And I am so glad. Things are starting to bloom. Our weeping willow tree in the front yard it starting to really look pretty. WE have started on the new house, but now the rain is messing us up. We want to pour the footers on Monday, but they are calling for rain for most of the week.

$20 challenge

Prev. total $4457.00
today 10.00
new total $4467.00

I received a capital one rebate check yesterday for $10.

We finally got the go ahead to start a new house in the lake subdivision. We have been waiting for over a month on approval from the home owners' association.
Sadly, that means my husband has been out of work for the whole month of February and part of March.
Of course, we have the money in the bank to live on, but I would rather not keep doing that.
It is a lot more fun to put money into the bank than to take it out of the bank.
We still have had no offers on the house that he finished up in Jan. Wintertime is not a good time for the real estate market around here.
I have not been saving much, but I do add a little somthing to the $20 challenge every day. My balance:

$20 challege $4400.00

Today is the day the interest is posted to my bank accounts, all except Melrose Credit Union, which is every quarter. I always add the money to the $20 challenge:

Prev. total $4139.00
Interest 35.00 mysavingdirect
extra 8.00
interest 102.00 C&S bank
interest 22.00 cap.one
interest 2.00 GE bank
total $4308.00

This has not been a very good month. My husband has not been able to work all month. First, he went to see his father in Fla. for a week and the rest of the time, we have had terrible weather. I cannot remember it being this cold for so long. There has been snow on the ground all week long and today, is not exception. He got out to take things to the dump. (Hope he makes it back ok) He has been doing a lot of decluttering and today he hopes to paint the garage. I just hope for spring!

$20 challenge:

Prev. total $4129.00
today 10.00
new total $4139.00

WE did get out for a short while, but last snow we had a lot of snow, so we are stuck in the house again.
My husband is so bored. We have decided to build a cabin on a lake access lot that we own, when this weather breaks. He also has a custom home that should start in April if the owners quit changing their house plan.
No lookers at the spec house for sale. Not much going on in this weather.
We did get a housekeeper for dh's father and girlfriend. Of course, we are paying the bill every month. Dh's brother has no money to help out.

Got my s/s/ check yesterday and will add that to the challenge:

Prev. total $3590.00
today 529.00
new total $4119.00

Today is my husband's birthday and we are snowed in. I had planned on taking him out for a nice dinner on his birthday, but I guess we will have to stay home. They are calling for more snow tomorrow.
I had to install a new furnace last winter. Ours was 20 years old and having problems.
The heating guy that we have used for 30 years instlled a heating system with a heat pump. I do not like it at all. Our electric bill has been double these last few months, and I am always cold.
I sure wish we had our old Lennox system back. If I ever need a new system, I will insist on Lennox Gas system. We have put them in all the houses we build, but our old heating guy does not carry them anymore. Needless to say, we are using a new company that carries Lennox, in our spec houses.

$20 challenge

Prev. total $3570.00
today 8.00
new total $3578.00

We are snowed in right now. This happened on Thursday too. I am hoping it will rain and clear the roads so we can go grocery shopping. This is the coldest winter I can remember. Our little dogs don't want to go outside and I don't either.

$20 challenge
Prev. total $3547.00
today 9.00
new total $3556.00

Today was a snow day, but we got out this afternoon. Our car tags are due by this Tuesday, hubby's birthday. So, we managed to get them this afternoon, including a new one for the new car.
I received a check in the mail from Capital One which I will add to my $20 challenge.

Prev. total $3514.00
today 25.00
new total $3539.00

I closed one of my local accounts today. I like to keep my money locally cause it is easier to get to and I like supporting local banks.
My money market account, paying 1.25% ended yesterday and they had nothing better to offer. I hate settling for 1/10th of 1 percent, which is what my checking accounts are paying.
I transferred the money over to Mysavingsdirect at Emigrant bank, which is paying 1.04% and Capital One 360 which is paying 9/10th of one percent. I am only going with capital one cause I have a checkbook for that account. Actually GE capital bank is also offereing 1.04% which is a better deal.
I have not completely closed my local account cause I have to leave it open til the end of the month to collect the interest for the month.
I will probably put the rest of the money into GE capital bank.

$20 challenge

Prev. total $3501.00
today 6.00
new total 43507.00

Today is the day I met my husband, 38 years ago!

I hope today is a lucky day for you. I got married on Friday the 13th and it has been lucky for me.


