miclason's Personal Finance Blog

...my cousin's son (D), he of the phone calls, walks in last night and tells my cousin (M):

D: Mom, I have been thinking, and, I will get a credit card for myself....(remember the kid is 16, has just quit school after failing 9th grade for the 2nd time and is not working--nor willing to work!)

M: oh, really? ...and just how do you think you're going to do that?

D: I know I can do that, mom. What do you think my credit card limit will be? $1,000? 2,000? (I have a limit of $2,000 after 10 years of having a credit story -- which used to be very good -- and with a salary of $1,200/month!!-- which is what I used to make at the old job!)

M:...er, IF you were working and making at least minimum wage, you'd be lucky if you got $200-$300....and then, remember, if you spend that on one day, that's it, you cannot use the card anymore until you pay that...

D: pay??...you mean you have to pay it back???

M: of course you do, what'd you think, that a cc was free money??

D: er...yes.

M: well, it's not. And, actually, you don't only pay back what you used, but you have to pay interest on it, which means that, depending on how long you take to pay it, you may end up paying up to twice as much as you used, if not more.

D: really?? blood-sucking vampires! Thieves!

M: yes, that's the way it works, and that is why your aunt gets so mad that she has to pay for YOUR phone bill instead of paying her CC.

D:...hmmm...well, I'll get a cc for myself anyway.

The word CLUELESS comes to mind!

Got paid another $100! woo-hoo!...
sadly, this will not go towards debt, but rather into Ale's school...foolish spending + unexpected expenses (going to the all-inclusive place + changing the lock to our main entrance!) really took a toll! ...oh, well, the "old me" would have charged it! (or, even worse, taken a cash advance from the cc to pay for the school! )

Ale showed me an ad for an aquapark today...she showed it to me mainly because the entrance fees are: adults $4, children $2 and parking $1....so she thought this was very cheap (it is!) and we could go there...she also asked me if this is farther away or closer than the hotel we went to last time (all-inclusive resort for the weekend...didn't have to pay for my room because we had reserved it for a training attendee that cancelled at the last possible moment...we would have been charged for the room anyway, so we decided to use it!)...the aqua-park is closer...so, Ale wants to go and she already figured out it's a lot less money and a lot less fuel to get there...but I'm not sure I want to go ...mainly because it's so cheap, that "everyone" can go....am I being snobbish??

Total for September
Challenge statistics:
to discount from challenge this month:
-$20.00

Earned in September: $450.00

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
Total ytd for 2006 (net):$2,776.95

TARGET: $4,000

$1,223.05/ 3 months to go!

we were doing numbers with my cousin last night, about how much we would need to invest if this big company decided they want to buy their toys from us....we need about $2,000....because we figure their total purchase is going to be about $8,000....and our cost is about $6,000....it's customary to ask for 50% advance payment, so they would give us $4,000...where do we get the other $2,000?...if we are lucky, the other company (which is submitting their purchase order this week) will pay us in full BEFORE this one submits their purchase order (because then we could use THAT money)...this bigger company would give us the other 50% upon delivery of the toys...

We'll see....

my cousin is at a meeting with one of the largest factories in the country, to show them a sampler of toys ....yes, they buy the cheaper ones, but, its VOLUME! (we are talking about 2,000-3,000 toys here!)

Please send good business vibes so they choose to buy from us!

...yesterday night, my niece came back from her father's and, was sooooo excited about her prom dress and shoes...when my sis went to put her to bed (yes, she's 17, but my niece still insists her mom tuck her in!)...anyway, my sis took the cellphone off the bed and put it on the dresser...this morning, it was gone!...the house is secure now, with the new locks, so the only likely suspects are: sis, niece, Ale, the dog, myself and nephew...
Soooo...sis kicked him out of the house...now she's crying at home, because she's afraid of what might become of him....I feel for her, but, as I told her: it's HIS choice, and there really isn't anything she can do to help him...he didn't even admit to it, said he's tired of people always pointing their fingers his way whenever things get lost around the house!...we'll see what happens!

