There's a program at work whereby your boss can nominate you for a cash award. The nomination is then reviewed by a committee...well, my bosses nominated me and I got it! ...I still don't know how much it is, but, hey, any (legally obtained) unexpected income is welcome in my house!!

I had one set up 5 years ago to help with the Disney Trip (should have had $1k by now, but I had to get $$$ out to pay for debt a while back!)...soooo, now that I'm closing this account (to get the $285 that I currently have there), I've already spoken to the Bank's exec to set up a new one! Yay, me!- she'll be dropping by later to pick up my docs (we have a mini-branch inside the compound, with a cashier, and the account exec comes 2x a week!)

since 2 customers had promised to pay me "at the end of the month" (already overdue, since one should have paid end of Feb and the other one mid March)...I sent them a note today inquiring about the payments ...((sigh))...after all, $$$ on paper is just that...$$$ on paper...it's no good to me unless I actually GET it...in fact, it's bad to me if I don't get it, because that means all that effort (oh, and my fingerprints!) were wasted!

****
The dermatologist suggested all that typing MIGHT worsen the problem!

This one is Spanish into English. About $140!
woo-hoo! (I was starting to worry!)

Ok, so I kept calling until the receptionist knew my voice/number and refused to take my calls...no problem, I just dialed a different number and got someone else (it's one of those "rescue services" provided by a local cell phone company to its customers, so they HAVE to answer). I even had a bit of a spat with her, because she said: oh, yeah, I know, we will give her the message. And I asked: are you sure you got my last name right? Sure. Ok, could you spell it for me, just so I make sure you got it right? I can spell it, lady, don't worry. Really? go ahead, spell it for me! ...you catch the drift (only the people that KNOW me get my last name right...everyone assumes its either Lazo or Larios or Claros...)
Anyway, I called again today (gave her 3 days to respond to my last message)...since I was told she's not in, I asked for her boss...I was told HE's not in (not sure I believe it, it might just be the secretary trying to cover for the girl that contacted me)..ok, so I ask for his e-mail...would you believe the secretary "doesn't know what his e-mail is"?...yeah, me neither. So, I asked for a fax number (she couldn't withhold THAT from me, could she?) I wrote a very nice memo explaining that I had been contacted to do the job on 2/26, agreed that terms of payment where "immediate" and that I had delivered the work on 2/27...I also added that I normally deal with the person that contracts me directly but, that since I had fruitlessly tried to contact this girl (didn't use that expression, of course!) for the past month, I felt I had no other recourse but to contact him directly. I stated the amount I was owed and asked for a speedy payment. I included a copy of all the translated documents, a copy of the email I sent the girl and a copy of the fax transaction report...
Of course, I also added my phone # and email...

I hate this!...I should have asked to get the original documents (birth certificate and other legal docs) and not release them until I had the $$$ instead of making things easier for her by telling her she could scan them and send them to me via email/fax!

I managed to get my letters to be able to file my taxes...oh, and while I was there, I ran into someone that, upon hearing what I was doing there, asked: did you also get the letter from the coop?...I hadn't even thought of that! and I made $46.66!- I imagine it was paid towards my loan (fine with me!), but, of course, this would have made my tax information inaccurate!...I'm glad I have all the letters/documents I need now!...
Now I just have to find the time to go to the Ministry and file! (er, no, you can't NOT go!...even if you file via internet you're required to print a copy of the declaration and bring it to the Ministry!- how silly is THAT?)
oh, well....joy of joys!....I'll go play with the numbers a while to see if I can figure our how much I have to pay!

was really nice!...It must be a lot better if you can come in your own yatch or small plane ...the access road was terrible!...we only dared go in because we had already driven for 2 hours to get there! It's unpaved and narrow ...those last 10 Km took us 30 minutes to complete!...even if I had the money for the membership, I wouldn't be able to take it ( 3 or 4 times taking this road would probably kill my car!)...PLUS, it's far away (117 Km or something, sis said)...good thing one of the benefits sis gets is unlimited gas for her car, because otherwise it would have taken us about $50 for the trip...it really is not worth it for a day trip...if you were staying a couple of days, yes...

