miclason's Personal Finance Blog

Total for November
Challenge statistics:
to discount from challenge this month:
$0

Earned in September: $250.00

net for January: $12.15
net for February: $318.40
net for March:$380.00
net for April: $222.00
net for May:$336.86
Net for June: $32.50
Net for July: $210.00
Net for August: $835
Net for September: $430.00
Net for October: $434.00
Net for November: $250.00
Total ytd for 2006 (net):$3,460.95

TARGET: $4,000

$539.05/ 1 month to go!...it's looking tough!...still, I really didn't expect to be able to make more than $2,000!

my needs:

2 new tires for my car ~$70.00
debt ~$3,200*
Ale's bed $140.00
New sheets/bedcover for Ale ~$40
Nanny's Xmas bonus $60.00**


*don't fret, most of this is invested in the toys and will be reimbursed to me once we collect!
**MY part, sis gives her another $60

my wants:
pay off all my debt ~$13.4K (yeah, right!)
Ale's bed ~$450(will probably compromise between the very basic bed and the super mega bedroom set!)
Ale's bike $40-$75
bottle of parfum for me $50 (so NOT going to happen! I have about 100 better uses for $50!)
new bedcover for me! (I have 4, the newest one is 5 years old...definetely NOT a need!)
new towels (mine seem to have disappeared! all I ever find are Ale's!-- must ask nanny, she probably put them away someplace that seems 100% logical to her, but that wouldn't ever occur to me!)
[color=blue] new book for me this one WILL probably be my Xmas gift! yay!)
A book called la Economia explicada a mis hijos, for Ale...again, this one will be a Xmas gift)

A new cellphone (mine is ok...I just want a +gasp+ nicer one! all the ads are getting to me!, don't worry, I can beat this!)
stackable organizing bins - for Ale's toys in my room!...and also for our "work/play area" at home (a section of the living room divided off by a huge bookcase!)
new computer-- another thing that will have to wait...at least ours is back from the dead!

Not too bad...I can live with it! (or, rather, without it!)

got paid $50 today...this is still paying for admin services for July!

we were supposed to have a "working lunch" to discuss the new fundraising for the community development thing, so I didn't bring lunch from home, but the managers got stuck in a meeting and, couldn't make it so the lunch got rescheduled! (the meeting was supposed to end at 11, and our lunch would run from 12 to 1...their meeting lasted until 1!)

Hate it!>..note to self: bring food from home even if there is a working lunch scheduled!

we were discussing the potential earnings for the season and, at one point she mentioned she had "needs" and some "wants" she wanted to cover with these...she mentioned she "needs" to repaint her house...she later admitted this is not really a "need", but a "want"...but mentioned she will most certainly do it because all she needs is $25 for the paint...she also said she "wants" to upgrade her computer's memory....but that "needs" come first...at this point I told her: Please tell me paying me is a "need" and not a "want" for this season...
She agreed and, has said she will pay me $500-$600 in December and the rest from the January school supply sale...

Hopefully, she'll stick to her committment...I really do hope she pays me the $600 in December...that would at least cover the remaining $400 that are still unpaid, so that would make a +$100 difference in my budget! ....since I've already paid for the rest, whatever else she gives me (above the $400) go towards debt...it's a plan!

Sarah asked about living costs in El Salvador....so here it is!

This is a Salvadoran Colon...it is the national currency, but it was phased out when we went to the Dollar in 2001. 1 USD = 8.75 SVC


Minimum salary has just been increased from $ 5.28 per day to $ 5.81 per day (yes, that is not a typo, it’s $5.81 PER DAY or about $175/month! – pretax!), -- this means my salary is about 4.8 times a minimum salary…We pay nanny $175, no discounts….the other maids in the neighborhood hate her because she only works Mon-Fri, from 9am until I come home from work, and gets holidays off! (a typical “full time” maid stays in your house, works from 6am through 8pm and, gets 1.5 days off every two weeks!...making anywhere from $100-$200/month, depending on the neighborhood!)

