He shoots. He scores.

In the midst of everything that has been going on lately in my life I've forgotten about a GUE a bit. Not so much forgotten as delat with a mixture of lack of time and procrastination, as I usually do.

One thing I'd like to mention as it had been most definitely mentioned before is my gigantic black hole of debt. The vaccum which sucks away over half of my paycheck each period. Well. NO MORE! Finally one of those long-term goals people talk about. I've met one!

That's right. The long list of debts depicted and reflected in my credit report are now completely gone. This has been a long, treacherous path. A hard goal to accomplish, as it has been something I've been somewhat dealing and respectively not dealing with for years. As of last week, all debts have been paid and all accounts have been brough up to date. My credit report is able to do nothing more but to repair itself and regenrate from here on out.

Granted there are a few things that need paying such as some IRS payments (which at this point aren't that much) and the $800 I owe (to mom) to finish paying off my machine of destruction. These are not liabilities as they do not affect my credit report.

The only other acquired debt now is the Sallie Mae student loans, which consequently are not required to be paid until I'm out of school, and thankfully only a small portion of them are subsidized.

Time to start turning the cash into more cash continuing to plant it inside the ING accounts, which with a 3% return I hope by this time next year I'll have a good chunk of cash. I can't wait. I've also slightly been trying to gain control of my finances by cutting down on my eating out for lunch and dinners.

I've started to buy food to keep at my desk at work, easily prepared meals, and making use of the office resources (fridge, microwave, toaster). I went this last pay period from spending $250 in lunches alone, to $78 in desk groceries. Add onto that the $200+ in take out dinners, which have been replaced by a mere $100 in home groceries. Healthier and cheaper.

Even now that I'm at my last dime before next paycheck, all the leftover ingredients bought throughout the past two weeks have been suffient to keep me from starvation and excessive spending.

I've ranged in at home meals as such [All while applying and practicing my knife skills for school]:


[Bean and Cheese Tostadas]


[Very Berry Salad]


[Greek Vegetable Lemon Rice Soup]
All in all small efforts which have in the end had a major result in my daily life. I think I'm doing pretty well, if I do say so myself.

Baby steps

In the new year, although only 17 days in, some things begin to look a little bit more tangible. Being out of debt is finally a couple of steps away. Clarity in mind about the future sets in.

Clarity in such a way, that I believe the right steps need to start taking place. I talked about how I believed in only working for myself for the rest of my life. About how no matter how much of my time I spend in academics, ultimately I want that to be for myself. I keep reading stories on applying your hobbies into your professional life in order to find a career in doing what you love.

Well I love many things and I think all of these can come together in unison to reach my ultimate goal. I'm planning on owning my own business, hopefully no later than 2011. Music. Food. Art. Furniture. Socializing (!!!). All of these skills will come into play soon enough.

First things first, I am working on researching my options as far as financing. Clearing my credit is sure to be the first major stepping stone into financing. It will allow me to have more room to work with when I make it into the bank to ask for a rack of cash. It will also ensure that the only payments I'm making are to the bank and not a million creditors wanting my head.

Secondly will be taking full advantage of any programs available for grants and loans. I have a couple of points on my side. I will be a start up, small business and I am Hispanic. The business plan in development will play a major role in acquiring the necessary funds, but one is definitely in the works.

It had been suggested to me to start an offshoot of what will at one point become the main business. Like say you wan an art gallery, you start painting first. You want to own a hair salon, you freelance. You want to own a restaurant you cater. Which seems like a viable option and a fun idea to get my product out there, my name known, and start working out a lot of the details. What sells, what doesn't. Cost forecasting and trend research.

I've been doing some reading and a lot of note taking, taking full advantage of the many courses offered by the Small Business Administration online, about business management and administration. That site is full of usefull iformation and it's all free.

Clearly we have taken some insight into my love of food and art. so I've decided to heed the advice and get the gears running on this food business. I'm actually excited, since all of this is becoming more and more tangible with each passing day and each dollar sent into the pits of creditor hell.

Does anyone out there know of any Government or private programs for Latinos that maybe I may have missed?

Because I can. I will.

