It is a nice cool day today, about 70 degrees. I love weather like this. Nothing has to run, no heat or air.
I am making my own "bottled" water today, plus I have plenty of left overs from last night's dinner.

I got a card from my local Ace hardware worth $25. We bought grass and bird seed yesterday and used the car. I will add the $25 I would have spent to my challenge money.

Prev. total $10,368.00
today 25.00
new total $10,385.00

I have started to run the air conditioning. There goes my nice low electric bills. I read my meter every day and the kilowatts used are increasing. I cannot stand to be hot. I spend most of my time upstairs, and heat rises, so it is hot up here.
I should have a decent bill this month, but I dread next months bill.

Today is my sweet little Holly's birthday. She is 7 today. Holly is a little black poodle and my baby.
I am going to add $10 to my challenge money in honor of my Holly!!
Prev. total $10,358.00
today 10.00
new total $10,368.00

It should be a frugal day today. I have 3 ladies coming over to my house to play bridge. So other than the snacks I bought when grocery shopping there will be no money spent today.
I did have to run down town to cash my dh's paycheck, but I have already done my envelope bugeting!

I got married 30 years ago today. This is the first anniversary we have ever stayed home, I am pretty sure. We usually go to Gatlinburg.
My old dog is failing fast and we did not want to leave her.
We did go out for breakfast this morning at Waffle House. First time I have eaten there for many years.
Tonight we will have to eat at home. There are no restaurants open on Sunday night in this town.
Steak on the grill and drinks by the creek. Hey, some people would pay for that!!

The braves have won their last 3 games this week, so I owe the challenge another $3. (Right now, they are losing, but heck, you can't win them all)

Prev. total $10,355.00
today 3.00
new total $10,358.00

Happy Mother's day to all you mother's out there. I got my first ever mother's day card in the mail yesterday. My girlfriend sent it to me!!

Today I will add the ridge money to my challenge.
Prev. total $10,190.00
today 165.00
new total $10,355.00

I took my change jar into the bank today and got $32 for my coins. I will put that in my challenge money.
I also got free lunch at the bank. It was customer appreciation day.
prev. total $10,158.00
today 32.00
today $10,190.00

I try to be frugal in the winter and I keep the heat on 60 and dress in sweaters.
But, I cannot stand hot weather. That is the main reason I wanted to move from florida. I can't stand heat.
Of course, i want my electric bill as low as possible and it has been great since last October. But now it is getting hot!!
What do you set your temperature on?
Right now, it is 87 outside and I have turned on the a/c for the first time this year.

I forgot to pay the water bill!! This is the first bill I have been late on ever, in my entire life! It was due yesterday, the 10th and I just forgot about it! I will have to pay the $2.10 late fee. Oh, it is not a lot, but I am embarassed that I am paying it late. I will take it into the office TODAY!

I just looked at the Atlanta Braves site and saw that the braves won their last 2 games. So, that is $2 more to the challenge plus another $1 cause I walked a mile.
Prev. total $10,150.00
today 3.00
new total $10,153.00

Today is my bridge day and that was fun. Afterwards I went to the dollar store and bought 2 graduation cards for $1.00 (for both of them) I hate wasting money on cards that get throw away.
I also picked up some prilosec for my dh and some diet 7 up. I had a coupon for $4 off for the prilosec and $1 off the 7 up. It takes enought like diet sprite to suit me and it was cheaper with the coupon. so that is $5 today that I saved that goes to my challenge account.
Prev. total $10,145.00
today 5.00
new total $10,150.00

My husband was raised by his parents that insurance was a waste of money. They never had health insurance or life insurance.
I did take out a 10 year term policy on my husband when we built this house for about $200,000.
However, when it expired a few years ago, the new policy was so expensive we could not afford it.
I took a small policy out for $25,000 from AARP. It started out $30 a month and it is now almost $45 a month. I know it will just keep getting higher.
I was discussing it with dh last week and he wants me to drop the policy and just save the money.
We have plenty of cash in the bank and he thinks it is a waste of money.
I will continue to save that money and add to my challenge.
Just wondered what you all think?

When I buy something I really don't need, I think I have wasted money. today I bought my little doggie a chair. She is a small (5 pounds) black poodle and she has a little folding tot chair (canvas) that she likes to sit in. When it is cold, we put a heating pad on the chair.
The problem is, she likes to sit in the living room in the daytime, so at night, we moved her chair into the pantry and close the door.
Now, we don't have to move the chair every time, which is nice, but I do feel like I wasted a little money that I did not need to spend.
By the way, the chair looks like a dog. I could have chosen from a bear, a frog or a dog, so i took the dog.
It doesn't go with the decor of my home, but Holly loves it.

