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Archive for October, 2008

Happy Halloween

October 31st, 2008 at 02:33 pm

What do you all do for Halloween. When we moved to the mountains of N. Georgia, we found that the locals did not celebrate Halloween at all. Lucky for us, lots of outsiders have moved in, so we go to a Halloweeen party almost every year. Plus, the town has started a thing on the town square. The merchants pass out candy and the kids (and some adults, like us) all wear their costumes. After that, we go out to dinner. Have a great night!!

The stock market went up yesterday and I had another no use gas day, so another $3 is being added to the challenge money.
Prev. total $21,934.00
today 3.00
new total $21,937.00

new refrigerator

October 30th, 2008 at 09:12 pm

I got a new refrigerator yesterday. My ice maker was leaking and as handy as my husband is, he could not fix it. I was so lucky to have another smaller refrigerator in the garage, so moving all the stuff out was a little bit of work, but no problem. I let it run all night and today I started moving the food back into the new refrigerator today.
This new one is supposed to be more energy efficient, so that is nice.
We put the old one out in the garage (I know, 3 refrigerators) and dh will attempt to fix it again. Then I guess we will sell it or give it away. It is a nice one, a GE profile.
It will be so good not to be low on ice again. I am an ice fanatic and dh takes his lunch and a cooler full of ice every day.
I did have a no use gasoline day, so that is another $2 for the $20 challenge.
Prev. total $21,932.00
today 2.00
new total $21,934.00

Snow in October??

October 29th, 2008 at 01:58 pm

Yesterday morning, it snowed. I have lived in the mountains of North Georgia a long time, but I have never seen snow in October? We usually don't get anything til around christmas. It is been below freezing every morning this week. It is 31 degrees right now. I am trying so hard to hold out til Halloween to turn on my heat.
The stock market had a good day yesterday and I had a no use gas day, so I will add $3 to my challenge money.
Prev. total $21,929.00
today 3.00
new total $21,932.00

Frugal weekend

October 27th, 2008 at 03:05 pm

I had a very frugal weekend. Friday, it was rainy and windy, so we did not go out to eat as usual. We stayed home and just ate grilled cheese sandwiches.
Saturday was a busy day. we went to a big cook out and got a free lunch. Then we went to a Halloween party that night which again served free food and liquor.
So, I did not spend a dime this past weekend. I know I saved at least $20 by not eating out, so I am going to add that to my challenge money.
Prev. total $21,909.00
today 20.00
new total $21,929.00

dh took first place!!

October 26th, 2008 at 03:05 pm

DH took first place as the funniest looking at the Halloween party last night. He had to compete with 92 other people. He really was funny looking. we are going to dress up on Halloween night and go down to the square in our little town. I was funny looking too, but not as funny as he was. I kind of hate that all the women think they have to dress up as something cute! Halloween is about scary and fun, I think! Anyway, we did have a real good time. I was a little disappointed in the music. I won the dance contest last year (rock and roll) but this year they played disco mostly. To me, disco is pretty dull.

A really cheap day!

October 25th, 2008 at 10:11 pm

I am having a real cheap day today. wwe went to a cookout for lunch, just a mile down the road. Tonight, we will be having our "dinner" at a Halloween party. My husband is going as an nutty, fat looking, redneck with "bubba" teeth.
I wish I knew how to put pictures on here. He is so funny looking. Everything will be supplied at the party, even the liquor!! Sounds like a great day!!

Two more months!!

October 25th, 2008 at 02:01 pm

Today is October 25th. Just two more months til christmas. Are you ready??

$5 for the challenge!

October 24th, 2008 at 09:53 pm

I had a no use gas day yesterday and I saved $3 using my advantage card while grocery shopping today. So there is $5 more for the challenge.
Prev. total $21,904.00
today 5.00
new total $21,909.00

Sleeping on a heating pad!

October 24th, 2008 at 03:29 pm

That is what my little dog Holly, is on right now. A heating pad. She sleeps in the pantry at night on a heating pad on top of her little chair. In the morning, she gets in be with me, under the covers. When I get up, she usually gets on top of the couch and stays there most of the day.
However, I have not yet turned on my heat and it is pretty cold here in the mountains. So, she has been going back to her heating pad and laying there. I don't blame her.
As long as she is warm, we are both happy and saving a little propane!

Free dinner!!

October 23rd, 2008 at 08:52 pm

We are going to a BIG Halloween party on Saturday night. We are helping out with it and went to a rehersal last night. We had planned to stop and get some hamburgers or chicken afterwards and bring the food home. Instead, the hostess had pizza delivered and we ate there. DH even got some to bring home for lunch. I figured that saved us at least $10, so I am adding that to the challenge money.

Prev. total $21,894.00
today 10.00
new total $21,904.00

$329.02

October 22nd, 2008 at 04:46 pm

I checked my local saving account this morning and I earned $329.02 in interest this month. My account has been going down lately cause we had to buy a new tile saw, parts for my husband to fix the old corvette and of course , buy a new refrigerator this week.
I am happy to see it heading up. Now, i wish the stock market would.

