...we came back yesterday, but I'm just now starting to be capable of some coherent thinking!...a mixture of exhaustion, sleep deprivation and dehydration...will blog at length some other day!...for the time being, as a friend so aptly said: Let's just put an end to this ceaseless spending! (I spent about $180 in total, of which about $40 are refundable...$10 were for a calling card...about $15 for non-refundable meals...$83 for clothes for Ale and myself - more for her than for me, but will write separately on this...some souvenirs for my family...the rest is mostly for water and non-alcoholic beverages!)

The trip was fun, and I don't regret going! It was definetely worth it!

It was announced in today's newspapers!!...I filled the car last Thursday, and obviously have been very good at not driving unnecessarily this week, because the needle has barely moved down, but, I'm still going to try to fill it today (unless the stations have already upped the prices!)...

You DO realize how gas at $3.69 totally messes up my budget (well, everyone's), don't you?? aaaarrrghhh! -- I had based my budget with gas at $3.50 max, which seemed kind of reasonable, seing that when I did that, gas was at $3.24!!-- ((sigh))...

At least, since it's cool most mornings and evenings (when I drive to and from work) I'm not using the air conditioning during the week...only on the weekends, and only around noon!

went to Siman (dept store) today...no cardigans (in ANY color), no sweatpants... shoes WAY too expensive (white tennis shoes ON SALE $45.99!!)

I just came back from the bank, I went to dispute the charges ($30.07) on my cc...the account executive had said that this sort of request has to be done in person, not via mail...so, today I took the time to do this in between bringing some print jobs to Xerox and picking up another job that was almost ready (it's about a block away...I had to run!)

...they say it takes about a month for this sort of thing to be resolved! ((sigh))

OK. Tracking expenses for half of last month has made me realize a couple of things:

1. I DO have entertainment $$...it's just not budgeted!...have allotted $25 to this one (last month spent about $40!)...((sigh)) CREA makes things more expensive, as for the weekends we go, there is always something to buy or pay for...

2. I NEED to set up an emergency fund...even if just $3/month, so that I have $$$ to replace little things (like the fan that broke)

3. I need to set up a "wardrobe" fund for Ale (she IS growing and, buying clothes and shoes will continue to be a recurrent expense!...)

4. My lunch money should also be kept separate, although I did stay below budget for this! (my allocated budget for lunches is $4/week...that means I can buy lunch -if necessary- 1x week and, buy my drinks the rest of the days)

5. Most important, I need to track my expenses on a DAILY basis (and not hoard the tickets/bills/invoices until the end of the week and then input the info in my spreadsheet)...this way I can see the real damage I'm making and can correct as I go, instead of resorting to hitting my head against the wall in frustration, which really does nothing to remedy the situation!

OK. New month = new opportunity for improvment!...will make the best that I can!

Ok, I've been tracking expenses in several categories:

Car (gas, maintenance and others) - $126.37

Ale's (new) school - $100.00

Supermarket - $110.26

Others (source of shame!) - $120.89

This last one has to be split, as this includes regular lunches ($5/week), entertainment,unbudgeted expenses (necessary but not put on budget!) and "nothings"...I have to work on a set budget for entertainment and, cut the "nothings" as much as possible...wish me luck!

now I KNOW why I kept "ignoring" this!!...my spending for the Other expenses category (and I started seriously with this on May 11th!!) is $110!!!...and, this is higher than my "Supermarket" expenses ($100) for the same period!!...the worst thing is, there really aren't many "big" items there...well, except for the new fan at $18.50 and the new shoes at $21.00 (needed for work, my old pair of black "dress" shoes died!)...so, even if you add THAT up, that's ~$70 in "nothing"!!!! -- somebody hit me! HARD!...oh, well, at least, now I have realized just how bad the situation is and, can start doing something to correct it, right?...I guess I'm going to have to give myself an (very limited) allowance per week...and stick to it!

My old umbrella died at the end of last rainy season...so did Ale's...and so did the one that we kept at the house (they were cheap ones!)...so, I just bought 1 large umbrella for the house, and 1 small one for myself...I didn't find one for Ale yet... $10.49 for both umbrellas...stupidly enough, I didn't have them budgeted...(It's not as if I didn't know the old ones had to be replaced!!)...oh, well

LOL!...the people at the co-op made a mistake...I reduced (or thought I had!) the amount going to my savings account from $90/month, to $65/month, thus "cancelling" the increase from the old loan to the new one...the guy misunderstood me and he deducted $65 per pay period! (or $130/month!)...fortunately, it's all sitting in my savings account! oh, well, I already sent an email correcting it and, will try to live without it! (this fund is to be used towards Ale's school expenses anyway!)...no wonder my salary seemed so low!!

