It is so beautiful here in North Georgia. All of the trees are in bloom. I love the dogwoods and the Bradford Pear trees. They are so pretty. Spring finally!
I saved $6 using my Ingles advantage card while grocery shopping today and I found my first penny of the year! I wish I had better luck at finding change.
Prev. total $6874.00
today 6.00
new total $6880.00

Monday is my favorite day of the week, cause we play bridge on Monday's. We all took a beginner's bridge class together 2 years ago and we get together once a week to play, usually at my house. We eat all kinds of junk food and have a great time. One of the ladies called late last night and had to cancel out. It was too late for a replacement, so we did not play.
I am doing well with savings my one dollar bills and I have $5 to add to the challenge today.
Prev. total $6869.00
today 5.00
new total $6874.00

It was so nice! We had a whole week of no heat, no air conditioning. It felt like it went from winter to summer in just one day. Well, yesterday, the cold weather came back and it got down to freezing. we had to cover up all the flowers that dh had planted the weekend before.
But the heat is running again today. Spring is beautiful with all the trees in bloom.
I got a $10 check from NFO my survey yesterday and our worker gave me $300 towards the purchase of our old van. By next weekend, I can give him the title and cancel the insurance, I hope. In the meantime, I will add the $310 to my $20 challenge.
Prev. total $6559.00
today 310.00
new total $6869.00

I just attended a wedding shower this afternoon. When I ask the bride to be (who has been married before) what she wanted, she said, sexy lingerie, extra large!

Well, I got her some big mama panties; the kind that you can fit about 6 people in. They sell them in catalogs and I have seen them in Gatlinburg too.
She got a big kick out of them at the shower and even tried them on. (Of course, I also gave her a check too)

Saving my one's is working out, I have 10 of them to add to my challenge.
Prev. total $6549.00
today 10.00
new total $6559.00

Neither my husband or I spend very much on clothes. I live mostly in jeans, which I buy from QVC. A few weeks ago, I noticed my jeans were getting pretty worn out, so I ordered two new pair for myself.
Yesterday it rained, so dh took the afternoon off from work.
He desperately needed some new work clothes. In the summer he wears shorts and tee shirts. My dh does all the work himself, so his work clothes really look pretty bad, covered with paint, caulk, etc.

Once, I met him at a bank to open a high interest bearing cd. (remember those days) The lady looked at us and said "I am sorry, you can't open one of those c.d.'s, they require a minimum of $50,000" I said, "how about if I write you a check for $100,000.

The point is, he is never dressed well when he has his work clothes on. He likes to wear a straw hat and the guys at the building supply place told him they were going to take up a collection to buy him a new hat cause his had 3 big holes in it.

So, we went to Wal marts and got him some new shorts for $7 each and then we found him a straw hat at Ace for $7. The only thing that was really expensive was his new shoes.

He is on his feet all day long and his feet hurt, so good shoes are really important to him. We only have one place in town that sells decent shoes and it is a huge place called Alexander's. (It sells everything and has been in business since 1946; it started as a grocery store)

He found two pair of shoes there and spent a total of $165 but said they were the most comfortable shoes he had ever bought.

So for less than $200, he is set for clothes until next winter.

The stock market went up yesterday and the braves won their first two games, so I have $3 to add to my challege money.
Prev. total $6546.00
today 3.00
new total $6549.00

Well, my saving all my $5 bills has turned out to be a flop. I seem to never get any $5 bills in change. I went to the post office and wal marts yesterday and never got a $5 back in change.

So, I have decided that I will save all the one dollar bills that I receive back in change, except one of them. You always need a dollar bill in your wallet for donations, small purchases, etc.

I will start that today with all the $1 bills in my wallet!!

Did you know that this site (savingadvice) has games that you can play to save more money. There are a lot of them that I "play" already. Like saving all my change, paying myself $2 everytime I don't drive the car that day, etc. One of the games is to make up menus for dinner with the goal of only spending one dollar for every person that you feed for dinner.
Some of you really like to cook; that would be a perfect "game" for you!!

My husband has been to home depot 4 times this week. He got flowers all planted on Sunday, now he is tilling up his garden. He loves to plant a garden, but I don't eat vegetables, so he always have so much stuff going to waste. Oh well, it makes him happy.
He has finished the house he has been on for a while and is very grateful for that. It was his worst customer ever. The man was on top of him constantly and always borrowing and breaking his tools. He does have another house to build and then after that, nothing. He use to have a waiting list but no one is building right now.
I did my grocery shopping this morning and saved $4 using my advantage card, plus the stock market went up yesterday, so $5 to add to the challenge.
Prev. total $6541.00
today 5.00
new total $6546.00

I stopeed on the way home from the bank this morning at Wal mart to stock up on candy. We play bridge at my house every Wednesday afternoon and we always have "munchies". M&M's are one of our favorite, so I bought several bags. I also tried the cadbury chocolate "eggs" and the reeces "eggs"
Luckily candy lasts a long time, but not usually around here. I saved $5 on the candy to add to my challenge and i may go back and get some more. It seems silly not to buy it when it is half off. Who cares if the M&M's are easter colors? They all taste the same!

