Ima Saver's Personal Finance Blog

Happy mother's day from me, also. I got my first payment slip on the new van yesterday. It is very low interest, so we financed the whole thing. I had too much money set aside in the van envelope, so I can put the rest on the challenge.
Pre. total $9785.00
today 55.00
new total $9840.00

Tomorrow is mother's day but dh and i do not celebrate because both of our mother's have passed away.
I was thinking about my mother this morning. My father died before I turned 10, so she was a widow at age 47.
She had never worked (women didn't work much back then), so she had to take a job making about $20 a week to support the three of us.
Until I married at age 20, I never saw my mother buy herself anything. She made sure she paid the bills first, bought food and that was that!
I guess that is why i find it pretty easy to be frugal, I learned by example.

Have a happy mother's day tomorrow.

The stock market was up yesterday. The braves pulled it out of the fire in the 9th inning and won yesterday. I stayed home all day and used no gasoline. I will add that $3 to my challenge money.
Prev. total $9782.00
today 3.00
New total $9785.00

I have used the envelope method for over 40 years and I love it.
Sometimes when I fund something and pay it off, I just keep adding the money to the envelope anyway.
A few weeks ago I paid off my car, but I keep funding that envelope. I also have what I call my "ridge" money. That was some land I had been making payments on, but have since paid off.
so, I have $760 to add to my challenge money.
Prev. total $9022.00
today 760.00
new total $9782.00

That is all I hear on tv lately, doom and gloom. I know gas and food prices are up, but as a life long saver, that has not affected my life too much. I have decided to just BE HAPPY!
The stock market was up on Tuesday and the braves won their last two games, so I will add $3 to my challenge money.
Prev. total $9019.00
today 3.00
new total $9022.00

I decided to put some of my cash into a c.d. paying 4%, out of money sitting in a money market account making 1.98% So I did that last Satuday.
Today it hit me. Now that my money market account is below the minimum required, they are going to hit me with a $15 fine!!
Well, at least I am making double the interest. Now, I need to get that m/m back to the minimum required! Lesson learned!!

My husband is now a licensed residental contractor for the state of Georgia.
Georgia has been working on having all builders in Georgia licensed.
Now everyone that owns a hammer ( and some that didn't even own that much) can no longer build homes that do not come up to code.(Before this, there were NO codes)
We had to turn in a lot of paperwork to prove that he has been building houses for a while. we had to get certifcates of occupancy for many of the homes and reference letters for all the homes we have built in the past several years.
Dh has been a licensed builder for the state of North Carolina (10 miles away) for about 20 years.

His license number is #399!! Good luck 399!!

I finally received a check from inbox dollars. I ordered it on March 23 and it came yesterday. It took me 15 months to earn $30 (the minimum) and then they take out $3 for handling fees. I have decided that I am not going to mess with them anymore. I had to click on that site 1000 times to earn that much.
The braves won Sunday and I won 2 games of mahjong, so with my check, I have a total of $30 to add to the challenge.
Prev. total $8989.00
today 30.00
new total $9019.00

I am never late on any of my bills. I just noticed that my electric bill had not been paid and it is due today. I have bridge people coming over in a few minutes, so i will have to drop it off at the bank after 5pm! The late fee is not much, but I am paranoid about paying my bills on time. I don't know how I forgot it! Must be old age or something!! I put the surplus money in my challenge account last week, but just neglected to actually pay the bill.

I went grocery shopping early this morning. I saved $6 using coupons and my grocery card.Last night the braves won and I won 3 games of mahjong, so that totals $10. I also have my term insurance money to add to the challenge, for a total of $50.
Prev. total $8939.00
today 50.00
new total $8989.00

I just filled up my car this morning. It took 12.8 gallons and cost $49.70 to fill up. I can not imagine what some people must pay weekly just to drive to work. We live in remote area. Our little town does not even have a taxi. Everyone must drive.
Well, I don't work, so I do try and stay home more than I use to.
I don't see how some families are even making it around here!!

