling sooo disappointed...and thinking that if the mechanic says it's expensive, it might be a better idea to just sell it for scrap and use that money, plus the translation money plus the translation and locution (is that a word) as a downpayment for a used car... It would mean going back to minimum payments on the cc's and that would mean that my ultimate goal of being debt free might be delayed for a looooong time, but...is it worth it?? I mean...I really cann't afford to NOT have a car...for instance, the timing from the time I leave my office until I get to the school is timed to get there by car...no way I'd get there on time if I have to work 4 blocks to the bus stop, wait for the bus and then walk 2 more blocks from the bus stop to the school....Even worse if I decide to not walk and have to switch buses...(buses here are not on a schedule)...then, on Saturdays, I leave the church at 10:00am, the precise time when Ale's swim lessons should be starting...by car, it's only 15 minutes...by bus, we would have to walk 3 blocks to the bus stop and wait...and, probably would have to change buses...we'll never make it on time...and then, she finishes at 12:00 and I'm supposed to be at the school at 12:45...by car it's doable, but, by bus...never

Not to mention that buses here are dangerous - think I have written about this before...

Paying for a taxi is out of the question, as it would be about $3 for the office-school ride (so $127week), $3 for the home-church and at least $6 for the church-swimm lessons and about $10 for the swimming- school and another $6 for the school-home! ...I'd be spending an awful amount of money on taxis!!

((sigh)) have already called work to say I'll be looking into fixing my car...will probably use the whole morning and go see car options as well...

wow!...I've never had a new car...all my cars have been used...that might be about to change...as I research into loans for vehicles (mine seems about to die, but, don't worry, I won't do the switch before the old one is RIP)...anyway, what I have found so far is this: you're better off taking your loan directly from the dealership, because: 1. most banks will only loan you for the purchase of a new car, and they'll only finance up to 90% of the value of the car...2. if buying a new car, the banks will give you interest rates starting at 7.77% (if you have at least 20% of the total value of the car to give as a downpayment)...and they'll give you up to 60 months to repay...for used cars? They finance only up to 80% of the value, interest rates start at 13.5% and you get 48 months to pay...oh! and the car cannot be older than 3 years...This means that the actual difference between the monthly payment for a new car and a used car will be about $40...

Not that any of this matters at the time, because I don't have the money anyway, but, I thought it's good to start researching ....

Finally got it!!!... so, tonight I'm going to dig out last year's tax file so that I can re-create it for this year and file my taxes!!...I'm doing it in February, as the Government has announced that all people filing in February will get their refunds before Holy Week (April)...I want my money!!!!- of course, I'll only get to hold it for a few minutes before handing it over to the cc company, but....I'm buying my freedom!!

I paid half the rent (will pay the next half on the 30th)...so that I have enough for grocery's and 2 weeks nanny's pay and gas...will receive my translation $$$ tomorrow...I think the school only pays once a month...

Nope...maybe MAYBE today at 5:00pm ("Official" paydays are 15th and 30th of every month...sometimes the company programs payments for the day before...) this payday will be a challenge because it's the first time they'll discount Ale's school money....will post on it as soon as I get it....

As I think ahead of what the next year will bring, there are a few expenses that I need to consider - other than Ale's school, of course!

1. New bed for Ale...she's still in her toddler bed (her crib "converted" into a toddler bed, that one was a GREAT buy!!)...she's already 1.17 mts...so I will probably need to upgrade her to a "real" twin bed either by the end of the year or, at the most, the middle of next year...she's already started asking about a new bed...will start looking into it...I might go to Nahuizalco - a town that's about 1.5 hrs from here, where they make beautiful wicker and rattan stuff...my sister got my niece's bed there, custom made, with 3 drawers underneath for clothes and everything...cost her about $90 (including transport!!)...I will also look around downtown...last option will be the used-furniture stores...why last option??...sadly enough, in El Salvador, hand-made means cheap (in price!)...so I know I can get something gorgeous - custom made -for the same price or even a fraction of the price that I would pay for something used...and I won't even go near the dept or furniture stores!!...

2. New bike for Ale...this is a "want" really, but, she IS getting to big for the old one! ...maybe Santa can bring it...we'll see...it's a the bottom of my list at the moment anyway...

3. I hope it doesn't happen this year, but, I think my car really can't last much longer (10 year old car)...and, at this stage, just using the repair money to buy a new one (or for the downpayment on a new(er) one) might be a smarter option... praying to God that it will last enough for me to get some $$$ set aside for it, or, to let me win one at the supermarket raffle! (you get entered automatically for each $10 you spend!) ....What I don't like is, it would mean going back to making minimum payments on the CC's...which means I'd take FOREVER to finish paying!...((sigh))...at least, I HAVE an option...(a year ago, I wouldn't have!)

