miclason's Personal Finance Blog

I called today to find out what the next steps are to enroll her...
I need to go and fill out an application and pick up some new information and leave a deposit to guarantee the space... They will let me know when I have to deliver the money to purchase the books she'll use...
I still have to decide what happens if, when tested, it turns out she should be in first grade as opposed to preparatoria...I lean more towards having her start in prepa, though, because school here goes to grade 11 now, instead of 12 (as it was back when I was at school) and, I don't know if I want Ale at University at 16!! ((faint!))...My niece will be out of school at 17, starting University at 18 and, I feel she's still a bit immature as it is...then again, maturity doesn't always go hand in hand with age...but still ...decisions, decisions, decisions!

The friend that is selling it to me brought it by, saying he's sorry it has taken so long, but that he's still got to do a couple of things (experticia, which means he has to take it to the police so they issue a certificate that it is NOT on their stolen cars list! and emmissions certification) before we can process the salvadoran license plates...says he estimates things should be ready by the end of next week!...
It looks beautiful and it truly is in great shape! ...he will also give me the receipts of all the work that he has had done on the car (brakes, new battery, new time belt, etc)...
end of next week sounds great to me! By then I'll know (or I should know!) about the money!!

...I just got a phone call from the reception desk...someone turned in an annual pass card that belongs to one of our directors (allows them to "purchase" tickets without having to consult HR)...this is his new card (2006-2007), which I gave him less than 1 hour ago!!!! ((patience))

The CC company wanted a copy of the payment voucher- again...so I resent it. "they're taking care of it"...now I'm trying to decide whether I want to spend the energy pursuing their deleting some of the interest charged to my account due the money being "lost" for 2 payment periods! ....

Income tax refund - sent a message to the foundation. They have the letter and will send it in tomorrow, so, in THEORY, this should be settled by Thursday (yeah, right!!)

((sihg)) PATIENCE!

Ok, I just re-sent the documentation to the bank again...let's hope noone loses them THIS time!...

back to waiting for an answer!!
AAAAAAAAAAARRRRGH!!

((sigh)) PATIENCE!!

I called the bank exec today to find out why my loan was denied and, she said the loan wasn't really denied...that it's just that someone at the bank had lost my paperwork...("someone"??)...I'm re-submitting all the paperwork again tomorrow!...oy!- and I thought the bank exec at the OTHER bank was hopeless! (took that one 4 months to set up a savings account for one of the Directors!)...
...worst thing is, I really CAN'T ask for another exec, as she (or rather, they) are the ones assigned by the bank to the company, so even if I go through someone else, it gets re-directed to them!...

Lord, grant me PATIENCE!!!

Ale got two eggs and a chocolate bunny on Sunday morning...she ate one egg, gave one to her cousin and, the chocolate bunny she gave to me (as a present, so we could share it)...after breakfast, she wanted to eat some chocolate but, THE BUNNY HAD VANISHED!!...we don't know where it is!!...we highly suspect Fiona, but, the egg was on my nightstand, which is crammed with bottles and whatnots...and nothing seems to have been disturbed (there were no toppled bottles or anything!)...plus, if it was Fiona, there should be some evidence, right? (paw prints on my sheets, blond hairs on my pillow...the WRAPPER...)
This is a total mystery!

so...I'm back at work...processing payments...and travel expenses!

...at least, I hope I get up early enough to be the Easter bunny this year!!...Ale is ready, she has the paper bag they used to egg hunt at school (complete with a cotton tail bunny pasted on one side and her name on the other one!!...I have 2 chocolate eggs and one chocolate bunny...figured it's enough to cause sugar OD for one day!...I have to go set my alarm clock!!

Well, I taught my nephew how to dye clothes today....funny, I used the same huge pot I used back when I was 15, and used to dye clothes with my friends, and, then as now, faded, uneven colors were in fashion, so I didn't worry too much if the clothes didn't come out perfect and even-colored! LOL!...caught back in the swing of fashion!!

she asked me to cut it really short, and it's now in a bob to her chin (after having waist-long hair, it's a shocking change!)...the comments have been good, though!..and, after crying for about 5 minutes (when she saw how much hair I had cut), she now loves it!!...

Of course, she's made me promise I'll get my hair cut next week! ((faint))

We had to buy a new blender...ours was old and stopped working...must be the motor...I found a blender on sale for $19.99....and had to buy new video and sound cables for the DVD..."someone" chewed on them! ...those were $23...but the new ones are 3x as strong as the original ones!...(and Fiona better stay away from them!)

...Aquapark, near La Costa del Sol in El Salvador...

They wanted a copy of the payment voucher (scanned and sent already!)...Hope this gets resolved today...that way this payment will be counted towards this month!!

Oh, well, I'll have to look for an alternate solution!!...I know I can get a loan from the company co-op, as long as I can find 2 co-signors...I have 1, need to find another one...

"la esperanza es lo ultimo que se pierde!" (Hope is the last thing you lose!)

YAY! I bought myself a new pair of tennis shoes, so that I can go out for walks again (the old ones were bought before my pregnancy and are too tight now!-- yes, my feet grew 1/2 a size!)...so, now I have no excuses to NOT go out for walks: I have the shoes, I have 2 pairs of sweatpants, I have plenty of socks and plently of t-shirts...

AND, since I'm not going to be teaching classes at night starting this week, I won't be exhausted in the mornings (or, at least, I shouldn't be!)...

My goal to start with is 3X week...

LOL!...yesterday, Ale made a sign that said $12 (of course, the "$" was facing the wrong way! how cute is THAT!) and pasted it on a shoe box ("with glue, 'cause it sticks better than with tape") and she put in a bunch of "booklets" she had cut out of an old math-readiness magazine ...she then made me write (in small letters!) "If you buy one, they're $1")...she said for me, they'd be free, and for her aunts...but not for the rest of the people...the first thing she did when her cousin C came home from a school field trip was sell her one of the booklets! (of course, C didn't give her $12...or even $1!)...but, hey, Ale has the instinct!...