The textile industry minimum salary went from $5.04 per day to $5.24 per day.
Agricultural worker’s minimum salary went from $ 2.47 to $ 2.72. Coffee pickers were making $3.57 and now will be earning $3.93 per day.

If you earn more than $225/month, taxes are discounted monthly from your salary and paid directly by our employers to the Government – 10% to 20%, depending on your salary….I pay 20%. At the beginning of the next fiscal year, we submit our tax report to see whether we get a refund of whether we get to pay more!...as a salaried person, I can deduct up to $571/year for medical expenses and up to $571/year/family for schooling!...(if you have 1 child, you can deduct $571, if you have 10 children, you get to deduct the same $571!)...that's about all I can deduct...If you are in sales and are not given a company car, you can deduct gas and car-maintenance expenses...Different deductions apply for business owners or independent professionals, depending on their line of work...

Value Added Tax is paid on all services and/or goods, and the rate is 13%, by law, prices have to be posted including taxes (which is why I get surprised in the US when the total amount to be paid is always higher than what I have calculated...I always forget to add the tax!)

We speak of “collective transportation” rather than public transportation because the government gives special permits to different transport (bus) companies to operate specific routes. Inter-urban bus fare is $0.25 --payable every time you board a bus …that means if you are lucky and only need to take 1 bus to go to your job, you pay $0.50/day on transport….There is an initiative to force all buses over 25 years to be eliminated. To this effect the Government gave all bus owners very low-interest long-term credits, + $5,000 per unit delivered as “downpayment”….believe it or not, some bus owners still didn’t take advantage of it and some really old buses are still running ….the government has said it will not renew permits for such units, so, as the permits expire, bus owners are forced to change the units, relinquish the permits to other bus owners with newer units…The next phase of this project contemplates elimination of buses over 15 years ….but this is opposed at the National Assembly (mainly by some “diputados” –congressmen—who are bus owners!)….There have been many accidents in the past few years that involved old buses that were not properly serviced!...That’s why, provided you have the means to buy yourself even a small, old car, you will sacrifice to do so instead of using the buses!...gas prices are $3.04 for premium and $2.80 for regular right now….

As for housing costs, it all depends of course on the area of town in which you want to live…a small house in a lower-middle class neighborhood might cost you $75-$100 if rented and between $100-$125 if owned (monthly mortgage payments)…if you want an upper middle class neighborhood, you’ll pay anywhere between $300-$700 rent for that same house or, if you want a nicer house, $700- $1,500 rent…to buy a house in an upper-middle class neighborhood, you need a combined household income of $2,000 - $5,000 per month, and 10% of the house’s price as a downpayment…

We rent in an upper middle class neighborhood…the smaller houses in the area, and we pay $315/month between my sister and I….there are real mansions in our area, too, going for $1,200 a month –rent….we live near the American Embassy and the newest shopping malls….we could afford a larger house in another neighborhood, but, living near the American Embassy means security is VERY good!...and we are willing to pay for it!...

Houses in ES do NOT have warm water as a “standard” feature…nor clothes washers and dryers…dishwashers are almost unheard of….but, then, almost anyone has a maid….coming at least a few times a week… in houses where there are no clothes washers, the maids do the laundry by hand….so every house has a “lavadero”, or a place to wash!...(we use it to wash mops, and to bathe Fiona, mostly!)…we do have a clothes washer at home…my family has had one for as long as I can remember…(my mother’s family was wealthy, but in typical fashion, 1 generation made the money, the next one managed to keep it and the third one –my mom and her siblings—managed to spend it all!)…. I was surprised the other day to learn that the most common fuel used in El Salvador was still wood…but, thinking about the composition of the population, it makes sense….people in rural areas still use wood stoves and most have no electricity or water in their houses…Even in the cities, you’ll find places with little or no access to water…

