miclason's Personal Finance Blog

Here´s Ale as a droplet:






and here as a Torogoz (blue-headed mot mot)




The show was truly spectacular! It was really fun!

went to order my multifocals (gulp)... they'll cost $123... great price, I think!... and I like the style... I should get them in 8-10 days...exciting!

She wanted the littlest pet shop around the world set...12 LPS!!...it costs $49.90...ouchie! BUT, I got a $25 certificate from the Hilton´s celebrity club (for making reservations)...and the day I went to get it it was on sale, so I ended up spending only $18 and cents...yay!
That´s about it, because this year she wanted to participate in 2 dances (jazz and ballet- they give you a good discount if you sign up for more than one class) and wanted to be in both dances at the Xmas pageant if possible, so I told her we could, as long as we made the additional dress part of her present. She agreed. The good thing is she gets 2 new leotards out of it (the school makes it a point to make the dresses in such a way that they can be worn as a leotard and separate pieces)... this time she´ll get a blue and yellow one,long sleeved, and a light blue one, short sleeved (she´ll be a torogoz and a drop of water...the theme is A Green Story)

I´m having my multifocal glasses done! There is foundation here where you can buy glasses really cheap (they get the frames as donations, and with the money from paying customers they can provide free glasses to people who can´t afford them). They will be coming to the office on Wednesday, and I´ve already made my appointment! (THAT explains why I´ve seen some people with several sets of glasses...they actually match them to their clothes!)

she just found out everyone else in the region got a raise back in June... she consistently outperforms everyone in the region...she is the only one that not only attains but surpasses her sales goals each quarter... SOOOOO...why didn´t SHE get a raise?? Her supervisor (and supposedly, her friend) didn´t turn in her evaluation!

Among all the things that I´m thankful for, this group holds a very special place! Thanks for all the encouragement, the help and the support you always provide!

I hope you have a happy thanksgiving with your families!

I just saw a commercial on TV... It{s the day after payday and you´re already out of money? All your money goes towardds paying debt?... then send a txt message with the word DEBT to number XXXX and get a mini-course on how to manage your money... (yep, subscribe to the service and you´ll get 2 messages per day... I couldn´t see how much each text message costs, but I know how these things work: you get charged for every message they send you.. typically, it´s between $0.5 and $1.5 per message!).... tsk, tsk, tsk...

I was cooking and sis came to chat a while and suddenly, CRACK! the overhead cabinet just came crashing down on us!

We still have good reflexes! Next thing we knew, we were holding it up to keep it from crashing to the floor (we propped it up with a piece of furniture where we keep the potatoes and onions and some other stuff) BUT, we couldn´t bring it down because one of the corners was still attached to the wall (and wouldn´t you know it, it was too high up for any of us to reach it, even standing on a chair!)... we sent Ale to get the guard (we live in a gated community) He came carrying a shotgun! (gulp!)...he unscrewed the cabinet and helped us put it down!...

Poor Ale! She was so scared! (and poor sis, she was commenting that her shoulder hurt BEFORE the accident!)

But just think, if sis and I hadn´t been chatting, the thing would have fallen on top of me, and I wouldn´t have been able to hold it just by myself!

someone shared this one on FB today, I couldn´t help myself and had to share with you!

For those of you who know pupusas, try not to faint at the fact that these are mozarella pupusas, you gotta work with what you have! LOL! (and, after all, I substitute mozarella with quesillo for my lasagnas!)

I finally got my sister to agree that we could not go on as we were... my nephew left on Sunday (she got him a room someplace nearby...I don't care, just as long as he stays out of the house)
We will look for separate houses, as she wants her son to move in with her again (naturally?) ...

anyway... I know it's probably the opposite for my sis, but I'm sleeping much better!

oh, and could you believe it, I ran into my nephew on my way to work yesterday, and he was all sweet and said: "ah, it's hard to be out of the house"... he had been "out of the house" for about 21 hours by then, so...eh, NO, I don't buy it, kiddo!

WHAT?!! Say again??
Yep, the price of a carton (30 eggs) went from $2.40 (medium eggs) to $3.25, large eggs went from $2.50 to $3.60

just.... AAAAAAARGH! This only mirrors increases in all other food stuffs, too, there goes my grocery budgeting!

Ale had to bake some brownies she promised a friend whose birthday is tomorrow. I baked some cinammon bars for a bake sale for someone at work that underwent surgery. Both look yummy. Let´s hope they tasste as good as they look!

This is the first time I´ve made something for a bake sale at work, mostly, because it seems I never have the time, or the ingredients! This time, I had both, so I figured I´d do it, even though I didn´t sign up to do it. I baked those bars as snacks for a presentation a while back, and they were a huge hit.

wish us both luck!

