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Archive for June, 2011

real estate closings

June 30th, 2011 at 07:33 pm

WE went to our 3rd (and last) real estate closing, yesterday. With the economy so down now, banks are turning to land auction companies to get ride of foreclosed lots in subdivisions.
Since my dh is a builder, we are always looking for lots to build on.
There are some real bargains out there now, or really the land was priced way too high, so it looks like bargains.
The first lot (2 acres) we bought was in a nice subdivision. It is a gated community with a pool, tennis courts and a clubhouse. The lot has a great mountain view also. It was originally listed for $119,000 and we got it for $42,000.
Lot number 2 was in a nice subdivision that we had already built in. I never considered the top lots with the great view because they were too expensive.
The lot we bought was nice, had a good view and I paid $66,000. We sold the house to the first serious lookers before the house was finished.
The top lots with the GREAT view were going for $120,000 and up. We got one for $45,000.
The lot we closed on yesterday was in a gated subdivision also. These lots had river and lake access and ours had a good mountain view. The lot was going for $180,000 and we got it for $28,000.
The only problem with the lot is that it is about 30 miles away in North Carolina. Dh is a licensed contractor in North Carolina as well as Georgia.
But that is a long drive every day.

We are making plans to start a spec house on lot number 2 this summer.

I picked up more "on sale" diet sprite and saved another $5 to add to the challenge.

Prev. total $11,793.00
new total 5.00
new total $11,798.00

Good grocery day!

June 28th, 2011 at 11:09 pm

I did my grocery shopping this morning. I stocked up on diet sprite which seems to go on sale around the holidays! With my store advantage card and coupons, I was able to save $23 on my groceries.
The braves won last night, the stock market went up yesterday and we had a no use gas day, so a total of $27 to add to the challenge.

Prev. total $11,766.00
today 27.00
new total $11,793.00

Chase rewards check

June 27th, 2011 at 11:05 pm

I got a chase rewards check in the mail today for $50. Actually, I ordered 2 of them, so I should get another one in a day or two. I will add this to the challenge money.

Prev. total $11,716.00
today 50.00
new total $11,766.00

no use gas day

June 26th, 2011 at 05:43 pm

I finally had a no use gas day yesterday. It is about the first time in a week. Gasoline has gone down here, premium is finally below $4 a gallon. I save about $2 every time I stay home, plus the braves won, so $3 is added to the challenge.

Prev. total $11,713.00
today 3.00
new total $11,716.00

My cute blue malta poo!

June 25th, 2011 at 07:26 pm

At what age is a puppy grown up? My malta poo (father was maltese, mother was black poodle) is now 2 years, 3 months and 10 days. Apuppy is considered an adult dog at one year, but there is no way Molly is grown up. Today she chewed up her puppy pillow, pulling out all the bright blue stuffing and chewing it.
She now has a bright blue chin. She is so cute, you can't get mad at her.
I got a rebate check in the mail yesterday from diageo.These checks are small but they add up.

Prev. total $11,703.00
today 10.00
new total $11,713.00

wal mart gift card!

June 24th, 2011 at 10:15 pm

dh won a gift card to wal mart when he was at the car show a few weeks ago. Today, I stopped there to pick up a few groceries and spent $15. I gave them the gift card and my bill was only for $5. So, I am adding the $10 saved to the $20 challenge.

Prev. total $11,693.00
today 10.00
new total $11,703.00

a check from Tim Horton's

June 24th, 2011 at 04:48 pm

I got a check from Tim Horton's yesterday. I have several stocks, but I am enrolled in their Drips (dividend reinvestment programs) in all but Tim Horton's and Wendy's.
I originally started off with just Wendys and then they bought Tim Horton's. Somehow that got me out of their drip plan and I get checks from them each quarter. The checks are not that much, so I just keep putting them in my $20 challenge.

Prev. total $11,668.00
today 25.00
new total $11,693.00

home from the vets

June 23rd, 2011 at 05:29 pm

We had a two hour visit at the vets this morning. My little Holly has an infection and needed more medicine. They had to do blood work and give her fluids also. Hopefully, she will start feeling better soon.
I almost forgot all about my regular monthly check that was deposited automatically to my checking account. That money is always added to the challenge.

Prev. total $11,182.00
today 486.00
new total $11,668.00

Back to the vet

June 22nd, 2011 at 09:56 pm

I am taking my dog back to the vet for the 3rd time in 2 weeks. Poor baby, she isn't eating and is throwing up everything. She has had a tummy problem all of her life and nothing seems to help. She has also been having a problem with her knee going out of the joint! She hates going to the vets and I hate to stress her out, but she has to go tomorrow. They are just going to fit me in, so I expect to be there for several hours.
The good new; the braves won last night and today and the stock market went up yesterday; so $3 will be added to the challenge.

