Ima Saver's Personal Finance Blog

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

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?)

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.)

We spent the evening with friends last night. We have known them for 15 years, when we built their first house up on the mountain. We have since built them a "cabin" on the creek, which they use for their vacation home. (It is 7 miles from house #1, making it a very easy vacation destination.)
Their 19 year old grandson was there, a very cute boy. He works as a server (waiter) making $2.75 an hour plus tips. That always interests me cause the only job I could find when I moved here, 30 years ago, was a waitress making $2.15 an hour. Tips were almost non existant because locals did not tip and we had very few tourists.
Just think, after 30 years, the pay for waitresses and waiters has only gone up 60 cents an hour!
That is why servers depend on their tips so much.
The young man showed me several pictures on his phone and told me that it cost $700. I found that hard to believe. My first car cost only half of that.
Amazing!!

The buyers that are buying our cabin got here today from Florida. I was so worried that they would not like the hardwood flooring. She picked it out herself; but when you are looking at an 8" x 12" sample, it is hard to tell what the entire floor is going to look like
Fortunately, she like it. It is a dark color, in contrast to the light pine walls and it looks like its old. Apparently, that is what she wanted and she is happy. I like more modern things myself and would have chosen a lighter color, but what I like does not matter, it is what they like that counts.
So, it is a happy thanksgiving for all of us and I am thankful that she liked her new flooring.
I am also very thankful for all my friends here at Saving advice, my wonderful husband, sweet puppies, Molly and Abbey and my friends. Happy Day!

I want to wish everyone a happy thanksgiving. We have no family, so I had planned just to cook for my husband and I. However, friends invited us over for thanksgiving dinner. I am so thankful for such good friends.
The couple that bought our cabin will be up here to see the progress. He will be working there tomorrow and the rest of the week. He did the entire cabin in hardwood flooring that she picked out. I have to admit, I do not like the flooring at all! It looks real old. I hope she likes it , that is the important thing, not what we think about it.

I received a check from my chase credit card to add to the $20 challenge.

Prev. total 20,343.00
today 43.00
new total 20,386.00

Today, I am offically the oldest member of my immediate family. My mother lived to age 70, my father, age 55 and my sister, age 59. All of my grandparents, aunts and uncles have long passed. I check on the computer and all of my cousins (aunts and uncles children) have passed also.
George Burns had an old song and I still have the record.
"I wish I was 18 again,
and going where I've never been,
cause old oaks and old folks
standing tall, just pretend,
I wish I was 18 again."

My car turned 20,000 miles yesterday. Not too bad for a car that will be 6 years old in March. It still looks brand new. I must admit tho, I really like the look of the new corvette stingray, which my husband has right now, a 2015. I think I see one in my future someday. I wonder if I am the only great grandma that drives a corvette? I have not met any others. (But then, I don't know anyone who is a great grandmother either.)



$20 challange balance $20,332.00

I got a cit rebate check in the mail today. I only use credit cards that give rewards in the form of cash and I pay the cards off in full each month. I have never paid a penny in interest.
My $20 challenge for 2015 looks like this:

Prev. balance $20,227.00
today 81.00
new total $20,308.00

Yesterday, my husband received a call on his cell phone from his brother's wife. He was on his way to his job. (He is a builder)
This is amazing, because SIL has never called us, even once, in the 40 years we have known her.
She is very quiet and never talks unless you directly ask her a question. This drove my MIL crazy!
She has also NEVER invited anyone over to her house.
We have never been inside of their house and neither had my FIL and MIL (or his live in girlfriend after MIL passed) When they would spend Thanksgiving and Christmas together, BIL, SIL and their kids would always come over to FIL's house. Poor FIL's girlfriend always had to do all the cooking, cleaning and the dishes. She was in her 80's and that is a lot of work for an elderly lady.

She called to ask for money to pay the cremation bill. When my husband suggested that they just pay a few hundred dollars a month until they sold some of the estate, she stated that they did not have a few hundred, they lived paycheck to paycheck! (He owns his own business and makes over $100,000 a year plus she works full time too.)