Public schools in ES are for the very poor…anyone making 2 minimum salaries or more will try to pay for a private school for their children, or at least a parochial school….costs for education can go anywhere from $15/month to $600/month for Kindergarten (think parochial school vs the poshest bilingual school!)….The poorest public schools don’t even have bathrooms, or even chairs and tables for the children… Sis sent her children to a school that does not offer the best education, but offers you the best possible “connections” outside the bilingual school circle and paid $125/month for her daughter….I chose to send Ale to a bilingual school, I still don’t know how good the overall education is, but their English program is VERY good and am paying $137/month….figure it’s worth it if I don’t have to pay any additional English lessons!... My unit at work has chosen to sponsor a public school as our community development program…we raised money to replace the roof (children had to move their desks around during rainy season so as to sit in dry spots and not under leaks!!) and fix the bathrooms…we also repainted the classrooms…we are also teaching English to the top 5 students in the 8th and 9th grades and, have decided to start a scholarship program for the top 2 students in the 9th grade, so they can continue with their high school studies… The school principal is very active and has managed to get a computer center built and furnished, as well as equipped through the Ministry of Education and other private institutions…so the outlook for our little school is good….If you want to learn more about it go to: http://tacasdg.blankenstein.info

If we talk about groceries, the cost varies depending on where you buy (market vs supermarket), but, eggs are $2.75 a carton of 30, beans are $0.57/lb, rice is .40/lb, a loaf of bread is $1.27, tomatoes are $0.67/lb….these are supermarket prices, you might be able to find slightly lower prices at the market…I buy most of my groceries at the supermarket and go to the market only for the veggies, fruit and fresh cheese…chicken is cheaper at the market, but, it sits on an un-refrigerated counter most of the day (they only put it in the fridge for storing during the night), so I’d rather not risk it….likewise with the meat!...Meat at the supermarket is about $2-$3 per lb, depending on the meat you buy, chicken is about $1.70-$2/lb and fish is $4.40/lb…a 400gm bag of powdered milk costs $2.32…a lb of ham is $2.74-$4, depending on the ham you like… a can of soda is $0.40…shampoo is about $2.35- $6.00, again, depending on the brand…a 1.5Kg of detergent is $2.60-$5.00—local brands…a gallon of water is $0.63, but, if you buy the 5 gallon bottle you pay only $1.25-$1.60… a lb of unrefined iodized salt is $0.07... combined expenses for groceries, including toiletries and cleaning supplies for our house is about $340/month (we are working on it!)…As you can imagine, most Salvadorans do not eat much beef or fish (except for coastal towns or villages near lakes and rivers!)….and for some even chicken is a luxury!... We are meat eaters at our house...

We pay about $10 for water (there is a subsidy if you spend less than X of m2 per month), and about $40 for electricity…. We also pay $9/month on municipal taxes (includes garbage disposal and a “sweeper” – there’s a nice old man and a younger woman in our neighborhood, that come to sweep the streets 3x a week!)…technically, we don’t live in San Salvador, but in Antiguo Cuscatlan…the mayoress has been elected for 7 successive periods or something like that….Antiguo Cuscatlan is the wealthiest municipality in the country…In contrast, a friend who lives in San Salvador (in one of the poshest neighborhoods, too!) says she pays about $23/month in municipal taxes and the garbage collector comes only 1 a week….and she has to sweep her own street!....

Telephone service is billed as follows: you pay a flat rate of $9.82 just to have a line, and that includes 100 “free” local minutes….any additional use is charged according to where you are calling….our typical phone bill is about $30/month….and we do not make international phone calls!...we are working on this, too…but we have a teenager in the house!...You can get a cellphone for about $29 (currently there's a special, you can get a Sagem for $15!) and depending on the company, you pay anywhere from $0.10-$0.25 per minute...a lot of people in ES own cellphones...even some of the people that sell at the marketplace own cellphones!...you don't pay for incoming calls, just for outgoing ones!...I have managed to maintain an average expense of $12/month for cellphone use this year!