Yesterday I was having a conversation with my nephew about how we all need to have some sort of productive activity...whether you HAVE to work or whether you have enough money to afford not to -- in our case, we don't have enough to afford not to, obviously! -- you must have a productive activity to feel good about yourself...

In our home, my sis and I work outside the home, she's in sales, I'm an admin...the girls study (my niece also is captain of the cheerleading squad at school, and is the equivalent of the class president -- her school doesn't do "class president"-- organizing all events that the class is required to do to help the school, organizing social events for the class, speaking to the principal and the school board on behalf of the class)...Ale has her swim lessons and would like to do other stuff, as well...
So, I asked him, what do You do? ...what is your contribution??...if you aren't working or studying, you should either be looking for a way to finish your studies (he only got as far as 9th grade) or looking for a job OR helping around the house (the fact that we have Nanny and she does the housework doesn't mean he couldn't help!, he could be fixing small things around the house, for example, or watering the plants!...but, SOMETHING!)...I'm really mad and disappointed in him right now, because his response was: I'm getting called for a job between the 4th and the 12th and, I was going to go to the Minstry of Education to see about the studies, but Mom said that S (a friend of the family) had offered to go with me and he hasn't said anything more about going....HELLO!!! WHO should be the one saying: I want to go tomorrow, can you come with me???....ugh!

sorry, just a rant... I needed to vent! (I did tell my sister, though!)

WOO-HOO! For the first time since they established the new system (payment requests can ONLY be submitted on Mondays, from 1pm to 5pm), I submitted my requests before 5!!!....woo-hoo!

since there are a lot of us that are carrying around a few (or more than a few!) extra pounds, we are going to play Biggest Loser at the office...
the rules are: $30 to get in. You recover half your money if you lose 8% of your total body weight...the other $15 stay on until Dec 15, when we see who the Biggest Loser is(percentage-wise) and, s/he gets the pot!!
...someone asked what happens if none of us loses the 8%...we really hadn't thought about that! (at least, it means we are all being very positive about this!) ...someone jokingly said if none of us reaches the 8%, then we'll use the money to pay for a pizza party! LOL!

So....I re-started my diet today, am NOT drinking sodas at work and, will go out to walk again tomorrow!

Starting weight (after breakfast, clothes on, but no shoes) is: 140 Lbs....

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKK!!!!

Ugh! September wasn’t much better than August!

the only categories where I was at or below budget were:

ENTERTAINMENT
CELLPHONE
OTHER
CAR

That leaves me overbudget in

GROCERIES
SCHOOL
CLOTHES
EVENTS
LUNCH


(no excuses, just plain stupidity!)

so, for September, the result is 4/9
The great news is that, OVERALL, I was on budget this time!!

Hoping to have better results for 061101!

((remember this covers variable expenses only))

I'm barely conscious...I just finished my business plan...and I'm not too sure the last 3 sentences I wrote made any sense...anyway, we have a final final final review tomorrow night, so I might have to work on it again, but, at least it's 98% finished...all it needs is touch ups and then it goes for the "official" review and comes back to be re-written, er, corrected and submitted to the judges...

wish me luck!

Woo-hoo! we have our first order for toys this year!!...it's for 78 toys...our profit should be ~$350 (each) ...

I could put this toward my $20 challenge, but that would be cheating in a way...because this is something we do every year....(it IS, however, going towards debt!)

1. keep better track of my spending- September was BAD for expense tracking…the good news is, October offers me a new opportunity!

4. continue to lower my overall debt - I started Jan 05 with ~$17K (out of which ~$4K were for a loan and the rest -~$13K!-pure cc debt) and, am starting Jan 06 with $~11K (with ~$8K for a loan and ~$3K in cc debt)... expect to be able to end Dec '06 with ~$7K, which I expect to be purely for the loan... to come partly from the English classes/$20 challenge. ...current situation is: $13.9K total: ~$8.1K (refinanced) loan, ~$2.8K car loan, ~$863 personal loan, $1.6K other personal loan… Phone bill is $500...a work in progress...another one that won’t get taken off the list!

