Ima Saver's Personal Finance Blog

Went back to Ingles today to get the deal on diet sprite again..4-12packs for $10 plus 3 free 2 liter bottles. Saved $10 plus I need to add in $3 for walking 60 minutes and doing 20 flights of stairs.
Prev. total $6546.00
today 13.00
new total $6559.00

I have been so happy over the grocery savings I have had the past two days. I saved on everything I bought at Bi Lo, the other day, I spent about $10 and saved about $10. Yesterday, I got $20 worth of diet sprite for $10.
I told my dh about it and he thinks I am kind of goofy, but I love it.
Then, in yesterday's mail, I got a coupon for a $5 container of dishwasher gel, free!!!
I am going to the store today to pick it up and see if I can get some more of that great diet sprite deal!! I guess it doesn't take much to make me happy!!

I took the glasses that I purchased yesterday, back. They were not comfortable and a bit heavy. I got my almost $20 back. i went to family dollar store to buy a birthday card and some batteries and found glasses there for $5. I think that is where I got my glasses, the last time.
So I picked up a pair of reading glasses to have the next time I have a problem with my glasses. I have several glass cases, so I am going to leave them in the glove box of the car. That way when I leave mine home, I will still have a pair in the car.
So, for less than $10, I left the store with a new pair of glasses, 8 batteries and a birthday card. Good savings!

I just went to Ingles to get sour cream, but they had coke products on sale. I always stock up when they have diet sprite 4/$10 (12 pack cans) So, I not only saved $6 but they were giving you 3 free liters of sprite for another almost $4 in savings. Between that and saving quite a bit on steaks at Bi lo, I feel like I can take the $20 I saved and put it in my challenge money!!
prev. total $6526.00
today 20.00
new total $6546.00

My dh can do almost anything!! Last night he fixed my glasses, that I love. My $5 glasses. So, I am going to take back the one I bought yesterday and see if I can get a refund!! I also saved some money today but washing some blouses that I usually had dry cleaned. They look fine!!

I went to the grocery store today. I am going to a 4th of July cookout and they asked me to bring chips and paper plates. (they know I don't like to cook obviously)
I found both items on sale, yeah!! But I also found porterhouse steak on sale. I saved over $8 on steaks alone!! I have been marinating 2 pork chops, but who wants that, when you can have steak. My DH can take the pork chops for lunch this week. (give it to Mikey, he'll eat anything)

I messed up my glasses today, the little comfort things that go behind your ear, one came off and in trying to put it back on, I punched a hole in it.
Lucky for me, i can buy glasses anywhere, but these had been so comfortable and I have had them for about 5 years.
I went to the drug store and got a new pair, but I already know they are heavier, don't fit as well, etc.

I got a good deal with the 5 years on my $5 glasses! Wish I remembered where I bought them!

I colored my hair this morning as I have been doing for about 35 years. I don't know how much money I have saved doing it over the years, what does it cost to have it done in a salon?
Plus I saved $2 on the coloring itself, got it on sale!!

My husband is a builder and really believes in insulating a house well. Georgia has never had any building codes, so many of the builders put as little insulation in a house as they could get away with. The poor owners will have to pay high power bills the rest of their lives.
I have my house temp set at 76 degrees. Although it has been 90 all day outside, it (the a/c) just ran for the first time today. It is nice to have a well insulated house and it saves money too.

I just got back from grocery shopping; the store was full, but they had plenty of help, so checking out was not too bad. I had several coupons, plus a few things were on sale with my advantage card. I manage to save $9, which is really good for me. I will add it to my advantage card.
prev. total $6517.00
today 9.00
new total $6526.00

I mean I will add it to my challenge money, not my advantage card.

I am still reading the elec. meter every day. I read it several times and write it down. I think it has helped me to conserve electricity.
I am trying to get the daily usage under 50 kwh. That is hard to do without using the a/c, but I have done pretty well so far. It helps that we have had really nice cool nights, like 60 degrees. I budget $160 a month for elec. and what I don't owe goes into my $20 challenge money. These next three months are the hardest cause it is so hot.

That is the name of my husband's car. It is a 1933 ford victoria, hence the name Miss Vicky. We took it out to eat last night. It was almost out of gas, and my husband was out of allowance, so I sprang for $20 for gas for the car. Hey, it is the least I can do for a man that works 7 days a week!!

Well, yesterday I walked for 20 minutes, did over 20 flights of stairs and stayed home and used no gas all day, so i have $3 to add to my challenge money:
prev. total $6514.00
today 3.00
new total $6517.00

Wow, half of the year is gone already. I remember when i was a kid, it use to take forever for christmas to come. Now it seems like it comes in two months. Oh well, they say time goes fast when you are having fun, so I must be having fun!! We took the hot rod last night. I had to loan my husband $20 to put $3 a gallon gas in it. It is only the 2nd time we put gas in it all year. Of course it had to rain coming home. (we have no windshield wipers on the car, that is not cool looking)

I took my coin jar to the bank yesterday. I count and add all of my coins before I put them in the jar. The machine said I had $106. My count was $108. I guess I need to take the jar in everytime I get to $20 to see if the machine is correct. Not much I can do about it. I did find a quarter to start my change jar again. I also walked for 40 minutes on my treadmill for another dollar. So I can add $107 to my challenge money today.
prev. total $6407.00
today 107.00
new total $6514.00

Buying things only when they are on sale!! I try and keep 2 of everything, so we do not run out. 3 weeks ago , my husband used the last of the Miracle Whip so I got out the spare jar, and then put miracle whip on my grocery list. Hey, that stuff is about $3.30 and my dh won't use anything else.
So, I left it on my list, with the note to buy it when it is on sale. (I did the same with olive oil) I found olive oil on sale last week and today miracle whip was down to $1.98.
What didn't I do this before. I got sliced ham (for sandwiches) for $1 off, so today I saved $2.30. I am going to add that $2 to my challenge money.
Prev. total $6405.00
today 2.00
new total $6407.00

Plus, I looked at one of the soft drink vending machines and found a quarter. wow, I never find any money!!