We pay $30/month for internet service…if we wanted to add cable TV we would pay about $16 more per month….cost/benefit ratio says it would be ridiculous to do this!...sis, niece and myself have about 2 hours max time to watch TV everyday…so Ale would be the only one with enough time to watch tv and really take advantage of it....since I am more than happy that Ale doesn’t really like watching TV all that much….makes no sense to pay for cable….especially not with our current financial situation!

Interest on personal loans is anywhere between 7-13%/year, depending on your credit history and, most banks will require a co-signor (unless you get paid via direct deposit at the bank from which you borrow!)...credit cards charge anywhere between 25-47%/year interest...savings accounts pay about 2-3% per year (my company coop pays 4%!)...

...so far, at least...I can tell you this...my budget is pure fiction!!!!...it has nothing to do with what REALLY happens to my $$$...

I'm trying to do better for the last months of 2006 and, hopefully, can apply all that hard-earned knowledge into my budget vs reality for 2007...I mean, with my current level of debt/income/expenses, I would need to make $1,300 per month, after taxes to break even....(I'm currently making about $1,100 PRE tax...and that is taking into account additional income sources, like translations, admin services, English lessons, sales...)

The plan at this point is to pay off as much debt as possible during this toy sale season and, then apply whatever earnings from the school supply sale in early January to debt as well...that should help, but, I still wouldn't be too "healthy", financially speaking...

Still, it seems like I'm going to be in a better place, financially, as I was this year....

I was just checking and the amount of money I have used (expenses/debt) vs the amount I've earned (net) from my salary for these past 7 months is $426 higher than my $20 challenge....which makes sense, as this could be the tax return + the vacation bonus...I didn't really track income this year....(but have included it into my spreadsheet for 2007!)

still searching for this one...however, there's a new development...since my cousin needs to buy a new bed for her spare bedroom (to rent it out), then we will go together and try to get a special discount because: "We are buying 2!"...can't hurt to try!...

got paid $40 on Sunday and another $40 yesterday...

Slowl but steady progress!...they want them ready by end of day today...((sigh))

we are having a cold wave and it's COLD in San Salvador....this means temperatures are about 12 degrees (C)....and, YES, we consider that COLD...freezing, almost!!....

Now, I DID buy her a perfect sweater, navy blue, to wear with her uniform....she wore it to school ONCE and doesn't know where she left it...I've checked at both schools...not there....I've checked with the transport lady...not there...so, I let her wear her purple sweater with ponies on it two days ago....GONE!...she doesn't know where she left it...If I were my father, I'd let her go without a sweater so she learns to take better care of her things...I probably would do it, except that she'd get sick and then I'd feel guilty!

And, in case you are wondering, it IS difficult to find sweaters in San Salvador...(seeing that we normally don't need them, few stores carry them...generally European or American franchises...like Benett0n, Zara or Mimo...which means they are EXPENSIVE!!!)...

I've commissioned my cousin to try to find a "generic" one downtown!...

I just received a request for a 27-page translation from HR!!!...that's $364.50 after taxes!!!...wooo-hooo!!! (of course, they take about a month to pay, but....still!!)

so...I wanted to finish with the final surveys today, but work got in the way! ... I learned that my boss will be away for 2 weeks, which meant that I had to input ALL outstanding travel reports so he can authorize them before he leaves (else they'll sit there for 2 weeks!)...I got a special request from him to "drop everything" and do a last-minute translation....luckily, although the presentation he sent was 21 slides, a lot of those were 1-sentence slides!

