miclason's Personal Finance Blog

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!

We had a visit today from a local beach club wanting to sell memberships...they want to sell our office a "corporate" membership package - 10 memberships for $3,000 ($300 per family), as opposed to the "normal" membership which is $621 for the year...
Well, I wasn't really interested, but someone at our table (at lunch) wanted to see where this club was, so we all got brochures...we "stole" them while the sales executive was away from the desk...but, she saw us with them!...

so, she gave us the speech and told us how wonderful it is and asked if we were interested...we all said (as a polite way to get out of it)...oh, we would have to go visit first, you know, before making a decision...and asked about the price of a day pass...($25/person, with a minimum of 6 people required)...but, because we asked, she gave everyone at the table a free daypass for up to 6 people!!!....no expiration date, no need to hear the "spiel" - since we already did!, no blackout dates!! SWEET!

Like life, stand-by flying is unpredictable...You never know if you WILL get on the plane...you don't know if the plane you board will be the one you INTENDED to board...you may end up at your chosen destination via a roundabout way...or, you may have to decide on a different destination altogether...

One thing is certain: BECAUSE it is so unpredictable, it requires:

1. Plan carefully- know where you want to go, and the best way to get there. Know where to go to for help if needed. Always have a Plan B(in travel, this means knowing which are the peak seasons for your destination, and which are the routes that fill up more quickly. More than one frequency per day gives you a better chance of making a flight, always try to get on the first flight of the day to maximize your chances. Also, knowing which other options you have -besides flying- to get there, OR, have an "alternate destination" plan ready, including flight departure times from all intermediate points in your itinerary)

2.Double check your information - even if your ticket says your flight leaves from gate 10/ terminal D, check the screens...again: you never know!

2. Be flexible - Even with all the planning in the world, if the flight is full, or capped for weight, you may not get on!...Be ready to delay your plans or even change them completely. Always (Always) have a Plan B.

3. Make sure to have a cash reserve - you never know what will happen, if the journey is not as smooth as you planned, the cash will come in handy! (will save you from sleeping at the airport, or having to share a hamburger!)

4. Know what's important to you and KEEP it close to you -always bring carry-on(like clean undies and your toothbrush!)

5. Have a good attitude: the people at the counter are not at fault if you can't make the flight...and they will be less inclined to help you look for an alternate flight if you have been mean to them!...plus, getting upset will only ruin the rest of your trip!

are starting to be a tradition...we generally do our grocery shopping on Saturday or Sunday, and, while putting stuff away I make a point to put the older stuff in front/on top of new groceries (sis doesn't bother!...so I sometimes do it after she's already put stuff away) and, generally, I end up with some veggies that aren't quite as fresh...so, I cut them up and make a cream for dinner, which I serve for Ale with some shredded cheese...I might also add croutons if there's some bread that is also not as fresh (but is still not green!)...it is light, it is good, very nutritious, helps reduce waste...and I can even get sis to have some (she generally doesn't have dinner and, all her problems generally "attack" her stomach, which means she doesn't eat as much/as well as she should, so the cream helps)...yesterday's was a mix of: carrot, potato, squash, broccoli, onions and guisquil -whatever THAT is, I really don't know the word for it in English!..here's a picture, though!

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!

She was so proud yesterday...the newspaper once again had an insert with coupons for 10% off 1 article at the dept store...she showed me, and she told me we could go to another branch of the store to look for school supplies!

we had the parents assembly last night at Ale's school...as per the CURRENT law (a reform has already been submitted), the assemby was to INFORM us that the tuition will be increased... (I knew that, I had actually asked at the beginning of this school year)...tentatively, my budget shows $157/month for Ale's monthly school fees starting August...the new monthly fee for her grade has been set at $157.55 ...and I had actually allocated $400 for the enrollment fee, and that will be $349...

the reform to the law establishes that the parents assembly is to ASK the parents and there has to be a vote of X% in favor to pass it...

...we went to get our passports today...everything ok for Ale...then the clerk checks my documents and everything is OK...then she tries to take my fingerprints...the machine CAN'T READ THEM!!!....

I don't understand this: I haven't had any accidents or cuts, I don't work with harsh chemichals...I don't even do housework regularly (in case you thought the detergents might have had something to do with it)..and, I don't suppose they could get "worn" from typing, could they?...this is sooo frustrating!...so, now I'm supposed to go to a dermathologist to get a medical certificate that states there's a problem with my fingerprints...then I have to go back to passports to get an appointment for their main office downtown...which means 2 days off work (1 to go to THIS branch office so they call downtown to get an appointment, then ANOTHER one to actually GO downtown...and, NO, you cannot call yourself!) ... ((sigh))...IF we do the Disney trip, then I definetely have to break it in 2 and make sure I have plans to stay overnight at the point of entry, just in case the machines at the airport in the US cannot read my fingerprints either!....((double sigh))

this is the newest thing here in ES (the news broke yesterday)...now you can use your cc (and even your reward points) to pay your taxes!...

I still don't know what to think about it...

