Tomorrow is mother's day but dh and i do not celebrate because both of our mother's have passed away.
I was thinking about my mother this morning. My father died before I turned 10, so she was a widow at age 47.
She had never worked (women didn't work much back then), so she had to take a job making about $20 a week to support the three of us.
Until I married at age 20, I never saw my mother buy herself anything. She made sure she paid the bills first, bought food and that was that!
I guess that is why i find it pretty easy to be frugal, I learned by example.

Have a happy mother's day tomorrow.

The stock market was up yesterday. The braves pulled it out of the fire in the 9th inning and won yesterday. I stayed home all day and used no gasoline. I will add that $3 to my challenge money.
Prev. total $9782.00
today 3.00
New total $9785.00

I have used the envelope method for over 40 years and I love it.
Sometimes when I fund something and pay it off, I just keep adding the money to the envelope anyway.
A few weeks ago I paid off my car, but I keep funding that envelope. I also have what I call my "ridge" money. That was some land I had been making payments on, but have since paid off.
so, I have $760 to add to my challenge money.
Prev. total $9022.00
today 760.00
new total $9782.00

That is all I hear on tv lately, doom and gloom. I know gas and food prices are up, but as a life long saver, that has not affected my life too much. I have decided to just BE HAPPY!
The stock market was up on Tuesday and the braves won their last two games, so I will add $3 to my challenge money.
Prev. total $9019.00
today 3.00
new total $9022.00

I decided to put some of my cash into a c.d. paying 4%, out of money sitting in a money market account making 1.98% So I did that last Satuday.
Today it hit me. Now that my money market account is below the minimum required, they are going to hit me with a $15 fine!!
Well, at least I am making double the interest. Now, I need to get that m/m back to the minimum required! Lesson learned!!

My husband is now a licensed residental contractor for the state of Georgia.
Georgia has been working on having all builders in Georgia licensed.
Now everyone that owns a hammer ( and some that didn't even own that much) can no longer build homes that do not come up to code.(Before this, there were NO codes)
We had to turn in a lot of paperwork to prove that he has been building houses for a while. we had to get certifcates of occupancy for many of the homes and reference letters for all the homes we have built in the past several years.
Dh has been a licensed builder for the state of North Carolina (10 miles away) for about 20 years.

His license number is #399!! Good luck 399!!

I finally received a check from inbox dollars. I ordered it on March 23 and it came yesterday. It took me 15 months to earn $30 (the minimum) and then they take out $3 for handling fees. I have decided that I am not going to mess with them anymore. I had to click on that site 1000 times to earn that much.
The braves won Sunday and I won 2 games of mahjong, so with my check, I have a total of $30 to add to the challenge.
Prev. total $8989.00
today 30.00
new total $9019.00

I am never late on any of my bills. I just noticed that my electric bill had not been paid and it is due today. I have bridge people coming over in a few minutes, so i will have to drop it off at the bank after 5pm! The late fee is not much, but I am paranoid about paying my bills on time. I don't know how I forgot it! Must be old age or something!! I put the surplus money in my challenge account last week, but just neglected to actually pay the bill.

I went grocery shopping early this morning. I saved $6 using coupons and my grocery card.Last night the braves won and I won 3 games of mahjong, so that totals $10. I also have my term insurance money to add to the challenge, for a total of $50.
Prev. total $8939.00
today 50.00
new total $8989.00

I just filled up my car this morning. It took 12.8 gallons and cost $49.70 to fill up. I can not imagine what some people must pay weekly just to drive to work. We live in remote area. Our little town does not even have a taxi. Everyone must drive.
Well, I don't work, so I do try and stay home more than I use to.
I don't see how some families are even making it around here!!

I did my net worth yesterday, it went up about $17,000 but that is because the stock market went up for the month. The stock market went up yesterday, the braves won and I won 3 mahjong games, so that is $5 to add to the challenge.
Prev. total $8934.00
today 5.00
new total $8939.00

I drove to another county to open a c.d. this morning. I am getting almost 2% at my local bank and this bank is offering c.d.'s for one year paying 4%. This will pay me an extra $1000 in interest.(for $50,000) Actually, I could have given them another $50,000 but if my accounts (local) go to low, they will put a 10 day hold on the checks that our customer gives us to build their home. So that money will have to sit and earn the low rate. Any way, I am getting a little more interest right now!!

Well, one thing about playing this mahjong game, it certainly is adding money to my $20 challenge money. I won 5 games yesterday and the stock market went up, so that is $6 to add to the challenge.
Prev. total $8928.00
today 6.00
new total $8934.00

The rates on my money market accounts went down again. Now the bank is paying 1.98% Just a few months ago this account was paying 5.25%. Now I know why retirees that live on their interest, get upset when the rates go down!! It seems like every time I move my money, the rates just go down again.

May is my favorite month. It is warming up, but still cool at night. That means no heat or a/c yet! Everything is turning green and blooming. When I lived in florida, all months were about the same. Now, here in the mountains, spring time is beautiful! I even got married in May. What a beautiful month.

I add up my interest earned every month. Of course, because rates are going down all the time, the interest is going down every month. In april, I earned just slightly over $2000, $2017 to be exact.
I had a c.d. come due yesterday. I was going to move it to a bank out of town, but the difference was only 4/10th of a point, so I think I will leave it. I like having money in all of the local banks.

I thought I might have a no spend day, but Holly acted sick yesterday. Upset tummy, throwing up, diarreah. She has a sensitive tummy and does this a lot.
She was still sick today, so I got her in at the vets. I spent $75 and hope she feels better soon. She is such a funny eater and can no longer have "people food" which is all she likes to eat.
I am going to have to listen to her cry cause all she can have is dog food the rest of her life. Glad I am not Holly!!

I got three checks in the mail yesterday, $94.68 from state farm (refund), $5.00 from a pinecone survey and $3.43 from over payment on my car pay off. That is a total of $103 to add to my challenge money.
prev. total 8825.00
today 103.00
new total 8928.00

I got two coupons in the mail for a free container of Beneful. That is the only dog food my little Holly will eat. So, I cashed them in yesterday, saving myself almost $4. I will add that to my $20 challenge.
Prev. total $8821.00
today 4.00
new total $8825.00

Happy first day of May. this is my favorite month, I got married in May. When I was a kid, we celebrated May 1st with a Maypole dance. I wonder if anyone does that anymore??