Ice box

October 21st, 2008 at 05:05 pm

Just wanted to get your attention. I wonder how many of you remember when a refrigerator was called an "ice box"?

No, I never had one. I am not quite that old. However, we did decide to go to Sears last night and order a new refrigerator. The ice maker is leaking and my husband cannot get it to quit. I know I could call a repair man, but the frig is over 12 years old, so it is time for a new one. I hate having to take even more money out of my emergency fund this month, but it cannot be helped.
I was surprised that this refigerator was no more expensive than the one we bought 12 years ago, about $1000.

Also, this one has the ice and water on the door, my old one did not. (I really did not want this feature but without it, the frig cost $2200) How do they figure that??

I had a fun day!!

October 20th, 2008 at 10:49 pm

Well, I played bridge all afternoon and had a really nice day. This weekend, I stayed home both days because of the sorghum festival here in town, so I am adding $4 in saved gas money to the challenge.
Prev. total $21,890.00
today 4.00
new total $21,894.00

My handy man is working!!

October 19th, 2008 at 08:24 pm

I have my own private handy man working today. A few days ago, we discovered that we had a leak in the wall behind the refrigerator,probably going to the ice maker. Dh cut the line and capped it. Today, he came home early from work to try and repair the damage. Right now, he is tearing off the trim on the wall behind the refrigerator.
He thinks it has been leaking for a while. We had a problem on christmas day last year. The water line ends right here in my yard, for the whole subdivison. Last christmas day, it blew up. It caused several problems for us with a leaking problem in the upstairs bath room. I wonder if this is the cause of this problem?
Anyway, it sure is nice to be married to a man that can do "almost" everything.(and it saves a lot of money)

My ice fetish!

October 19th, 2008 at 02:54 pm

I admit it, I have a fetish for ice. I use a lot of it. Remember ice trays? I am so glad that refrigerators have ice makers in them now. I have to have two refrigerators to keep up with my love for ice. I use to have a stand alone ice maker. Take it from me, they are expensive and have to be fixed completely. The other day, we noticed water on the kitchen floor. Turns out we have a leak behind the wall. We had to cut off the water to the ice maker and now I am just down to one ice maker in the refrigerator in the garage. Plus, we have a big mess to fix, drywall and trim. Lucky I am married to a handy man.
Dh takes a cooler full of ice every day for work, so that is why we use so much ice. Also, while you are enjoying your coffee each morning, the first thing I do in the morning is drink a big glass of ice water. I drink it all day long too. I just love ice!!

4.5 million a day!!

October 18th, 2008 at 03:13 pm

That is just what the news channel on tv just said. Obama is spending 4.5 million a day on tv ads for his campaign. Someone sure has a lot of money in these trying times!!

BTW, it is in the 40's here and I still have not turned on the heat. It is supposed to get down in the 30's in a few days.

Ok, a little money for the challenge.

October 17th, 2008 at 10:09 pm

I had a no use gas day yesterday, the stock market went up and I saved $2 using my advantage card at the grocery store today, so that is a total of $5 to add.
Prev. total $21,885.00
today 5.00
new total $21,890.00

Where are my potatoes?

October 17th, 2008 at 09:00 pm

I did my grocery shopping today because we have a festival going on this weekend and it is hard to even get to town. When i put away my groceries, I noticed that I did NOT have the potatoes I picked out. However, I was charged for them. I am not going to make a special trip, but I am going to take my receipt back to them next week and ask for my money back. I bought a box of chocolate mints last week and when I opened them, they were all melted, so I took them back. I am tired of throwing away my money at the supermarket. Do you take things back too?

$72 oil change

October 17th, 2008 at 02:54 pm

Dh took the new car in for it's first oil change. The cost was almost $72 because it uses synthetic oil. However, you only have to get the oil changed about every $10,000 miles.
Actually, this is the NEW yellow corvette. However, it will be 1 year old this week. (Oct. 19th) The car only has 3700 miles on it, but we decided that the oil should be changed at least once a year.
I, personally, have only driven the new corvette about 3 times. Why drive a yellow corvette, when you can drive a red corvette.
Dh, ordered a bunch of stuff from Eckler's to restore the blue corvette so he can take it to local car shows. It has a bad transmission leak. Dh is talented with old cars like the 78 vette.
We are a happy 3 vette family. (not to mention that we also have a 33 ford victoria and two work vans.)

When will gas be half price?

October 16th, 2008 at 08:12 pm

I see that oil prices are down to about $70 a barrel. It was over $140 not that long ago. so, i wonder when gas will go on "sale" and we will be paying half price??
This gas crisis has really made me rethink my driving habits. I use to go to town every day just for fun! Now, I stay home and add my gas saving money to the challenge.
I stayed home yesterday, so that is $2 to add to the challenge plus I won 3 games of mah jong, so that makes a total of $5.
prev. total $21,880.00
today 5.00
new total $21,885.00

unopened statements

October 16th, 2008 at 06:20 pm

I have been receiving the end of the quarter statements for all of my different mutual funds this past week. Normally, I open them right up. This time, I am just putting them on a pile on my desk, unopened. Is anyone else doing this??