They inherited a house full of antiques; collectibles from a life time. They could sell them, the house (which is a duplex) and there are four antique packards. (from the 40's and 50')

Dh told her he would talk to me and let her know.
Last night we wrote a letter explaining that we did not feel like we should pay for the final expenses.
We have paid part of the house taxes for 15 years and for all the housecleaning this year. We are not asking for any money. DH (nor I) was even mentioned in the will.

I am hoping that BIL and SIL can catch up on all their outstanding debt once they sell the house and that they will learn a lesson. They need to learn how to live within their means and advoid debt.

Just last month, husband's brother went on a 2 week fishing trip to Canada that cost him $3500. (which he put on credit cards) They live far beyond their means and our bailing them out will not teach them a thing.

It is sad when this happens when a parent passes. Unfortunately, I think this is all too common.
When my mother died, my sister, who was 9 years my elder, (I was 32) moved into my mother's house the following week and changed all the locks. I never got any of my mother or father's possessions, not even a picture. I know pictures would mean a lot to my husband right now.
Now, my husband feels like he has no family left. Fortunately, he has me. He told me the other day that I was his best friend. That means a lot to me.

I have started tracking money that I acquire and I am calling it the MAWW account. That stands for Money Acquired Without Working!!
Even tho I do not have a job and have not worked for several years, I decided to keep track of the money I bring into the household without working.
October was the first month that I have tracked this. The break down is as follows:

Builderway rebates $717
Citi c/c rebate 38
Mortgage interest 902
Chase c/c reward 143
stock dividends 65
MSD interest 91
GE bank interest 13
Barclay bank int. 5
s/s check 529

monthly total $2503.00

Actually, I am shocked that the total was that much. The mortgage interest is for a 25 year mortgage that we decided to hold on the last new house we built.
I don't expect the totals to be this high every month. (Oh, MSD stands for My savings direct, a savings account that pays 1.10% interest)

What do I do with the money? You know me! You can answer that!

As you all (might) know, my lucky number is 13. I got married on Friday the 13th (almost 39 years ago.)

I called the funeral home yesterday to see if there was any service scheduled for FIL. I was told that there was a military service at the Fla. national cemetary yesterday afternoon.
BIL never informed us of any funeral service. Obviously, he did not want my husband or myself to come to Fla.

Well, let's hope today is a lucky one for me!

Tuesday night, about 6 pm, the doorbell rang. It was the young woman who (with her husband) bought our last house. We decided to hold the mortgage for them, since they were having trouble with the bank.
He is now self employed and could not prove his income for the past year.
The mortgage payment is due on the 25th and she brought it on the 10th. Tha was nice!
She explained what happened to the lost check she mailed me last month. (She came over in person to give me a replacement check) It had my old address and the post office returned it to her about 10 days later!
I hope she is as prompt for the next 24 years, 8 months!
They are a wonderful couple and I got to meet their beautiful daughter, who is 2 1/2. I found out her birthday, so I can get her a little present in March.
I found a real cute large piggy bank that I am going to give the little girl for christmas. I want to get her thinking about saving at an early age!!
It is never too early to start!

I want to say thankyou to everyone who is serving or has served in the military. Thank you for serving our country. FIL, who just passed, was in WWII. My own father, who passed when I was 9, was in WWI and WWII. He served as a captain in the army for 30 years. I am very proud of him.

Well, Monday has passed and no law enforcement officers came to my house. I guess I have escaped going to jail this time!
Hubby thought the fake IRS guy might call me back to try and scare me again, but so far, he has left me alone.
Guess I can stay here on saving advice a few more years! Yeah!!

I got a call yesterday from a young man from the IRS. He gave me his name, badge number and case number. He said the IRS had been to my house twice in July to inform me that I owed back taxes.
When I tried to question him, he yelled at me to be quiet and to write down all he was telling me.
He then informed me that I would have to surrender my driver's license, all my bank accounts would be frozen and their would be an officer with an arrest warrent coming to take me to jail this coming monday!