It sounds silly, but, after 11 years, 10 of them without cable, and with local channels being 02, 04, 06, 08, 10, 12, 19, 21, 33 and 35...well, the "0" stopped working!!!! And while, yes, I can get up to change the channels, at some point during these 11 years, Ale punched in the Power button, so you can not turn the TV on manually.

The TV works fine, so I figured getting a new remote was far cheaper than buying a new TV... we tried one of those universal remotes, but, maybe the TV is too old or something, but that one didn´t work, so I looked up the original one on line and bought it yesterday...

Of course, this means I do have to start thinking about buying a new TV... so that I may save for it and pay for it in cash...

WARNING: RANT AHEAD
****************************
First, let me start by telling you that we in ES don´t get gas supplied through our homes the way some of you do in other countries, but rather SOME of us (mostly middle class) buy gas cilinders to cook on gas stoves. Why? Because it is a LOT less expensive than an electric stove...or, perhaps I should say WAS... The gas here is heavily subsidized, as are water and electricity, and one of the first things the new government wanted to do was "make sure that the subsidy goes to those that really need it"....ok, nothing wrong with that... You might remeber that a while back I was complaining about my water and electricity bill... now it´s the gas. This, though, is a lot trickier... because you can either have the cilinder brought to your home or you can go buy it...so... how are they going to know you really "need it" (a.k.a: that you´re poor)?...so, their decision has been to eliminate the subsidy completely...the gas cilinder I buy currently costs $5.10.... this same cilinder will cost me $13.10 in the near future!...
Honestly, everyone´s joking about this right now (what else can we do? Cry about it?)..."we should go on that raw food diet"..."I want a turbo-kitchen"..."let´s go solar!"...etc... Now, it may not seem like much, and, in reality, in my house it might mean less junk food and sodas or animal protein, or other things like that...but...what does it mean to the family that makes $500 a month pre-tax? Or, even worse, to those living on minimimum salary at $200 per month pre-tax??
The truly poorer of the poor don´t even use gas, as $5.10 is already out of their reach, they use wood stoves...for the truly rich, the difference is nothing... so...guess who gets affected the most??

Ah, and in case we were thinking of switching from meat to beans, because of all the rain, the NEXT crop of beans will be low, so some distributors have decided to recoup those losses beforehand by raising the price of beans from $0.60 to $0.90 per Lb...now, what about the people that were barely making it on beans, corn tortillas and an occasional egg??

sorry, rant over!

I'm sad, mad, disappointed, enraged... and God only knows what other feelings go through me at this time... yesterday, the Maras (gangs) "decreed" a 72 hour stop on public transportation. Today, hardly a bus is running, and people have had to WALK to work... not only that, but businesses have opened late and are closing early so that people are able to get home safely... oh, and now the maras want to "negotiate" with the government (negotiate what? Our rendition?? They've already proven they are the ones with power!) AAAAAAAAAARRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

ugh! turns out we need more shirts than I thought. Ale has a couple size 10s, which SHOULD fit...SHOULD, right? the girl is 10, so, she should be a size 10... nope...they´re way to tight!

soooo.... all new shirts, both "daily" and "pe" shirts... (I wonder if I can get away with buying the size 14 ones...hmmmmmm)

That is happy news...they only do that when they feel you're not using it enough! LOL! I guess it terrified them to see that I had $1k available and figured if they increased the limit, I'd be tempted to buy something BIG! (eh, no! I don't NEED anything right now)...

All bills are paid, I have a bit over $1k available in my cc (not that I´m planning to use it, but it´s nice, for once, not to be close to the limit!)... I have enough money to pay for my lab tests and for Ale´s uniforms (she needs PE uniforms and 1 more polo shirt)

I have 2 translation paymentes pending for this week... part will be saved for Ale´s TKD uniform...and for the next ballet slippers... the rest will go to the CC... and part will be saved to help with the move (if I ever find a decent place for the money I can afford!)

I´ve been getting a strange pain in my legs whenever I spend too much time sitting down and then trying to get up... this started 2 weeks ago, and last week was a holiday (yes, the whole week), so yesterday I made an appointment for today.

The doctor says my sacroiliac may be swollen, but says it might be something else. So he prescribed some medicines to help with the swelling and some tests...

The great news is he is part of the medical network of the insurance I have through my office, so the visit costs only $3!

As a friend says, this seems like Gotham City, but there´s no Batman!!!!

Not even during the war did we see things like these!!! (yes, they did burn buses, but, they made everyone leave the bus first!)

A couple pics we took before Ale´s recital!
stage make-up!


outside of the theatre

We received this list today and were asked to circulate it!