OK, back to the good part! The place is beautiful, the employees were all very nice (at other places they make you feel bad when you come with a free invitation - which is totally stupid, if you consider that people are given those free invitations to try to entice them to sign up for membership! Go ahead, alienate the potential customer!)...but her people were very nice...
They had a wading pool, a small pool and also a jacuzzi... they have cabins for 4 or 8 people if you want to spend the night...if not, you can stay in your "palapa" by the pool or by the marina (and, they do not have a beachfront, as they are further inland, but they will take you on a 2-hour tour to a nearby beach if you want to...free for members, $113 to hire the boat if you're not a member...needless to say we DIDN't take the tour...the food was also very good and, not really expensive (each plate cost $9, your choice of fish or meat- good, tender meat and really good fish- potatoes and a salad...sodas were $1 and beers $2...we didn't bring a cooler, but saw many people HAD brought their own drinks)
The place was very clean (worth noticing because, unfortunately, we still don't have a "don't litter" culture here in ES!)...oh, and that also applies to sound pollution...generally, if you go to the "popular" beaches or resorts, it seems they are trying to drown the surf sound (??? isn't the sound of the ocean one of the reasons one goes to the beach??)...here, they had some soft playing music (as in: if you were sitting next to the bar, you could hear it, but if you moved 2 or 3 meters away, you could hear the sound of the birds louder than the music- bliss!)...hmmm, so this is how the other half lives! we could get used to it!- and, honestly, at $300/year for the membership, it would be "doable" ...but, besides reasons 1 and 2 mentioned above...well, it's not a necessity, so, of course, it's not happening!- it was a nice excursion, though! - total cost was $25 for Ale and myself...I consider them well spent!

Here's a link to their website:

http://www.barillasmarina.com

This is ridiculous! ...
I call at 9am, she's not in yet, I call at 10, stil not in...I called at 12 (yesterday) she had just left for lunch...I called at 2, she still wasn't in...I called at 3, she hadn't returned and they didn't expect her back for the day...

today, the same thing...I emailed her (from 2 different addresses, just in case she has me blocked) and sent the translated documents again via fax (together with the original transmission page from 2/27)....

We are being dismissed early today...I'm still hesitating between going to her home tonight (I know where she lives because she originally contacted me through the owner of the translation agency, and they're neighbors) and waiting until after the holidays to contact her boss directly (who, after all, is the owner of the documents, so he's the actual end customer) and refusing to deal with her anymore...

hmmm....another option would be to just try to get her boss directly today after lunch (it's already 12:30)

Needless to say this isn't someone I'd like to work with in the future...(all this over $53! can you imagine if it were more than that??)

because of the holidays, payday was early (today, as opposed to Friday)...the bad news is...that gives me 3 more days to spend the $$$...

So, to avoid temptation, I already paid my share of the rent and the personal loan... I do have $25 allocated for "holiday spending" - we are going to the beach tomorrow and to the movies on the weekend!

well, sis is gone, but she did buy some food for the week (not the usual amount, since she and niece will be out)...however, since nephew was here this weekend, she did buy some sausages and meat...too much of it, actually, so now Ale and I have 3 sausages and 4 steaks that were left over...which means all I have to do is re-heat! ...there are also leftover potatoes and rice...so for the meat I'd have to do some "chirimol" for myself(chopped tomatoes and onion, sprinkled with cilantro and bathed in lemon juice...slurp!)...Ale still doesn't like it! (that's ok, neither did I at her age!)

I'm almost done gathering all the documents I need to start doing my taxes...I'm only missing my statement of withholdings from my previous job. There'll be 2 letters: one for my salary and one for the professional services fees...
I definetely will have to go to the Ministry of Treasury to have them do this for me...I finally learned how to do a "mixed" income declaration (salary and professional fees) and now I have to deal with the new job NOT withholding income...I have no idea how to input that in the form...so I'd rather take all my documents to them and let THEM figure it out...
As I've said before, there's not much you can deduct anyway, so...

I also have to find all my medical receipts... (don't worry, I have them all in one place...they are in a manila envelope in my dresser...I know which drawer!... but I have several envelopes there, so I have to figure out which is the right one...shouldn't take too long!, and I need to add the letter I got from the insurance company...I dont' think there's more than $300 in medical expenses though...will see)...I already have the tuition receipts...that's an $800 deduction (maximum allowable by law!)...oh, and I have to go get my donation receipts, too!....Need to call the Foundation on Monday to see when they will be ready!

This one is going to Europe!...
it is 4 pages long, and it needs to be sent in by Saturday 5:00pm (that's ok, it's plenty of time...especially since the topic is related to my work, so I know/have access to the vocabulary!)
I might have to work until midnight tonight, as we have a fun family activity (just Ale and I, but, hey, we ARE a family unit!) for tomorrow morning...and I'd hate to cancel on Ale because of work!....
this one could easily bring in $110-$120

I'm happy. And grateful. Just yesterday I prayed for a ~$100 translation for either this week or next one (Holy Week is next week, so there probably won't be any work, thus I'd have a "lost" week for translation $$$)...so, after taxes, I would have about $100! How's THAT for a speedy answer??

