Let's try to NOT let this happen, OK?

So my visa is currently in process and, after a few bumps at the beginning, everything was right on track. Unfortunately, they called at 9am this morning and wanted to see proof of our payment to the city for last years taxes. We explained to them that we have not been able to pay for those yet as it's about $1500 on top of the federal taxes which we are paying on month by month. Basically, we have been raped in taxes, insurance and just about everything else imaginable as Japan works on a system that charges you an amount based on what you made the previous year. Well, I had a job last year and now, I technically do not.

I mean, I am running dv8CAG.com, but it's not quite raking in the loot at the moment, it's making enough for us to break even after paying all the bills each month, so the good news is, the hole isn't getting deeper anymore, but we are not able to start paying any of the back taxes or anything we have accrued.

I have two plans to help balance things out, one is fairly straight-forward and will be starting within the next 24 hours after I get some more items listed.

The first (and hopefully last ever) EMERGENCY STAY IN JAPAN LOWBALL will be up and running ASAP.
All regular rules will apply, except that I have to ask for exact shipping to be paid figured at the end of the auction. I'm sorry, but I need to make every single dollar (or yen) I possibly can to try and save things over here.

The second plan is something I have been considering for well over a month now, but really kind of mulling over in my head and couldn't really decide which way to go on it. This past week pretty much had me set on going through with it though.
Now, I'm not sure that I even have a chance of finding the support here (hello cheapasses!), but I figure that it's my best place to start.

As you all know, dv8CAG has been up and running for a couple of months now. You probably don't know that it already has over 150 members with a majority of them being active in buying and/or requesting items. Still since that's enough to break even, my goal is to get close to the 300 member mark around the start of 2011, so if you have been thinking about joining, please take a few minutes to do so. Something may catch your eye and, if not, you still may have a request for some coll stuff from Japan.

That's all well and good and, as I said, after just these two month, we already make enough each month to pay the bills. The biggest problem is that I have put a lot of money into it over the past few years building up inventory and such, and I'm slowly making it back when I need it now.

So, I am going to bring on a partner. I won't go into the details right here, because I don't feel that it's quite appropriate for everyone to know exactly how the site works and the finances and things as it wouldn't be fair to whoever I bring in.

In general, I will say that I need someone that can help out financially to basically diffuse some of the costs. I also need someone who is mature and level headed. I don't care that you have $50,000 you want to invest if you don't understand how a business works and won't be in it for the long haul.

When I say I need a partner, that's just what I need. Someone that will be committed to helping the business continue to grow and willing to do some work to make it happen. I am positive that dv8CAG is a great opportunity simply based on what I have done with it in only two months. The future is bright, but it's making it here a bit too slowly right now is all...

If you are seriously interested, email me at dv8maddots(at)aol.com and we will talk and I will give you the full details.

That's about it for right now. My day is suddenly very, very busy as I need to go to the ward office and try to work out a new payment plan for city taxes, then I need to go to the immigration office and speak with them about what transpired in that conversation. I am 99% certain I am going to need to pay a chunk of it upfront Due to this, the lowball is going to be shorter than typical and, I know the economy of the world is still terrible, but I hope that you can help me and my family out!

UPDATE: Tied up at the ward office getting paperwork today. Had to call immigration and explain the the office couldn't get the paperwork done soon enough and had to reschedule our meeting for tomorrow. SO, one more stressful day coming right up...
I'm not doing so bad, but Ai doesn't feel very good at all.

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