I did my net worth yesterday, it went up about $17,000 but that is because the stock market went up for the month. The stock market went up yesterday, the braves won and I won 3 mahjong games, so that is $5 to add to the challenge.
Prev. total $8934.00
today 5.00
new total $8939.00

I drove to another county to open a c.d. this morning. I am getting almost 2% at my local bank and this bank is offering c.d.'s for one year paying 4%. This will pay me an extra $1000 in interest.(for $50,000) Actually, I could have given them another $50,000 but if my accounts (local) go to low, they will put a 10 day hold on the checks that our customer gives us to build their home. So that money will have to sit and earn the low rate. Any way, I am getting a little more interest right now!!

Well, one thing about playing this mahjong game, it certainly is adding money to my $20 challenge money. I won 5 games yesterday and the stock market went up, so that is $6 to add to the challenge.
Prev. total $8928.00
today 6.00
new total $8934.00

The rates on my money market accounts went down again. Now the bank is paying 1.98% Just a few months ago this account was paying 5.25%. Now I know why retirees that live on their interest, get upset when the rates go down!! It seems like every time I move my money, the rates just go down again.

May is my favorite month. It is warming up, but still cool at night. That means no heat or a/c yet! Everything is turning green and blooming. When I lived in florida, all months were about the same. Now, here in the mountains, spring time is beautiful! I even got married in May. What a beautiful month.

I add up my interest earned every month. Of course, because rates are going down all the time, the interest is going down every month. In april, I earned just slightly over $2000, $2017 to be exact.
I had a c.d. come due yesterday. I was going to move it to a bank out of town, but the difference was only 4/10th of a point, so I think I will leave it. I like having money in all of the local banks.

I thought I might have a no spend day, but Holly acted sick yesterday. Upset tummy, throwing up, diarreah. She has a sensitive tummy and does this a lot.
She was still sick today, so I got her in at the vets. I spent $75 and hope she feels better soon. She is such a funny eater and can no longer have "people food" which is all she likes to eat.
I am going to have to listen to her cry cause all she can have is dog food the rest of her life. Glad I am not Holly!!

I got three checks in the mail yesterday, $94.68 from state farm (refund), $5.00 from a pinecone survey and $3.43 from over payment on my car pay off. That is a total of $103 to add to my challenge money.
prev. total 8825.00
today 103.00
new total 8928.00

I got two coupons in the mail for a free container of Beneful. That is the only dog food my little Holly will eat. So, I cashed them in yesterday, saving myself almost $4. I will add that to my $20 challenge.
Prev. total $8821.00
today 4.00
new total $8825.00

Happy first day of May. this is my favorite month, I got married in May. When I was a kid, we celebrated May 1st with a Maypole dance. I wonder if anyone does that anymore??

I was bragging about not using the heat or a/c for two weeks, yesterday. Well, last night, the heat ran all night. We had a pretty good frost on the ground. I hope the hummingbirds did not freeze.
Yesterday was not a good day for the braves or the stock market, but I did win 6 mah jong games, so I will add that $6 to my challenge money.
Prev. total $8815.00
today 6.00
new total $8821.00

I have not run the heat or a/c for about 2 weeks now. I love that. Actually, it got pretty cool last night, but the house only got down to 64. I have it set (heat) at 63! I guess I need to start reading the meter every day like I use to and writing it down. I have been happy with my power bill all winter.
Yesterday, i won $4 games of mahjong, so I will add $4 to my challenge.
prev. total $8811.00
today 4.00
new total $8815.00

Today is the day I play bridge so there will be no money spent today. The gals are coming over to my house and I am glad. One gal broke her leg 3 months ago and we have been playing at her house for a while. I am sure Holly (my puppy) will be thrilled to have company and not stay home all alone.
I did win 3 games of mahjong yesterday, so that is $3 to add to the challenge.
Prev. total $8808.00
today 3.00
new total $8811.00