All the while, he was screaming a me and would not let me get a word in edgewise. I tried to ask him to send me the paperwork, but he kept yelling. According to him, I owed $3890 and I was going to be arrested this Monday.
I hung up the phone on him, but by that time, I was shaking. I hate anyone yelling at me!!!!

I called the IRS toll free number I found in the phone book. The 40 minute wait on the phone was worth it. I was told that it was all a scam.
I wasn't too worried about owing money, but I don't think I would look good in a jail jumpsuit. Heck, I have never even once gotten a speeding ticket. (I drive like a little old lady)

Anyone care to visit me in jail next week?

Do you know what was the best thing about "the good old days"?
Well, I wasn't good!
And I wasn't old!!

p.s. ( saw that on a tee shirt)

(actually, I was pretty good, just not old)

My brother in law called. He got the bill for the cremation and it was $1900. I have no idea how much a cremation should cost.
Anyway, he can not pay the bill.
A little background on my brother in law and sister in law. They are both 59. He has owned his own business for about 20 years. He usually makes in excess of $100,000 a year and she works too.
They own a house on a lake and they bought all the surrounding lots. (They have since lost all the lots)
They have 12 cars and 5 horses.
They "had" to buy a $50,000 horse trailer. (It has sleeping quarters, a/c etc.) They can't make the payments.
They are still paying for their daughter's $50,000 wedding from 7 years ago. (She got divorced after 1 year.
They go on long trips to Disney world (2 weeks or more at a time) even though they live 1/2 hour away and could easily go home.
They can't pay their house taxes and have to redeem them at a premium each year.
FIL put all of his savings into their savings account about 20 years ago. (Why, I don't know, except she worked at a bank.) BIL and SIL spent it all.

Should we pay for the cremation or tell him to sell some of the antiques or antique cars (4) to pay for it? What would you do?

My husband called his younger brother yesterday. (There were 3 brothers; the youngest died unexpectly about 7 years ago, my husband is the oldest son.)
His dad's body was cremated yesterday.
Brother read the will. The house and all the cars (including 3 antique packards) will go to the middle son. Everything else is to be divided between his live in girlfriend (of 22 years,) the middle son and the middle son's two daughters (both in their 20's)

No mention of my husband at all. I know he has to be so hurt, although he is not talking about it. He loved his father very much and went to visit him every year. This year, he made a special trip to find them some help with the house. He founds a lady to come in and clean and take them out to shop. Since money was tight, we agreed to pay for the cleaning lady and have been sending them money every month.

There is nothing that we need or want, but I am saddened by the hurt I know my husband has to be feeling. He has always been a good son, a good man and someone to be proud of. I wish I knew what to say to comfort him.

I did my grocery shopping today and earned back $6 in advantage card savings.
The new news is that Ingles is going to start awarding more points for weekend and Tuesday shopping trips. You earn one point for each dollar spent and on Tuesdays, they are going to triple the points. I guess I will be changing my shopping days to Tuesday.

You get money off your gas purchases when you accumulate points. When you have 600 points, you can save 30 cents a gallon. That is $6 on a 20 gallon fill up. Dh always buys his gas at Ingles, but I usually get mine at the corner store. I will be getting gas at Ingles from now on. Gas is now $1.99 a gallon. Imagine paying $1.69 a gallon?? That is like being back in the 70's.
(I am so old that I remember when gas was under 20 cents a gallon.

$20 challenge
Prev. total $20,121.00
today 6.00
new total $20,127.00

My husband's father passed away this morning. It was not too unexpected since he had been in and out of hospitals several times in the past few months.
He just celebrated his 94th birthday 2 weeks ago.
Dh is holding up ok but I know he will miss his father. He went to Fla. every year to see him.
Rest in Peace.

Happy Halloween. Today, I met my goal for the $20 challenge. I wanted to have $20,000 in my $20 challenge by year end.
With the help of my social security check on Wednesday and the interest from my savings direct ($91) which they paid a day early, I met my yearly goal.
$20 challenge $20,001.00
interest 91.00
new total $20,092.00

Time to go trick or treating!!