4. Ale's birthday party!! - will have to start shopping soon so the expense is not all on one month....

5. Renewal of my car registration card....up in July....thank Goodness my license is still good for another 2 years!!

Really, I need to start working on the school for DD, because a lot of my financial decisions will revolve around that...

sometimes, you have no choice but to spend money...Ale got sick...really sick...started vomiting at 12:00 midnight on Monday and didn't stop until 5:00am...had to take her to the Doctor...her regular Dr wasn't in the country, so I took her to the community clinic, but, still, between paying for the visit, the exams and the medicines...it wasn't as bad as if we had gone to her regular Dr., though, perhaps $30 in total...plus more gas and cell phone calls than usual...Friday I went to lunch with a friend - $6 and today was expensive...we ate at BK- $6 and she went to the movies with the scouts, so $4...oh, and I had to go back to the store to get dog food (I didn't have enough cash when I went to the store, and everything was so expensive...) ...I had also promised Ale to buy stuff to make cookies this weekend, so that was an additional $15...

So...total unbudgeted expenses for this week: $81!!! (I'm adding the extra $20 that I had to use on Monday just to get the regular stuff!!)... well, now I have to wait until payday...still 4 days away!!!

I got a call from a friend of my sister's...he wanted some scripts translated into English and German (won't do the German, though, I really haven't got the skill to do it, and I feel it would be dishonest to even try!)...I will, however, do the Spanish to English one...and I also get to read both the English and German texts so he can incorporate it into the documentaries he's putting together...He says he has $150 for the whole package, so, what I get depends on how much he has to pay for the translation into German...

Once I get paid, this goes to my challenge money/CC debt

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??

***************
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

it's payday today....I received $214.00 (yes, that's for 2 weeks, no, it's not a typo!!)...they discount the loan (I took to consolidate as much debt as possible) directly from my salary...luckily, they don't discount all at once, but rather half ($80) every two weeks....from the $214.00 I received today I have to: pay Ale's school ($70), fill my car (about $15), buy a phone card for my cell ($2), buy one-week's worth of groceries (~$40), pay for utilities (~$35/ that's my share!)...if you notice, that leaves me about $12.00 to survive until next payday!! (we get paid a monthly bonus of $120 each 15th, which, after taxes,comes to about $90/month) --and people wonder why I get stressed over money!!

by law, in ES, a percentage of your salary goes to an AFP (Pension Fund Administrator) to be invested. The law has recently changed and, as part of their customer service, the AFP to which I'm affiliated has come to our offices today to update account statements, affiliate new members, AND, give you information/explain about the changes in the law and the impact to employees....so, as soon as I get some documents that I need to have signed by someone downstairs, I'm dropping by the conference room to ask questions!!

*************************************
went down and they don't have much info, only that 1. foreigners can now take their money out when they leave the country and 2. the percentage of the money they get that goes to savings is now 10.3% instead of 10%...
This is not enough information, so I need to check the SSF's site for a full document...

while at the school selling supplies, I ran into an old friend, who's a teacher for their English extension program...classes are from 6:15pm to 8:15pm Mon-Thursday (and the place is like 10 blocks from my office!) and they have classes on Saturday mornings (8-12) and afternoons (1-5)....I have signed up to give classes either at night on the weekdays or in the afternoon on Saturday....so far, they have only offered the Saturday afternoon (night classes are considered "prime" hours, and they pay a bit more, so they don't give you those unless you've been there for at least 6 months)...the pay is not much and, after taxes, it'll be like $5/hour, so I'd be getting ~$23 for each Saturday...not great, but, it'll work out to about $80/month, which, added to the $70/month I currently pay in tuition for Alejandra, gives me enough money to cover her tuition at the new school (bilingual schools charge anywhere between $125-$400 per month...obviously, we are NOT talking about the American or British schools here, so $150 should cover it!!)...If, in 6 months I am given night classes I'd probably drop the Saturdays...eventhough financially it would make more sense to keep both...

I'm not in love with this solution: It steals time from my daughter, which I hate, and from my rest, which is not good, but, I NEED the money and, frankly, at the moment this is the best offer I have - I DO love teaching, so that's a positive!....I wish I could find a job that I loved that would pay all the bills (meaning, that would pay $1,200-$1,500 per month!!)....((sigh)) At least, it's something!- and it brings the -$200 on my budget to -$120!!

No news either from the American Embassy or the European Union yet!

