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

I hate to spend money, but we needed a new heating pad for my little poodle, Holly. she has always slept on one to keep warm. I noticed yesterday, that the heating pad she is sleeping on, has a "hot spot" and it seems to bother her.
So I bought a new one today.

If you go to rite aid on the first tuesday of the month and you have their senior discount card, they take 20% off of all your purchases. So, I did save $3 off the price of the heating pad.

Does anyone here play bridge? I do and I love it. I got a great hand today. The person on my left opened with one club, my partner passed, the person on my right bid one heart and I bid two diamonds. They really wanted the bid, so they kept bidding me up, with 3 clubs, 3 hearts, etc. They finally got me to bid 5 diamonds (we only needed one for game) and then they doubled me.
My partner laid her hand down and she had NO points.
Here was my hand.
spades- Ace and King
hearts= queen, jack, little, little
Diamonds- Ace, King, queen, ten, nine, eight, seven
Clubs- none

They immediately took the ace and king of heart, then led the ace of clubs. I trumped, pull out all the other trump (my partner had 2) and took all the other tricks, making 5, doubled!!
Wow, it was a fun day to do on such a down day.
Right now, a mama deer and her twins are eating corn in my back yard.

I saw a very old movie last night, Pollyanna. Do you remember it? Pollyanna always played the "glad game" and tried to find good in every situation.
Believe it or not, that movie affected my life when I was younger. I always tried to look on the bright side of every situation and as a result, I have always been a very happy person.
I think, in this economic crisis, it is time for all of us to take a minute out every day and play the "glad game" Count your blessings!!

The dow is below 10,000 right now. The lowest it has been in about 9 years. I know I am a lot poorer on paper than i was last christmas. I am just glad I am a saver and have a good bit of cash in the bank.

I got another check in the mail yesterday. It was from NFOmysurvey. I have made over $100 from them the past year or so. If anyone wants to become a member and do surveys, let me know. They pay out in points and when you accumulate 1000 points, you can redeem the points for a check for $10. If you are interested, send me your first name and your e mail address. My e mail address is juliedenski @ Yahoo.com and leave out the spaces.
Prev. total $21,790.00
today 10.00
new total $21,800.00

$20 challenge!

I love to go grocery shopping on sunday mornings when it is nice and slow at the store. Today, a very young man checked me out. He looked all of 12 years old, but I am sure he was older. When he went to weigh the two onions I had picked up, he asked me what they were? He had no idea.
I thought that was funny. It reminded me of the first time I bought a head of lettuce. (I don't eat lettuce) I bought a head of cabbage instead.
Anyway, using my Ingles advantage card, I saved $5 today, which I will add to my $20 challenge.
Prev. total $21,785.00
today 5.00
new total $21,790.00

I got another $50 check in the mail yesterday. It was a chase reward check for using my credit card. That makes a total of $600 I have recieved so far this year. I always pay my credit card off in full every month.
Of course, I will add this to the challenge money.
Prev. total $21,735.00
today 50.00
new total $21,785.00

My husband did a plumbing job a few weeks ago for a neighbor and there was a $60 check in our mailbox yesterday, so I will add that to my challenge money.
Prev. total $21,675.00
today 60.00
new total $21,735.00

When we moved here, the very first person we hired to help us build houses was a young guy (30). Part of his crew was his wife, his brother and his brother's wife. They would help dh frame in the houses and put on the roofs. Over the years, we kept in touch and the two guys did a lot of work for us. He was a very heavy smoker and so was his wife. His wife got ill and quit smoking and begged him to quit too.
Last month, just out of the blue, he found out he had lung cancer. He died last night.
Please,if you smoke, quit smoking. I know how hard it is. I started smoking when I was 12 and quit cold turkey after 35 years. Think of all the money and years you will save!

I took my change jar into the bank and got back $38 to add to my challenge money.
Prev. total $21,637.00
today 38.00
new total $21,675.00

i just got propane delivered this afternoon. The cost was $1821 for 697 gallons. I remember the first winter we lived in this house, I heated the whole house for $300. I am hoping that this will last me the entire winter.

I paid my electric bill today. It was $35 under budget, so I get to add that money to my $20 challenge.
Prev. total $21,602.00
today 35.00
new total $21,637.00

About two months ago, my local bank started advertising checking accounts that pay 3.19% interest. So, I switched all of my checking accounts over to this plan. I have a business checking which just covers the bills I pay for our business (construction) Since that has been paying interest now, I am going to take the interest I earn each month and add it to my challenge money in my savings account. So, I have $54 from last month to add to the challenge.
Prev. total $21,548.00
today 54.00
new total $21,602.00

My usual end of the month check came in and as always, I will add that to my challenge money. I have never spent one penny of it yet. It is my social security check of $551. How does anyone live on $551 a month??
Prev. total $20,997.00
today 551.00
new total $21,548.00

Happy October. I hope this month is better than last month!!!