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Archive for April, 2010

April showers bring May flowers

April 30th, 2010 at 09:09 pm

My roses are starting to bloom. Dh has planted many flowers and the place looks nice.

Well, the braves are not helping my challenge money. This is the longest losing streak I can remember.
The stock market went up yesterday, I saved $5 using my advantage card and I got $1 in the mail today. The survey company wants me to keep track of how much money I spend in the month of May. So, I will do it.
Previous total $9043.00
today 7.00
new total $9050.00

Two more small checks

April 29th, 2010 at 08:28 pm

i did a pinecone survey a few days ago and got a check in the mail today for $3. Pinecone is so prompt, I like that.

I also made a personal loan to a friend to buy some property. He is paying me interest on the loan and gave me a check for 6 days interest. The check is for $25.64. I will round that down to $25. I never count the cents when I am doing the $20 challenge, but I am very aware that cents due add up!

Prev. total $9015.00
today 28.00
new total $9043.00

My usual check

April 29th, 2010 at 02:39 pm

I got my usual monthly check deposited to my checking account yesterday and as always, I am adding it to my challenge money.
I chose to take social security payments as early as I could, but i have never spent one penny of these checks. I save them all.

Did you know you can take social security early and when you turn 70, you can pay it all back to the s.s.admin. and get the higher pay out. You don't owe them a penny more than they paid you. You pay no penalty or interest. The interest you make on the money is yours to keep. Sounds like a pretty good deal if you think you will live a long time.

I don't come from a family of long lived people. My father died at age 55. My sister died at age 59. My mother got cancer at age 55, but recovered and lived til age 70, when she died of a recurring cancer.

Prev. total $8529.00
today 486.00
new total $9015.00

Two weeks!!

April 26th, 2010 at 08:53 pm

It has been two weeks since I have eaten out. I am proud of myself. I haven't gone this long without eating out in I don't know how long!
Even tho we did not spend a lot each night, still it adds up! I just hope we haven't hurt the restaurant business!!

I did my grocery shopping today and saved $6 using my Ingles card. It was also a good mail day. I got a $50 check for using my Chase rewards card and a refund of $85 for cancelling the insurance on the old work van that we sold.
This will all be added to the challenge money.

Prev. total $8388.00
today 141.00
new total $8529.00

Listening to the creek!

April 25th, 2010 at 10:17 pm

Friends of ours invited us over on Thursday night. It was fun. We just made sandwiches, had a few mixed drinks and sat out by the creek.
Even tho they live local, they live on a mountain top with a great view. They wanted the best of both worlds, mountain view and creek side.
So, they bought an RV lot in an RV park, right on a creek. They have a very nice RV parked there too.

It made me realize that we should spend more of our evenings sitting out by our creek!
dh got ambitious and is repainting our deck right now. It hangs over the creek and has lights on it. He has already painted the swing benches that we keep on the deck.

No good news about the braves games lately but I do have 7 one dollar bills in my wallet, so I will add that to the challenge.

Prev. total $7381.00
today 7.00
new total $7388.00

Lots of ones!

April 22nd, 2010 at 09:39 pm

I saved $5 at the grocery store today, using my Ingles advantage card. I had a $4 off CVS coupon that I used when I bought prilosec. Plus, I have 7 other one dollar bills, so a total of $16 one dollar bills to add to my challenge.
Prev. total $8365
today 16
new total $8381.00

p.s. and I also found a quarter at Ingles!

I had to turn the heat back on.

April 21st, 2010 at 04:28 pm

I went without the heat running for almost two weeks. It got pretty cold this weekend and I had to turn the heat back on, on Monday.
Every Monday, we play bridge at my house and I can't let my guests freeze, so I turn the heat up to 68. They are still cool, but I am sweating!
Yesterday I got my older dog groomed (haircut) and she was shivering in the house. I just got her heating pad out of the closet for her to lay on, when the power went out.
Even dh was complaining how cold he was in the house. After about an hour, the power came back on and I heated the house up to 66, so if the power went out, it woulded be too cold.

I got my electric bill in the mail and it was only $88. Not bad for a 3200 sq. foot house plus extra double garage with bath and efficency room above. That is $90 under budget, so I will add that to my challenge money.

Prev. total $8275.00
today 90.00
new total $8365.00

My puppy plays with matches!

April 20th, 2010 at 07:57 pm

My little dog, Molly, a malta-poo is a year old now. I wonder when she will quit acting like a puppy? She gets into everything. We can't leave anything where she can reach it. I was upstairs when I heard her playing with something. She had gotten hold of my husband's work shirt and was dragging it around the room. When I got there, she had a pack of matches and was busy chewing on them. (He doesn't smoke, but he was burning rubbish)
Today in the mail I got an income tax refund. As this is the first time in years we have ever gotten anything back, I am going to add it to my challenge money.
Prev. total $7608.00
today 667.00
new total $8275.00

Do kids still walk to school??