... I'm back on "feedback form" duty already!!....hope to finish this tonight and then start with the "module feedback forms" tomorrow...there's about 960 of those! ((sigh))

ugh! still no water at our neighborhood!... I swear, you really don't appreciate what a blessing it is to have running water until you lose it!...Thankfully, we are scheduled to get ours back today, but, I cannot help to think of all those families that do NOT have access...During the war, because of the guerilla blowing up towers our electricity was rationed and, we had to do without for 8 hours...it wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't meant that, somewhere across the city, the water pumps were ALSO left without power, so we were left without water for 8 hours each day!...since the schedules were rotating, there was a time when the water arrived at 1am!...we had set out alarm clocks to wake up at that time and do laundry, wash dishes and fill barrels!

I've already processed 11 feedback forms!!! ...out of 1,000!!!...

In my defense, these are the final surveys, which take a lot longer to process, because they include comments, and those have to be typed (the forms are NOT submitted electronically!)...and the handwriting has to be "interpreted"....and that requires me to be able to read hyeroglyphics (sp?)...

The module feedbacks forms also have spaces for comments, but few people bother with them!...((sigh))

She asked me last week if she could join the "Art club" at school...I told her to find out: 1. when they meet, 2. what time they're done and 3. how much it costs....she did!...they meet on Mondays, from 3-4pm (right after school ends) and it costs $20/month....
So...I told her if she REALLY wants to join, then we would have to give up going out to "places that cost money" on the weekends...she started crying and said: but, Mom, I want the art classes AND going out to places...so, we finally reached an agreement...we will still go out, but will minimize our spending (a specific example: if we go to the movies, we WON'T buy popcorn, soda and/or candy anymore!, and we will always go to the matinee, which is cheaper)....she also agreed to having her weekly allowance reduced from $2 to $1... This will free me $5-$7/month from the enterntainment budget, and $3-$5 from the allowance budget, so I still have to find $8-$12....

I guess she REALLY wants to join the Art Club!....I need to contact the school secretary tomorrow to verify Ale's info, though!

...they are fixing a main feed pipe in our neighborhood, so we have had no running water since Saturday! (still, we are the lucky ones, other parts of the neighborhood haven't had any water since Friday morning!)...work is expected to be finished today...((crossing my fingers))...I had to go to a friend's house to take a shower yesterday!...most of my clothes are in the hamper and, the sink in the kitchen is overflowing with dirty dishes (from Friday night and Saturday morning, when we still didn't know that we wouldn't have water!)... yuck!...luckily we still have the habit (acquired during the war years!) of keeping barrels of water in the house, so at least we have been able to flush toilets!!!

I have over 1,000 new feedback forms...plus leftover handouts that need to be shredded,...invoices that need to be paid and new travel expenses to be processed plus some non-disclosure agreements that need to be signed.... all these arrived TODAY!!!....

((sigh)) ....at least the cocktail party turned out well!!....

I still have to pack the leftovers tonight and return the trays to our supplier tomorrow...

And I'm still missing 3 training boxes...which means more feedback forms, more feedback forms, more documents for the shredder, 3 projectors, 1 video camera, 1 tripod and some toys to be put away on Monday...on top of my regular tasks and taking the company car to (finally!) get the new license plate!...

Oh, and my boss wants me to translate a document and then do the voice over for a video based on that text! ...

I better stop here or I'll have a meltdown!

The original plan had the presentations lasting until 5:30...this was changed (and noone bothered to tell me)...they are now scheduled to end at 5:00... the food has not arrived...the waiters have not arrived.... I do have plates, glasses, cups and drinks, though....

...H
......E
........L
..........P
............!