I got a roast on sale, $4 off with my advantage card. I also had a coupon for a free 2 liter bottle of diet 7 up, so that was another $1. I shall add that $5 to my challenge money.
prev. total $10,140.00
today 5.00
new total $10,145.00

We had a new gazebo delivered to my next door neighbor's house today. It really is pretty and they placed it near the creek.
We thought about a gazebo but decided to build a deck over the creek. This way, we can sit right on top of it and listen to the water flow by.
I hope it is warm enough this weekend that we can set up a bar and have drinks outside on the deck at night. Sounds nice.

I just finished a survey with NFO mysurvey. It is amazing to me how fast those points add up. I just requested another $10 check. I should have kept track of them, but I think this will be number 7. If anyone is interested, send me your first name and e mail address and I will send you an invite.
The checks do take about 3 weeks to arrive.

I got another pinecone check in the mail yesterday, so that is $5 more to add to my challenge money.
Prev. total $10,135.00
today 5.00
new total $10,140.00

Our little town is getting a 5 star resort. who would have ever thought this would happen to this area. I guess building will be booming. I hope our house prices really go up too. Soon, everyone will want to live here.

is a broom!! I don't know where the brooms go in this house, but they always disappear.
I am sure my husband borrows them to take to the job and they never come back. The broom I have now is about 20 years old and just does not do what a broom should do. I would love to sweep off my front porch, but I need a good broom!
Actually, I would like a card too. I have never had a mother's day card. Even one of those 50 cent ones from the dollar store would do.

Well, the braves came from behind to win the game today; I walked a mile, had a no spend day and a used no gas day. So i am paying myself $4 to add to the challenge.
prev. total $10,131.00
today 4.00
new total $10,135.00

I was thinking about beer this morning. It is a big deal to buy beer around here. You have to drive to another county.
I have to drive to North Carolina to buy liquor, but they don't sell beer there. I can buy beer in Georgia, but no liquor.

My husband likes beer and drinks one a day. When we buy beer we buy 2 big suitcases. a suitcase holds 12 long neck bottles of bud lite.
A suitcase costs about $10. It just dawned on me that it has cost $10 for years and years.
With the price of food and gas going out of sight, why hasn't beer gone up?
Too bad I don't like beer at all.

Our anniversary is about a week away. We had planned to go to Gatlinburg but that was before my old dog started acting funny.
She is at least 16, we don't know her real age, cause we found her abandoned in a barn.
She has quit eating dog food for the past two weeks.
I have to keep finding people food for her to eat.
today, I cooked her some chicken.
I feel like if we went away and left her for even a short time, she would die. She can barely hear or see anything.
I could take her to the vets, but she is terrified of going in a car and I don't want her to be terrified during her last days.
So, I think we will stay home with the dog.

I did a mile of walking and 20 flights of stairs yesterday, plus the braves won, so I can add $3 to my challenge money.
Prev. total $10,128.00
today 3.00
new total $10,131.00

My dh and I both had a free breakfast this morning. The guy that he is building a house for, gave him a free ticket to the pancake breakfast at the Methodist church.
Our local bank is having customer appreciation day today. They are giving away free tomato plants and free hot dogs. Well, I never had a hot dog for breakfast but it was pretty good. They also had free cake, but I resisted that!!
Now to plant those tomato plants.

I went to Bi Lo to get eggs for my husband and some dog food for my little dog. They were both on sale dog. They were both on sale.
So was N.T. strip steak, my favorite. When you can get 2 steaks for $6 that is a good deal, so I got four of them. Then my diet sprite was on sale.
I wound up with a lot more than I had planned, but every single thing I bought was on sale. I saved $12 to add to my challenge.

Prev. total $10,116.00
today 12.00
new total $10,128.00

ps. I meant N.Y. strip steak.

Government agencies are handing over unpaid public fees such as library fines, parking tickets, court fees and moving violations to private collection companies.
These companies can report these fees to the 3 major credit bureaus and that can affect your credit score.

I was looking up a stock price and saw a question on that same cnn page. It was asking my age and my income.
Then I compared myself with the average american.
The average person my age only has a net worth of slightly over $200,000.
The average person with my income (really my husband's) only has a net worth of slightly over $100,000.
That means that most people entering their retirement years do not have nearly enough money to live on. I wonder what they will do? I sure could not live on $500 a month social security.

An all time high for the Dow today and the S&P went above 1500 for the first time in 7 years. Hope we all made money today.
I had a no spend day, walked my 20 flights of stairs and the braves won last night. That gives me another $3 to add to my challenge money.
prev. total $10,113.00
today 3.00
new total $10,116.00