April 19th, 2010 at 09:51 pm

I am curious, do kids still walk to school. I moved from Norfolk, Va. to Florida when I was in 3rd grade. From then on, I had to walk to school until I was a senior and had my own car. (which I paid for all by myself) The bad part about it was I had to carry lots of heavy books cause I did a lot of studying. I guess that is why most kids were not overweight back then.
I got a check in the mail for $55 today to pay me back for a car tow I had last month. I will use that, the $1 for the braves win and $2 for a no use gas day yesterday, to add to the challenge.
Prev. total $7550.00
today 58.00
new total $7608.00

foreclosures

April 18th, 2010 at 07:22 pm

We live in a small town , so our newspaper is only published once a week. At the back of the paper every week is the listing of foreclosures.

I live in the North Georgia mountains and it is a very pretty place to live. We have a lot of move up people coming here from Atlanta and from Florida. About 5 years ago, the housing boom really took off up here.

Because you did not have to be licensed to be a builder, everyone became builders! WE have about 500 subdivisions, or more, in out small county of population 19,000. (up from 7000 20 years ago)

The list of foreclosures started about 1 1/2 ago and every week it seems to get longer and longer.
I am amazed at how many names I recognize in the paper. I feel so sorry for them. Many of the names are of prominate business people.

I was hopping that things would be better by now, but I read a magazine article that says things will get even worse in 2011 because many arm mortgages will get reset to a higher rate in 2011.

I can't tell you how much safer I feel, having a paid for house.

We are now a 5 car family!

April 17th, 2010 at 05:40 pm

We sold our old van and the guy just picked it up. We are down to being a 5 car family for the first time in years. It will be nice to cancel that insurance next week.
One of our workers has been paying payments on the van for the last 4 weeks; he just gave us the last $250.
So, I am taking that money, plus $2 from the braves last two wins and the $2 for a no gas day yesterday and adding it to the challenge money.
Prev. total $7296.00
today 254.00
new total $7550.00

Happy IRS Day!

April 15th, 2010 at 07:38 pm

Yup, today is April 14th, tax day! I mailed off my estimated tax yesterday.
Today I made a few deposits to the bank and took it my change for counting. I got back $32 which will be added to the challenge, the braves won, the stock market went up yesterday and I had a no use gas day yesterday. All in all, I have $36 to add to the challenge.
Prev. total $7260.00
today 36.00
new total $7296.00

More found money!

April 14th, 2010 at 10:57 pm

Opps, I just discovered another $200 that I had put in a savings envelope, that needs to be added to the $20 challege.
I am making a savings deposit tomorrow. I need to build my savings back up. I wrote 2 big checks last month; one to pay off my 2008 car and one to fully fund both of our IRA's.
Prev. total $7060.00
today 200.00
new total $7260.00

New car fund money

April 14th, 2010 at 10:39 pm

I am making a deposit to the car fund account tomorrow, so I am adding in the $180 that I have in that envelope. Whenever I have any extra money, I will add that to the car fund.
I also received a check for almost $1900 in the mail. This is a mutual fund account that I opened for my oldest granddaughter several years ago. I hate that she wanted me to close the account, but she wants to use the money to take online classes. Well, this should give her a good start.
Prev. total $6880.00
today 180.00
new total $7060.00

Bought gas for the first time!

April 14th, 2010 at 08:53 pm

We stopped and got gas for the new car for the first time. I hated that I had to pay $3.03 a gallon, but I am pleased that I have not driven that much. I got the car on March 17th and yesterday was the 12th, plus I still had a quarter of a tank left.
The car dealership filled it up for me when we picked the car out.
I can remember the first brand new car that I ever got. It was a 1967 yellow cougar. I ran out of gas on my way home from the dealership! Back then, gas was under 30 cents a gallon, cause $3 would fill her up!!

Trees are in bloom!

April 13th, 2010 at 07:05 pm

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

Bridge was cancelled!

April 12th, 2010 at 08:11 pm

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

The heat is running again!

April 11th, 2010 at 03:12 pm

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

Big Mama panties!

April 10th, 2010 at 07:01 pm

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

clothes shopping!!

April 9th, 2010 at 03:27 pm

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

Saving all ones except one!

April 8th, 2010 at 04:41 pm

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, the farmer!

April 6th, 2010 at 11:10 pm

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

Easter candy on sale!

April 5th, 2010 at 04:30 pm

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

Spring Fever

April 4th, 2010 at 08:59 pm

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

OMG , I have a phone in my car.

April 3rd, 2010 at 04:31 pm

I was driving along the other day and all of a sudden my radio went dead and I could hear a phone ringing. Instead of the station number, a phone number was listed. It happened twice.
Today, we stopped by the chevy dealership so I could give them the original sticker that came with my 2004 vette. (I thought the new owner might like it)

I talked to my car salesman about what happened and he told me that I have a hands free phone system in my car, thru On Star!

We went home and tried it out and sure enough, I called my dh on his cell while he was standing in the garage and then he called me back.

Since I have never even figured out how to use his cell phone (I don't have or want one), I am feeling pretty modern about now!

Pets are so expensive!

April 2nd, 2010 at 08:22 pm

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.

I am divorcxing my husband of 33 years and opening a bar!

April 1st, 2010 at 03:41 pm

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