Prev. total $11,179.00
today 3.00
new total $11,182.00

It never hurts to ask!

June 21st, 2011 at 06:56 pm

Dh and I went to a land closing this morning. We have attended 3 land sales the past 6 months and bought a lot at each one of them. (For less than half of the original price)
At the last closing, I noticed after I got home, that I was charged $50 for UPS overnight fees. We went to the closing in person, since it is only 4 miles away.

I carefully checked the closing papers today to make sure we were not charged the overnight fees again. When I mentioned to the paralegal that we had paid that fee in December, she immediately wrote me a check and refunded the $50. I am so happy that I mentioned this.

The braves won twice, the stock market went up yesterday, so $53 will be added to the challenge.

Prev. total $11,126.00
today 53.00
new total $11,179.00

carpet or hardwood?

June 19th, 2011 at 09:55 pm

I have a question! If you were having a new house built, would you want carpet or hardwood floors? (or both) My house has hardwood in the kitchen and breakfast room and the rest of the house is carpeted.
The spec house that my husband is finishing, has hardwood in the living room, dining room and kitchen. We were planning on putting carpet in the bedrooms but the buyers asked for hardwood floors thru out. So my husband put down hardwood in the master bedroom and laminate in the downstairs bedrooms. You have to use laminate on concrete floors down in the basement. It is the first time he has used laminate and I think it looks nice.

We are going to start a new house this summer. Maybe we should make the floors all hardwood? What do you think?

Dinner out was nice last night!

June 18th, 2011 at 10:19 pm

When I first joined saving advice I was eating dinner out almost every night. Well, the economy has changed and now we eat most of our meals at home. When you do splurge to go out to eat, it seems like a real treat. Plus, I always bring home enough for another meal or two.
I put out more food for the food pantry. Again today, I did not see anyone else do this.
I ran to the store to get hamburger for supper tomorrow and saved $2 (It was on sale) When I got home, there was a check in the mail from Wendy's for $11. That is a dividend of about 2 cents a share. Oh well, $13 more for the challenge.

Prev. total $11,113.00
today 13.00
new total $11,126.00

Disappointed in food drive!

June 17th, 2011 at 10:15 pm

I wonder how the food drive for the food bank went today. I drove into town to buy steaks on sale and I did not see even one bag of food hanging off of anyone's mailbox. I live in a very nice neighborhood and no one had put anything out. I had two bags, one outside the mail box and one inside. I have so more food for tomorrow's pick up. I don't see why everybody can't help out a little.
I got a pinecone survey check today for $3, the braves won and the stockmarket went up yesterday ( a little) so I have $5 to add to the challenge.

Prev. total $11,108.00
today 5.00
new total $11.113.00

lucky 13!

dh's name is always in the multiple listings!

June 16th, 2011 at 05:40 pm

Whenever a house that my husband has built goes up for sale, my husband's name is always in the multiple listings. Whether it is an old house, or a brand new house, his name is always mentioned. Most of the buyers have never heard of him, but the realtors all know about him and his workmanship.
The people that put a contract on our spec house last month came back today to look at it again. (They live in south georgia) They were thrilled at everything! They have been looking in this area for over 2 years. When their realtor told them that a Gary Denski house had just come on the market, they came to look at it. They said they are buying the house because of the house and Gary's reputation. He builds every house as if it was for himself and it has to be perfect. That is why he does almost all of the work by himself.
We are so lucky, in this economy, that his house sold so quickly. Wish us luck on the next spec house. We plan to start it this summer as soon as he finishes up the house he is on right now.

Corvette envelope!

June 16th, 2011 at 02:21 pm

I took the money out of the corvette envelope this morning to add to the challenge money. Somehow, I always have more than the actual payment. I have $810 to add to the challenge money! Dh still does not know that I paid the corvette off a few months ago! shhh.........

Prev. total $10,298.00
today 810.00
new total $11,108.00

Lowe's credit card

June 15th, 2011 at 08:52 pm

I received a Lowe's credit card in the mail a few weeks ago. We needed to buy light fixtures for the spec house, so we used it today and saved $50. Lowe's gives you 5% off every time you use their card for your purchases. Pretty nice!

Money market interest!

June 15th, 2011 at 08:16 pm

I am adding my money market account interest to my $20 challenge. I did not use to add interest until I made a 4% loan (several) to some friends. The interest was really nice, so I added it to my challenge money. Sadly (for me) they paid me back, so I put the money into ING and into a money market account. I am taking the interest I earn every month in these two accounts to add to my challenge money.

