Finally!!! I paid off the bank (this was old credit card and interest debt) Now, I am NOT debt free... part of the money to pay the bank came from loans from the employee cooperative. BUT, the interest rate is half of that of the bank, and, since this is deducted before my salary is deposited into my account, I cannot default on it!
Soooo... this year will be a year of buying a lot of stuff. In the past 5 years, whatever broke was not repaired or replaced. Now there are a lot of things to be repaired or replaced. Starting with the car! (which is now a necessity, since Ale switched universities and the other one is NOT within walking-distance of our home, and, no matter what the government figures say, crime is still thriving -- and I don´t want to revisit our last experience on a bus, where the driver caused Ale to be thrown off the bus when she was getting out... AND, to go to this new university, Ale would need to take 2 buses, and the point for changing buses is the largest shopping mall in the country --and one where there have been lots of muggings and even kidnappings)
What would be our first "free" payment, then, will go towards fixing our car (hopefully, it CAN be fixed...don´t know what we will do if it can´t... we don´t have enough money for a **new** car, and, right now, I wouldn´t be eligible for a loan, not for a year at least)
so, this is where we are.
We made a list of all needs/wants. And then we put all the info on paydays and fixed expenses on a year planner. Once we had that, we prioritized needs/wants, and started slotting them into the paydays where I would have paid the bank. Ale thinks its stressful, but I tell her it should give her peace of mind to know that we know what we can do and what we cannot do (not all wants made it into the calendar)
All income from translations will go into a separate bank account, for a new (to us) car either in June or November (I get 30% of my year bonus in June, and the remaining 70% in November)
The plan is to save $100/month, sell the old car and use the bonus to try to purchase a new car. If possible, we would do this in June, if not, we will do it in November. I know that waiting until November would mean getting a better car, but, even if it can be fixed, I don´t know if the old car would make it to June.
Wish us luck!

We just had a 4-day weekend due to Patron Saint Festivities in El Salvador. As Ale went on mission with her church group, I took the opportunity to do some major decluttering! (hoping that I am able to maintan the order that I have achieved in my room)... On to the next challenge: the living room!

My sister is getting married next month. The wedding party is supposed to be dressed in shades of purple (it used to be lilac, but, some of her friends convinced her, since we weren't wearing matching dresses, she might as well be more flexible with the colors to allow for shades of purple from lilac to grape)... SO... we went "hunting" for purple dresses, one for my myself and one for Ale... the first store we went to (which we thought was not as expensive as it turned out to be) had 2 beautiful dresses... and they offered me a discount if I took both... $225 for both... Er.. thanks... We then went to the 2nd-hand stores... at the first we found a beautiful dress in grape purple for Ale for $5. At the second one, we found one in wisteria purple for myself for $20, BUT, they had 50% off all clothes, so it ended up costing $10! We do want to get a rhinestone applique for Ale's, and, mine needs to be cut (at 1.49m - 4 feet 11 inches approx, I'm used to having ALL my clothes altered!), and, of course, they need to go to the dry cleaners (they do look wrinkled!) but, still, after all that, they will still be a lot less expensive than the $225! After the wedding, which is at the end of August, it will be time to start looking for dresses for Ale´s graduation (end of November)... guess where I´m going to look first!!
These are the dresses, although, they look black and gray in the pic... cheap phone, what can I say?

264 slides/ 11681 words translated....
311 slides/ 19256 words to go!!!

I think I can, I think I can...

Spoke to the guy with the 29 presentations and told him I could only commit to doing 17 by Jan 5... he said he doesn't need them until the 12th, and that, if I am available, he'd much rather wait and have me translate them all!

WOOO-HOOO-HOOO-HOOO!!!

(had to share! back to work!)

Friends, I'll be MIA for at least a week! Not even reading, probably...I've got 16 hours worth of scripts for Feb...(Thank God for the work, and Thank God that they are sending them early this time!...sometimes I don't get them until the 10th of the previous month!)... AND, I've got tons of work from a government entity in charge of promoting investments here in ES... 29 presentations!!....I think I can, I think I can.... I think I can...

woo-hoo! finally, the car is really, truly, honestly MINE!!!...I finished the last payment on it!!!

Woo-hoo! I got paid for translations today, and tomorrow I get paid at the office...Now, I won't have the translation money until Wednesday, because I already picked up my check, but, unfortunately, arrived back at the office too late to deposit it today. I don't want to go to the (outside) bank and then deposit the cash into my account. Plus, all my payments are due starting on the 10th, so that'll give the check plenty of time to clear (3 working days, since it's from a bank different than mine)...Once the cheque goes through, I'll make the payments online...woo-hoo!

Remember I was buying notebooks and school supplies waaaay in advance? ...I'm now almost finished with all the purchases (need 6 pencils and 1 English-English Dictionary....Ale's "got lost from her back pack"...)...I also finished labeling most of her stuff (need to label 24 pencils- yuech!) and I bound all her notebooks in plastic cover last night (now I "only" need to bind the books, which we have not received yet...Oh, and she needs a couple new containers for her lunch box...

so, my shopping list is>

6 pencils
1 English/ English dictionary
2 small food containers

YAY!...I still haven't added the last things I bought, so I still don't know how much I really spent...

Oooops, forgot the uniforms!...some pieces are in bad shape, and others have been outgrown...but, I'll get these during the first week of school!

yoo-hoo! I got a loan from the bank that handles our payroll at the office...10.5% annual interest (special rate, the average rate "in the market" is 11-13%)...I consolidated a loan I had at 11.5% and the Evil Card cc (which charges 28.99% annual interest!!)...
It's still NOT official, because I have the cheques with me and need to go make the payments (tomorrow noon, since I used my lunch hour today to go sign paperwork/get the cheques!)...and then I have to wait 3 working days before the cheques clear...so, I gues on Wednesday next week, I'll be officially cc debt free!!

The ticker won't move,though, because I still owe the same amount (that amount doesn't take interest into account!)...

Oh, and I still intend to pay it off before my 40th birthday!

we just received an announcement that we will get a 2.5% salary adjustment starting next payperiod (o, due on 7/11) yay!

In my case, it's about $27/month...hey, that's $27/month I don't have, currently...I'll probably use the first $27 to open a savings account to start putting money away to pay my taxes next year (as I estimate I'll have to pay about $4,500!)

I noticed yesterday that we will soon need new tires for the car...and today there was an ad stating that tire prices will go up starting July 1st...I guess I HAVE to go tire shopping this weekend! (or, rather, that I need to have niece sit down with the yellow pages this week so that I can go buy tires on the weekend!)...you know what is great?
1) I DO have available credit, so I COULD put it on my cc...
You know what is greater?
2) I DO have enough cash available that I won't need to do that!!!
Such an amazing feeling! (of course, there are things I was planning to buy with that money, but they are not urgent, so they'll just have to wait!)

I got a 3-part document yesterday...managed to finish it and send it in (now that I know the piece I'm working on is due on the 12th)...that should be about $65...my monthly average is slowly climbing again towards the $1,000 mark- currently at $950....and I still have 2 weeks in June that would go towards the July total...Great!

remember I said I didn't know how much my cash award was?...well, it was $500!!! (approved for $500, my bosses had asked for $1K!)...
This will go towards debt! -woo-hoo!
It should be included with my next payment, on June 13th, so I know that there will be deductions, but, still...
AND, you should see the note they wrote to justify it! WOW!