I got out the electric blanket today. For the dog, not us! I don't like them and I like to sleep in a cold room. I have it airing out, outside right now. We get her a new one every two years. She sheds a lot, so it is not real pretty! She sleeps in the garage and this keeps her pretty warm. I think she misses the cat that use to sleep with her. I did do two miles on my treadmill and used a dollar off coupon, so I do have $3 to add to my challenge money.
Prev. total $16,443.00
today 3.00
new total $16,446.00

I love halloween, it is my favorite holiday. I love to dress up and go to parties.
Well, i should not have turned on QVC yesterday cause they had a halloween show! I ordered a battery operated fright sound machine! I can use it to record a halloween message on my answering machine, carry it with me to the big party and use it at my front door on halloween night!
Ok, I know I wasted $20 on something that I really don't need, but I really enjoy Halloween! But I need to keep the tv turned to the news channel instead!

A big thankyou to mjrube94 for sending me a coupon for prilosec. My dh has to take it every day. What a nice surprise. I was so surprised, I thought I had locked myself out of the house (forgot i went out the front door)

You all know I am computer illiterate! I checked my mail this morning and my inbox was blank! I never delete my inbox, that is how I send e mails. I don't use an address book, just too lazy. I even saved some of the e mails I received from some of you, like Ray, bookie, cathy, etc.
If you want to e mail me, please do! I have lost your e mail address!

I paid my electric bill today. I budget $160 a month (that is the highest it has ever been) and this month's bill was $110. So I have $50 to add to my challenge money. the bill should be even lower next month. So far, I am on my 8th day of no a/c, no heat! It is 67 degrees in the house right now.
prev. total $16,393.00
today 50.00
new total $16,443.00

My dh stands up all day. His feet hurt a lot and he needs a new pair of work shoes about every 6 months. Those who enjoy shoe shopping would love going with him.
If we go to the mall, he goes to every store and tries on every pair in the store. (I buy the first pair that fit me, I hate shoe shopping)
This goes on all day until he finds the best pair.

I won't even go to the mall with him any more. We have a large store locally that sells everything, including shoes. So I send him by himself.
I always tell him, if he finds something he likes, buy two pair.
Then he will have a pair for next time. He went yesterday, found two pairs, bought one! They were $75. He could not bring himself to pay $150 for two pair. So, He will have to go thru this again in about 6 months! Oh well, at least I did not have to go with him!

I made my first trip to the social security office today. I had to sit and wait for over an hour.
Finally, I went inside and the lady asked me what she could do for me?
I said I came to apply for social security benefits.
She said, "for who?"
I said, "for me"
She said, you can't, you are not old enough!

That made my day!

When I left, she said, I don't know what you are doing, but keep doing it!

On top of that, I will get my first check in January!

I filled up with gasoline last night. Prices have gone down over 50 cents a gallon this past month, so i am adding that savings to my challenge money. I got about 8 gallons last night for a savings of $4.
Prev. total $16,389.00
today 4.00
new total $16,393.00

Well I went to lunch with 3 friends today, so i spent some money I did not need to spend. It was only $3 and I enjoyed myself.
I did walk for 2 miles and I had a no gas day yesterday, so i have $3 I can add to my challenge money.
Prev. total $16,386.00
today 3.00
new total $16,389.00

Today is Monday, Sept. 25th. Only 3 more months til christmas!!

Looks like I am having a no spend day today. I have not been out of the house. I did my grocery shopping yesterday and got steaks on sale for dinner tonight.
This is at least my fifth day in a row of not running the air or heat. It has warmed up here and i was temped yesterday, but I just used the fan.
I have been invited to join some ladies for lunch tomorrow, so don't know if I will spend the money for lunch or not!

I need to take time to remember the small amounts that I have saved for my challenge money. I did have one stay at home day, no gas, $1. One mile of walking $1. One day of 20 flights of stairs $1, Today I used coupons at the grocery store and saved $3. I am happy to report the price of toilet paper has come down and gas is $2.15 (regular) at the corner.
Prev. total $16,380
today 6
new total $16,386

Yeah!! Oh mjrube94. Would you e mail me. I don't know how to PM.. My e mail address is juliedenski@yahoo.com! thanks.

