It's time for my next loan!


(I actually made one in between because the loan repayments are deposited on the 15th and that was right between pay periods)

With our Christmas travels coming up this Thursday, I figured I should go ahead and do it now!  Plus, there was a loan I really wanted to lend to.  I saw it at work today and there were only two people lending to it so far and it was 8% funded.  By the time I got back on to check tonight there was only $50 LEFT to be loaned!  I had to jump on it!

So, here we are.  A country I've not donated to yet, which makes me happy!  These ladies are from Mali and the one sells phone cards. 

As usual I couldn't wait til payday . . . waiting til paycheck week is hard enough for me!

Here's my fourth loan of my year long commitment. 

I have money to come into my account on the 15th of the month -- the week between the paychecks.  I can't wait to see how much I'll get and I might considering relending it before the pay period I'll get right before Christmas.  Especially since I'll be travelling on Christmas Eve, and I probably won't be able to give as much attention to choosing a Kiva loan as I'd like to.

Several of my loans have payments that increase in size until their last payment, so now that I've got several that are starting to repay, and they'll be repaying more each month . . . it's so exciting to think about re-lending all this money!

Woohoo!

I couldn't wait ya'll!  I'm so bad at waiting when it comes to doing my next Kiva loan.  I had $8.47 in credit this time so I didn't end up spending $25 of my own money, but I am not going to get that technical about it with my commitment.

Anywho, I chose a group from the Democratic Republic of Congo this time.  A large group with a short repayment term.  While I'm starting to do this, I'm choosing most of my loans with short repayment terms so that come April and May I'll be having LOTS of the funds I've put in returned to me for re-lending.  Maybe as I keep going I'll pick some longer term loans again. 

Here they are!


John Beya, aged 41 and married, was elected as the president of the Community Bank named “CPK II Plus”, which consists of 19 members united in solidarity to receive loans from Kiva through IMF HOPE RDC with the goal of developing their businesses.

John sells iron bars, pipes, etc. at the market located west of Kinshasa. He started his business in 1990 by selling duplicating paper. John is happy right now as he is going to be able to buy iron bars and water pipes with the loan, have a greater range of stock, and be able to meet his customers' demand.

John makes a profit of US$100 per week. With the money he earns, he hopes to provide financial support for his family. His dream is to someday open a hardware and a clothing store. John has four children aged between 3 and 11 years. Three of them go to school. He also takes care of five children left by his relatives.

So, we FINALLY got the toilet working after updating the flooring in the bathroom.  What should have been a piece of cake wasn't.  I will spare you the boring details, but long story short - it took three wax rings (and therefore three removals of the toilet) to get it right!

We haven't sealed the floor in there yet, but Coupon plans to do that on Thanksgiving day.

Tonight we painted the ceiling in the spare room.  Tomorrow we plan to paint the ceiling in our room.

Also up for Thanksgiving day is to stain the door to the bathroom and hopefully put up the new door and frame.  We could probably do the trim in there as well.

Finally, we'd like to fix the front door too. 

We will be BUSY BUSY BUSY to say the least.  Too bad neither of us are off the day after Thanksgiving.

Sorry, no pictures tonight!

With the intent to sell the condo in the near-ish future, Coupon and I started a list of things we need to do to spruce this place up for the market.

We finished one thing tonight:

Replacing the sink drains in the kitchen.


The back story is I noticed his sink area stunk the first time I was ever in his condo.  It's revolting.  He said he couldn't smell it -- what the #$(*&#@*$ ever!  He eventually admitted that it did kind of smell and they should be replaced.

I mean, there was a visible space between the sink basin and the drain part.  Food particles got stuck in there and well -- GROSS.

Here are some pics from the awesomeness that is me being a fabulous handywoman!

 
 

SUCCESS!!

There are some really classic lullabies out there and then there are some really unusual ones.

My mom sang me "Barges" a song I'm pretty sure she learned from Girl Scout camp.  I loved that song and still think it is so sweet and adorable.  I also love the melody.  Anyway, I was trying to tell Coupon about it today and couldn't remember many of the words so I looked it up on YouTube. 

I don't think my mom every sang me the WHOLE thing, and it's a bit much to hear this whole chorus of women sing it all soupy like, but you get the idea.

What were you sung as a child?  If you're a parent, what do you sing to your child(ren)?

Oh drats, I can't seem to get the video uploaded here.  Anywhere, here it is -- "Barges."

As soon as I realized I'd already gotten my paycheck today I was signing into Kiva like a kid on Christmas morning!

This paycheck I'm lending to a group in Mexico called "The Sparrows."  Their microlender has a good rating, and the repayment terms are only 6 months so I can re-lend again sooner rather than later!  Oh, and they do embroidery -- how stinkin' cute!!

