1. Control expenses and make sure total is at or below budgeted amounts for category/month, any “leftovers” in categories will go towards debt!...well, I went overbudget in: House (1 additional rent payment to be up to date), Fun, Other, Events (due best friend's wedding!) and Debt (this is actually good, since it means I "spent" more on paying down debt than what was budgeted!)


2. Continue to lower my overall debt - I started Jan 05 with ~$17K and Jan 06 with $~11K (with ~$8K for a loan and ~$3K in cc debt)... Jan '07 started with $16.5K …. Expect to pay about $5K this year- not counting interest! balance for 31/dec was $16.5K, balance for 30/jan is $15.5K

3. Start my own business– formally: E-Spiral is the name, translation is our business (G-d and Ale are my partners!)… and contact at least 4 new potential customers per month, so as to find 50 pages of translations per month in 1Q07, getting to 150 in 4Q07…. From Jan – July: 40% of each job will go towards debt, 40% back into the business, 10% into savings (to fund my Freedom Fund!) and 10% to the Padre Vito Guarato Home. From Aug-Dec 07 percentages to be 30,40,20,10 ….hopefully, I’ll be able to quit my current job by mid 2008!! Contacted only 2 new customers, and worked on my presentation for the Min. of Tourism, which should have been delivered today, but I ran into some technical trouble with the music...

4. Help Ale earn/save $25 for her savings account by 071231!...she earned $5 for her help with the toy/school supply sale...but, took away $0.85 to replace the colored pencils she lost!

managed to collect another $100 for admin services last sunday...so, that's my first $100 for this year's $20 challenge!

unless it's exploitive (?) I am all for kids doing a little work (I used to work 2x a week at my parent's grocery shop)...helps them a lot, I think...Of course, it has to be age appropriate and should not interfere with their studies!

so, Ale helped with the school supply packages...she helped us set up things so we could make the packages (bringing stuff from the boxes to the table: 5 boxes of colored pencils, 5 boxes of jumbo crayons, 5 erasers, etc.) and she helped load/unload the cars (we carried the heavier packages and the papers, which are more delicate, but let her carry the small bags with the bottles of liquid soap and 1/8 gallons of glue, which are light enough for her to handle)...she also promoted the backpacks..which resulted in 5 additional ones being sold...so, we decided to give her some money ($5) for her work....since she was just helping because she likes it, it came as a surprise to her...I gave her 5 x $1 notes and told her I wanted her to keep at least $1 for her piggy bank...she thought about it and said: Mommy, I want to keep $3 for the piggy bank and use $2...(Yay!)...when we paid her, the first thing I told her to do was count it...right after she counted it, she separated $3 and gave them to me "for safekeeping until we put it in the piggy bank" and then took the other $2 and placed them in her wallet, as she wanted to use it at school...

I'm so proud!

we were puzzled yesterday when cousin got a call from the school administrator asking for an emergency meeting to discuss some "problems" with our school packages...we check every package with the parents to make sure the packages contain everything on the list and, whenever a parent doesn't like a product, we take it out and discount it accordingly (happens very seldom)...so, cousin went there and, thankfully, the only product where there is a real product is our plies (?) of bond paper...we were sold half-plies and were told that was the standard size...she reached an agreement with the administrator/teachers: the school will accept the plies from the parents, then gather them and give them back to us and we will replace them (no biggie, should be about $0.10 per plie and I don't think we sold more than 100 of those!)...the other "problems" were instances where teachers did not approve of certain brands we had used, but, the ADMINISTRATOR saw the substitutions and said to the teachers those complaints were unfounded, as the products we had used were of similar quality...another "problem" was that a teacher said she had requested metallic board paper and we had brought metallic wrapping paper...cousin asked that an original list be brought from the school files and TA-DA! there it was: papel estaño, not CARTULINA estaño (as in all other 4 lists!)...settled, in our favor!...yet another complaint was the fact that they had asked for a (brand) pencil sharpener, with two sharpeners,one for standard pencils, one for thicker pencils or crayons.. code 511-004....surprise, surprise, no such thing exists!...the (Brand) 511-004 only has one sharpener, for regular sized pencils...since they had used the code, we bought and sold the one correspoding to the code...the administrator said they'll accept them and make sure the same mistake is not made when writing up the lists for 2008...
Next!: the liquid soap bottles we provided did not come with a pump...the list only said: 1 liquid soap bottle, 230 ml (note: that size doesn't exist in the market, we had to buy the bottles and fill them!)...the administrator said: Teachers, you did not specify a pump, so you must accept the bottles ...