The title of this blog would lead one to believe that every entry herein contained will directly correlate edibles and my personal history. Though a large percentage of that statement may hold true, I do have other interests. Many of these which make me hungry and direct me to either cook or buy some thing to eat. In the end it all makes sense. If you think about anything long enough, it will begin to make sense. Try it.

In any event, this entry was not to rant or to justify myself, but rather to shed light in one of my ongoing goals. A car. A vehicle. A ride. Not a Ford Probe. Not a Ford.

Upon submitting myself to a slow death by RSS, one of my regular reads, Get Rich Slowly, came up. There was a post about car trouble and the fiscal issues involved with it.

In the afternoon, the shop called with the damage. (I’m half-remembering this conversation — I don’t know anything about cars, so I probably have the details wrong, though the numbers are right.) “Your coolant system is shot,” the woman told me. “There was a crack near the thermostat, which apparently allowed the coolant to drain out completely. It’ll cost $373 to fix.”

I sighed. “That may fix the trouble with your heater, too,” the woman said. “The bad news is we found other problems. You know the airbag light that was on? That’s not good. Right now, the airbag won’t deploy in a crash. If you want that repaired, it’ll cost another $432.”

“Yes, I definitely want the airbag fixed,” I said. Seven years ago an airbag saved my life. Call me superstitious, but I won’t drive a car without one now.

“There’s one more thing,” the woman said. “The key is stuck in the ignition. We can’t get it out.”

I sighed again. This has been a problem for over a year, but I’ve always managed to work around it. The shop, however, was stymied. “We need to replace the ignition. It’ll cost $135 for a new tumbler, and about $225 for labor. It takes about 2-1/2 hours to get into the steering column to replace it.”

She clicked her keyboard. “The total so far is $1165.” [GRS]

This snippet had a ring to it a litlle bit more than just familiar. I look around my desk and found that it's time to renew my registration, with which comes a mandatory Virginia emissions testing. I've never had a problem passing this, however, I never took the test in 2008 on a 1994 Probe.

I have started my savings accounts. I have started my emergency fund. I am seriously close to abolishing my debt in its entirety. Time to pull my 2008 credit report!

But now comes the part about what kind of car to buy. 2-door, 4-door. I kind of secretly want an SUV, but I think it would weigh on my conscience too much if I did. Hybrid. I mean, this is worse than going to Starbuck's. The major issue here, is I know NOTHING about cars. I'm actually going to need to get down and hit the books. Learn a little more. Anyone out there with any car shopping experience?

Belated New Years

It took me a second to get this entry in due to some personal technical difficulties, which still withstand, but will work themselves out as things usually do.

Well, here we are again. The end of one year and at the beginning of another. We've crossed the path almost reaching 2010. Which begins to sound even more like the future. Flying cars and things of the sort.

I hear people talking about resolutions and changes and everything they want to leave behind. Almost like the year before was the worst. Thick on the bad connotation of 2007.

I would like to be the first to say that 2007 for me was not a bad one in the least. (for once?). It was actually one where I had set goals to take on that I had failed to accomplish in 2006.

I cooked a lot more, like, a lot more! I quit smoking (although a little late in the year). Maintaining a steady gym routine (although losing routine a bit into the year, but going even if out of schedule). Took classes throughout the year. Read a whole lot more. Last, but not least, getting my finances back in order.

Getting the money on track has been a resolution probably since I first left El Paso, and through a series of life lessons, numerous written sources, a few role models, and a handful of encouraging peers, I did it! I'm months away now (months I can count with one hand) from atonement.

Which in the long run, will be the first step of a new track and a continuance 5-year plan to reaching the my goals.

This coming up year I don't have very many goals, much further than keeping up with what I've been doing.

The only new ones, which some I've set in motion in December, are:

• Keep piling up the cash into the ING savings accounts. (I've opened 3)
• Finish up the draft of my business plan. (Got the software and the sources)
  
• Keep up with this blog - for once. (Trying!)
  
• Take writing, art, and culinary courses. (Signed up last night)
  
• Finalize debt. (Mid-April)
  
• Go visit my friends on the West Coast and abroad. (Waiting for my passport!)
  
• Get started on getting myself a car that isn't a Ford Probe. (No. Seriously. I don't want a Probe.)
  

That's it. That's all I want. Considering how far I've gotten thus far, I see no problem getting there by 2009.

Happy New Year's everyone! The best is yet to come!