This loan is not fully funded.  It has already been disbursed to The Sparrows Group, but it isn't fully funded on Kiva, so please consider joining me on supporting this group and micro lender!

The Sparrows Group

map = null; imgUrl = 'http://l3-2.kiva.org/r28024/images/characters/1.jpg'; business_name = 'The Sparrows Group'; short_name = 'MX'; country_name = 'Mexico'; town_name = ''; lender_geocodes = {"37.7751998901367":{"-122.418998718262":[{"public_url":"http://www.kiva.org/lender/pmxrk2628","display_name":"kiwa ","address":"san francisco, CA, United States","image_url_map":"http://www.kiva.org/img/w60h60/234825.jpg"}]},"35.6685981750488":{"139.824005126953":[{"public_url":"http://www.kiva.org/lender/stephentokyo","display_name":"Stephen","address":"Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan","image_url_map":"http://s3-1.kiva.org/img/w60h60/142652.jpg"}]},"51.0536994934082":{"-114.061996459961":[{"public_url":"http://www.kiva.org/lender/kate4399","display_name":"Kate","address":"Calgary, AB, Canada","image_url_map":"http://l3-2.kiva.org/r28024/images/characters/1.jpg"}]},"38.5736999511719":{"-121.486999511719":[{"public_url":"http://www.kiva.org/lender/larry3397","display_name":"Kathy","address":"Sacramento, CA, United States","image_url_map":"http://l3-2.kiva.org/r28024/images/characters/1.jpg"}]},"-37.8143005371094":{"144.962997436523":[{"public_url":"http://www.kiva.org/lender/makehavoc","display_name":"Mark","address":"Melbourne, VIC, Australia","image_url_map":"http://l3-2.kiva.org/r28024/images/characters/1.jpg"}]},"39.7666015625":{"-86.4412002563477":[{"public_url":"http://www.kiva.org/lender/janandmike5676","display_name":"Jan and Mike","address":"Indiana, United States","image_url_map":"http://s3-1.kiva.org/img/w60h60/539786.jpg"}]},"46.4418983459473":{"-93.3612976074219":[{"public_url":"http://www.kiva.org/lender/kristine5965","display_name":"Kristine","address":"MN, United States","image_url_map":"http://s3-2.kiva.org/img/w60h60/406503.jpg"}]},"40.1990013122559":{"-74.1706008911133":[{"public_url":"http://www.kiva.org/lender/cat2987","display_name":"Cat","address":"Farmingdale, NJ, United States","image_url_map":"http://s3-2.kiva.org/img/w60h60/331083.jpg"}]},"55.375301361084":{"13.157600402832":[{"public_url":"http://www.kiva.org/lender/abgrevon7124","display_name":"AB Grevon","address":"TRELLEBORG, Sweden","image_url_map":"http://l3-2.kiva.org/r28024/images/characters/1.jpg"}]},"33.7029991149902":{"-117.950996398926":[{"public_url":"http://www.kiva.org/lender/anne9785","display_name":"Anne","address":"Fountain Valley, CA, United States","image_url_map":"http://l3-2.kiva.org/r28024/images/characters/1.jpg"}]},"49.2037010192871":{"-122.915000915527":[{"public_url":"http://www.kiva.org/lender/10416122","display_name":"Knight family","address":"New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada","image_url_map":"http://s3-1.kiva.org/img/w60h60/634238.jpg"}]},"25.774299621582":{"-80.190299987793":[{"public_url":"http://www.kiva.org/lender/ben1294","display_name":"Ben","address":"Miami, FL, United States","image_url_map":"http://l3-2.kiva.org/r28024/images/characters/1.jpg"}]},"33.8381996154785":{"-118.38500213623":[{"public_url":"http://www.kiva.org/lender/monica8432","display_name":"Monica","address":"Redondo Beach, Ca, United States","image_url_map":"http://l3-2.kiva.org/r28024/images/characters/1.jpg"}]},"43.6702003479004":{"-79.3868026733398":[{"public_url":"http://www.kiva.org/lender/gregory1250","display_name":"Gregory","address":"Toronto, Ontario, Canada","image_url_map":"http://l3-2.kiva.org/r28024/images/characters/1.jpg"}]},"38.4981994628906":{"-98.3199005126953":[{"public_url":"http://www.kiva.org/lender/katherine3655","display_name":"Katherine","address":"Kansas, United States","image_url_map":"http://l3-2.kiva.org/r28024/images/characters/1.jpg"}]},"-41.30023":{"146.953434":[{"public_url":"http://www.kiva.org/lender/john28949634","display_name":" John","address":"Exeter, Tasmania, Australia","image_url_map":"http://l3-2.kiva.org/r28024/images/characters/1.jpg"}]},"29.7600002288818":{"-95.3625030517578":[{"public_url":"http://www.kiva.org/lender/bradandmonika7041","display_name":"Brad & Monika","address":"Houston, TX, United States","image_url_map":"http://www.kiva.org/img/w60h60/164831.jpg"}]},"37.2691993713379":{"-119.306999206543":[{"public_url":"http://www.kiva.org/lender/madeline6665","display_name":"Madeline","address":"CA, United States","image_url_map":"http://www.kiva.org/img/w60h60/537400.jpg"}]},"58.3637008666992":{"-134.572006225586":[{"public_url":"http://www.kiva.org/lender/kohawkrachel","display_name":"Rachel","address":"Juneau, AK, United States","image_url_map":"http://s3-1.kiva.org/img/w60h60/205318.jpg"}]},"41.287899017334":{"-72.6839981079102":[{"public_url":"http://www.kiva.org/lender/christepiscopalchu3153","display_name":"Christ Episcopal Church","address":"Guilford, CT, United States","image_url_map":"http://l3-2.kiva.org/r28024/images/characters/1.jpg"}]},"49.8955993652344":{"-97.138298034668":[{"public_url":"http://www.kiva.org/lender/kim9567","display_name":"kim","address":"winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada","image_url_map":"http://www.kiva.org/img/w60h60/138281.jpg"}]}}; businessLat = 23.63450050354; businessLng = -102.553001403809;