Other inconsistencies--that did not affect us, but that the administrator detected and ordered changed: one list requested Staedler Mongol pencils...Mongol is a trade mark of Paper Mate, so, which one is it? Mongol or Staedler pencils??...

Cousin also asked about the metallic netting they had requested (we were wondering what they used it for, and why it had to be metallic, for the 4-6 year olds, it seemed kind of dangerous!)...and told them of our concern about safety (we did get hurt and had "splinters" of metal while taping the ends with masking tape...but, with use, the masking tape will deteriorate and the ends will be exposed!)...she offered to make/bring them a sample made with plastic netting so they can see if it will serve the same purpose...they must have been very impressed, because the administrator asked her to come in October to meet with the teachers and review the lists before sending them to print! I guess this guarantees we will be allowed to sell again next year and, also gives us another advantage over our competitors!

That was my share of our earnings for the Xmas + School supply sales...

Allocated as follows:

staying on track with my proposed plan and re-working the numbers:
cc == $295.00 (to be paid tomorrow)
Ale's bed == $116 (PAID $108.53/ PENDING $8)
Ale's school == $137 (PAID)
Ale's transportation from school == $30 (PAID)
personal loan == $69.63 (PAID)
Infamous phone bill == $303.15 (PAID)

car maintenance (tires,brakes and shockabsorbers)== pending, depending on cousin's payment (wish me luck!)

Which basically means I'm "broke" again...but, Ale has a new bed and I have $597.37 less debt...and I'm up-to-date with all payments...I can DEFINETELY live with that!

Now, I need to re-focus my "outside of work" energies into the translation business!!

staying on track with my proposed plan and re-working the numbers:

from the toy sale$166)
cc == $50.00
Ale's bed ==to be paid today 070107



From the translation:
cc ($145.80)
technical dictionaries + internet bill(investment in business as per allocation - $145.80)
savings $36.45
donation $36.50


From the school supply sale (?):
cc == $550 (expenses)
Ale's school
car maintenance (tires,brakes and shockabsorbers)
personal loan == $70
Infamous phone bill == $300

Payment due from cousin (!)
infamous phone bill!-- she says she'll give me at least $200... we'll see...this would be put towards cc == $200 (?)
Loan to pay for 2 months of school for her darling Prince last year: $170 ==
additional bedding set for Ale's bed +/-$30 and cc +/- $140

I keep playing around with these numbers!

1. keep better track of my spending- managed to stay within budget this month (barely!)...we still have to buy the stuff for New Year's Eve, but, I still have $79 "left over" for that...


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: $12.9K total: ~$7.9K (refinanced) loan, ~$2.6K car loan, ~$609 personal loan, $1.3K other personal loan… Phone bill is $200...$600 on a cc for toy/school supply sale expenses (pending full payment in Jan)…

I'm still speechless...anyone that knows me "in the flesh" will tell you that my being speechless is not only highly improbable, but also impossible...but, I am...sort of...
This morning, my boss (VP) called me to his office and, there were a couple other people there looking like the cat that swallowed the canary...they left and my boss asked me to sit down and then said: "you may have noticed I haven't given you a Xmas present..."...I said: yes -- very matter of factly, honestly I just thought he had given them out while at the Xmas party that I didn't attend and figured he probably had forgotten it at home and I would get it next year...no biggie...he said: well, I hadn't because I was trying to find the best way to go around it and do the best possible while keeping it affordable...by this time my mind was thinking: cool! he got me a raise!...and then he said: ...I have heard from other people in the unit that you are interested in pursuing a business on the side...yes (it's no secret, really!) and then he said: and I also heard that one of the things holding you back from that was a computer...(I swear my jaw scraped the floor!)...and he continued...so, I bought one of our old laptops from the company, it's not new, but I had it cleaned and refurbished and loaded with all the software you might need....I believe I might have said something like: Ak-ak-adack before saying THANKS!...
I mean, physically it's just a computer, but, in reality, it is so much more!!!...I really can't find the words! (which is why I am here at my desk crying as I type!)...but, this one is just too big to keep to myself!
..I know I also have to give G-d a HUGE Thank You for putting people like this in my life!

