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Archive for June, 2015

Just 6 more months!

June 25th, 2015 at 05:47 pm

June 25,2015. Just six more months til Christmas! I bet you did not even want to be reminded.

Our gift giving has cut down considerably the past few years. Neither my husband or I really need anything, so we give each other the usual stuff, socks, underware, candy, etc.
The grandchildren and great granddaughter all get checks. That way they can buy what they want.
I still have a "Christmas" savings account.
I had my first "christmas Club" account over 50 years ago and the tradition still continues.

$20 challenge balance $9326.00

qualcomm dividend

June 24th, 2015 at 08:58 pm

I received a $102 dividend from my qualcomm stock today. I will add that to the $20 challenge.

New total $9321.00

count down begins

June 22nd, 2015 at 07:11 pm

We accepted the offer on our spec house from the young couple that has been wanting it for several months.
I lowereed the price by $20,000a and agreed to pay their $7000 in closing costs. We weill be losing money on the house after we pay the real estate commission, but we just wanted to be rid of the house and the lawn upkeep. (It is also next door to the couple that made our lives miserable this past year, and I would do anything to get away from them.)

Now, we have to wait 21 days for due diligence (whatever that is) to see if the mortgage and other requirements (appraisal, inspection, etc.) go thru.
I am adding $1 for the first day, $2 for the second day and so on, until we know that the house sale is definate. That is one way to spice up my $20 challenge. The balance as of today is $9209.00.

Happy fathers day!

June 21st, 2015 at 07:33 pm

Happy father's day to all our male SA posters!! To the ladies, please wish your dear hubbys a happy father's day for me.
We celebrated last night by going out to eat. Yesterday marks the end of one year, since we sold our last house. The couple turned out to be the most annoying couple we have ever met and they bothered us constantly. (Their shower towel bar fell off twice, things like that) Our one year warranty on their house is up, and we celebrated that too!
I earned $52 back on our chase credit card, so I am adding that to the challenge.

Prev. total $9146.00
today 52.00
new total $9198.00

quicksilver check

June 19th, 2015 at 11:11 pm

I got a check from my Capitalone quicksilver visa card. It was for $13 which I will add to my challenge.

Prev. total 9100.00
today 13.00
new total $9113.00

Lucky (Buddy) went home!!

June 19th, 2015 at 04:38 pm

My husband called me yesterday on his way home from work. He saw a small dog almost get hit on a busy road. He picked up the dog and went to several houses in the area, but noone knew his owner.
He calle me, wondering what to do, and I told him to
bring the dog home.
I called him Lucky. Lucky for him, he had on a harness with his rabies tag number. We went back to the area and I went door to door, but no luck. Lucky spent the night in our garage.
Our dogs, Molly and Abbey, could hear "Lucky" out in the garage and they kept whining.
So, last night, they slep with me. Molly in the bedroom chair, and Abbey in my bed.
Abbey wanted to play, but she finally let me sleep.

Today, I called the vet (with the tag number) and they
found Lucky's owner!!! His name was Buddy and he is 14 years old. He got out of the gate and they had been looking for him. The woman told me that she did not sleep all night!! They were so happy and came to get him immediately.
WE did a good deed and maybe that will bring us good luck. (On selling the spec house, we got an offer, but are waiting on financing)

Buddy was a happy dog when he left with his owners and we feel real good about that!

$20 challenge
balance: $9098.00

Tri state area!

June 15th, 2015 at 06:32 pm

Single guy made a comment that he would not like to visit Georgia in the summertime unless I lived in the mountains. I do live in the N. Ga. mountains. Many people do not realize that Georgia has mountains. (in my section)
I live close to Brasstown Bald, the highest peak in Georgia. Our building lots usually have some beautiful mountain views.
I live in a tri state area. I am only about 10 miles away from North Carolina and about 15 miles away from Tennessee. It's a nice place to live.

I did my grocery shopping today and saved $15 using my
advantage card. As usual, I will add that to my $20 challenge.

Prev. total $9054.00
today 15.00
new total $9069.00

I guess I have arrived!

June 14th, 2015 at 10:35 pm

Whatever that means!!

We ae building a cabin in a gated lake subdivision and yesterday we were given our own personal gate code.
Come and visit me. (code #1313)

Young couples have it tough

June 12th, 2015 at 09:50 pm

WE got an offer on our spec house for sale. It is a young couple and they really want the house. It would be their first home.
They were turned down by the bank. They only have 5% to put down and their payment would be about $1300 a month. She makes good money, but he is self employed and cannot prove his income. I don't have any idea what their credit score is like.