They are having a Craft Fair today at the Cafeteria...I just looooove handicrafts....so colorful, so beautiful...
I fell in love with:
1. a handbag
2. an indigo-dyed blouse
3. a red blouse
4. a cornhusk doll
5. a mirror
6. a giant piggy bank
7. a clay frog (he'd look sooo pretty in my garden!)
8. a blue blanket (last time they came I bought a pink and a yellow one- the only two they had left- gave the pink one to Ale and the yellow to my sis...she needed it more than I)
9. a wooden ring (so groovy!)
10. a couple of beaded necklaces
11. An embroidered dress
12. An embroidered table runner/napkin set

I bought nothing...I had left for lunch with $0.52 so that I knew I couldn't buy anything, even if I wanted to!- no, I have no self-control, so it's better to keep temptation away!- of course, if I'd REALLY wanted to buy something, the ATM was less than 50 mts away, but...see, once I HAVE to go to the ATM, it isn't an impulse buy anymore, it gives me time to think about it!

Well, on paper, I have the $$ to take the trip...
On hand, I have $700 for the (space available) tickets

On paper (meaning money owed to me), I have $3,600...enough to fulfill my goals for Q1 2008, which were:
1- pay off cc1 in full (done already)
2- cancel the dept store card
3- reduce cc2 balance by half

2 and 3 would be easily done with this $3,600 and leaving still plenty of $$$ to put some into savings AND take the trip (with more money than what I had originally budgeted- which is probably good, as it would even give me a cushion in case my calculations were wrong)...

There have been several special airfare promotions lately which would, in theory, allow me to travel "space positive" ....but they were of the "today only" or "last day to purchase 3/9" things...and I DON'T want to purchase one of this discounted tickets (I read the small print: they are non-refundable, and there's a $100 penalty for changing dates...plus, given the new rules for date changes- this was with the airline I worked for before, so I KNOW!- I would not only have to pay those $100, but, if the fare for the new dates were higher than the one for the original dates, I would have to pay the difference, as well)...I mean, what use would "space positive" tickets be if I didn't have the money for the OTHER part of the trip (things like: a place to stay, food, park tickets!)...the nice thing about the "space available" tickets is that the price doesn't change...no matter if I buy them today, tomorrow, or even the day I intend to travel...also, they ARE refundable...so if I don't use them (or if I don't use a portion - say, I cannot get a flight from Miami to Orlando and have to take a bus or rent a car- I can refund that portion)...so, even if I bought those plane tickets tomorrow, if I end up NOT taking the trip, I could get my $700 back!...
And, I really don't want to committ to this trip until I HAVE the cash and until goals #2 and #3 are taken care of...
Part of this money should have been paid in early Feb....and another in mid Feb...so I'm already late in collecting...(I have spoken to the customers, don't worry, I'm doing something about it)...the other part is due in late March/Early April...

So, the Disney trip is a mirage right now...Ale knows, it's IF we take the Disney trip we would do this, IF we take the trip we would do that...she's also warned there's a chance we might not get on the plane!!! Although our dates seem good so far!- and I'm trusting Ale's luck for that! LOL!

38.99% actually. Under the new "Alliance for the Family" law (issued to help us middle class folk in ES- or so they say...) banks and cc issuers cannot charge more than 38.99% interest per year. Some cc's charged up to 47%.
The interesting thing, however, is this: we always have lunch with the bank teller at our office (they have a mini-branch inside the compound) and she was telling us that they had X cc that used to charge 37%, but now they've raised the interest to 38.99%! Kind of defeats the purpose of the whole thing, doesn't it?

March 8th is International Women's Day...
congratulations to all!

we did have a nice celebration...I convinced sis of going to lunch using a special promo from our grocery store club card...you could get a special plate to share among 3 people for just $18 ...and we bought a plate from the children's menu for Ale for $5...this was at a very good restaurant (it's not fancy, but the food is GREAT!)...we even had leftovers to bring home for tomorrow's lunch! yum!...(LOL! you should have seen niece's face when I pulled out my flyer detailing the special promo and saying: we will have THIS one!)...she did enjoy the food and declared herself "stuffed" in the end...but, for a moment there I thought her eyes were going to pop out of her head!