Prev. total $6536.00
today 5.00
new total $6541.00

I think everyone has spring fever this week, after such a long winter. We have made 2 trips to home depot to buy plants and seeds for a garden. My dh loves this; he has been planting all day long.
Home depot was very busy also with everyone picking up flowers and bushes to plant.
I colored my hair with free hair color. I am not really happy with the color, it is too dark for me. But I can lighten it up later. I did stop and look for some easter M&M's on sale, but I did not find any yet. I will try wal mart tomorrow.
I am adding $7 to the challenge, the cost of the hair coloring.
Prev. total $6529.00
today 7.00
new total $6536.00

But they are so worth it, for all the love they give you. I had to buy heart worm medicine for both of my sweet girls today, to the tune of $198. This will last them for 6 months.
Then I spent some time searching for jeans on QVC. These are the only kind of jeans I wear and I realized that I had worn them out. I was so frustrated when I could not find the same type that I have been wearing for so many years.
I finally called customer service and she gave me a product number of the type of jeans I wanted. I looked them up and they were the same jeans. I had looked at the number in the label wrong. No wonder I could not find them. I am happy to say that 2 pair of new jeans are now on their way, so I can go out in public without holes in my jeans.

I got another check from Pinecone in the mail today; the stock market went up yesterday and I had a no use gas day, so a total of $6 to add to my challenge money.
Prev. total $6273.00
today 6.00
new total $6279.00

oops, I forgot that I had an extra $250 in my car envelope to add to the challenge. Make that new total $6529.00.

Yes, I have decided that my life is getting stale. I need something new and exciting to do! So, I think that opening a bar with a live band every night will be exciting. I will get to dance every night too. ah, well, april fool!
I got a pinecone check in the mail yesterday, plus the guy buying our van sent me $200, so i have $203 to add to the $20 challenge!
Prev. total $6070.00
today 203.00
today $6273.00

I heard a loud noise about 6 pm and the power went out last night. I had purchased 2 heavy duty lanterns that I keep charged up, so I thought, no problem. Both of them would not work. Of course, I have candles which I used instead.
We decided to go out to eat dinner, hoping the power would be back on when we got home. But it wasn't!
I was more worried about the dogs than anything. They are little and they get cold easily. The older dog sleeps on a heating pad, but I am scared to let the puppy have one, cause she is still chewing.
Thanks to good insulation, the temperature in the house did not drop much and they got the power back on before 11 pm.
I got a check (dividend) from the Tim Horton company yesterday for $18 plus saved $6 using my Ingles advantage card.
I will add that to my challenge.

Prev. total $6046.00
today 24.00
new total $6070.00

Just kidding! I am thinking about the old kennel ration jingle! My puppy, Molly, went and got groomed today. She is a malta poo and is pure white. She looks so pretty now! And smells good too! ( a malta poo is half maltese and half poodle)

It's funny, but I have not been to a hairdresser since I was in my early twenties, but I don't mind spending money on dog grooming.

I got some unexpected cash today. A loan that I made to a friend was paid back today, so I am adding that to my $20 challenge.
Prev. total $5216.00
today 830.00
new total $6046.00

I drove the new car for the first time today. My husband had washed it and waxed it when we brought it home 12 days ago, so I did not want to get it dirty.
Well, he washed his car (the yellow one) yesterday, so the new car was then considered the dirtiest, so I had to drive it. It now has a total of 89 miles on it.
I noticed that the $20 challenge is gone, but it works so well for me, that I am keeping it up. I got a $5 bill at the bank today (paycheck cashed) and I am adding it to the challenge.
Prev. total $5211.00
today 5.00
new total $5216.00

Someone asked me about the $20 challenge, so I will explain the best I can.
About 4 years ago, savingadvice started a $20 challenge.
You start out with $20 and see how you can add to that. You do it anyway that you want. Some use the $20 to buy materials to make things to sell.
I save money by using coupons and my store cards. At the end of the receipt, it tells you how much you have saved that shopping trip.
I take that actual cash and put it into a cash box.