...I am the "administrator" for our expat houses...that means I deal with landlords/landladies and process all payments...homeowners are supposed to bring me their receipts/invoices for processing...there's this one house that has the landlady from hell...she's very disorganized, doesn't want to pay for repairs, is late in paying security fees (eventhough we pay it every month as part of the rent!)...it is just easier for me to type/print her invoices and just ask her to come and sign them every 3 or 4 months than it is to explain to her every month that her payment hasn't been processed because she hasn't brought the invoices!...well, today she came to sign the first invoices for 2007...she gave a Xmas gift: a cheque for $30!...I didn't even look at the cheque, she said it was: "a little something", so I just thanked her and pocketed it...I certainly didn't expect ANYthing...much less $30!...I'm off to the bank to cash it...then off to yet ANOTHER bank (across the street) to put it towards a cc!...this one definetely goes towards the $20 challenge, because it was so unexpected!

***************
DONE!

so, on judge's orders, nephew D is working...he got his paycheck last Friday and, paid cousin some $$ (part for the money he stole from her, part for those clothes she bought him...)...anyway, he paid me $10 towards his phone bill (so "only" $993 to go!...but, hey, I'm willing to give the guy some credit for at least (and at last!) trying!--no, I will not go soft and pardon the debt, either!

...almost, at least!...we went to the market yesterday and bought tomatoes, onions, cilantro, green peppers, some carrots and the special blend of spices for the turkey sauce (annato, sesame seeds, a special dried pepper- chile guaque, thyme, oregano, bay leaves,garlic) ...we went home and roasted the spices and chopped all the veggies...then back to the market to have it all processed at the mill (Ale had never been there, and thought we were going to see a WIND mill! LOL!)...then back home to cook it and add the salt and pepper...I kept trying to figure out what was "missing" and, then, it hit me: TURKEY!! ...the sauce won't take it's full flavor until the turkey has been cooked in it!...I let it cool and am freezing it today!...This means I'm already ahead with my Xmas cooking! --total cost for ingredients and processing: $5.90

regular price $145, sale price $116, and they gave me a set of sheets (which costs $15 at the store, and which I could have gotten for $5 downtown...)...oh, and they also gave me a bottle of wine (for any purchase over $60 on your store card)...
no, don't worry about the store card charge...I did that just for the reward points...I'll pay in full and I'll pay 0% interest on it!

things I paid:
1 month's rent (I was behind with my payments)
personal loan
cc
nanny's Xmas bonus! (well, I haven't paid THAT yet, but I will tonight!)

We still haven't collected all the toy money, from that I will pay:

cc
Ale's bed
Xmas dinner

From the translation:
new tires for the car
infamous phone bill ($150)

From the toy supply sale:
cc
Ale's school
car maintenance (brakes and shockabsorbers)

Payment due from cousin (!)
infamous phone bill
cc
Ale's school
additional bedding set for Ale's bed

Hopefully, everything will go according to plan!

...because of the amount of toys that we bought, one of the stores gave us 3 Barbie shirts (size s and m, they will fit Ale perfectly!) and also some Max Steel dolls, er, action figures.... I'm keeping one of them to give to my best friend's son (who is 9 and VERY into Max Steel!)... that means I only have to get Ale some pants or a skirt...which I can get for about $2-$3 each!

I wonder what other freebies I could find...

still not from what she owes me, but from the toys that have already been paid (all others should be paid by the end of the week!)...I told her I want MY money before it disappears! (be it because it gets stolen by her son or because she spends it!)