1. Nobody knows exactly when or where I was born (sometime in early to mid July ’69, somewhere between ES and Honduras….my biological parents were fleeing the war!)
2. I have struggled with self-esteem/body-image issues my whole life, and used to think of myself as very ugly….with all the work I’ve done, now I think of myself as either plain or cute, depending on how bad/well I feel that day….still working on it, though!...
3. I’m smart and warm and caring…and I keep telling myself this is what really matters…
4. A lot of people tell me they admire me, and that always takes me by surprise
5. Sibling rivalry is terrible at my house: sis got the looks, I got the brains, and our parents always pointed this out, so whenever someone praises her on looking younger than me, or praises me on understanding things faster, you can feel the tension in the air! –we do love each other, though!
6. My appendix was removed when I was 2 ½ years old
7. I have difficulty telling left from right…I quit trying to understand North and South a loooong time ago! (I’m ok with East and West, though!  )
8. I get disoriented very easily, and frequently get lost in my own city….even when in “familiar” places…and it’s terrifying!
9. I was never good with numbers, but always had an affinity for languages
10. I speak 3 languages: Spanish, English and German
11. I use English more than Spanish in my day-to-day interactions, even though I live in a Spanish-speaking country
12. I’ve never been outside of my country for longer than 2 weeks
13. I married at age 22, separated 6 ½ years later and divorced 1 year after that
14. Ex-hubby was the one asking for a divorce: he’s gay
15. My pregnancy was unplanned and it came at a very difficult time in my life, yet my daughter is the most wonderful gift ever!
16. DD is not ex-hubby’s child
17. The hardest thing about being a single mom is explaining to Ale why her father doesn’t come to see her or call her or even write to her! (I’ve tried to keep things as “friendly” as possible between us and, even send him an email regarding Ale once in a while…1 time out of 3 he doesn’t even bother acknowledging receipt of those…once in a while he will answer emails….mostly with apologies for not having stayed in touch and not sending money)
18. I love reading and read at least 1 book/week
19. I love Latin American Literature
20. My favorite book is 100 Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
21. My maternal grandparents were listed in a ES sociology book as being part of the “oligarchy” of the country
22. I’m terrified of bugs…excepting beetles
23. I’m terrified of bats, and the sound of flapping makes me shudder
24. I’m extremely ticklish…you can make me scream without touching me just by saying “tickle” and doing tickling motions with your fingers in the air…having my hair washed or blow-dried at the beauty parlor is torture!
25. I’m very impatient – I like things done NOW, else I stress out…
26. I have nightmares if I sleep on my back
27. I’m a chocoholic

you get to find out what you left out and get a very good idea of why you are in such bad shape financially!....
I mean, it's good, it's an eyeopener, but...this year I had my "plan" spreadsheet to control my debt and my "expenses" spreadsheet to track variable expenses....next year I'll have a "budget" file where these two come together....and adding the fixed expenses as well....OUCH!...2007 is starting to look scary!!!

$20 collected for admin services...

just to bring my debt to the same level it was last year! ugh!...doable, but not easy...I can count on $600 from my Xmas bonus (which should be around $763 this year, but from there I pay Nanny's Xmas bonus and my share of Xmas dinner!)... I don't think there'll be more than $800 for the toys, so my only hopes are: 1) get cousin to pay for the full phone bill, 2) try to collect as much as possible from the money owed me for services and 3) find some translations!!!...

I DO know that the school supplies should bring in about $1,000 but, that will be in January....and, I have other uses for that (Ale's school enrollment fee, uniforms and books for Fall 2007 + Ale's bed!)...

translations, anyone??

I'm still tweaking it to make it "perfect"....only, this time I have an additional challenge...I want it to be simple enough so that my sister can use it...(she's "technologically challenged"...the most she can do in Excel is the autosum thing....) so I'm "cleaning" a lot of things that I generally "fix as I go"... so far, it's just an "expense tracking" tool....but, I want to work in income so that we can really use it to budget...it's nothing fancy, and I'm sure I'll have it ready by mid-December....

I guess the most difficult part will be to get sis to use it...(still sticking her head in the sand at times!...not sure she'll want to look at her finances in SUCH detail!)