$20 challenge:

Prev. total $3465.00
today 7.00
new total $3472.00

It has been 4 days since I have been alone. I'll admit, if I was younger and had kids, I would probably welcome to vacation. But I am use to having hubby around for almost 40 years and I miss him!
As i thought, his going to Fla. did not do a bit of good. He was looking for someone to come in and do some house cleaning once a week, to take the burden off of his elderly father (93) and his elderly girlfriend. (90) He did find a lady that would work out; she is the daughter in law of a friend there.

However, his parents don't really want anyone else in the house with them. Also, hubby tried to persuade girlfriend to stop driving and she will not hear of it!
I knew he was wasting his time, but he feels better that he at least tried. His brother and SIL live there, but they are terrible money managers; they can't even pay their taxes. I made hubby leave the checkbook at home so he could not make any loans to anyone.
I talked to him last night and he said he was coming home tonight, so I am excited! The girls have been looking out the window for him for 4 days, so i know they will be excited too.

$20 challenge

Prev. total $3425.00
today 6.00
new total $3431.00

I get very lonely being alone. I don't know how people live alove. Maybe cause I have not done it
ever. I went from living at home to being married for 50 years.(two different husbands, but only single for a few weeks.)
Hubby has gone to Fla. again. He just went 3 months ago. He is trying to find some part time help for his elderly father and his elderly girlfriend of 22 years. I hope he has some luck. His younger brother lives right there, but seems to be no help at all.
My girls are company, but they sit and look out the window all night, waiting for their daddy to come home. Well, at least I am saving money on groceries and still adding to my $20 challenge.

Prev. total $3408.00
today 6.00
new total $3414.00

I did my grocery shopping today. Total saved with my advantage card was $8. That is pretty good since I only spent $41. The last two weeks, I spent over $100 each week. That is cause dh went with me. It is funny how much more money you spend when you don't go alone to the grocery store. It gets added to the challenge money:

Prev. total $3393.00
today 8.00
new total $3401.00

I wish all montths could be as good as this Jan. However, it helps that I started off the 1st of Jan. with $2007 in interest from the Melrose credit union.

It just started! Hubby is home today, drawing house plans for a custom house he plans to start in April. The party last night was nice.
I received $223 in interest from my C & S account was $223 so I will add that to my challenge.

Prev. total $3146.00
today 223.00
new total $3369.00

Tonight, we are invited to a super bowl party. Neither my husband or I care about football, but we like parties.
Our spec house is finished. I am very disappointed in the price my real estate agent told me to list it for; $249,000. I have $260,000 in the house.

It is probably the only brand new house on the market around here. It is 3 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths, with a family room with small kitchenette, in adddition to the other regular rooms. There is a garage, laundry room,lots of closet space, etc. The lot is over one acre, on a creek with a nice mountain view.
I am going to have to price it at, at least my cost to break even.
I received my first interest on MySavingsDirect account. It was $18 and change and I will add it to the $20 challenge.

Prev. total $3128.00
today 18.00
new total $3146.00

That may not seem like a big deal to some folks, but it is to me. For most of my life, I have pretty much had no relatives. Father died at my age 10; grandparents all died before I was 11, I lost all my aunts and uncles by the time I was 32 and then my mother passed. Also, my half sister, who I was not close to all all passed.
I knew I HAD some distant cousins, but did not know if any of them were alive.
I thought I found one two weeks ago, but I wrote to the address and have gotten no reply.
I have looked for a favorite male cousin for years, but with no luck.
Today, I found him. We have not seen each other for over 50 years. I e mailed his job to ask if he might be my long lost cousin, and he e mailed me back. He remembers me. I am so excited! He lives all the way out in Washington state.

Today was also s/s day, so I can add that to my $20 challenge:

Prev. total $2575.00
today 529.00
new total $3104.00

WE just got a dusting of snow this morning. No porblem with the roads. Dh is trying to get the spec house finished up this week. He may have to go to Fla. next week. His father is 93 and the girlfriend that lives with him (for over 20 years) is almost 90.
They really need someone to come into their home and help them out several times a week. Dh's brother, who lives in the same town, is just too busy to help. He and his wife are going to inherit the duplex, cars, etc. that FIL owns, so you would think they could help out a little. (Take out the garbage, changes the sheets, etc.) But they can't seem to find the time.
Dh is going to make a trip and see if he can find someone to help out part time. Of course, we will have to pay for it.

Still working on the $20 challenge:

Prev. total $2545.00
today 8.00
new total $2553.00

I got the dividend from my Emc stock yesterday. It was for $48 which I will add to the $20 challenge.

