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Archive for December, 2015

No snow here!

December 25th, 2015 at 02:52 pm

Instead, we are under a flood watch. The creek came out of its banks yesterday and more rain is forecast thru Monday. Right now, the creek has gone down a little bit and I am glad. It is a wet and warm christmas.

Have a wonderful christmas day!

December 24th, 2015 at 09:53 pm

Merry Christmas to all! Dh and I will be alone for christmas, but I can't think of anyone else that I would rather spend christmas with! Have a great day!!

First day of winter

December 22nd, 2015 at 06:29 pm

Today (or yesterday) is the first day of winter and the shortest day of the year. I like the fact that it will be staying light out longer now.
The people who are buying our cabin are coming to see it this week. They are wishing for snow, but so far this year, no snow!
I think they will be please with what they see. DH has finished the stairs, the railings, the trim and is just starting to build the kitchen cabinets. I am hoping that we can have a closing in January.
My $20 challenge is doing well:
Total balance for the year $21,267.00

Invitation for christmas dinner.

December 19th, 2015 at 07:14 pm

We got invited over for Christmas dinner by the young couple that bought our last house. I thought that was so nice of them to think of us.
They both work and have a 2 year old duaghter, so I told them that we appreciated it very much, but they needed to spend the day, resting up and enjoying each other. It warms my heart to think that they wanted us to come over.

The fed raised rates!

December 16th, 2015 at 07:53 pm

For the first time since June of 2006. I noticed that Mysavingsdirect lowered their savings rate from 1.09% to just 1%. It is so hard to make any interest on your savings these days.

Citi Charge card

December 16th, 2015 at 03:25 pm

I received a check from my citi charge card today for $99. I am so lucky that I can charge materials for the house we are building to our personal charge card. Of course, All of my charge cards are paid off in full each month so I never pay a penny of interest.All reward checks are added to the $20 challenge.

Prev. total $21,144.00
today 99.00
new total $21,243.00

Christmas party

December 13th, 2015 at 05:54 pm

We went to a christmas party last night at the home of one of our friends. We built their house. (It seems we make good friends with all the people we build for.)
The young couple that bought our last house was at the party. They bought us a beautiful gift basket.
We are holding the mortgage on their home because they had trouble getting a mortgage. They finally sold their condo in Florida last week, so that has helped them out financially a lot! I am so happy for them!!
Hey SA friends, I need your advise. What do I call the young couple.? My mortgagees? There are NOT my tenants, they own the house, I just hold the paper!
I am not sure, I need your advice.
They had there beautiful baby girl (she is 2, almost 3, with them. I had a gift for her. A special BIG piggy bank and a child's purse with lots of coins to put in her new bank. Might as well get her to start saving while she is young!

The sweetest note - it made me cry

December 11th, 2015 at 06:45 pm

I got the sweetest note from my youngest granddaughter yesterday. (She is 25)
She said that she wanted to thank me for the wonderful christmas memories that she had as a child.

"If it wasn't for you and grandpa, Christmas would have been awful. I wanted to thank you and tell you that I will never forget it. Not just the gifts, but the fact that you guys came and picked us up, played with us, did stuff with us, let us destroy your closet, spent time with us. For us, that was the best memories that we have (she and her older sister)
That was my favorite time, when we got to come to your house"

My 2 granddaughters were left by their mother, when they were only 3 and 5. They lived with their father and step mother. We looked forward to the days we got to go and pick them up. We all squeezed into the corvette. Yes, 4 people can fit into a corvette, when 2 of them are small people!
Their favorite thing was to play dress up in my closet. They love to put on all my dressup (cruise) clothes and high heels and put on fashion shows for hours! We did not mind the "mess" in the closet at all. It was fun for us too.
Those were some of my best memories of christmas too. I wish I could have kept my two little granddaughters forever. Now they are both beautiful, grown up women.

Tree is up!

December 8th, 2015 at 09:05 pm

DH put the christmas tree up this Sunday. We have decided not to put up the outdoor lights this year, since he is so busy working on two houses. I am happy up to have the lights from the tree.

$20 challenge update:

new total $21,096.00

The MAWW account

December 6th, 2015 at 06:50 pm

I totaled up my Maww account for the month of November. I acquired the following money:

Building material discount
(2 houses) $ 627
Citi credit card rebate 76
mortgage interest 900
chase card rebate 43
s/s check 529
mysavingdirect interest 84
GE bank interest 12
Barclay bank interest 6
Barclay credit card rebate 248

Total for the month $2525.00

This is the money I earned in the Maww account, which stands for Money aquired without working.
It won't be this high next month. The building material discount will start to go down as the houses are now both dried in.
Still , it makes me feel good that I am able to contribute to the family finances even tho I no longer work.


y husband is not a high earner. He makes about $60,000 per year. That seems like a lot to me since I have never earned very much, but in today's standards, that is probably a low income. We have never had a real high income, ever. But as I say, it is not what you make that counts, it is what you keep.

It's a wonderful life!

December 6th, 2015 at 03:41 pm

I watched that old movie last night. I still think it is a wonderful movie, even if it is older than I am. (Hard to believe) Has anyone else seen it?

Extreme cheapskates

December 4th, 2015 at 10:13 pm

I watched extreme cheapskates on tv last night. I don't know if it has been off the air or what, but I have not seen it in a long time.
I consider myself frugal, but I have to draw the line when I see some of the poeple on the show.
I do not buy much in the way of clothes any more, but I draw the line when it comes to dumpster diving for food from a grocery store, or not flushing the toilet. I think some people go too far!

Interest earned

December 3rd, 2015 at 04:03 pm

For the month of November, I earned $84 in mysaving direct (2 accounts), $12 in GE bank and $6 in my Barclay account for a total of $103. I will add that to my $20 challenge.

New total $21,064.00

The $2 bill

December 2nd, 2015 at 09:44 pm

We went over to friend's house for dinner the other night. I was telling them how I was now keeping track of all the money I acquired during the month, in a MAWW account. MAWW stands for "Money Acquired without working". Since I do not work, I thought it would be fun to keep track of how much money comes in each month thru rebates, credit cards rebates, s/s, the mortgage we hold, interest earned, basically, any money that comes in that I have not earned.
Today in the mail, I received a $2 bill from my friend, who said he greatly admired my finiancial ability and wanted to add to my MAWW account. How fun! It will be added. (I wonder what catagory I should call this?)

Already returned 1st christmas present.

December 1st, 2015 at 09:40 pm

I got a package in the mail yesterday. It was the new corvette jacket I got my husband for christmas. It is black with yellow trim to match his yellow corvette. Of course, I also got myself a black/red one to match my red corvette.
Unfortunately, they sent the wrong size for me, so I had to return it today.
I often buy my own gifts. He is so busy working that he just doesn't have much spare time. This way, I also make sure I get what I really want. I sure hope the new jacket fits! (and comes back soon.)