Aval Card is the worst!...when I took an extra-financing about a year ago, they told me that: 1. this would be a fixed amount to pay each month (true) 2. the interest rate on it was also fixed and would not be increased (ture) and 3. that if mid-way through the term established for repayment I could pay a SUBSTANTIAL amount towards the principal, I could either continue paying the same fixed amount until all was paid off or ask them to re-work the payments for the same amount of time (and, obviously, a lower monthly payment!)...well, someone just loaned me $1,000 at a 5% annual rate (considerably better than the 22% I'm currently paying THEM)...but, since I'm practically converting all my cc debts into loans, I'm left with "fixed" monthly payments, as opposed to decreasing ones...so, I thought paying the $1,000 towards this one would be a good idea...but, since I know them so well by now, I went and DOUBLE CHECKED before making the payment...guess what?... you cannot rework the payments!!...if you pay off the whole principal, then they'd knock off the interest...but that's the only deal you can get (and, no, the $1,000 doesn't cover it!...)so, I opted for paying off 2 cc's with a lower balance and putting the remainder towards THE LAST cc!!...

I still havent made those payments, but will post as soon as I do!!

The moral of the story??...ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS re-check any info given to you that's not in writing!! (and, these companies here love to send you to their call centers as opposed to having someone talk to you directly!...i WENT to the bank...the lady in customer service sat me down and dialed the call center for me!!...how's that for avoiding accountability!)

...the tank in my car is almost empty!!..it took me a little over a week to use up 10.27 gallons...or $35!!!...but, we DID go out of San Salvador (went to Suchitoto, which is about 1 hour from here, on Sunday, and then yesterday used my car to go pick up my sis at the airport - approx 45 minutes...plus, I had to pick up my niece, too, so I didn't go straight from work!)...oh, well...it's not like I plan to use the car like this EVERY week!

last Sunday, as I wanted to use my car and didn't have cash, instead of waiting until Monday (I don't use debit cards) I whipped out the credit card and put the $35.87 on it...when they brought me the voucher, I noticed they were giving me a credit card and ID that was not mine (I didn't really look at the voucher), so I refused it and sent it back...they then brought my cc, voucher (which I read before signing) and ID...turns out now there are TWO charges on my cc for that gas station on that date...one for $35.87 and one for $30.07!....needless to say, I'm already disputing the charge!....

On the bright side, they did reimburse me for interest on that payment I disputed! ($10.58)

To be honest, I feel I haven't done this because then I will discover that A LOT of my $$$ is going down the drain for stupid things..
Soooo....yesterday I created another excel file...has several worksheets: car, school, supermarket, others...
for every worksheet, I have these colums:
date, concept,type (initial, annual, recurrent, unbudgeted, etc) amount, cash, other form of payment (ideally should only be gift certificates!!)....the first thing on my "others" today??...lunch, $2.50 (didn't pack!)

sis went to the neurologist today, for what we thought would be her last visit with the neurologist for the neurocysticercosis...the one that she usually goes to is out of the country for a month, so they referred her to another one...he said there seems to be swelling on her brain, and he thinks it might be a tumor...he also said he doesn't think she had cysticercosis ...he wants to do a spinal tap...and give her some medicine and, depending on the progress, he said he might have to do a biopsy! This is her BRAIN we're talking about!!...

I made an appointment for her to see a private neurologist today...I mean, she HAS been in control with the other one (who, incidentally, is the chief neurologist at the SSI), and he never said anything even remotely similar...

Plus, sis says this one only looked at the first and last MRI's....he didn't look at the other ones...

Her appointment is at 10:30am...it is 9:05 right now, so we have to wait to see what THIS doctor will say...

...but, whatever treatment she needs, we really cannot afford to do privately, it has to be done at the SSI...and that IS a scary thought (their doctors have a tendency to go on strike every 6 months...there are the horror stories on the newspaper about the guy that had the wrong kidney removed because they put the Xray wrong on the viewer, so they thought they had to take out the left one, when it was the right one that was sick!... or the woman who had to have a hysterectomy because she delivered her baby by c-section and they left a sponge in, which caused a major infection...)

((sigh)) Please send prayers, healing vibes and positive energy our way!...it has been a long year....(they discovered the neurocysticercosis last May!)

We transferred the car to my name and everything, and, it should have been a matter of 10 minutes, just to deliver the documents to SERTRACEN (company that handles vehicle registrations for the Vice-Ministry of Transportation)...the guy went over the documentation and forms and declared them OK, but, when he went to input the number for the "experticia" (check by the police to establish that the car isn't stolen), it turned out the police haven't submitted their report yet! (this is done electronically)...the guy at SERTRACEN mentioned that there has been a delay with all experticias performed just before the long weekend (May 1st), and gave me the telephone number of the Police so that I can start calling them to see when the experticia will be sent...So, I have to add that to my To Do list for the week: call 3x a day until they feel that they'd rather send the report than have to listen to me!

In the meantime, I cannot drive the car! (well, I CAN, but it wouldn't be legal to do so, so I won't...)...so, I guess my fate is to be carless for 3 whole months(6/feb-6/may)... I hope to be able to submit the documents no later than Wednesday, and then get my new license plates on Saturday next week (once the documents are submited, you get a temporary permit to use the car!)