Also, since our freezer was full, my grocery shopping at the supemarket was ~$50!...woo-hoo!...tomorrow I have to go to the market to get the veggies, fruit and cheese...so that'll add ~$15-$20...still, last time I spent $85 just at the supermarket, so...

oh, and the supermarket had a 20% all "special store" items (hardware, clothing, SCHOOL SUPPLIES), so we finished buying Ale's notebooks (at least, I think we did...since I don't have a list yet, I bought the same amount of notebooks that we bought for THIS school year... I don't imagine them using LESS notebooks for the coming school year...MAYBE they'll ask for MORE, but, then, I'll just have to buy those extra ones...

Funny as it may sound, school supplies are cheaper now that they are "off season" than they were while "on sale" in January....

Oh, and I showed Ale that there was a $0.20 - $0.40 difference between notebook A, with a generic cover (say: picture of 2 cute cats and 1 puppy) and notebook B (with licensed character on the cover)...both notebooks were the same size, had the same amount of pages/sheets, same format (lined, in this case), binding was sewn, rather than stapled for both notebooks, same quality of paper...

Her opinion?....Mom, that's so dumb! you could buy the cheap one and, if you're really so crazy about the licensed character then use stickers or gift paper decorated with the licensed character and it would stil be much cheaper!...((had to brag, sorry!))

Oh, we also did some unbudgeted shopping....

1. we bought a bright orange fish...yes, we already have 32+, but ours are so pale...so...silvery...so we bought a bright orange one of the same kind... it cost $2...and hopefully it'll reproduce with the other ones and give me a chance to explain to Ale about genetics...who knows, there might come a day when I'll have to buy a silver fish to introduce some fresh genes into our all-orange tank!

2. I've been looking for flip-flops for Ale and myself (remember those neat "lemon" ones Santa brought for Xmas 2006?...well, after over a year of daily wear- we use them inside the house, and for the beach, too- they were pretty much useless ....AND we found ones on sale at $2.80 (adult sizes) and $2.40 (children sizes)...I bought a pair for myself, a pair for sis (hers were useless, too) and a pair for Ale...my total was $7.60 (sis still wears children size 4! LOL!)...I didn't get a pair for niece because she has about 10 pairs (of which she only wears 1!) courtesy of her dad ....(he won't pay for textbooks, but flip flops...oh, yes, a girl can't have too many flip flops!)....

Well, as you can see, it was a pretty full day!...and quite spendy, but, to make up for it, tomorrow we are going to a special theater show at the Museum...it's a special play for children....and it's FREE!

well, I finally found THIS book:

http://www.amazon.com/Economia-Explicada-MIS-Hijos/dp/950511... I haven't really started reading it, but the prologue was entertaining!...to sum it up: the guy's an economist, he goes to his son's career day to explain what he does ....the kiddies draw what some of the parents do and, for him, they wrote: goes to the office and drinks coffee! LOL...so, he figures there's GOT to be a way to help kids understand basic economic principles...
that's it, so far...
Oh, I had a 10% off coupon!!

almost forgot about the notebooks! since we had thoe 10% off coupons, we bought some notebooks for Ale, too, for next school year (August)...we don't get sales for back to school then, because schools in ES start in January...except for bilingual schools and, commerces consider people that have their kids in bilingual schools are rich anyway and don't care about prices.... so they don't offer any sales!...I figured if I start buying some stuff now at least the cost gets spread in a couple of months, instead of being just one payment...so, I already have the backpack (remember that promo I told you about, when the store was giving away High School Musical backpacks?)...the shoes...and now 4 notebooks (it was 1 coupon per item, and we only had 5!...the book was the best deal, of course, since it was the most expensive item: $17 original price)

went and found the perfect school shoes for Ale...Hush Puppies brand...marked at $22, but with a 25% discount!)...found the perfect Hush Puppies for me, too! ($15, and my old were already starting to be a point of embarrassment!)...and MY Hush Puppies were eligible for 2X1...so we found ANOTHER pair of school shoes for Ale marked at $8(not Hush Puppies, I know that brand won't last as long, but...)that were also 2X1 eligible- we bought 1 shoe size bigger than she currently wears...so, we left them at the cashiers and went to the cc booth at the same mall, and asked how many points we had ....we had enough for a $15 voucher!!...sooooo....
1 pair Hush Puppies for Ale (for this school year)
1 pair X brand school shoes for Ale (for NEXT school year)
1 pair Hush Puppies for me..

"real" total = 45
minus discounts and promo= $31
minus voucher = $16!!

so, I paid $16 (cash) for 3 pairs of shoes...2 of them Hush Puppies!!!

Aaaaah!...I feel so RICH!!!

total debt is at $10,114.46.... I'm this [] close to getting that total to $10K!!! woo-hoo!!!