Well, this being our first year doing this, we have had to pay the price of learning: we bought way too much stuff, and sold only about half of what we expected...the good news is: we have already recovered the investment...the bad news is: there is no profit yet, so right now it seems that those 2 weeks of getting up at 6am and going to bed at 1am were for nothing...More good news: we spoke to 3 companies about setting up a special exhibit there so their employees can buy stuff, and they have all agreed to it, and the employees are rather enthusiastic about it, so we expect to make a profit after all!- it will just take about one or two more weeks, and will probably not be as high as we had expected... So, I'll say it went well.... We'll know how much we made from this venture by the end of the month...

Oh, and, GREAT news, I just paid off my American Express card (yipee!) and programmed a payment to pay off another card on the 11th - I want to keep my checking account from going into the overdraft for as long as I can!...so, now I only have 2 more cc's (and one HUGE loan) to go....

wish me luck!

I feel sooo tired lately!...for the past 2 weeks, I have been going to my cousin's every night - and weekends, too!- to prepare all that's needed for the school supplies packages (just to give you an idea, we bought 4 boxes of bond paper, that's 20,000 sheets of paper that have to be separated into packages of 25, 50, 75 and 100 pages - depending on the grades)....we still haven't finished doing THAT, and, then there is the matter of pricing and of actually MAKING the packages according to specifications for each grade (our profit comes from the fact that parents won't have to hunt for the stuff, but can buy it in one neat little package...some things are priced slightly above market prices, some exactly at market prices and some even slightly below...so we WON'T be selling anything individually, as that would "dilute" our profit)....

I have been arriving home at around 11:30 or 12:00 at night - I haven't been going to walk in the mornings, in order to get as close as 8 hours of sleep as possible!- then back to the office at 8am in the morning, leaving here at around 6pm, going home for dinner and then back to my cousin's....I wish I could say it's almost over, but it's not!...we still have way too much to do, and, then there's the sale itself in January (2nd -7th)....but, again, going over the numbers, we could make up to $2,000 EACH, just on the school supplies, without even considering the backpacks!!!...this COULD be the miracle I have been praying for!!

I received a special gift from the Sheraton HOtel....they have sent all admins in my company a certificate for a free weekend for 2 at the hotel - obviously this only covers rooming, nothing else- and I have planned to go there with Alejandra for the weekend of Jan 14th...I should have some $$ from the school supply sale and, it will be soooo relaxing to be just the 2 of us...she can swim in the pool and I know she'll be happy to be able to wake up and sing in the mornings - my niece naturally throws a tissy fit every time Ale starts singing at 7am!!...Also, we'll have cable and a BATHTUB, with HOT water!!!....oh, and she'll have mommy all to herself, she won't have to share me with anybody!! - I'm planning on bringing books as well!....the hotel is 1 block away from the Museum of Modern Art, which Alejandra likes because: "they have pictures just like the ones I make!"...LOL!...entrance to the museum is $1.50, we haven't gone in quite some time, so that could be an additional treat for her! - Me? oh, I get to soak in the tub in HOT water after Alejandra has gone to sleep, and I get to sleep in an air-conditioned room!

...LOL! I don't speak "mechanics" in English...I can ask the right questions in Spanish, though!...this time around they DID flush the brake fluid and replaced the brake pads...last time they "cleaned" them - which basically means they just took a look at the pads to see if they needed replacement or not and then put it back together....they charge around $11 to do that...luckily, this sort of maintenance is not nearly as expensive in El Salvador as it would be in the US...

It refused to start yesterday...had to buy a new battery ($70)...to be fair, the old battery had lasted 30 months and it had a 24 month guarantee, so....I asked them to check the brakes- had the last check in May, where they said they were fine and just cleaned them, so... brakes did need some work, so that was $60 extra and I also asked them to do the oil change (which should have been done the 1st week of Jan, anyway!)....In total I spent $148 in the car...back to my Excel spreadsheet to adjust cc payments and the like...((sigh)) I SO need that new job!!

Oh, by the way, there was a GREAT ad - or rather, the ad for what seems like a GREAT job - on the newspaper yesterday...I'm working on my resume (turns out I DON'T have a Spanish version of it- could you believe that??) and cover letter...I expect to email it by end of day today...It's for an international organization, so I'm sure it's a good salary and nice benefits...

Oh, and thanks for your good wishes on my 2006 goals!

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!!

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!

