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

New total $9321.00

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 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

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

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

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

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)

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.

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

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

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

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!

Many thanks to ALL of our veterans and the men and women now serving in the armed forces. God Bless America!

WE have had a great holiday so far. WE had dinner out with friends from Fla. and yesterday,we went to a car show. WE had the oldest and the newest car there.

Gary drove his 1933 ford victoria and I drove the new 2015 corvette. No trophy, but we won several door prizes. We are having dinner tonight with a Viet Nam vet and his wife.The braves have won their last two games so my $20 challenge looks like this:

Prev. total $8709
today 12
New total $8721.00

I get a monthly check from capital one, which is one of my 2 credit cards. I always pay it off in full, but I enjoy the 1 1/2% that it pays me back. My husband has a different credit card that pays back 3% for home imporvement purchases. He uses that one at home depot for building supplies purchases and I pay that off in full every month also.
Also, our regular building supply place gives us a 5% discount if we pay it off by the 10th of the month.

These small rebates do add up and I appreciate them.

$20 challenge
Prev. total $8651.oo
today 13.00
new total $8664.00

My husband used weyerhaeuser floor panelings on the house he is building and they offered $1.50 back per sheet, for every sheet we bought. I am always very careful to send in any rebates on building supplies. Today, we received a check for $70 which I will add to my $20 challenge.

Prev. total $8576.00
today 70.00
new total $8646.00

My goal for the year is $20,000.

I applied for a credit card with USbank.com because they were offering $200 cash bank if you charged at least $1000 the first three months. I met the requirements only to find that I have to take a $200 credit on my charge card.
My dogs have several vet appts. this month; rabies shots, heartworm tests and grooming, so I am going to use my $200 credit for that. I have a "pet fund' and I will take the $200 from that to add to my $20 challenge. Needless to say, I won't use my usbank card again. I prefer credit cards that actually send you back a rebate check or at least credit your rebate to your checking account. Both my capital one credit card and my quicksilver credit card pay that way, so I will keep on using them.
I keep track of all my credit card purchases and pay them off in full each month. I just charge to get the cash back.

Prev. total $8343.00
today 200.00
new total $8543.00

Yes, Elvis was actually called in to pitch to the Braves last night!!
The braves won 9-0 and for that I am glad. I am still adding $5 to my $20 challenge every time they win, but unfortunately, they have lost more games than they have won.
They got rid of most of last year's players and basically have a brand new team, so I am not surprised that they are not doing as well as I had hoped. I will continue to watch and root for them and learn about all the new players. My $20 challenge stands as follows: $8304.00 year to date.

I got my GE savings bank interest for the month of April to add to my $20 challenge.

Prev. total $8248.00
today 28.00
nw total $8276.00

I recieved $141 in interest from MySavings Direct account last month. They are paying 1.04% interest, not great, but the best I can find for a savings account right now. I have added that to my $20 challenge

Prev. total $8097.00
today 141.00
new total $8238.00

May is my favorite month. Everything is blooming. It is not too hot and not too cold! Just perfect.
I have my $20 challenge up to $8097.00 beofre I add last month's interest to it. The interest is pretty low because we have so much cash tied up in real estate, two spec houses and 5 lots.
$20 Challenge $8097.00

My social security check came in on Wednesday. I have never cashed it. I always add it to the $20 challege. They say you should wait to take your check until you are of full age, but I took mine at age 62. My reasoning, no one in my immediate family has lived past 70 and I vowed to save every check and I have.

Prev. total $7468.00
s/s 529.00
new total $7991.00

Getting close to $8000

I received $46 from a cisco stock dividend. I will add that to the $20 challenge:

Prev. total $7416.00
today 46.00
new total $7462.00

I got a capital one check in the mail today for $11 so I will add that to the $20 challenge:

Prev. total $7400.00
today 11.00
new total $7411.00

I took my coin jar to the bank today. I will add the $38 to my $20 challenge.

Prev. total $7290.00
today 38.00
new total $7328.00

I got paid $56 in interest from my capital one 360 account. I have moved the money from that account because they were paying less interest than my other accounts.
Have any of you found savings account or money markets that are paying 1% or better? My local bank use to offer a 1% account but they don't anymore.

Prev. total $7208.00
today 56.00
new total $7264.00

I opened up a new account at GE Capital Bank a few months ago. I usually like to keep my money locally, (cause we need it to build spec houses), but my bank could not offer me any decent savings rate. I earned $27 at GE which I will add to my challenge money.

Prev. total $7181.00
today 27.00
new total $7208.00

I received $91.89 from My savings direct bank, which I will add to the $20 challenge:

Prev. total $7090.00
today 91.00
New total $7181.00

I love the first of the month since that is the day interest gets posted to my savings accounts.
April 1st is also my quarterly interest on my c.d.'s being held at Melrose Credit Union.
I was kind of leery when I took them out, over 4 years ago. The best interest rates I could find were 2.9 and 2.8%
Well, so far, I have not found anything better, so I am happy with those rates. My two c.d.'s paid me $379.79 (2.8%) and $1585.15 (2.9%).
As usual, I will add them to the $20 challenge.

Prev. total $5126.00
today 1964.00
new total $7090.00

I found a lucky quarter while we were at Ingles today. We went to a land sale and did not buy anything, which is unusual for us. But we have about 6 pieces of vacant land already, one with a finished, "for sale" new house that we need to sell first.
Friends took us out to dinner Thursday night cause they were so happy with the new carport that dh built for them last week. We did another good deed by fixing a bad leak at a friend's house. (They live in Fla. and their leak wasted 265,000 gallongs of water and ran up a very big bill) DH put in new pipes so that can not happen again. (leak was under the basement floor, under concrete and NO, we did not build the house)
WE are hoping that the water dept. will give them a break on the bill cause they were not here.

Today I received my s/s check of $529 plus I got a dividend of $89 from my Qualcomn stock. This will be added to my $20 challenge:

Prev. total $4482.00
today 618.00
new total $5100.00