I bought my first home at age 21. My monthly payment was $96.00
I might mention that I made $1 an hour and my husband made $1.25 back then. The house was new and cost $12,000. Because of that house, I became mortgage free at age 32 and have never had a mortgage payment since then.
The bank also wants about $7000 in closing costs. I have no idea what that is for, but we were going to pay the closing costs for them. I feel bad for them; they were so excited.

Mysavingdirect

June 9th, 2015 at 04:32 pm

My saving direct ( a division of Emigrant bank) raised their savings rate today. They are now paying 1.24 on a savings account, the highest rate I have found.

Finally broke the $9000 mark

June 8th, 2015 at 10:00 pm

My $20 challenge finally broke the $9000 mark. As of today, my challenge total hit $9007.00.

Some sad news with FIL. He is feeling badly and does not feel like he will live much longer. (he will be 95 in Oct.)
He called last night and wants my husband's help. He wants to leave everything 50/50 between his two sons.
His youngest son, in spite of having a good job and his own business, is almost bankrupt because of his wife's spending. (He spends too)
He wants my husband to talk to me and see if I can help him out. Unfortunately, he gave his house to his youngest son several years ago and the house is in the son's name; even tho he (FIL) pays the taxes and all of the upkeep.

Sadly, it is too late to do anything, he gave the house away to the youngest son. It is to late to try and go back to having the home in his name. We hate to tell him this, because we want him to die in peace.

His reasoning was, the youngest son owes so much money that he needs the money more than my husband does. Now, he realizes that everything he owns (FIL) will be sold to pay off some of the debt, and it upsets him. I don't know what to tell him.

I do think it is time for us to update our wills.

Lowered the price on the house

June 6th, 2015 at 07:57 pm

My husband builds houses and we have been building spec houses for the last few years.
We just lowered the price of the spec house that we put on the market several months ago. It was listed for $272,000; we have lowered it to $250,000.

I watch the tv show about all the homes for sale, and I wonder why this one is not selling. I saw a terrible looking house, needing lots of repairs, for sale in queens, n.y. for $980,000. I guess the word is location, location, location!

This house is located in the beautiful mountains of north georgia. It has 3 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths, rec room with kitchenette, laundry room, etc.
We have only had one serious looker. They were a young couple and could not get a mortgage due to their high student loan debt.

I might also mention that the home is brand new, has a mountain view and is on a creek.

We have $245,000 in the house, so after realtor comission, we would be selling at a loss. I guess everyone is looking for a bargain, but it makes me wonder if we should continue building spec houses.

My husband prefers it cause he can draw the plans and build it the way he wants to. (It has to be perfect, or he is not happy)

We have already started a second spec house, but it will be cheaper. People seem to want something in the $200,000 range, so this will be a two bedroom, two bath cabin, with a killer view. (and lake access)

What are new houses going for in your neck of the woods?

My baby is 3!

June 4th, 2015 at 09:23 pm

Yes, my little baby Abbey is three years old today. I guess she is no longer my puppy. She is all grown up. I think we will celebrate with a doggie cake for supper. (Actually a piece of homemade egg custard pie)

advantage savings

June 3rd, 2015 at 08:32 pm

I saved $15 using my advantage card at the grocery store today, pluw I had $4 in other savings to add to my $20 challenge.

Prev. total $8958.00
today 19.00
new total $8977.00

$1 per run

June 2nd, 2015 at 04:41 pm

I have been adding $5 to my $20 challenge every time the braves win, but I have decided now to add $1 per run, every time they win. The team has a lot of new players (most of them) so they are not in first place, but I still enjoy watching them.
The past three games they have managed to score 23 runs (and win) so that is an extra $23 I have add to my $20 challenge money. My total stands at
Prev. total $8942.00
today 16.00
new total $8958.00

Stilll having problems

June 1st, 2015 at 07:58 pm

I had to log in again, and I never logged out! Oh well, I am here!
I received $31 in interest in my GE Bank account which will be added to the $20 challenge:

Prev. total $8911.00
today 31.00
new total $8942.00

Problem logging in

June 1st, 2015 at 04:55 pm

For the past week or so, I have had a problem logging into saving advice, so I have not posted.
Finally, today, I got thru.
I got $127 in interest for Mysaving direct savings account for the month of May. I have added that to my $20 challenge along with several other item that I keep track of, such as braves wins and no use gas days. My $20 challenge stands at:
$8911.00
I am on my way to $9000!