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)

I bought Ale a book for Christmas that was part of a series...I liked the book because it seemed like a good "first chapter book" for her...simple enough that a 7 year old could read on her own, but challenging enough to help her improve her reading skills....the book was Ruby, the red fairy (Spanish version)....it is part of a 7-book series...she told me the other day she was almost finished, so I promised her we would go buy the next book Amber, the orange fairy...and we did...SOOOOO, she was so eager to start reading THAT one, she sat down for 2 hours and read the last remaining pages of Ruby (33 pages!).... I've created a book-eating monster!!!...now I have to prepare myself financially for 1: the next 5 books....2: all other books and series after that!!

The school's Open House was yesterday...Ale made the Honor Roll again (didn't the past period)...spoke to all her teachers and they all agree she's taking advantage of her intelligence and good retentive to try to use the "law of minimum effort"...meaning she's not working as hard as she should and not doing as much as she could...this is tough, because her grades are great...her lowest grade is 80....and that is penmanship...still, I talked to her and told her she cannot be fooling around instead of working (she HAS been bringing a lot of work home, as she has had to make up for all that she didn't do at school!...plus her regular homework...)...she's promised she'll work at school and try to finish THERE ...that way we can spend OUR time together at home having fun instead of doing work she should have done at school...we'll see how it goes...anyway, now I know what's going on and we agreed to work together on this problem with the teachers, too!...

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!)

ugh! tough week at work (notice it's just Tuesday?)....tough environment at home with sis crying every 10 minutes then starting to tell me how unfair it is that she cannot get her loan because of cousin...(at least, cousin has NOT been calling me!)...Ale has not been slacking at school...it hasn't affected her grades (yet) but I've had at least 3 "did not work in class today" notes last week!...to top it all off the newspaper says gas prices will go up by $0.17 this week!....

UGH!

ugh! sis is on the verge of a heart attack...about 5 years ago she co-signed for cousin's car loan (bad decision...but, she felt bad because cousin needed a car to continue with her independent sales/catering business....) cousin has defaulted on more than one occasion, and, last time we heard, she had managed to get a small loan to bring that up to date and even pay it off (there was like $1k left there)...well, sis is trying to refinance her debt, and, guess what...there's a problem with her loan due her co-signing for cousin (most probably, cousin did NOT pay off her car and has defaulted again!)...
and, as sis says: most probably the bank's solution will be: pay off that loan (or bring it up to date) and then you can get your loan...#1 sis doesn't have the money...#2, if she did and she paid that, it would be like giving the money away to cousin, because she's NOT going to pay it back!...
Really, the way I worry about my debt, I cannot understand how cousin can live like this and NOT CARE (because, obviously, if she still has her cable/internet AND if she's been talking about getting a NEW car ...she just doesn't care!)

**about the NEW car, she mentions it every time there are "promotions" in the paper...like the $1 downpayment and no payments for 6 months kind of thing...oh, and she doesn't want a USED car, either...her last one was bought new, so getting a used one would be "regression"...honestly, I've always tried to talk her out of it (or, rather, I have pointed out she shouldn't be getting more debt and, I've even been "mean" by pointing out she won't find anyone to co-sign for it...just in case she ever thought of asking me!...BUT, I always assumed THIS car was already paid off!!!!)

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!))

One of our neighbors moved out last weekend...she left lots of nice clay pots with dead plants in them outside her house to be taken by the garbage truck...we,er, recycled her pots...I gave niece $10 to buy plants and soil... so, now we have a "renovated" garden, courtesy of our former neighbor!

(she even left 3 "half-pots", the kind you fix to walls for hanging plants?...in perfect condition....those are $3.25 each at the store!)

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...

Remember I told you I went to the grocery store and came out with nothing but a flea collar for Fiona?...I should have gotten something else...I should have gotten the milk, which was on sale for $2.95/ bag of 360gm....normal price is $3.55!!!...but, for some strange reason, my brain registered it as $3.95...so I thought the price was high...it took me about 2 days to realize that! ...duh!

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!

We tried to get our new passports today, but were unable to…the guy did not accept our birth certificates…mine does not have all info on my marriage and divorce (should be annotated on the margin), and both had been folded, so they considered them unacceptable…((sigh))…oh, well, at least they checked the other documents and pronounced them OK…
To celebrate my freedom from CC1, I had told Ale we could get a piece of cake after the passports…so, we went to do that instead…I asked for just one piece of cake and 2 sodas…Ale wasn’t too pleased about 1 piece for both, but, let it go because I let her choose the cake… I don’t know the real name of the cake she ordered, but it might as well have been “Sugar O.D”, or, maybe “Death by Chocolate”…I took 4 bites and OD’d …Ale was able to go for 6 bites before going blhaaaaa on chocolate…there were still at least 3 bites left to that piece of cake!!!...and I said to her: Can you imagine if we had bought 2 pieces?...she said: Waste!

I gave Ale $6 and told her to go pay…she said: how much is it? And I said: I don’t know, we didn’t ask before we bought it…(I knew it couldn’t be more than $3 for the cake!...our total ended up $4.85)…she gave me this look…and she said: “You didn’t ASK??” …((the look was: WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!!!!????))….
Ahhh, there’s hope for us yet!

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!

Thanks to all for your friendship!

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!!

funny...my boss has been asking would-be visitors to make all their logistics arrangements through "MI, our office administrator"...LOL! didn't know I had gotten a promotion! -- my guess is that the visitors would probably feel more confident going through the Office Administrator than going through the Admin Assistant! (oh, yes, titles DO matter!)

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!