I had a couple fast translations today (as in: wording for 2 or more pages was 90% the same!)- woo-hoo!...that went real fast...and I even get paid tonight for 1 of them! woo-hoo! ($53...will go to new school shoes for Ale...hers are starting to come apart...they cost $20...the new ones should last us until end of May - which is the end of the school year- don't have much hope of them still fitting in August!)

Some of the latest translation jobs I got will most probably be paid in April, so I have updated my excel file to divide /4 to get the monthly average....it's still at $1,043!!...

If things continue like this, I will be able to pay off enough debt by May to actually consider the Disney trip before the end of June! ....

I think I can, I think I can....


((that being said, I AM tired...and I'm taking this Sunday - and, hopefully, all next weekend!-off!...we are going to visit my aunt in the mountains -- she retired to her family home, right in the middle of town, in the heart of coffee-growing mountains!))

my old one is working fine...but, I saw this cellphone a while back that I liked, but, dismissed instantly because of price ($89!- ha! no way!)...well, now it's on sale for $39....plus, there's a new alliance between cc2 and the phone company (the same one I'm currently using) so you can use points to redeem a certificate...I have enough points to buy a $25 certificate, so that would mean paying only $14 for it... and there would still be points "left over"...but, then I discovered that I could convert the reward points from the dept store card into points for CC2 company...which would give me enough to buy a $50, which means I could buy the phone plus $11 in phone cards (I go prepay!- I don't think I'll go for contract again!...who knows, they have new contracts now, where you choose your minutes and, once those are over, you cannot make any more phone calls unless you use phone cards...which would be a good way to have a contract and still have some control...right now, it's not worth it...maybe if I went with the freelance translator gig it would...)

anyway....I'm thinking about it...

at least:
1. all bills are paid
2. 1 cc paid off, other cc's and bank loan are paid for the month
3. Boom-boom's tank is full of gas
4. payday is this Friday (we get paid bi-weekly!)

...funny, at this time yesterday, I had $1,124 -cash!- in my hands!

Great one:
We got paid for the school supplies...I paid off 1 cc!!! woo-hoo!!! highest interest/lowest balance!!!

Small one:
After paying, I went into the grocery store to buy a flea collar for Fiona (her's had "expired" and we found 3 fleas on her the other day! eeeek!)...AND, I came out of there with 1 flea collar...nothing else!!!

woo-hoo!!

oh, boy!...I just checked my balance on line... I have a whooping $0.48....which should have to last until next Friday...yeah, right!...the good news is, we are supposed to be getting the money for the first school supply packages on Monday (about $1k for me)...((sigh))

meantime, I have $2.6K in uncollected translation money, too...which should have been paid to me before the 10th of Feb....hopefully at least part of that $$$ will come through this weekend!

Back to work!

2 new customers...a translation for $700 and another one for $63...on top of my normal workload from the translation agency since they are at that 6-week training program again!...oh, boy!

it's scary in a good way!!

I could kick myself!...I was asked to quote on a translation job...I did..I quoted $50...turns out, I somehow got my math wrong...it should have been $150!... the customer accepted, I accepted the job and, only half-way through it did I realize: "hey, this is too long for $50!"...aaaargh! ...

ok, lesson learned! (double and triple check before committing to a quote!!) ... a $100 lesson!

I've been busy lately, and, translations over the weekend, yesterday and today will get me $349 come March! woo-hoo!!!- my monthly average is at $986...and rising!!...it will continue to rise until the third week of Feb...from then, I'll have to start counting April (as the payments typically take 30-45 days!)

the cc company sent me ANOTHER letter indicating I'm entitled to a pre-approved "extra-financing" and called me again...hmmm, maybe they think after 1 month I might be more tempted??...well, guess what? NO!...after seeing that I paid $100 this month and that their charges were $155 (interests, fees and insurances only!!!)...well, NO!...usually it's not so bad, but, this month they charged me for the annual membership (which I really can do nothing about, unless I were cancelling the cc today...and you cannot cancel the cc unless you pay it in full ...and then only after you have received a statement showing $0 balance...and only at their most remote branch...oh, joy!)...still, I'll get them yet!...this is the cc that will take the longest to close, but, I've made my numbers and think I have a really good chance of closing the account next year)

We've been joking about it for some time now with sis, but, I think we are now getting to the point where we WILL have to institute this as a meal at least 2x week! (nothing wrong with it, except I must cook it - for some strange reason, none of us like the way nanny cooks it!... I mean, there's no science to it...I think it might be that she adds tomato and worcestershire sauceto it...eventhough we've asked her not to! -see, that is the downside of having someone to do stuff for you! )