I think. It was just your basic fact-finding placement agency interview: education, experience, family situation (yes, they DO ask about that here!), how much $$ are you making, how much would it take for you to change jobs...seemed to go well...it was all in Spanish, so I imagine maybe the interviewer doesn't speak English and maybe I'll get interviewed in English later on (IF I make it to the next interview)...I was honest with her and told her that I would not consider changing jobs for less than $1,500 per month (this is about 60% more than what I'm making right now) because, once you apply taxes, less than that is not worth leaving what I already have (up to $1,000 I get about $10 more after taxes each month!)...so, we'll see...

I got called today for a job interview at a job agency...this is in relation to a cv that I sent back in January!!!...

I was looking at my debt level and, realized that it's $2,400 higher than at the beginning of January...(it's the car and the infamous phone bill!)

....if I took my level of debt in Jan (11K) and added the car ($3.6K) and the infamous phone bill (1K)....= 15.6K....substract my current level of debt: 13.4K (includes car and phone bill!)....that means I have paid off about $2,200 ....since my $20 challenge has been $3,200....that means I have either paid off $1,000 in interest or, I have paid part of $1,000 in interest and have spent the rest!! -- don't know which one is worst!...

((sigh)) I guess what this means is that I will most probably NOT comply with my goal of starting Jan 07 with only $7K in debt...but, at this point I'd settle for bringing it back to the $11K with which I started Jan 06! -- wish me luck!

we went to one of our suppliers downtown and, Ale wanted some ponies...they had "bagfuls" of ponies...(6 to a bag)...Ale asked and got told they were "$2 for half a dozen, $3.90 for a dozen"...I gave in and bought her "a bagful" of ponies (6)...mostly because I just had a meeting with her teacher and, turns out she made the honor roll...what is wonderful is, she didn't have the slightest idea that she did or even what it was! LOL!...the report even said: She sets a good example for others...
So, we bought the 6 ponies and brought them home...while grooming them, we noticed one of the hooves in each ponie was hollow...that got me thinking, so I checked the other ones and, sure enough, there was the brand name!...so, it turns out these are My*Little*Pony* ponies..."seconds" most probably, which is why they don't have the signature magnet in the hoof and, why they sell for $0.33 at a warehouse in downtown S.S. without a pretty box...
I have spent most of my weekend brushing the ponies' hair, and, of course, Ale has been sleeping with 7 ponies (she found one of her old ones...) I wouldn't be surprised if I came home to 9 or 10 ponies tonight, as I know she has some more in her toy box!! ...HELP!

I swear, we SO need a new computer....but, we will have to make do with the one we have!...until I get enough $$ to buy the one for the translation business! :P A good clone will cost me between $500 - $700 so it's not an impossibility...what makes it difficult is that I want to pay cash for it!... we'll see how we do with the toy sale this December and with the school supply sale next year! (because, debt comes first, Ale's bed second, and the computer would be next!)....all in good time!

This toy store (our regional version of Toys'r'us) has t his new special offer this year: reserve your toys now with 25% of the total purchase price and you can pay the difference in 6 installments...OR, charge the 75% difference to your cc's and these 3 local banks (Evil Card is NOT among them!) will give you 6 months to pay at 0% interest....

This is the card that arrived at my house...




To me, even considering this sounds crazy, yet I'm sure there are people "taking advantage" (or being taken advantage of?) of this offer...this is crazy...first of all, I imagine there's a minimum to even qualify....I cannot imagine that minimum being less than $100...and, I cannot imagine spending anywhere near $100 in toys! (maybe if I had 5 children...)
Still, I think it's crazy...

We went there the other day, as this is one of the stores from which we buy wholesale, and ask the manager how things were going (as we have had very few orders, and it's already "late" in the year...generally, we get most of our orders in October....)...they said things are very slow for them, too...like us, they have presented many quotes, but they've gotten very few orders...Up to a certain point, this is good news to us, since they are our "brand name" toy supplier...seems most companies are going for cheaper toys this year (they do not carry these lines) and, we do have other suppliers, so that could mean more orders for us....