I got an offer in the mail for a barclay credit card, so I opened on line yesterday.
My rule with credit cards is to charge only things I need (like car insurance) and pay it off as soon as the bill comes in.
I do not like credit cards that offer gift cards or a credit to your account. I like cards that offer cash back.
That is why I have a Chase master card that pays back 3% of home improvement purchases. (but only to a limit of $2000 charged each month.) We use that at home depot almost every day. (Hubby is a builder)
I have a citi mastercard that pays back 2% on all purchases and a quicksilver cards that pays back 1 1/2% on purchases. This month I got back $143 from chase and $38 from citi.
Barclays is offering $200 cash back if you spend $500 in 90 days. They do not offer a check (which I like) but they will deposit it in your savings acct.
Since I already have a barclay account, that sounds like a winner to me. I love cash back, don't you?
I have just started keeping track of all the money I received without having to work. I am calling it my MAWW account. Money acquired without working. I will let you know the October total, in a week or so.

That is what I had. I have to admit that I have never had popcorn for lunch. It was pretty good.
My $20 challenge is getting real close to my goal amount of $20,000 for the year:

$20 challenge $19,405.00

I waited until the mail came yesterday and then I called the young couple for whom, we are holding the mortgage. She ran into my husband on Oct. 9th and told him that she had just put the mortgage check in the mail that day. It is not due until the 25th of Oct.
The check has never arrived and yesterday was the 17th. That means that after 8 days, the check never arrived. (She mailed if from just 6 miles away.)
Obviously, it got lost in the mail.
She showed up this afternoon with a new check. I guess she will have to put a stop payment on the other check. I just wonder where it went?

I received a cit rewards check for $38 today. That will be added to my $20 challenge.
I have decided to start keeping track of a new "account" just for fun.
I will call this my MAWW account. Money aquired without working!!!
So far this month, I have received:
builder's rebate $717
citi card reward 38

$20 challenge $19,329.00
citi reward ck 38.00
new total $19,367.00

DH ran into the couple who bought our last house. WE are holding the mortgage on the house.
She mentioned to him that she had just put the house payment in the mail that day to us.
It was mailed on October 9th. Today is October 16th and we still have not received it. It only had to travel about 6 miles. I am afraid that it is lost in the mail.

$20 challenge total $19,329.00

We got to see the moving viet nam wall. It came to our small town for about 4 days. Because we thought there would be long lines in the daytime (I can no longer stanad for long periods of time, old age)we went to see it about 10 pm at night. It was very moving and I am so glad we got to see it.
$20 challenge update:
new total $19,315.00

As I mentioned earlier, I got a call from a couple from Fla. on Wednesday. They had been looking to buy a lot in our gated subdivision that we are building in. They saw that our cabin was for sale and called and asked to see it. I told them where the key was hidden.
They called back and asked if we could meet them there that evening to discuss how the cabin would be finished. After going over everything for about 2 hours, they said they wanted to buy it and would give us a deposit as a down payment.
Then they said, "draw up a contract and we will all sign it"
A contract?? We have never drawn up a contract in our lives and we have been building houses here for 31 years.

They asked, "then how to you do it"? A handshake, is what I answered. That is how we have always done business and we have never had a problem. I then told them that they could draw up a contract and we would sign it.
I can understand where they are coming from, with so many people trying to "rip" other people off.
But we are honest people and would certainly give them their money back if they should change their mind.That is just the way it works in our little backward town of Blairsville, Ga.

In the end, we shook hands. (But, I told them to go ahead and make up a contract to give them peace of mind.)

We get a builder's rebate from the building supply store that we do business with. About 20 years ago, they approached us and told us they were giving a 5% rebate to their 20 best customers! We are the last customer still here and still receiving the rebate. I have always saved the rebate; it is like found money. This month, it is a good amount, $717.00 which I am adding to my $20 challenge:

Prev. total $18,547.00
today 717.00
new total $19,264.00