MCC’s Current Vacancy Listing As Of 06/08/10 (for more info, you can visit www.mcc.gov

Senior Director (Fiscal Accountability), MC-0501-2d
Location: Department of Compact Implementation
Vacancy Announcement Number: MCC-10-0061-MP
NOTE: Open to Status Candidates
Open: 06/04/10 – 07/02/10

Senior Director (Fiscal Accountability), MC-0501-2d
Location: Department of Compact Implementation
Vacancy Announcement Number: MCC-10-0061-DE
NOTE: Open to All US Citizens
Open: 06/04/10 – 07/02/10

Associate Director/Director (Procurement), MC-1102-3b/3a
Location: Department of Compact Implementation/Procurement Division
Vacancy Announcement Number: MCC-10-0060-MP
NOTE: Open to Status Candidates

Open: 06/04/10 – 07/06/10
Associate Director/Director (Procurement), MC-1102-3b/3a
Location: Department of Compact Implementation/Procurement Division
Vacancy Announcement Number: MCC-10-0060-DE
NOTE: Open to All US Citizens

Open: 06/04/10 – 07/06/10
Managing Director (Administrative Services & Human Resources)
Location: Department of Administration and Finance/Administrative Services and Human Resources Division
Vacancy Announcement Number: MCC-10-0062-MP
NOTE: Open to Status Candidates

Open: 06/08/10 – Close: 06/29/10
Managing Director (Administrative Services & Human Resources)
Location: Department of Administration and Finance/ Administrative Services and Human Resources Division
Vacancy Announcement Number: MCC-10-0062-AD
NOTE: Open to All Sources This is an Administratively Determined Excepted Service Appointment
Open: 06/08/10 – Close: 06/29/10

Ale's words, not mine.
Today she earned her yellow belt in TKD and she made brownies all by herself... which turned out to be BETTER than mine!! (she added 2x the amount of cocoa required!...that's cheating! )

hit Central America hard!
Thankfully, things weren't as bad in El Salvador as in Guatemala for them, though... plus, they have a volcano that is erupting, too!

I was watching the news today and, there was another consequence that I hadn't thought about... one of the bridges at the border with Guatemala collapsed. Most of our veggies come from Guatemala,so, now veggies are more expensive (and scarce!)

I used to buy Ale new clothes every six months, in June and December of each year, but, she already outgrew all her clothes. So, if she continues to grow at this pace, I will have to do it every 4 months! OUCH!

Double-Ouch...we now have to go to the Juniors section!!!....

I took her to a place that was supposed to be an outlet, but, t-shirts were $19!!!... I then took her to another place where we bought 3 shirts and pajamas for $21! the only bad thing was we couldn´t find any bottoms there...we went to at least 3 other places, but, I think she´s all set now!

Ale and I REALLY need to get out of this house. Things have gone from bad to worse (in my view)...Don´t get me wrong, I knew things wouldn´t be easy when I accepted my nephew in the house (recovering addict). While he is no longer doing drugs (that we know of....at least, there are no noticeable signs, nor paraphernalia or anything like that) He is just completely irresponsible.

I know that that is in part because nobody (except myself) seems to have any real expectations of him... All my sister expects from him is 1. that he stays alive 2. if possible, that he doesn´t do drugs...

Besides those 2 things, I expect him to be productive, to have a job, any job or, at least help around the house and, definetely, I expect him NOT to steal stuff from the house!!!

He keeps stringing my sister along, after all, we believe what we want to believe!... He looks for a job, finds a job, keeps it for about 2 weeks to 1 month, then loses the job and goes back to looking for a job (the cycle is 3 months/ 2-4 weeks/ 3 months)...so, when he´s "looking for a job" (no doubt praying not to find one), sis doesn´t want to kick him out of the house because "he's looking, he has nothing, he'll go back to the streets and back to doing drugs" and, once he lands a job it becomes "I just want him to have at least 2 months at work so he has enough money to pay rent somplace else so that he´s not back on the streets/doing drugs"... which, of course, never happens!!!

ENOUGH! On top of everything, he eats A LOT (sometimes, when he craves drugs, instead of doing drugs, he just eats like a ravenous wolf, ok, I understand that, but... does he have to be dirty, too? Sis doesn't see it, since Ale and I are the first ones to get up in the house... I refuse to eat in filth, otherwise, I´d just leave the dining room looking like a pigsty so she could see, but, eating next to crumbs, or even chunks of "midnight snacks" just turns my stomach!)...I think the last straw was that he´s been drinking Ale´s soy milk!! (I buy the individual boxes for her to take to school, as it is more convenient. I tried using reusable containers, but, she just makes an awful mess!)...what infuriates me is that I buy a six pack, I instruct Ale NOT to touch the individual packages, and, she actually obeys me...what kind of message am I sending when all that happens when HE drinks it is that my sister goes out and buys a replacement?? Oh, yes, everyone else can get away with it, but YOU must obey! I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE that! You have no idea how mad I get!!!