3. FINALLY decide on a school for Alejandra, AND save money for her enrollment fee, uniforms and school supplies

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)...now, partly this decrease has been because of the sale of the apt and also the farm money, which I won't have next year, but, still, I expect to be able to end Dec '06 with ~$7K, which I expect to be purely for the loan... in order to make this happen, I need to find a way to make ~$100 more per month than what I'm currently making...so I HAVE to find another job, get a raise (yeah, RIGHT!) and/or take on additional work to bring in some extra money...it's going to be a TOUGH year!...need to post a separate entry to think this through, but I might switch jobs for slightly less money than I originally thought (I had said I wouldn't go unless they paid me at least $1,200/month, but...)...convoluted, and I have to do the math

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

both on the biopsy thing and the job situation...
I'm soooo glad it was really nothing (well, not NOTHING, but just a minor infection!!)...I guess I can cancel my sister's idea of saving for a hysterectomy! LOL!...
The job situation in ES is really terrible...I've been lucky, I was only unemployed for 2 months after I was fired...some friends that were fired a few weeks before me (July 2003) still haven't found jobs...others have had to settle for temporary jobs or for jobs that don't pay more than 50% of what they were making...as for me, well, if I were debtfree, I could lead a very comfy life with my current salary....I will start a more earnest job search in January (people don't leave -or don't announce they are leving- their jobs before Dec 15th...why? Xmas bonuses are given out on Dec 12th, and, if you leave voluntarily, by law you are NOT entitled to it...) so January always has some good job postings....I've had a new call from the Embassy- not regarding the job I applied for- to ask whether I had a valid driver's license and whether I am proficient in MS Office (anser to both questions is yes)...They asked if they could consider my resume for another position within the organization (YES!!), and, if so, they wanted me to send them IN WRITING confirmation regarding the license and the Office issues...needless to say, the HR lady probably hadn't even hung up when I was already sending her the required fax!!...I don't expect to hear from them before January, though....but, all I can do now is hope!

If I got that job, I'd have to do some serious financial planning...by law, they don't discount for pension fund or for taxes, so I'd have to find a way to set up an account for when I retire (people who work at Embassies in ES do not have to pay taxes, so that money would be "free" to go into debt payment!!)...oh, well, no use stressing about that right now, is there??

Oh, and, I didn't manage to finish all my Xmas shopping yet, and the Xmas shopping season has been formally inaugurated- bummer! ...at least, I'm only missing my cousin's present, and my sister's birthday present!!

I was at my cousin's last night- preparing envelopes with tickets for the children's party on the 10th, and she said: well, what are you going to do with your school supply money?...and I said: put it towards debt...and she said: just that, no little goodie that you want? It WILL be over $1,000, you know...I was like: WHA...? I thought it would be about $1,000 for both of us, meaning that once split it would be about $500 each, but, she says she made more than $2,000 last year on backpacks alone (which she split with her former friend/partner...we are still trying to figure out why she decided not to be friends/partners anymore...she just took her stuff, returned my cousin's and stopped talking to her altogether!)...but, back on topic, we ARE doing backpacks besides the school supplies, so it should be even more than $2,000 to split this year (well, in January, so, next year!) ...I would like to put it all towards debt anyway, but, if it REALLY is over $1,000 I think I'd put $500 towards debt and save the other $500 for Ale's school - this would most likely cover the enrollment fee and uniforms...
Now, to this, we have to add whatever I get from the toy venture...although, here we DON'T go 50/50 because my cousin does about 70-75% of the work!

Well, our Xmas season- as far as selling toys goes - is almost over (most companies have their children's party before Dec 10th)...and we have already started working on the school supplies...right now, parents are enrolling their kids in school for the new year (classes go from Feb-Oct), and, they are given the corresponding school supplies list...we obtained permission from one (large) school to hand out flyers advertising that we can sell "packages" including ALL the items on the list (so the parent doesn't have to run around the city finding everything!)...we got the lists for all grades, too, and have already started running around to see where we can get the best prices....we will sell this to the parent at a cost slightly over what they would pay at the libraries, the catch being that WE get wholesale prices...notebooks, for example, who sell at the store/supermarket for $0.32, we can get for $0.15....on other items the difference is minimal, but, still, we hope to be able to make a nice profit from it...I will request 3 days vacation (26, 27 and 28) to go with my cousin to buy backpacks and other items, and, will request another 3 days from Jan 3rd trhough 6th to actually sell the stuff (the school gave us permission to sell the stuff on school grounds, too!)...

Whatever we get from this will go straight to the cc's!, the more I can pay before April, the better (as I would have to start school hunting in May, so that Ale can join in the fall - bilingual schools follow a different schedule!)