Today was just a nice sunday! My dh took the day off to cut grass and wash cars. (and do house work) It rained a little, but that did not stop him.
Later, we went to a local home show for a while. Then we went out to look at the big house he is building. It is so impressive looking inside.
I love the rock they are putting up, but it is so expensive!
Tonight, we are going out for 50's night at our favorite restaurant!!
I played mah jong yesterday and won 6 times, so that is $6 to add to the challenge.
Prev. total $8802.00
today 6.00
new total $8808.00

Yesterday was a spendy day for me. I had to take my poodle, Holly to the groomers and he lives 14 miles away from me. Since I was close to Murphy. N.C. (about 10 miles) I decided to kill the 4 hours over there. So, I went to Wal Mart and bought stuff! I tried to also do my grocery shopping, but wound up going to Ingles also. I am glad I do not go to Wal Mart very often. They are going to be building one in our area soon and I will have to stay out of it!!
Well, the braves won last night, the stock market went up and I won one game of mahjong, so that is $3 to add to my challenge fund.
Prev. total $8799.00
today 3.00
new total $8802.00

I bought a jumbo c.d. at a new bank in a different town in January. They were advertising 4.8%
Of course, all the good rates are gone now and the highest I can find is 3.4% and I have a c.d. coming due next weeek.

Yesterday, I get a call from the head teller at the new bank. For a short time, they will be offering c.d.'s paying 4% and she wanted to let me know. You better believe that I will be there next Thursday when my c.d. matures.

The braves won last night, the stock market went up and I had a no spend day, plus won 2 games of mahjong, so $5 will be added to the challenge.
Prev. total $8794.00
today 5.00
new total $8799.00

I hear that a lot, I would love to have your husband build me a house, but i can't afford him! Why?? They don't even know what my husband charges!!
He works by the hour, he does not ever give a contract price! He doesn't know what materials are going to cost 3 months from now.

I went to a picnic yesterday and a lady from Fla. was there. She had looked at a house my husband was building and said, "oh, the house is awesome, but I could never afford him to build me a house"

The last two people that he built a house for told him that he did not charge enough!! The one lady has built several spec houses and she paid the other builder twice what my husband was charging an hour.

Plus, he saves people money cause he can do so many things. He does the plumbing and electrical. He does all the tile work. He can do rock work. He puts down, sands and paints all the hardwood floors. He does the paint and trim. He builds all the cabinets in place. He can do all the cabinets in a big house (labor and materials) for under $10,000. Go to a cabinet place and get an estimate for cabinets in 2 kitchens and 3 or 4 bathrooms!! Try $40,000 and up!!

I asked my husband last night why he thinks people tell me that they cannot afford to hire my husband to build their houses.
He said it is because we live in a big nice house and drive nice cars!! Do you think that is the reason?
I guess they don't know that I save like crazy and don't buy anything that I really don't need.

Oh well, yesterday I got a check for $551 to add to my challenge money.
Prev. total $8243.00
today 551.00
new total $8794.00

I sat down this morning and went over all my budget envelopes. My electric bill was under $90, so I had $70 left over for the challenge. Of course, I also had my ridge money and now I have extra money because I have paid my car off, but I continue to fund that envelope. I had several other envelopes that were very over funded, so i took that cash out to put in my challenge money also. It might as well be earning interest even if it is only 2.23%. All in all, I came up with $1335.00 to add to my challenge money. It has been a good day!!
Prev. total $6908.00
today 1335.00
new total $8243.00

For the past two years, I have been a member of Inbox dollars. It took me a whole year of reading their ads, to earn my first $30. (And they keep $3 of that for s & h)
This past year, it took me 15 months to get to the $30 range. (you can't redeem any earlier) I requested a check on March 15th, but they will not send it until May 1st.
I have decided to drop out of Inbox dollars when my check arrives. It is just not worth having to read 1000 ads to get $27.
I like NFOmy survery very much and Pinecone also. I just did a pinecone survey yesterday. They send their checks out immediately.
I won 4 games of mahjong yesterday and the braves won last night, so that is $5 to add to my challenge money.
Prev. total $6903.00
today 5.00
new total $6908.00