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Archive for July, 2015

coin jar

July 28th, 2015 at 05:17 pm

I hit the bank this morning to make two deposits. I took my coint jar inalso, to be counted. I had $43 in coins which I added to the $20 challenge:

Prev. total $13,263.00
today 43.00
new total $13,306.00

Earned $100 from credit cards

July 21st, 2015 at 05:26 pm

I use my credit cards to make money. I have no idea what the interest rate is, because I never pay any interest. I always pay my cards off in full each month.

My husband has a Chase credit card that pays him back 3% from home improvement stores (up to $2000) each month.
I was using a capital one quicksilver card which pays me bac 1 1/2% on any purchase each month.
I charge things that I usually pay cash for each month, like my electric bills and my many car insurances. I check first to make sure that they do NOT charge me 3% to use my charge card. (Like they do if you are paying your property taxes with a credit card.) That would completely defeat my purposes. But, My electric bills and insurance payments do not charge a fee.
I immediately put the cash I would have spent in an envelope and when the charge card bill comes in, I pay it off in full.
This month, I earned $42.68 from quicksilver and $60.51. I get these back in the 1) actual check and 2)deposit to my checking.
As you can see, I have earned over $100 this month, just for using my charge cards.

That is the only way I would reccommend that anyone use charge cards!

Quicksilver check

July 17th, 2015 at 11:28 pm

A quicksilver check arrived. That is from my credit card company, capitol One. I only use credit cards to get cash back. This one pays 1 1/2% back and i pay it off in full every month.
I dusted off my dave ramsey books, Financial Peace. I am going to give them to the young couple that bought our spec house. They are about 20 years old, but I think they can still be a big help.

$20 challenge
Prev. total $12,628.00
today 42.00
new total $12,670.00

A quiet two weeks!

July 13th, 2015 at 06:56 pm

June 20th was our 1 year anniversary of the closing on the last spec house we built. These people were "the customers" from hell!
We have dealt with many many people over the last 30 years, but they were by far the worst.

They called weekly, always complaining about something. They were going to sue us cause they got a pot hole in their gravel drive about 5 months after they moved in. Their shower door towel bar fell off twice! They wanted the living room a diffeent color.
WE talked to their previous builder and he said they called him all the time complaining. Even the fence guy, who installed their fence, is still getting 3 calls a week, complaining about the fence. I guess their joy in life is to complain about something.

Our one year anniversary on that house was up on June 20th and we went out to eat to celebrate!
We have not heard from them since. (knock on wood)

I added a rebate from my building supply place of $453.00 to my $20 challenge.

Prev. total $12,161.00
today 453.00
new total $12,614.00

forgot to add my s/s check

July 12th, 2015 at 05:02 pm

I forgot to add my last month's s/s check to the $20 challenge:

Prev. total $11,632.00
last month 529.00
new total $12,161.00

Closing went fine!!

July 11th, 2015 at 12:16 am

WE closed on the house this afternoon and everything went just fine! Now, I can just sit back and wait for those checks to start rolling in!

Excited about tomorrow.

July 9th, 2015 at 04:24 pm

Tomorrow is the big day. We are closing on our spec house. I am just as excited as the young couple that is buying it. It is nice to see them so happy.
We will not be coming home with any money. All of their down payment goes to the real estate agent for her comission.
I am paying the closing costs. The bank had estimated $7000 in closing costs, but they are coming to only $2500. (No inspection fee, appraisal fee or points)
I am holding the mortgage on the property, so this will be part of our retirement monthly income. Of course, I plan to save it until we need it to live on. Right now, my husband still works full time.

$20 challenge fund $11,623.00

Opened a new account

July 7th, 2015 at 09:45 pm

I opened a new savings account at MYSavings Direct. They are paying the highest rate for savings accounts that I can find; 1.24%
I wish I could find a local savings account paying a decent rate, but no such luck.
I will be using this account to make special deposits.
I plan to save every mortgage payment check that I receive starting in August. The mortgage payments will go on for 25 years, but of course, I won't be here.
I also plan to add any additional money that I receive from dividends stocks, (i only have 3) cash back on credit cards (I have 2) and any rebates.
It will be fun to watch it add up.

My $20 challenge stands at $11,607.00.

GE Bank Interest

July 6th, 2015 at 09:55 pm

Adding my GE bank interest to my $20 challenge looks like this:

Prev. total $11,564.00
today 30.00
new total $11,594.00

Hugs all around!

July 5th, 2015 at 02:28 pm

Well, we met with the young couple that are buying our spec house on Friday afternoon. We are financing it for them. We are going to go thru an attorney to make everything legal.
We are talking about a mortgage of $241,000 and they will put down $12,500 (which will cover the real estate commission.
After we went over the paperwork (our realton was there), we showed them around the house in case they had any questions.
They want to close as soon as possible, which is fine with us! Possibly this coming week, for sure by next week. I gave them a key.
They were so excited, they asked if they could give us hugs! I love hugs!
I told them to move in whenever they wanted. DH went to cut the grass there yesterday and found that they had already moved in some furniture.
They told me that this would be their best 4th of July ever!

It is nice to be so young and buying your first brand new house! I am excited for them too!

WE made a young couple very happy yesterday!

July 3rd, 2015 at 04:18 pm

Remember I told you that we had a contract on our spec house (that dh built) Well, the contract fell thru. The young man is self employed and does not have proof of income for the past two years.
WE got the sad news on Saturday. Well, yesterday, I called them and offered to finance the house for them.

They were so excited; they kept saying, "You must be kidding, right?"
Nope, I wasn't kidding. We will hold the mortage just like a bank. The bank was going to charge them 4 1/2% interest, so that is what I am charging. We are going to meet with them this afternoon to go over all the details.

I am excited for them too!

Keep those home runs coming!

July 2nd, 2015 at 10:51 pm

The Braves hit two home runs last night. I decided a few days ago to add $5 to my challenge every time they hit a home run. I am keeping the money in a seperate container and will add to challenge when the total builds up a little.

My savings direct

July 2nd, 2015 at 10:48 pm

I received my interest from My savings direct for the month of June. It was $120 which I will add to my $20 challenge.

Prev. total $11,402.00
today 120.00
new total $11,522.00

Another quarter ends

July 1st, 2015 at 10:38 pm

Well, the 2nd quarter has ended for the year. I get my Melrose credit union interest on the last day of every quarter. This time my 2 c.d.'s earned $1627 and $386. That makes my total $2013 for the past three months.
When I first opened these c.d.'s almost 5 years ago, I thought the interest rate of 2.9% and 2.8% were terrible. Now I am glad I have them. I have not found a better interest rate for c.d.'s anywhere else.

Asusual , I will add that to my $20 challenge:

Prev. total $ 9376.00
today 2013.00
new total $11,389.00