Now, how can I help her apply/develop it??

...documents for MORE travel expenses!!...Just when I thought I was done with them until after the Holidays!!

...remember I posted about applying a payment to the wrong cc??
Well, checking on line today I found the $25 late payment fee reversed...but no sign of my $170 payment (thank God I make a point of paying by cheque!)...It is not in last month's account statement, and it doesn't appear under "movements since last cut off date"...sooo...WHERE IS MY MONEY???...I've already sent an email to the cc company....
I will go speak to them in person next Monday (after HOly Week) if the money is not being reflected into my account by then! - the cheque HAS cleared (3/17/06)...so, I know the CC company HAS my money!!...

will post again once I have any news!

1. keep better track of my spending- I still having a hard time sticking to this one!

2. Send out at least 15 resumes in January(best time of the year to find a new job in ES!) and, at least one more per week for the rest of the year until I find a job that pays better! Interesting development in this area

3. FINALLY decide on a school for Alejandra, AND save money for her enrollment fee, uniforms and school supplies Went to see a school that had been recommended. Think it's a good fit for us!...reminds me of the first school I went to: small, few children, re-converted house conditioned to be used as a school...strict but loving owner/director...AND, the initial enrollment fee is $380, and the monthly fee is $110!!...(at the preschool I pay $200 and $70, so the differnce is not THAT much!--at least, it's not $1,000 and $200!!!)...I think this one's a go, so, now I can really do numbers and work on the rest! yay!! Have to take care of this before April ends, though, to ensure there's a space for Ale at the proper grade!

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. Same as last month, all "additional" income going towards the "car account"...

5. Help Ale find a way to earn those $3 she's missing to open her account with HER OWN money...Pending...

Well, since I have saved most of my $20-challenge money towards the car (except the $20 for Jan!), I think I should set the price of the car as my goal, so, I'll say $4,000 by December 31st!

and, as you all know, I hate waiting!!!...
oh, well, I have about $1,000 and I can get $500 from the company co-op...plus, someday I'll get my $282 in tax returns...so I know I can do something to get a car!....will keep you posted!

Once Travel Control starts sending the "Post trip # 000000 has been approved" messages, everyone wants to know which trip they're getting paid for and how much....BUT, they want ME to figure it out!! ...

And, unfortunately, that has been my main occupation yesterday and today...I particularly hate those with multiple destinations and multiple rates of exchange...I feel a little light-headed already!....(processed 7, 4 to go!)...or maybe I just need a sugar boost!...

will run to the supermarket downstairs and buy a banana or something like that!

There are inconsistencies in it...mainly, Fundacion Hermano Pedro (the children's home that I contribute to) has not presented their declaration of donations received...($31 in my case)...soooo, my options are: 1. wait until they present the documentation or 2. re-do my income-tax report and omitting the donations...) - sigh!

What if I omitt and in the meantime they present the documentation?? It'll be held up again!!...

Plus, this is the sort of thing that you have to do IN PERSON here in ES....so I'd have to find the time (they only open from 9 to 4) and the transportation (taxi! -$$$) to go do it!!!

AAAAAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!...

...I'm calling the foundation to find out what happened and if they foresee any resolution to the problem in the near future!!

****************
They say they'll draft a letter and send it to the Ministry....unfortunately, the Ministry closes on Monday for Holy Week vacations and won't be open until Apr 17 (and, sadly, even if the foundation sent the letter tomorrow, I doubt it the Ministry would do anything about it until after the holidays!)....oh, well, at least this should be solved before the end of April!

Woo-hoo! I got 3 more paid translations for April!! - that's $36 more for my April total!! (and it's only the 5th!)

Well, I was looking at my entries for March of last year:
I was getting TONS of creditor calls and could not even manage minimum payments...I was paying every other month!...My car broke down and had to spend a lot of money repairing it!...also, Fiona, our dog, was then just a puppy and creating all sorts of trouble at the house!

What a difference a year makes!
Nowadays, I am making payments that are slightly higher than minimum payment (of course, I have less credit cards, and lower balances!! YAY, ME!!)...I am trying to get money to buy a new car, so I guess in that sense I'm worse off than last year...and, while Fiona still creates trouble sometimes, these are now exceptions, and not the rule!

This was a good exercise, it helped me put things in perspective...I've still got a long way to go, but, there has DEFINETELY been a lot of progress!!

LOL! I was reading my categories, and, I have 55 entries under "setbacks", 55 under "progress" and 74 under "Hope in trying times"...so, I guess I'm not doing THAT bad!! (some entries are categorized as both "setbacks" and "progress" at the same time, depending on what they deal with)

I can also see that -obviously- 167 entries deal with money, but, Family comes next with 90 entries...and the Job front has 44...while The World around me has only 10..

Interesting,the things you find when you analyze the categories in your blog....

Now...how should I categorize THIS entry??

The company works very closely with 2 of the major banks here, so we get "special treatment" (or so they say!)...One of the banks rejected my loan a couple of weeks ago, so I applied to the other one...see what they say...I already have a loan with them (have had it for 6 months) so, worst-case scenario they'll just let me have an amount equal to what I've already paid...which would be a bit over $1,000....I'm done with the coop loan, so I could ask for yet another one (the most you get is $500 without a cosigner)...so that would mean $1,500 + the $1,000 that I already have...I'd still be short, but I think I could come to some sort of arrangement with the car owner...
I'll let you know what happens...

Translated 3 pages for a friend, that'll be $36 to be added to April's $20 challenge...

Posting it so I don't forget to add it at the end of the month!