Ima Saver's Personal Finance Blog

I got my grocery shopping done plus all the ingredients to make tonight's lasagna. With my advantage card and coupons, I saved $9 to put into my challenge money.
prev. total $$10,060.00
today 9.00
new total $10,069.00

I am going to actually make dinner tonight. The going without spending money last week, has made me think about cutting down on my eating out.
I realized that I started eating out so much in the winter time. It gets dark by 5:30 so my husband gets home about that time. It is depressing to me in the winter because of the darkness, so we started going out to eat every night.
I was thinking that since it is still light out til about 8:30, I could get use to staying home more often until the time changes.
I am going to make lasagna, something I have not made in over 2 years. (when I started my low carb diet) I hope I remember how to make!!

I walked 2 miles today, so I will add that $2 to my challenge money.
Prev. total $10,058.00
today 2.00
new total $10,060.00

On July 25th, they had a christmas in July sale on QVC. They had lots of ourdoor decorations that I drooled over, but did not order.
But, I did cave in and ordered home made christmas cards, with envelopes, in a gift box.
The last 3 items I ordered from QVC, I sent back.
I stuck the box away when it came and forgot about it.
Today, I opened it. Oh my gosh, those are the cutest cards I have ever seen. I am going to have a hard time parting with them. They are beautiful!!
I usually have the picture christmas cards made, but these are so much neater looking!!!
I got 46 cards plus the box for $23 plus shipping and handling! I really think they are worth the price.

I have really enjoyed this forum the past seven months. Yesterday, one of the members on here accused me of sponging off my husband because I don't work, and it made me feel kind of sad.
How can we judge and say unkind things to people that we don't even know?
Did he read that I started work at age 12 and worked for over 40 years since then. Did he know that my last full time job was working 7 nights a week? Did he know that my husband asked me to quit so that I could stay home with him at night?
A big thank you to all of the really nice people on this forum that have made me feel happy to be here!!!!!!!

I got my total wrong, I put in $3 yesterday too, so todays total is
$10,058.00. (New challenge total)

It is not much, but I did my exercises yesterday plus stayed home and used no gas, so I have $3 to add to my challenge. I haven't used any coupons this week cause I have not gone shopping all week or spent any money.
prev. total $10,052.00
today 3.00
new total $10,055.00

I had a crummy evening last night. I stayed home all day, so i was really looking forward to going out last night. We had only been sitting down for 5 minutes when in walked " the couple from hell" Of course, they wanted to join us for dinner, just like they do everytime.
We eat at the same place every night, our car stands out in a crowd.
Once, we tried eating someplace else, but they found us anyway.
He drops in once or twice a week to visit with us while we are eating dinner, but when he brings his wife, they are there for the night.
I am sorry, I try to be a nice person, but they are the most boring people in the world.
Plus, I think it is rude, to just show up and join people for dinner. (constantly)
We can't tell them no because my husband is going to build them a house.
Did you ever see Archie bunker holding his finger to his head (like a pretend gun) while Edith is babbling on and on and on.
that is how I feel when they show up.
thanks for letting me vent!!!!

I have stayed home all day. I had planned to go out, but just didn't . Yesterday I did my 30 minutes of walking and 20 flights of stairs plus I stayed home, so no gas money spent. So I have $3 more to put in my challenge money.
prev. total $10,052.00
today 3.00
new total $10,055.00

My husband loves his hot rodder magazines and has gotten it for years. I got an offer from a subscription service to get 2 years worth of magazines for just a little more than the cost of 1 year.
I sent my check on March 15th and we have never gotten the first magazine. I called and got an answering machine twice but no one ever called me back.
today i called and threatened to report them to the better business bureau.
I got a call back, believe it or not. I asked for my money back although she says that they ordered the magazine for me in May.
Yesterday, someone on this site gave me magsforless.com and I ordered the magazine for only $6.55 instead of the usual $30. Now, If I can really get my money back, I will add that to my challenge money. We will see!
Anyway, I hope my husband gets his beloved magazines soon.

I have done 4 days without spending. It really has not been that hard. I think I go to town because I am bored. I need a hobby!! I use to play bridge, but my partner died and I have not played in years now. When you don't play, you forget. I wish I could take lessons on bridge again.

We stayed home and ate hot dogs and beans for supper last night. I have not had a hot dog in ages, I forgot how good they can taste.
So, since I did not go out for dinner, i added the $20 we would have spent, to my challenge money.
Prev. total $10,032.00
today 20.00
new total $10,052.00

It is 3 pm and I just turned on the a/c upstairs. We have 2 seperate units for both heat and a/c. When we built the house, I had no idea, I would spend lots of my time upstairs. I keep the a/c set on 90, so it is really hot up here. I do have a fan to move the hot air around.
I need to go to the cooler downstairs and do some bookwork.
I did get in 30 minutes of walking yesterday plus my 20 flights of stairs. That is $2 more to my challenge money.
Prev. total $10,030
today 2
new total $10,032

Even tho I hit my personal goal of $10,000 in the $20 challenge, I am not quitting. This is too much fun and we still have almost 5 full months left.
So I am going to keep adding to my challenge money and see how much I can save!!

I could not think of anyway to get the $10 I need to get to $10,000. I am in a no spend week so i can't save anything on sales. No checks came in the mail today, but my phone bill did. I checked and I have $40 more than I need in that envelope.