Alrighty . . . tomorrow is payday and I get my direct deposit tonight.  I couldn't wait!

Here's my first loan recipient of my Kiva Commitment!

I've decided to make a Kiva commitment. 

Let me tell you about it.

I've long enjoyed the satisfaction of lending $25 at a time to people seeking loans in other countries through Kiva.org.

I love to sign in and see how far along my loans are and see who else is funding the loan I've supported.  I love to look at the loans that are nearly funded and only need a little bit more left and WHILE I'm looking at the page -- they grey out because they've been funded.

I love the joy I get and I love wondering and imagining how the entrepreneurs feel when they pay their first payment on their loan . . . and of course, their last payment.

I love looking at the pictures of the people asking for loans and wondering what the rest of their family looks like and what they do day-to-day, how their lives are vastly different from mine.

So, since I am now in the best financial position I've been in in a VERY long time, I'm making a commitment to donate $25 to a Kiva loan each paycheck.   I hope that I can sustain that goal - at the very least I'll do once a month, but I really think I can handle $25 out of each paycheck.

Now . . . for YOUR job. 

1.  Remind me!
2.  Check me out on Kiva (message me for details!)
3.  Join yourself!
4.  Consider a commitment of some kind yourself!
5.  Oh yeah, remind me!

So, ya'll know I'm a bargain huntress.  It's no secret and while I'm always on the hunt for a bargain I just had some magnificence occur today I have to share.

First of all, I do a lot of survey sites.  There are definitely some better than others.  Some I just do to pass time not really because I get rewards.  One of those is called Wireless Lounge and it's all about making comments on potentially new cell phones and their features and stuff.  The surveys aren't long or hard, but I don't really get anything.

WELL . . . somehow they sent me an email thanking me for my survey and saying I was a winner in a monthly sweepstakes they have or something.  Anyway, the email said I had a $200 gift code to use on like supercertificate.com or something. 

I was skeptical and was pretty sure there would be strings attached.

So, I checked it out.  I entered my code and it definitely looked like I had $200 to spend there.  So . . . I started loading up on gift cards.  Some were e-cards with codes and some were real gift cards.  I checked out the fine print and some had "handling fees" so I thought "well, there's the catch."

BUT, there were no fees charged.  I spent my $200 exactly, so I didn't have to enter any kind of credit card information, so there was really no way they could get me then!  It sure felt too good to be true -- but sure enough, I got e-codes in my inbox right away, and gift cards in the mail earlier this week.

Some I got for Christmas gifts, and some I got to splurge on myself.  One of those was a $50 Old Navy card.

I had a lot of time at work today with nothing to do so I poked around and found some things that would make good work clothes.

I got home today and it was on like DONKEY KONG!

First, I went to Old Navy through Shop At Home - because I get 4% cash back from just doing that.  (I've turned another Xangan on to it, so she can confirm it's totally legit and awesome.)  Anyway, so I used Shop At Home . . . and then was able to use TWO rewards codes from Old Navy: one for free shipping because I spent over $50 and the second for 15% off my total.  Um, awesome.

SO, I went from a total close to $70 to paying $7.76 out of pocket for 5 items!! 

In case you're interested that means each item cost $1.552 each.  Just sayin' that . . . I'm totally awesome!