5. Help Ale find a way to earn those $3 she's missing to open her account with HER OWN money...didn´t open the piggy bank in Sept…will probably wait until it´s full…she lost another tooth…but, since she LOST the tooth at school (and couldn’t find it!) Raton Perez only left her $0.50 –as a consolation prize!

...there were enough leftovers that we know no-one went hungry...but few enough that there really was no waste! (4 mushrooms, 2 pieces of chicken pate sandwiches and about 5 cherry tomato & mozzarella sticks)...1/8 bottle of whisky, 6 diet cokes, 6 sprites, 8 regular cokes, 6 mineral waters, 1 bottle of red wine and 2 of white wine (all the liquor got put away for the next event/party, so there's no waste!)...everyone liked the food that I chose (someone said: it was the perfect choice and well-balanced)...so, I'm happy about this now...
NEXT!

ANOTHER $20 are missing from my purse...since we installed the lock and, since I had it yesterday night at 9:30pm when I undressed and, since I don't have it now at work, it HAS to be someone from home...there is only 1 likely suspect (despite his claiming it might have been the nanny...#1, Nanny has been with us for 7 years and NOT A CENT has ever been missing...she does put things away in places you'd never think logical, but, nothing has ever been missing...#2, yesterday, when I arrived, nanny was gone already and today, when I left, she hadn't arrived yet...so, that theory is total BS... worst thing is, I just called the house and I could hear him yelling at the nanny....THAT I will not have...I already phoned my sister...she's taking care of it right now ...I just hope nanny doesn't take the "maid way" and just decide to not show up anymore!)...so, so sad....

I really hadn't even thought about this until this morning, but, now that we are actively working on it and things are actually falling into place, the anxiety level seems to be going down....
gotta go see the rental people, who just arrive with the plates and glasses!

I've been feeling kind of "off" lately...like something isn't clicking, or something is missing...(kind of like when you didn't do your homework, or when you didn't study for a test, or the night before a big date...)...I don't know what is causing it...at first I thought it was just anxiety from the things that have been happening at home, and that changing the locks would make it go away (I feel much safer, though! so that's good)...but, that wasn't really it...right now I'm blaming it on my unfinished business plan (we have agreed to the changes to be made with my counselor and, he will come to my house on Saturday and we will work on it until it's finished...)...it might also be that I feel lonely...(recurrent feeling...it comes and goes...) ...or, it might be that I'm late with the rent (this hasn't happened in a long time, so "reliving" the bad days might be it...)
Anyway, I'm feeling weird...of course, the added stress from NOT knowing what it is is not helping!

today is the last day to turn in our business plans to our counselors, so they in turn can give them to the organizations involved for review...this is just to see what progress we've made...then we have until Oct 16, at noon, to turn in the corrected/complete plan for judging...

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed, I must confess...

unfortunately, it'll take $60 to pay for the new lock installed in our house (weird stuff has been going on!)

I got paid $100... I went out of the city this weekend and paid $10 for gas, and $2 for beverages at the gas station...upon my return we ordered a pizza and I paid $8.99....today I gave Ale her $2...but, I only got $57.01 in my purse...meaning $20 are "missing"!...My nephew hasn't had any access to my bag (nobody really has...except at the hotel where we stayed on Saturday, since we were at the pool all day!...)...hmmmm, will have to check my room tonight to see if the bill turns up....(it was all $20's originally, and, I DO have all the "change": 2 X $1, 1X $5 and 1X $10, so I'm missing a $20 bill!)...weird, weird...

much-needed money coming in! $100 more for my $20 challenge...

Have separated $20 for our long weekend and, the rest has to go towards debt!

Made my first payment for boss #2 for the 5% loan...yay!

Some day, I'll REALLY be debt-free!

well, today we finally got to meet our counselors!...the good news is, since this was delayed for almost 2 weeks, all other dates get "shifted" accordingly, too!...which means I need to submit my preliminary plan by Oct 1st, as opposed to Sept 19th (yay! that means I get to work on it during the week of 23-28, when my "kids" are away at training!!)