The sun was fierce today and my eyes feel dry - Ale sat on my last pair of sunglasses... ((sigh))...
I have to go to the mall today -1.to pay the store card ($11) and 2. to buy a couple of gifts that I'm still missing...I want to be done before the "shopping nights" are inaugurated (things get put "on sale" but are misteriously more expensive than regular price!, there are HORDES of people everywhere and you have to queue to even look at the stuff, and then again to pay for it! ugh!

What I hate the most about shops starting the Xmas season so early (since mid-november!) is that you feel like you OUGHT to be on vacation, and not slaving away in an office ...and it's not just me...everyone at the office is in a playful mode, but, there's still soooo much to be done!!...

Expected spending for today will be:
$4 - gardener
$5- phone card
$15- vaccines for my doggie (she's a heroine! she caught a bat yesterday!)
$11- payment for store card
$10 owed to maid (I only gave her $30 yesterday)
$1 - lunch complement (I brought sandwiches, should pick up a beverage + fruit)

I have $50 in my wallet, so I shouldn't have to take money out of the bank until Friday...

My cousin brought me an ad for a twin-sized bed, with headrest and side rails, which was on sale for "only" $16/month...Ale will soon outgrow her toddler bed and, it WOULD make sense to get her one of these...especially since the headrest comes in white, red, PINK and blue....but, I said no! I told her I'd rather save and buy it cash, even if not "on sale" later on.... I know it's "just" $16, but, I'm living about ~$100 above my means as it is...this situation is partly relieved at the moment because of the English lessons, which bring in ~$120/month, which would bring me to live ~$20 below my means, but, this, of course, is not completely satisfactory...and, to think of adding $16 MORE is just plain stupid!...no, I'll try to save those $16 if I can and then buy the thing...at least, now I know of 1 place that carries them - I'd still have to "shop around" for best available price!

Aren't you all proud of me??...This is all thanks to this site!!

I got paid for the November lessons up to now: $100!!...AND, one of the PM's that used to work here had left his car - engine didn't work and he couldn't sell it...with the instructions that, if I managed to sell it, even as scrap, I should keep half of the money and give the other half to the maid at the house in which he was stationed...well, I got a call a while back and they delivered the money today!! It sold for $200, but, I had to give the maid an additional $40 for a desk that other PM's took, but haven't paid for yet - figured it's easier for me to get paid than for her, as I see them everyday - so, I actually took $60....I took 10% of my money and gave it to the Padre Vito home and another 10% and put it in my Cuenta Futuro - which is my savings acct...I'm giving Ale 5% for her own bank acct, I'm leaving $10 for fun money and using the rest towards debt!...I'm planning on doing this with any extra money that I make this year. Starting next year, I'll do 10% Padre Vito, 5% Ale and all the rest towards debt, as I need to pay as much as possible to be able to live on my salary next year....(no more farm money!)

The English lessons are extra, but, those are not always reliable, as the amount changes depending on the number of times you actually give a class!

I just received my cc statement, my new minimum payment is $38.56 of which- were I to make only the minimum payment- $7.96 would go to the principal and the rest is all interest!! It's so ridiculous, I couldn't even get mad!!- I have scheduled to get rid of this particular cc for Dec 12th, when I get my Xmas bonus...70% of my bonus will go to pay off that cc IN FULL!

I found a stove for $160! (well, $159.99)...original price ws $215!...I paid CASH for it! (sooo liberating!- and you should havde seen the saleswoman's face when I said; "i'll take it" and she said: "I'll draw up the paperwork for the credit", and I said: "No, I'll pay cash for it!" LOL!)...it is sooo pretty! I'm happy with my stove, I'm happy with the deal I got and, I'm happy that I have no new debt on it - I paid with money that was supposed to go to the cc debt, but, I still have enough to pay all cc's on time and to pay a bit over the minimum payment...Plus, my sister owes me $60! - which she'll pay me on Dec 7th, so I'll pay that into a cc on the 8th!

We are selling the old one for parts!! - if anyone takes it!!

Ale wanted a Care Bear ($7.50 at Jugueton, which is the local version of Toys'R'us)...and I found them at Siman (dept store) at 25% off if bought with the store card....I bought her 2 for $10.53 (original price was slightly lower than Jugueton's!!)...Don't worry! I was good!...If I pay within the same payment period (9/11 -9/12 in this case), I don't get charged interest on those purchases...I marched to the next cashier and paid the card!
I already set aside the scooter and Barbie/Ken combo Ale wanted, and my cousin will get them for me with her 35% discount! I'm done with Ale!!...Now, I need to get the stuff for my niece, think of something for my nephew, find something for my best friend's son and I'm DONE!!! - oh, but I have to find my sister's B-day gift...have seen a couple of things that would be nice!