...today cousin was telling me about what she bought her darling son: a new pair of jeans, a new shirt and a new sweater...total cost of $160!!!!....(remember she still owes me $1000!!!)...I felt so enraged!...I asked why she had bought that and she said: It's his Xmas present...WHAT??...I have a fixed income, am semi-current on all my debts and I'm trying to buy all Ale's presents for less than $30!!!... for a while, I FELT like just going and buying everything I WANT for Ale...and I thought: why does she, who doesn't have a fixed income and doesn't pay her debts, get to buy anything she wants??...then the voice in my head said loud and clear: BECAUSE YOU'RE TRYING TO BE FINANCIALLY RESPONSIBLE, AND SHE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW THAT THE TERM EXISTS!!!....so, I didn't go out and buy anything!...and, guess what...It FEELS GOOD!

managed to collect $100 more! woo-hoo!

just typing it so I don't forget to add it! $100 for admin services from JULY!!!...

Well, to start the business "formally", I decided to quote computers and see if I can get one from the translation that I'm working on now (that would be sooo great!...since I didn't have that budgeted for anything, it would be so great to use it to start the business!)...I called our IT guy (the one that we bother, er, call whenever we need things done ASAP!)...he told me to send an email to another of our IT guys --also well known in our dept!-- and let him know what I wanted, and that he could get one for me "really cheap"...so, I already wrote to him...I also have other quotes and several newspaper ads...while all of this seems a bit unreal, it feels good to actually research and "get serious" about the business...

I told Ale yesterday that we are going into our own business, she and I and God...she was very excited, and asked: "what's my job?"...I told her I didn't know yet, but that I was sure we would find something she can do that will contribute...(might give her the "accounts payable" job...now that she can read, I could post a calendar with dates/amounts/bills to be paid so she can remind me....how does that sound?)

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

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

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

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!!)

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))

$20 collected for admin services...

...and not with my money!!!!....Our team-building box got stolen from one of the cars last weekend, so all the stuff had to be replaced!...they gave me $$$ and a shopping list!!...it was a bit like Treasure hunting, getting all those things...I am proud of myself, I looked for the best prices, got everything from 3 different places only...well, 4, I'm still missing the food coloring!...and I have to go to the hardware store tomorrow to pick up one storage box (they only had 1 and I needed 2!)...

Oh, did I mentioned I also took some time to run 2 personal errands? (went to the jewelry store to look at stuff for my niece...NO way, the cheapest thing they had was $121...while not too pricey for a graduation gift, it IS too pricey for my budget! -- will have to keep looking!)...and also looked at some beds for Ale...saw some gorgeous ones...real wood, too...the furniture at that store all looks like someone took it out of a doll house and then zapped it with a "maximizer" or something...it is sooooo cute!...you can pick the style and colors and have it custom-made, too! (and prices are about the same as at the dept store!)...still too high for my budget, but, they do sell only the headboards, so I could buy a "normal" twin bed and then order the headboard from them and, perhaps if we go order it together, Ale won't think that I'm just trying to con her....(she gave me "that look" the other day when I suggested we could buy just the box spring and mattress and then later on I would buy her a nice headboard...you know the look...the one that says: "I wasn't born yesterday, you know!" LOL!)

woo-hoo! collected another $100!!...

forgot to add up the $20 challenge for October

Total for October
Challenge statistics:
to discount from challenge this month:
-$6 (taxes)

Earned in September: $440.00

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
Total ytd for 2006 (net):$3,210.95

TARGET: $4,000

$789.05/ 2 months to go!

Ugh! This month was good!:

the categories where I was at or below budget were:

CELLPHONE
CAR
SCHOOL
CLOTHES
LUNCH

That leaves me overbudget in
GROCERIES
EVENTS
ENTERTAINMENT
OTHER


so, for October, the result is 5/9
The great news is that, OVERALL, I was overbudget by $6 only!!

Hoping to have better results for 061201!

((remember this covers variable expenses only))

1. keep better track of my spending- I have been very good at writing down EVERY expense this month! Yay me!...I have also done better at staying on budget! (right now, I’m overbudget by $6 – I can live with that!- and, today and tomorrow should be no-spend days!)

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: $13.4K total: ~$8K (refinanced) loan, ~$2.7K car loan, ~$799 personal loan, $1.5K other personal loan… Phone bill is $400...a work in progress...another one that won’t get taken off the list! ..some days it feels as if I’m not progressing with this, so it’s good to see how things are going…

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 October, either…Ale has only been able to save about $0.25 for the whole month out of her $2/week…I guess I have to work harder to try to make her understand that it’s not a matter of spending the $2, no matter what, but of trying to save as much as possible!