Oh, sure, sis yells at him and then he acts all offended (You never TALK to me, you just YELL at me!!!!!!!"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)...

Really, I cannot take it anymore. I know it won´t be easy, but, really, between the food bill and the power bill (both my nephew and my niece leave the computer and all the lights on at all times, no matter how many times I ask/tell them not to!) I know I can afford to live in a slightly more expensive house (it will even out). It might be good for sis, too, because she won´t be paying part of the nanny´s salary anymore. Plus, it would be good for her "children" (at 25 and 21!!!) to see that she REALLY cannot afford the lifestyle they live! (No, it´s not "luxurious", but, HE doesn´t work and, SHE works, but does not contribute to the house! I suspect she is saving that money in a cojoined account with her boyfriend)

As you can see, I´ve truly HAD IT!!!....
I have about $800 and, I need about $400 more to leave. I think I can get $200 cash, but, even if I have to borrow the other $200, I´m getting out of here!

I know my sis will have a cow, and I know she´ll cry and plead, but, right now, for me to consider living together, either my nephew and niece would have to PROVE that they are no longer leeches. How? Well, he would have to keep the same job for at least 1 year and, she would have to contribute at least $50/month for a whole year, too.

I would also consider living together again if my sister kicked them out of the house and they STAYED AWAY for a whole year! (she´s kicked him out of the house at least on 3 separate occasion, he is always back within 15 days!... he comes back with crocodile tears "I can´t make it on my own, I need my family, I know I acted badly...boo-hooo...please, please take me back...I don´t want to do drugs again..." and, of course, she takes him back and we go back to that cycle described above....

SOOOO...since I can´t honestly expect my sister to kick her children out of the house just because I think that would be best (and, if she did, I know things would really be broken between us, she would never forgive me...even if she understood my reasoning, she would always resent me!)... then I need to leave...

((sigh)) Ok, rant over....
tomorrow I´ll contact a real estate agent and, I will start quoting the stuff that I might NEED (we have 2 fridges from when whe joined houses, but, we have only 1 stove and 1 washer, 1 dining room set and 1 living room set.... in very bad shape... both came from my house, originally, but, when we sold our parent´s stuff-- they lived with her-- that went towards paying things in the house, so I´ll leave her either the dining room set or the living room set...this, however, is NOT urgent...the stove or the washer are, though!)

May is a great month for quoting, because that´s the sort of thing on sale for mother's day and, the sales last the whole month...

The amount quoted above would cover 2 month´s rent at the new place, plus either the stove or the washer, as well as my part of repairs on the house we currently rent, so that, when we return it to the owner (sis cannot afford to keep this house!) it is in the same state in which we received it.

Sooooo...please wish me luck and/or send prayers and good vibes so that I find an affordable house/apartment in a safe area!

still unnamed, but, definetely a male...as per the vet...

Here he is at the vet's for his very first check up, isn´t he cute??


And, this is Fiona inspecting him when he arrived home!

Yesterday, members of 2 rival gangs had marches to protest a law that will send perpetrators of barbaric crimes to maximum security prisons... (yep, they torture, kill and dismember their victims, but think it's not fair to be sent to maximum security prisons?)...
I do understand that part of the issue is they are not allowed contact with their families and, that, I understand... but, really, here in ES, most extorsion cases are run from inside "normal" prisons, so...

I´m listening to niece and sis having a big fight....
On the 18th, sis gave nice $383 and asked her to go the the bank and pay sis' loan... The money was in an envelop with sis name and loan # on it...She also gave her the cc account statement and money to pay for that...

Niece says she thought the envelope was bulky and awkward, so she took the cash out and cut out sis´lone #...


Sis got a call yesterday from the bank inquiring about the missing payment...

According to niece, while she was at the bank she had also requested a loan # from her workplace, because her supervisor had asked her to get him the loan # (it sounds very fishy to me!, but, stranger things have happened).... She then went to the teller to pay for sis' loan and inadvertedly gave him the wrong piece of paper... she claims she just picked up the receipt and left without checking it because she was in a hurry to get to the other bank to pay for sis' cc before closing time at 4pm

sis is histerical (and, with just reason) as there was no need for niece to be in a hurry, since sis gave her the stuff at 9am....(did I mention both banks are within 8 blocks of our house?)....

Niece says she already spoke to her supervisor and they will give her the money tomorrow night, so she will go pay for sis' loan on Friday....

she doesn't think that is too big a deal...it´s just a week! and It's not like she lost or spent the money!....

I do hope she's telling the truth, though, and that it doesn't turn out that she lent the cash to her loser boyfriend...because, then, the odds of getting that money back are really slim!!!

Sis just came in to ask if I had an aspirin!! can't blame her!!