No heat yet!

October 15th, 2008 at 03:58 pm

Well, we have hit the middle of October and I have not turned the heat on yet. It has gotten down into the 30's so far and right now it is 46 degrees outside at 11 am. I filled my propane tank up and paid out $1832 to do so.
Gas is still going down. Dh can now get gas for his van for $2.99 a gallon, I am still paying $3.19. But I have cut my driving way down, so when I filled up yesterday, it only cost a little over $10.
I checked my vanguard account yesterday. I have all my funds listed there so I only have to look one place to see how I am doing. My funds and the stock market are down about 30% this past year.
Hopefully, things will improve!!

The sting!

October 14th, 2008 at 02:53 pm

Last night, my husband stopped to do a free job for an old customer. What he thought would take a few minutes wound up taking an hour and a half. No, he is not going to charge for it. He never does. That is why he has so many friends.
As a result, he got home too late for us to go out to eat, so we had breakfast for dinner. I am glad we wound up staying home.
They were celebrating the 35th anniversary of "The Sting", the movie with Rober Redford and Paul Newman.
Gosh, I remember that movie like it was yesterday. I remember going to my girlfriend's son's piano recital and he was playing the sting.
Gosh, has it been 35 years? Time goes by so fast when you are happy!!
Well, I had a no use gas day yesterday, so that is $2 more to add to my challenge money.
Prev. total $21,878.00
today 2.00
new total $21,880.00

It was an exciting day today!!

October 13th, 2008 at 10:01 pm

Well, I was suppose to play bridge all afternoon but someone cancelled at the last minute. so, I watched the stock market today and it was exciting!! The dow went up 932 points, the most ever in one day. I am glad that I got to watch it.

Fire pit

October 13th, 2008 at 03:11 pm

We had a fire in the fire pit outside last night. It felt so good. we just sat outside with the dog and watched the moon come up. Then we cooked burgers on the grill. I stayed home yesterday, used no gas and walked a mill on my treadmill. I will add $3 to my challenge money.
Prev. total $21,875.00
today 3.00
new total $21,878.00

Happy Columbus Day!!

October 12th, 2008 at 02:57 pm

Happy columbus day today everyone!! I did something last night, I have not done in years. I went grocery shopping. We have something going on in our town, called the sorgum festival. The town is mobbed and I could not even get to town yesterday to buy groceries. The festival was over (for the day) at 5 pm, so dh and I went grocery shopping before we went out to dinner. Of course, I spend more since dh was with me. I did however save $3 using my advantage card plus I have $2 to add for a no use gas day yesterday. That will go to our challenge account!
Prev. total $21,870.00
today 5.00
new total $21,875.00

When you eat at Wendy's, think of me!

October 11th, 2008 at 09:00 pm

I got a statement from Wendy's today. It is now the Wendy's/Arby group. I got 4.24 shares for every Wendy's share that I owned, so now I own 588 shares of wendy's. Too bad that it has come down so much in price just like all the other stocks.
So when you eat at wendy's, just think of Ima!!

small savings

October 10th, 2008 at 05:35 pm

Ok, let's forget the doom and gloom of the past few weeks and get back to saving whatever we can. Yesterday, I managed to stay home all day and used no gasoline, so that is $2 to add to the challenge money. I also won 3 games of mah jong, so that makes a total of $5 to add.
We also had a free pizza dinner at friends house last night, but since dh had to lose an hour and a half from work to make it there by six pm., it really wasn't any savings to us.
Oh, I forgot, I got a $5 check from Wendy's in the mail. They converted my shares over and sent me a check for a fraction of a share. That makes $10 i can add to my challenge money.
Prev. total $21,860.00
today 10.00
new total $21,870.00

Kind of in shock!!

October 9th, 2008 at 05:04 pm

I am kind of in shock right now. I just found out that a very well to do couple that I know is filing chapter 7 bankruptcy. I am not quite sure what chapter 7 means cause I have never known anyone to declare bankruptcy.
Can anyone enlighten me about chapter 7?

No net worth

October 8th, 2008 at 03:56 pm

For the first time in years, I am NOT going to tally up my net worth for the month. It is just too depressing. All of my mutual funds and individual stocks have gone down. I have been keeping track of them monthly for almost 20 years and this month, I just don't want to know. Also, for the first time in a year and 9 months, I have had to withdraw money from my savings for some unexpected expenses. Now, I need to work on building the savings back up.
Dh did a small plumbing job for one of the neighbors on sunday, so I do have a $60 check to add to my challenge money.
Prev. total $21,800.00
today 60.00
new total $21,860.00


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