I liked my counselor, so that is another plus!

Well, last year I was also getting over Ale's sickness (financially)...seems to be another cycle, that she gets sick about August or thereabouts...should keep my eyes/ears open to try to find out what happens!....

I was dreaming of paid-out cc's (now a reality!...I'm not debt-free, but it's loans now, not cc's, so, in a sense, it's "better!)...

I was looking for a job that paid more....still at the same place, earning the same money...

all in all, I'd say September 2005-2006 seems "even"...if anything, I'd say I'm in a parallel place, only "higher" than it was before!

$100 collected on 060909
$100 collected on 060912

This goes to my $20 challenge for Sept.

Well, last week she had the pizza lunch ($2, so no snacks all week!) and, this week, she bought a beef stew lunch (says she ate her lunch but was still hungry... ??? MY Ale, still hungry???...this is a miracle!)...

We also had a talk about healthy snacks vs what is available at school, and she promised she'll try to opt for the juices, fruits and cookies instead of cheese puffs and candy....she prefers juice to soda anyway (I must have done something right!)

But, today she complained that she hasn't put any money in her piggy bank lately....so, I told her that's because she has been spending the full $2 instead of saving!...

by "our" I mean mine and my cousin's...our catalogue CD is ready, packed and the presentation letter is finished...that means we (or, rather, she) start distribution today! ...we made a list of 25 companies to which we are going to send the CD's ...of those, 5 are customers from last year...so, our goal is to have at least 5 new customer this year!...

Once those are distributed, we are going to once more approach the principal of the school where we sold supplies last January, to see if we can do it again next year...we wouldn't have to buy much, as we have so much left over from last year...just some glitter glues, foamy and felt...

wish us luck! as this could be my "$254/month" difference for next year!

oh, yeah! Capital "D"....here's Ale in her volcaneña dress...

Typical pose to show off this dress


She definetely still doesn't know how to hold it

Feeling pretty

the nanny washed Ale's white tennis shoes yesterday, and set them to dry on top of one of the beams in the laundry room...Needless to say, today I almost went crazy looking for the shoes (she is not allowed to come to school unless in "full" uniform, these are the only white tennis shoes she has...so, it was either find the shoes or stay home for her!)...I turned the house upside down and, in the process, saw A LOT of opportunity for decluttering - a bunch of size 11 and 12 shoes, for example, when Ale is already wearing shoes 2 sizes bigger than that!....so, this coming weekend (long weekend due Independence day!) Ale and I are going to try to declutter the house a bit!

(oh, and the shoes were still WET! I had to put them in the OVEN!!! -- we don't have a dryer...)

...it's September, this month we commemorate our independence from Spain (Central America on the 15th, Mexico on the 16th)...so, today, the K4, K5 and Prepa students are having a "typical breakfast" at school...I was asked to bring fried platains (thank God! this is inexpensive!...12 platains/ $1!)...other parents are bringing other stuff...AND, on Monday, they are having their Independence pageant, so Ale has to wear a traditional costume (either volcaneña - more colorful, less expensive if done in shiny fabric than if done in "manta"... or Izalqueña - I like this one better, seems more "traditional"...the other one really is from after the "Conquistadores" ...but, it's waaay more expensive...so volcaneña, I guess...) Her old one no longer fits!...so I need to buy her one and the leather sandals, too...these get worn 2x a year in ES, as you also wear them also for Oct 12 (which is Dia de la Raza in Latin America, as opposed to Columbus Day! ...and, yes, we get protests, too!)...oh, and on December 12 if you are a Catholic, in commemoration of the appearance of the Virgin Mary of Guadalupe to Saint Juan Diego (he was sainted last year!)...this is part of the Salvadoran school reality: you HAVE to have a traditional costume!...I got lucky the first few years, as a friend from work gave us some of her daughter's (who was 2 years older than Ale...) but, we have since lost contact...and we don't have my niece's from so far back (only from about 2 years ago...we are saving those!)...
so, off to the market I go!