I don't know how much he spent, other than 2 1/2 hours, but the van is fixed for now. Thank goodness, we now have two functioning vehicles again, now to get the hot rod fixed! I wish my husband's hobby was not cars, but chickens. At least we would get free eggs.

Ugh!! Now I know why I like new cars. My dh van is sick, not sure what is wrong, but he says it hardly runs. The othe day he couldn't get it out of park. The hot rod will not crank and the old vette has something leaking out of it. Sounds like they all need to be fixed at once!
I even have a burned out side light in my car. Looks like this will be the month of the car repairs!
Dh is at the garage with his van right now, getting worked on. It is his work truck and he cannot do without it. Ihope it is fixable and can last another year or two.
It is only a 2001 but has done a lot of heavy hauling. I am keeping my fingers crossed that is will last a little longer. I got it paid off last christmas and then started a car fund, using that payment and putting it aside every month.

Bi lo has N.Y. strip steak on sale this week, so I got two for our sunday dinner. I also picked up some of my favorite cookies, which are on sale for about 60 cents a package. I saved $4 at the store today, so i will add that to my challenge money.
Prev. total $16,376.00
today 4.00
new total $16,380.00

They reassessed all the property in our county. I got the assessment in the mail today and it was a shocked. My house has doubled in value since they last assessed it! I guess that means my property tax is going to double too.
I guess I should not complain, most of you pay much higher taxes than I do.

$473.34 I opened up a new money market account at my local bank last month, It is paying 5.25% interest.
I looked at my account online today (I figured it out) and it has been credited with $473.34 today.
Wow! That is more than 2 weeks pay for me! Even as a waitress, I never made more than $200 a week.
Just for sitting in an account for 30 days, $473.34. I wish i could add that to my challenge money, but no one else it, so I won't.
Maybe next year, I will take the money I have saved in the challenge and add the interest that THAT money makes.
Anyway, this is fun!

This is the 3rd day in the row (at least) that I have not used the a/c or the heat.
I have been trying to be good all summer, but when it hits 80 upstairs, I do turn the a/c on. I have it set at 77 downstairs, and when it gets to 78, I do let it run.
We have a great theromostat. It turns the a/c at 78 and when it cools to 76, it turns itself off. I guess it runs more often, but not for as long. My bill should be under budget this month and even more under budget for last month.
This is one of the few bills I can control. The water bill is always the same unless we have to water the grass. The phone bills are the same too, because I use a card for long distance.
I am still reading my meter and writing it down. I am happy to say that most days I am using less than 40 kph!

Today is the first day of fall and it is a beautiful day! A bit nippy this morning but no heat of a/c. My house is very well built (guess who built it) and it takes quite a while for it to cool down inside enough for the heat to be needed.
I took my change into the bank today to get counted. I find I do better when I don't take in a large sum, then their total never agrees with mine and I always seem to be the loser. I got back $30 to add to my challenge money.
Prev. total $16,346.00
today 30.00
new total $16.376.00

I signed up to take bridge lessons today and I took my first lesson this morning. I am not a morning person and it started at 9 am, but I think I will enjoy it.
So, I spent $25 for the class and $7 for the bridge book.
Then I found a magazine that had several pages of the inside of a house my dh built, so I had to go buy a few copies of those.
Oh well, I think the money was well spent today and I know I will enjoy those lessons.!

We stayed home for supper last night and cooked chicken out on the grill. We had shorts on, but I had to resort to putting a sweater on. Fall is definately in the air. I will take the $20 we saved last night and add it to our challenge money.
prev. total $16,326.00
today 20.00
ne total $16,346.00

I think I should keep track of how many days I can go without air conditioning or heat. I cannot open the windows cause my dh does not like screens on windows.
I have not had the heat on yet, but I have run the a/c some in the past few weeks. It usually gets hot upstairs and I wind up turning the a/c on for a little while when I am up here.