Prev. total $2476.00
today 48.00
new total $2524.00

I get a rebate check from my capital one charge card every month. They send it in the form of a check. I also get a rebate from my Chase credit card, but it is deposited directly to my bank. I saved $5 using my Ingles advantage card while grocery shopping. I add money to my $20 challenge daily, but I just keep track of it on paper, I don't report it here. I pay myself so much each day, depending on what I do. For example, $2 for not using gas, $1 for not buying a donut, etc; s that is why my $20 challenge goes up everyday. Today I will add the rebate check.

Prev. total $2445.00
today 15.00
new total $2460.00

It was an interesting stock market day. First the market was way up, then way down and it finally settled to just down a little bit! Lets hope tomorrow is an up day.

$20 challenge

Prev. total $2352.00
today 20.00
new total $2372.00

My husband had to go to the dentist last week (oral surgeon) to have a tooth pulled. They quoted us $700 for the tooth (plus $221 for the consulation), but if we paid cash, they would knock off 10% ($70) No checks, just cash money.
Of course, to save $70, we did pay cash. Has anyone else heard of this ?

$20 challenge

Prev. total $2331.00
today 6.00
new total $2337.00

Today is Elvis' 80th birthday. It is hard to believe that he has been gone that long. But I listen to his records a lot; the radio station in my car is set on the elvis station.
Update on the $20 challenge:

Prev. total $2317.00
today 7.00
new total $2324.00

I am trying to open a new savings account at GE Capital Bank and link it to my local checking account. But, My computer still won't let me into see my accounts at my local bank. That is frustrating. It keeps saying that the internet can't find my bank, Community and Southern bank.

I said I am going to do better this year to include my Ingles advantage card savings when I use the card. Last night, we went grocery shopping and I saved $9 using my card. It is added to the $20 challenge.

Prev. total $2300.00
today 9.00
new total $2309.00

I am posting the last of the interest that I earned for the month of Dec. (or the 4th quarter with my credit union). It was $221 for two accounts. I had an introductary rate of 1% on one account that ended Dec. 20th and I am still getting 1.25% on another account that does not end until Feb.20th. I will probably close the first account and look around for an account locally that pays better. I will add this interest to my $20 challege.
I am feeling frustrated because I cannot go online to check out my local accounts at Community & Southern Bank and I don't know why?
Right now, I am keeping track of my accounts by telephone, but I would rather use the computer to see what is going on. Any suggestions?

Prev. total $2947,oo
today 221,00
new total $2268.00

I am adding my capital one interest to my $20 challenge. This week, I withdrew most of my money from Capital One. I feel badly about that because I have been with them for a long time. I started with an ING account back in 2004, before capital one bought them out.
Their rate have not been very good. I was only earning .0075 on my savings account; even less on my checking account. I switched most of the money to Mysavingsdirect, which is at Emigrant bank. They are paying 1.05% now. I wish the good old days of 5% interest would come back. I earned $9 in interest this month. I am still leaving a small balance at Capital One.

Prev. total $2029.00
today 9.00
new total $2038.00

I begin my new year with a great start to the $20 challenge. Quarterly, I receive my interest from melrose credit union. I am rceiving 2.9 and 2.8% interest on my two c.d.'s.
This Jan. 1st, the total interest came to $2007 which I will add to the challenge I started yesterday, a day early!(since I reached my goal of $20,000 on Dec. 30th.)

Prev. total $ 22.00
today 2007.00
new total $2029.00
($2007 was my total interest for oct. nov. and dec.)

I did not do a very good job this year adding in my Ingles advantage card savings. This year I vow to do a better job. I am already starting my new $20 challenge since I hit my goal of $20,000 yesterday.
Advantage savings today was $7.

Prev. total $ 6.00
today 7.00
new total $ 13.00 (my lucky number)

Yes, I met my $20 challenge this year of $20,000 with just one day to spare! So I will start over tomorrow (new year's eve) and shot for $20,000 again next year!

Prev. total $19,991.00
today 12.00
new total $20,003.00

Happy New Year!

WE had a quiet christmas day. We pened gifts in the morning, the dh made home made soup while I made (and ate) sugar cookies. I love sweet things.
No company, it was just alone with our little girls, Molly and Abbey! We watched the Christmas Story all day too and dh managed to wash and detail both of the corvettes. I managed to add some money to the $20 challenge.

Prev. total $19,968.00
today 6.00
new total $19,974.00

Can you believe we are so close to our $20,000 goal?

I got a capital one check in the mail today, for a rebate of 1 1/2% on all my credit charges. We also have a chase credit card that pays 3% back on home improvement shopping. Since my husband is a builder, we use that one a lot, but it is nice to get something back on regular shopping. Of course, I pay it off each month. As a matter of fact, I put the money in an envelope everytime I pay something.

Prev. total $19,412.00
today 22.00
new total $19,434.00