Some people sell on e bay, others have garage sales and add the money.
I save all my change and turn it in once a month. I save all unexpected checks, rebates, chase reward money, stock dividend checks, odd job checks, survey checks, etc.
I also put away a dollar when the stock market goes up; I save all $5 bills I get in change.
Any unexpected money that comes in, other than my husband's paycheck, gets added to the $20 challenge.

When I started getting social security I added that to my $20 challege cause it was money I was not use to receiving. I have never spent a penny of that money yet.


I also pay myself $2 every day that I do not use any gasoline.

We went out for a very nice dinner with the customer that we are building a house for. We both had chicken marsala which is one of my favorite dishes.

I had a no use gas day yesterday and have a 5 dollar bill from change, so $7 will go to the challenge today.
Prev. total $5204.00
today 7.00
new total $5211.00

This $20 challenge has really helped me. I get excited everyday trying to figure out a way to save money and add to the challenge.

I am just sorry that more of you are not involved in the challenge. When it first started, it was more of a contest and we even won prizes, but the biggest prize was how much money we saved and how our net worth grew.
It is also fun to earn thousands of dollars in interest.

I used a $4 off coupon at CVS today (had to buy dh some razor blades) so I will add that to the challenge money.
Prev. total $5200.00
today 4.00
new total $5204.00

When we bought the new car last week, I decided to get really serious about my car fund, which is part of my $20 challenge.
So, I have decided to add the monthly interest on my savings account to the $20 challenge.
I am getting 1.74% interest, but now that the bank has been taken over, the rate will probably be lowered.
However, as of today, I am adding the interest money of $168 to my $20 challenge-car fund.

Prev. total $3601.00
today 168.00
new total $3769.00

Several years ago when I paid off my husband's work van, I decided to take that payment money ($100 a week, $400 a month) and keep putting it away for a car fund. Well, I did do that, but if it was a short week, that was the one envelope that I did not fund.

I was able to pay off my car with the money a year early, so we could get dh a new car and only have one payment.

Now, I am getting a new car this week and yesterday I sent in a check to pay off the yellow vette even tho I was very very short in the car fund. I just took the money out of my regular savings.

I have decided to take all the money that I contribute to the $20 challenge and put it all in my car pay off fund!
I am going to keep track of it in a separate ledger and hope I can get this new car paid off in about 2 years.

I am going to start today with the 3 $5 bills that I have in my wallet.

Prev. total $3563.00
today 15.00
new total $3578.00

My beautiful red corvette got towed away this morning. I was supposed to go to a bridge class yesterday and the car would not start. When I got out, I noticed a big puddle under the car. It was gasoline. My dh could not get under the car (too low), but he guesses it is the fuel pump.
The fuel pump went out on us when we went to Florida for my class reunion. It cost $2000 to get it fixed and we were stuck there an entire week.
Now I will have to drive ole yeller (newer yellow corvette) while Big Red get repaired.
However, if I know my dh, Big Red will soon be going to car heaven. He doesn't like vehicles that give us trouble.

Now ole yeller only has 8000 miles on it, but I just don't like the fact that you use no key to start the car or even unlock it. You carry a fob and the car senses that you have this fob! It locks and unlocks itself when you near the car. If the battery goes dead in the fob, there is a trick way to get in the car, but I will be darned if I know how.It also will not let you get out of the car if the motor is running or if the person with the fob has walked away from the car. Isn't that weird?
Well, the stock market went up yesterday and I have a no use car day yesterday, even if it was not planned.
$3 more to add to the challenge.
Prev. total $3555.00
today 3.00
new total $3558.00

My handy man husband did some extra work on the neighbor's house while they were away on vaction. He had to work on the door locks, change out all of the faucets and do some tile work. They just got home and paid us $300. I will be adding that extra money to my $20 challenge.
Prev. total $3255.00
today 300.00
new total $3555.00

I received two things from pinecone today. One was a check for $3 for a survey I did a few days ago. Another was a package containing a new product that I am going to try out. After I try the product out, I will take another survey about it and get paid again. I love pinecone!!
Prev. total $3216.00
today 3.00
new total $3219.00

My puppy chewed her bed all up. She ripped all of the stuffing out of it a few days ago. Luckily, we had a 2nd bed for her. We keep one in the pantry and one in the kitchen. Yesterday, she ripped up the 2nd bed! Luckily, they were not real expensive, but now we don't know what to let her sleep on, other than the floor!
Even tho yesterday was my hubby birthday, we did not go out to eat. I gave him a choice and he chose to stay home and eat the steaks I bought on sale yesterday.
I had a no use gas today today ($2) and another $1 for not eating out last night.
Prev. total $3196.00
today 3.00
new total $3199.00