Prev. total $10,193.00
today 105.00
new total $10,298.00

Food bank

June 14th, 2011 at 06:42 pm

I went grocery shopping today and picked up some more items for the food bank. The post office is picking up the donations this Friday and Saturday.
The food bank issued a list of what they need the most, so I thought I sould include it here in case any of you are interested:
canned pototoes (I love them)
canned peas (a vegetable children will eat
chunky soups
instant pototoes
tuna, canned
chicken, canned
peanut butter
jelly
home style baked meals
powdered milk

I picked up most of the above items and I also added 3 boxes of mac and cheese (my granddaughters favorite) 2 cans of beef ravoli, scalloped potatoes, vienna sausage, spagetti, ragu sauce and toilet paper.

I sure hope they get a lot of food this weekend to replenish the food bank.

A few years ago, my friend gave me a surprise birthday party. All of my gifts were gifts to the food bank. I had a full grocery cart of food to deliver to them. (and it was a month before christmas) It was the best party I ever had!

Even toilet paper has gone up.

June 12th, 2011 at 11:16 pm

I ran to the grocery store today to get something for dinner tonight. It seems like the price of everything has gone up lately. I got a 4 pack of cottonelle toilet paper. The price was now $3.76 for a four pack; that is almost $1 a roll. Luckily, I had a coupon for $2.50 off. With that, and my Ingles card, I saved $6 on my small purchase. The braves won last night and again today, so that is $8 for my $20 challenge.

Prev. total $10,185.00
today 8.00
new total $10,193.00

knee out of joint!

June 11th, 2011 at 09:20 pm

That is the verdict when I took my older dog to the vet yesterday. Her knee is out of the knee joint and that is why she is limping. The vet is going to try a series of shots to see if that will help,otherwise, the only thing to do is surgery. She is 11 now and may be getting to old for surgery. At least I feel she is not acting in any pain.
The braves won last night and I had a no use gas today, so $3 will go to the challenge.
Prev. total $10,182.00
today 3.00
new total $10,185.00

stock market is down!

June 10th, 2011 at 05:18 pm

I keep a running total of my mutual funds over at Vanguard. I have noticed that my total mutual funds has been going steadily down since the end of April. I have lost over $20,000 in value in about 6 weeks. I sure hope this economy picks up soon, The stock market did go up a bit yesterday and the braves won 2 days in a row, so I have $3 for my challenge money.

Prev. total $10,179.00
today 3.00
new total $10,182.00

Buying extra for the food bank.

June 8th, 2011 at 08:03 pm

I did my grocery shopping yesterday. I am trying to buy a lot of extra food for the food bank. The Post office is doing a food drive for them on June 17th. There are so many people out of work around this area. Just today I noticed that a pet store that has been here forever is closed and empty.
Most of the work is construction and there is just nothing going on. It is even hard to get materials. My dh tried to order some hardwood flooring two weeks ago and was told yesterday that they can't get it for another two weeks. He is going to have to pay more and get it at home depot.
I saved $7 using my Ingles card yesterday and the braves won, so $8 gets added to the challenge money.

Prev. total $10,171.00
today 8.00
new total $10,179.00

Dh is still home!

June 5th, 2011 at 12:02 am

Dh is still home for the 3rd day in a row. His back is better but still not up to laying any hardwood flooring. He did manage to cut the grass on a riding mower. He also is well enough to go to the antique car show on the square today. Another spendy day. We did have our grading guy haul away a bunch of limbs and take down a dead tree.
I saved $2 on hamburger on sale at the store and the braves came from behind to win in the 9th; so $3 more can go to the challenge.

Prev. total $10,168.00
today 3.00
new total $10,171.00

catching up with the challenge!

June 3rd, 2011 at 02:56 pm

I have gotten behind in the $20 challenge and I really don't know how much I owe. I know the braves have won 2 out of the last 4 games. The stock market went up one day this week and on Monday, I had a no use gas day. That adds up to $5 but to be sure, I am adding $7 to the challenge today. Dh is still not working and has gone back to the chiropractor today.

Prev. total $10,161.00
today 7.00
new total $10,168.00

June is starting out expensive!

June 3rd, 2011 at 12:12 am

Dh came home with a hurting back last night. He is been laying hardwood floor for over a week (alone) and it is hard on his back.
This morning, he could not go to work, so he went to the chiropracter. $45. The doctor told him to get a back brace, $62. Then the a/c needed recharging to the tune of $100. He has to go back to the chiropracter tomorrow too and has no idea when he will feel good enough to go back to work. There is still more hardwood flooring to put down.
I am keeping him busy today drawing plans for our next spec house to build. We took a ride out to the new property to get some ideas!

ING interest

June 1st, 2011 at 08:11 pm

I am adding the interest on my ING account and my money market checking account to my challenge money. The ING account credited the interest today, so I will make the addition.
Prev. total $10,015.00
today 146.00
new total $10,161.00