I feel very disappointed!...I thought I was going to be able to go to the supermarket on my own tomorrow!

was taken on the 21st...but, THEY CAN'T FIND IT!!!...she has her appointment to see the doctor tomorrow so he can see it, and the SSI has LOST her MRI!!!!...She'll make one last phone call tomorrow to see if they have found it... if not, she has to cancel and re-schedule the appointment...which will probably be set for mid-June...if she's lucky!!

This month, I will receive the last $250 from the sale of the farm...so, as of June 1st, 2006, I will have to make do without...I have managed to bring the cc's down to where I THINK I'll be able to handle at least minimum payments every month...I'm going to have to be a lot more careful... what might throw me off-balance is the combination of new loan for the car (paying about $30 more now than for the previous one, which I finished paying last month, and the new gas prices/new car fuel consumption (previous prices/car meant $36 a month...that's soooo NOT going to be the new quota!...gas prices were just below $3 then...they are about $3.49 now...and this car has a bigger engine!- las one was an 800cc)...AND Ale's school expenses (luckily, to start in August, so I will have some time to adjust to the two first ones!)...a variation of $60/mont...

so...let's say the new car spends about 30% more gas, and factor in the new prices...I could be spending about $60 - $70 in gas + $30 additional for the loan + $60 additional for Ale's school....this is $150-$160 MORE a month...ouch! ...not counting car insurance....hmmmmm...

Oops!...can you spot the mistake?? $70-$36 = $34...so $34 + $30 + $60, total ADDITIONAL per month ~$124, not $150!...

I have to work this number into my current estimated budget....(well, the $60 additional for Ale's school were already factored into my "adjusted" budget for August '06...)

Back to the excel file!!

I had to recharge $5 in my cellphone...I had already charged $5, but, my niece made a call to a landline that lasted 11 minutes! (we need to talk about that when she gets back!--she's out of town!)

1. keep better track of my spending- same situation!..I need DISCIPLINE!!

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! done!...believe it or not I have a job offer...NOT from the resumes...from this site!
3. FINALLY decide on a school for Alejandra, AND save money for her enrollment fee, uniforms and school supplies Already paid $100 to reserve Ale's space. Someone from the office has offered to help with $500 towards Ale's education...this takes care of enrollment, books and uniforms!
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. Higher than last month, as now I have the loan for the car!!...BUT! I asked for some "extra" money so part of that is going to go towards the cc's (much lower interest rate!)...real situation is: $7.8K (refinanced) loan, $3.1K car loan, $2.5K cc's

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

a couple of years ago she had to sell her car, which she hadn't finished paying for. The guy that bought the car basically gave her a lump sum and then took over the payments...but, she never made sure he had changed the documents to his name...and then there were a couple of late payments and we found out because the bank called our house (after all, the loan was in HER name!)...the guy paid up and promised to straighten things out...again, I told her she should press on the name change on the loan papers...a few months later again she got phone calls from the bank...again she contacted him, again he paid and,AGAIN, I counseled she follow up...well, yesterday she couldn't access her salary (direct deposit, but account was showing $0 balance!)...she went to the bank to complain and they told her they had frozen her acct because there was 1 payment left on the car, but that was overdue by more than 90 days....totalling $100....she paid them just so they would unfreeze the account (yes, the loan is STILL in her name!)...she's now trying to contact the guy again!!...One part of me feels sorry for her...but another part of me wants to hit her!!

So, as of Monday (24/apr), I'm contacting the bank at least once a day. Today, I got an email from the executive stating that, it has been more difficult than normal to find the payment because it was applied to a closed account (?? shouldn't that make it EASIER to find?)...anyway, I sent her a copy of the cheque - front and back, where it shows that my bank released the $$ to them! - to help her find the payment...Now, she made the awful mistake of including the words "I'll get in touch with you once this is resolved"...no,no, lady...I'LL be in touch with you UNTIL this is resolved!!...I'll be on her case until she decides it's better to find that payment than to put up with me!!

and, our IT guy (at home) wants to reformat it...he says we'll lose all our info!!!...our IT guy at the office says: huh??....((sigh))

***
solved! thank God for conference calls! ...we should be getting our computer back tonight!

((sigh)) I just called the Ministry and, they tell me there is no correction to the state of my donations (they appear still as if they haven't been declared by the foundation)...Since the number I called is supposed to be "taxpayer counseling", I asked what I should do...their advice? ...modify MY declaration to exclude the donations...this makes me angry...this is NOT a solution (it is, in the sense that then I'd get my money back, but, it isn't in the sense that I don't feel I should have to modify my declaration. My declaration is right, why should I modify it??).......AAAAAAAAAARRRRGH!

...I cannot see it online, which means it hasn't been applied, yet! I made this payment on March 15th, discovered the problem on March 20th, went to the bank in person to fix it on March 20th...sent an email following up on April 6th, received a call from the bank on April 11th, and followed up with them again yesterday (April 24th)...I'm thinking about going in person again today...((sigh))

Wow!...I noticed this today as we went by the gas station in our neighborhood...AND, this is without the newest increase, because prices get changed on Fridays here!!...((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!)

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!)

...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!

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!