I don't think I have run anything for a few days, but I am going to start with today and see how many days I can go.
I can't let it get too cold in the house cause I don't like alone. I have a dh and a tiny dog that likes to be warm.

Oh well, hope this is day one! It is still below 60 out right now. It was 42 when I got up.

I bet I am the only person on this forum that carries a back scratcher in my purse. My back itches sometimes so i take one on trips. Last year, I found one that telescopes and will fit in my purse. It is so handy! Do you carry anything weird in your purse. (Do you carry a purse broken arrow and bookie?)

My husband is taking today off and is pressuring washing the house. We have hired this done several times, but they never seem to do a good job, like my husband does.
I wish I could say that this saves money but it doesn't. He loses a whole day's pay plus has to rent a sprayer.
It would be 42 degrees this morning!! I know he is out there freezing and soaking wet (the sprayer leaks)
But, I will have a nice clean outside stucco house and I won't be ashamed of anyone coming to the front door.
We never use the front door or front porch and it tends to have little black "buggy" spots. It will be nice and clean soon!

Since gas has dropped so much the past two weeks, I have decided to take what I save on gas and put it in my challenge money.
Now I don't use a lot of gas, usually less than 1/2 tank. But I was paying over $3 a gallon and now it is closer to $3.50. So I am saving 50 cents a gallon. I fill up once a week.
Yesterday I filled up; got 7 gallons and saved over $3. I am adding that $3 along with the $2 I pay myself for walking 2 miles, to my challenge money.

prev. total $16,321.00
today 5.00
new total $16,326.00 opps, imeant to say that gas is now closer to $2.50 a gallon.

I think i set a record yesterday. We went to Wal Marts and I did not spend a penny!
Now, going to wal mart is a pretty big chore. We don't just pass one everyday. we have to drive to another state to visit Wal Mart. It is about 30 miles just one way.
We needed to go to North Carolina to order some tile for the front courtyard and also make a liquor run.
We went by Walmart to take back two items that I decided I did not need. So instead of spending money I got a $15 credit on my charge card! That is good!

The price of gas has really gone down the past 2 weeks. I buy premium gas and I have been paying over $3 a gallon for what seems like forever! I noticed that the corner station has gas for $2.54 (premium, 2.34 regular). That is about 50 cents a gallon less than I was paying two weeks ago. I only fill up once a week. I think I will take that 50 cents a gallon and add it to my challenge money. I also called about propane.
They advertise that propane was on "sale" this summer for $1.79 gallon. I just called and the price is now $1.69 gallon, so I ordered 300 gallons.
Hopefully that will keep us warm for a couple of months. I keep the house at 60 in the daytime and 63 at night for my dh!

I did my grocery shopping early this morning, it was so nice and quiet. They had t bones and chicken on sale, so that is what I got for dinner tonight. We can have the chicken tomorrow or tuesday night! By using my bi lo card, I saved $7 which I will add to my challenge money.
Prev. total $16,314.00
today 7.00
new total $16,321.00

We had dinner out as usual. I thought about having something expensive to celebrate our possible sale of our house we are building! But decided i would wait until we were really sure.
The poeple want the house and they gave me a deposit. But they need to sell their house and some other property, and arrange for financing. So I am hoping and keeping my fingers crossed.
When we get a contract, i will splurge then!!

We put up signs last week, I printed up 300 fliers to put out and our spec house went up for sale. (We are just doing the sheetrock now)
WE had our first lookers yesterday. My dh called me and said bring over the covenants, they will be back. They came back yesterday afternoon.
They came back again today. They gave me a deposit check for $2500!!!
I am so excited. Of course, my dh houses usually sell first because they are such quality. He does all the inside work completely by himself, I mean everything, paint, trim, tile, hardwood flooring, cabinets, etc.
We asked $400,000and the offer was for $400,000! (maybe too cheap?)
It is a 3500 sq. ft. house with 12 foot ceilings, a courtyard with pond, and a killer mountain view on 1.7 acres!!
I am doing the dance of joy and adding that money to my challenge money!
prev. total $13,814.00
today 2,500.00
new total $16,314.00