So............
Prev. total $9990.00
today 40.00
new total $10030.00

Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am back from town, did not spend a dime. I had to go to the bank and the doctor's office. I had to pay for the procedure performed last month, so i charged it on my cc. I put aside $100 a week for medical expenses, so i will have the money to pay the cc off when the bill comes due end of this month.
Two days without spending!!

I walked for more than 60 minutes yesterday, so I can add $2 to my challenge, plus I stayed home and used no gas, another $1 saved. that is $3 more to add.
prev. total $9987.00
today 3.00
new total $9990.00

Wow, Just $10 more to go to reach $10,000.

We stayed home last night, third night in a row. We sat outside (in the heat) and then we ate leftovers. so i can add another $20 to my challenge money.
prev. total $9967.00
today 20.00
new total $9987.00

Getting close!!

Well, now that I have been reading my meter and testing all the appliances, I have decided to find out how my car is doing. Lucky for me, my car has all kinds of gages to tell me things.
One is the miles per gallon that my car gets. I took a trip toNorth Carolina the other day. I got over 29 miles a gallon on my little trip.
I thought that was pretty good. Of course, in town, my mileage is more like 18 or 19 mpg.
I filled my car after the trip and it took $17 for a whole week, about 5 1/2 gallons.
Best way to save money on gas, drive slower and drive less.

I like Thrifty Ray's blog about what she is NOT going to buy the rest of 2006. So I am making a list too!!
I will not buy:
magazines,
clothes
shoes
books
cd's for the car
jewelry
panty hose
wine
bras
wrinkle cream

I read the meter everyday at noon. The past two days have been bad. I need to stay about $5 per day or under 60 kph. The past two days, It has read over 60 kph. It is this heat!!

I spent $2 for dinner last night. I got hamburger on sale for $2 this weekend. Ou worker showed up Saturday with a bag full of corn on the cob, squash, red potatoes and onions. My dh fixes the best potatoes with onion, butter, olive oil and spices and cooks them on the grill for about an hour.
It was a great meal and I think we have enough for anothe meal tonight.
Wonder if i can talk him into staying home tonight and eating in. That would make 3 nights in a row eating at home!! Pretty good for us!!

Had a $3 savings at the grocery store the other day plus we had dinner at home last night, so that would have cost about $20 to eat out. So i will add $23 to my challenge money.
Prev. total $9944.00
today 23.00
new total $9967.00

We went out to look at some property we were thinking of buying. As most of you know, dh is a builder and we build spec houses and custom houses. (spec means it is for sale)
We had looked at this property in early spring when there were no leaves on the trees and the views were great.
Now the leaves are there and the views are not so great, so we are rethinking this. Do we really want to pay $80,000 for a lot with a so so view?
Good thing is, while we were thinking it over, we had dinner at home for a change!!

Well, it is not much, but I did earn a few dollars for walking the past two days, 30 minutes saturday, 60 minutes sunday, plus 20 flights of stairs. $4 for that plus $1 for staying home and using no gas yesterday.
My meter reading total was the highest it has been so far. I wonder if that is because I ran the oven for about 2 hours last night.?
Anyway, I have $5 to add to my challenge money.
Prev. total $9939.00
today 5.00
new total $9944.00

I don't do that. I did when I first got married and had a problem with ants on the clothes.
However, I can see where you can save a lot of money. I can't measure with the the kilowatt device. Does anyone know what an average load would cost?
We do not have clothes lines in our neighborhood. I don't suppose the neighbors would really mind, but I don't think I would like it. I only do about 2 loads a week and I do put two dry towels to cut down dryer time.

It rained most of yesterday, so things cooled down. I read my meter everyday at noon and I only used 36 kwh yesterday compared to 50 the day before.
I am calculating my electic bill as I go along and I don't think I will have have anything left over for my challenge money when i get next month's bill.
Well, July, Aaugust and September are the worse months.
I did calculate that it costs about 15 cents to run the fan all night. We don't use it for cooling but to make a noise. My hd has tinnitus and it helps the ringing in his ear. Still, that is $4.50 a month, kind of wasted!(sorry, that is my DH, not hd (hound dog??)

I just got back from the grocery store. I got hamburger on sale, so i will make a meatloaf. I also got swiss cheese on sale, so my dh can have ham and swiss cheese sandwiches for lunch. When it is hot, he hates leftovers he has to heat up.I also had a coupon for canned dog food. I have been watching out for mayo on sale for about a month and it has not happened.
So today, I bought a small jar of the store brand for 99 cents. Hope I like it. I am not counting that in my store savings because I might not eat it. I never, ever eat anything that I don't like. No exceptions!! Ever!!! So my savings today came to $5 which I will add to my total challenge money.
Prev. total $9934.00
today 5.00
new total $9939.00

When I paid bills yesterday, I noticed I have $30 extra in one of my envelopes. Because there are sometimes an extra paycheck in the month, that sometimes will happen. It is only $30, but heck, I will take it. I made $1 for my walking yesterday and saved $1 in gas money by staying home all day. That is $32 I can add to my challenge.
Prev. total $9902.00
today 32.00
new total $9934.00

Went back to Bi lo yesterday and got the low carb ice cream I like so much, vanilla for me and butter pecan for dh. So I saved $5 plus I walked 30 minutes, so I can add $6 to my challenge money.
Prev. total $9896.00
today 6.00
new total $9902.00