I cashed in my certificates of deposit yesterday. My bank failed, was taken over by another bank and reset my c.d. rates from 4% and 2.75% to 1%
I was able to get almost 2% at another bank, so I was able to redeemed the c.d.'s without any penalty.
That has cut my interest income in half. I was hoping that someday I could live on the interest, but not with these rates.
My electric bil came and was much lower than my budget , so I am adding what was left in that envelope to the challenge money.
Prev. total $3096.00
today 100.00
new total $3196.00

I just got back from Wal mart. I buy only the groceries there that are cheaper than at Ingles. My bill came to $25.01 and I gave the cashier $40 and a penny. He gave me the penny back and told me that Wal Mart did not need my penny.
What happened to balancing out your cash drawer? That is what we had to do when I worked as a cashier. At the savings and loan I worked at, we had to balance to the penny every day before we went home.
Before all this snow, we went to wal marts to buy a copy machine. I make a lot of copies for business purposes and I always have to use the copier at the library.
The library is not always open, so I decided to splurge and get a copier.

I found one on roll back for $59. However, when i got home, I found they had charged me the original price of $74.

I took the receipt back to customer service today. They argued with me a bit, but finally refunding me $16.05. So I am going to add that money to the challenge since it was a bit of a challenge to get the money back.
I had a no use gas day yesterday ($2), stock market went up ($1) and I did not eat out ($1), so a total of $20 to add to the challenge today.
Prev. total $2544.00
today 20.00
new total $2564.00

I actually have 17 points in this month's challenge. We have not eaten out one time this month. I did not plan on being quite this frugal. I was planning on going out to eat on valentine's day, but we got snowed in.
I have been pretty much stuck at home for this entire last week. So, I haven't spent any money or gotten any $5 in change! I already paid $7 to the challenge for the first 7 days of no eating out, so I will add $10 for the last 10 days.
Prev. total $$2534.00
today 10.00
new total $2544.00

I am tired of winter!! This has been the coldest one I have seen in 25 years. It is so cold today with the wind and the snow that I haven't even been out of the house except to take the dogs out to potty! Dh stayed home because of the snow, but he is doing handyman work at a neighbor's house.
I read the fine print on the notice I got that my bank had failed. I have a c.d. there paying 4% for almost another year and they can lower the rate as much as they want. Darn!!
Well, I have to $5 bills to add to the challenge.
Prev. total $2514.00
today 10.00
new total $2524.00

That is pretty unusual these days. About a year and a half ago, my bank offered a great deal on checking accounts with a $1000 minimum. They were paying 3.1% interest, so I opened 3 accounts. One was for business checking, one was for personal checking and the third was for a local savings account. Last July 1st, the lowered the rate and it has been going down ever since. They have been paying less than 1% now for a couple of months.
I logged in today and see that they have raised the rates.
My savings account checking, the one with the biggest balance, is now paying 1.74%; the others are paying a lower rate, but still higher than last month.
Heck that is almost as good as I can get on a 1 year c.d.!
I had a no use gas yesterday and the stock market went up slightly, so I am adding $3 to my challenge money.
Prev. total $2504.00
today 3.00
new total $2507.00

My husband has been doing some odd job work for the past several months. We know an older couple in their 80's. He is an attorney and she is a judge, both retired.
They hired a builder and their son to build them 4 spec houses in this area. Unfortunately, the houses were poorly built and did not sell, even tho they had great views.
The couple hired my husband, a licensed builder, to fix up their house and sagging porches. After he fixed it, they asked him to repair whatever was wrong with another one of the new houses. (doors hung wrong, house leaked, floor was buckled, etc. etc. etc.)
He has been working on the house, off and on since November.
Yesterday, he came home with a check for all the hours he has put in since last November.
Since I have not counted this money in our budget at all, I am adding the entire check to my $20 challenge.

Prev. total $1071.00
today 1425.00
new total $2496.00

I am playing bridge all day today so it will be a no spend day. I did stop at the bank this morning to cash the paycheck and received one five dollar bill which I shall add to the challenge money.
Prev. total $1063.00
today 5.00
new total $1068.00

The weather man predicted 6 inches of snow last night, but it did not happen. I am actually glad. It was fun when I first moved here, but now I don't really want it to snow. My dh stayed home all afternoon, bored to death.
It is supposed to snow today, but so far, no snow, so he went to work.
I just got back from Ingles and CVS and between my advantage card and free CVS bucks, I managed to save $6. I also had a five dollar bill, so I will add $11 to my challenge money.
Prev. total $1047.00
today 11.00
new total $1058.00