I got in my exercise yesterday, over 30 minutes of walking pluss 22 flights of stairs, so I can add $2 to my challenge money.
Prev. total $6403.00
today 2.00
new total $6405.00

Since it is the end of the month and the end of the quarter, does anyone add interest into their challenge money.? I earned over $8 in my checking account last month.

I ended up buying more hair color today. I just got some the other day, but both drug store were running it for $2 off, so now i won't have to buy any for a while. I also got conditioner for $1, so i saved $3 today. I will add that to my challenge.
prev. total $6400.00
today 3.00
new total $6403.00

My husband came home at 5:30 last night, and started cutting our 2 acres of grass. Then he did the weed eating. He scrubbed off the back porch and then washed my car. Of course, we stayed home and had supper in, so we saved at least $20. Plus I did my stair challenge, so I have $21 to add to my challenge money.
prev. total $6379.00
today 21.00
new total $6400.00

I receive "computer" calls all day long. Yesterday, they seem to come about every 20 minutes. I know I had 25 of them. I have already received 4 this past hour. I always go downstairs, cause it may be my husband (no one else calls me)It dawned on me that if I put $1 in my challenge money each time I got one of those calls, I would be rich!!

No, I really can't afford that on my allowance! Guess I will just have to enjoy the benefits I get from climbing that same flight of stairs over and over!!

Looks like we eat at home tonight. My Dh came home tonight, didn't even come in the house. He got right on the mower and starting cutting grass. It is 7 pm, the time we usually leave for dinner, so looks like we will be dining at home. The good news is, we will be saving money. The bad news is, all we have to eat is chicken.
He cooked chicken on the grill Sunday, legs and boneless breasts. He had chicken (leftover) for lunch yesterday and today. He may rather eat eggs and sausage, I can handle chicken again.

I drove to Murphy N.C, on a liquor run and they are repaving the road in North Carolina. As a result, I was in the car about 1/2 hour longer than I expected. I usually drive there every monday or tuesday. I guess I need to start going on Saturdays when the road crew is off. I got stamps at the post office and filled my car up for about $22, so I should be set for the week.
The rain has finally stopped and that means that dh may come home early to cut grass. If so, I will cook supper. Too bad is has to be chicken again. When i bought the chicken this weekend, it was BOGO. My husband will not eat meat if it has been frozen, so I will have to cook it whether we go out or not. I did get in my 30 minutes of walking and 20 flights of stairs yesterday, so I can add $2 to my challenge money.
prev. total $6377.00
today 2.00
new total $6379.00

These cool rainy days are certainly good for the power bill. I only used 21 and 25 kwh's the past two days, compared with almost 50kph's the previous days!! too bad the rain has ended, but it is still not quite as hot as it was.

Well I got a check for $1 for a survey I took, plus I walked 30 minutes yesterday, so I will add $2 to my challenge money. It rained so hard today I did not go anywhere but the bank to cash the paycheck.
Prev. total $6375.00
today 2.00
new total $6377.00

Boy, the creek is full!!

I just got all my bills from my colonoscopy; $919 for the hospital, $350 for the doctor and $500 for the guy that looks at the tissues. That is almost $1800. I don't have insurance, so i will pay it all. My husband is supposed to have one in two weeks, maybe we should cancel his for a while!!

Lots of you talk about Tightwad Gazette but no one ever mentions Cheapskate monthly. I have been getting the 12 page newsletter for about 10 years and really enjoy it. Mary Hunt is the author and she has written several books and does speaking tours.
By the way, the name has been changed to Debt proof living and it is an inspiring newsletter. You can get it online too.

We have some crystal glasses my husband loves to use to have his cocktails in the evenings. Over the past 20 years, many have gotten broken, and he only has 2 left to us.
I managed to track down (by computer) the exact glasses and I even figured out how to order them.
I got the total, over $93 for 8 glasses including s&h. I decided to think on it and I am glad I did. DH did not want to spend that much, we will look around and find something much cheaper. Heck, I like the plastic stemware from the dollar store. I saved money.

I had planned on staying home and saving gas money today, but after the power was off for several hours, I decided to go shopping. I remembered how to open the garage door, so i got the car out.
I went to home depot and bought a chandlier to hang in the powder room of the house we are building. We have one for our powder room and I think it looks neat!
Then i went to Ingles and got several things with coupons, saved $4, so that can go into my challenge money.
prev. total $6371.00
today 4.00
new total $6375.00

I have had no power all afternoon. I guess I can't complain about my electric bill meter reading today. It just came back on, but still no tv. That is ok, I don't miss tv. I got a lot of book work done this afternoon. Thanks goodness for solar powered calculators.!

I am reading the meter several times a day. I have concluded it costs (me) about 55 cents to run the dishwasher and about 30 cents to run the dryer for 40 minutes. I do run the dishwasher using the no heat cycle. I use to run the dishwasher every other day, but now I will only run it every three days, unless it is completely full.
It is raining here today so that means it is cooler. It also means I have a scared wet dog locked up in the garage.
Oh by the way, my cost per kwh is about .091 cents.