Ima Saver's Personal Finance Blog

Today is going to be a better day than yesterday. I stayed home all day yesterday and didn't spend any money.

I got coupons in the mail today for free chick fil a stuff, a sandwich, biscuit and kids meal. Problem is, the coupon is for the chick fil a about an hour and a half from here. Not so free when you pay for gas.
I forgot about my coupon for free dog food. I need to check out the pet stores to see if they carry this food.
I did my walking yesterday, so I have another $1 to add to my challenge.
prev. total $5243.00
today 1.00
new total $5244.00

I have been doing book work the past few days. Catching up on all the bills for the two houses we are building. Wow have prices gone up. My husband is wiring the two houses right now, and the cost has doubled since the price of gas has gone up. It really is affecting the price of everything.
Dinner out last night was nice. My husband has been craving apple pie, so we went and bought a frozen pie. We got a whole pie for the price of a couple of pieces of pie.
Of course, it is not on my diet, but I let myself have a small piece because I did reach my $5000 challenge.
I don't plan to stop there, I want to turn my challenge into a $10,000 challenge for the year!!

I think I will just stay home today and enjoy the day. The sun is shining, the sky is blue, it is 72 degrees. This is a good day to sit down by the creek and listen to the water flow by.

I always try to keep products for my husband in stock. I buy 2 conditioners for him and he is supposed to tell me when he uses 1 up, so I can buy another one to be on hand.
It never works out, he tells me when he has none left, which was last night.
So today, I had to make a trip to town to get him some conditioner. I did get the kind of diet lemonade he likes on sale, so I did save a dollar.
I will put that in my challenge money.
prev. total $5242.00
today 1.00
new total $5243.00

I saw the oprah show too, about the woman with all the fat on her heart. What shocked me is the one lady who drank about 300 ounces of soda each day, for the caffeine.
She cut that out and lost over 40 pounds. I wish I could do that, but all I drink is water anyway.
I don't understand about the need for caffeine? Any of you have that problem?

My husband is a builder and he is licensed in North Carolina, but there is no licensing in Georgia until now.
He has until June to get grandfather in. I have been putting it off because he has to carry $350,000 worth of liability insurance, which I am told will cost thousands of dollars every year, plus the insurance company will look at the "books" every year and charge us for everyone that does anything on the job.
This really has me worried. We have built houses for 22 years with no law suits from anyone working for us. There have been a few accidents, but everyone takes responsibity for their accidents.
You do not have to carry this license in North Carolina.
I think the price of houses will really go up in Georgia because of this.

Got a check from uncle sam for my income tax return. I am adding this to my challenge money because I never get a refund. This puts me over the $5000 challenge, so I will push on for $10,000/ Yeah!!!
prev.total $4884.00
today 358.00
new total $5242.00

I did it!!

Today is payday, I always love doing my budget, especailly if there is something left over. My dh worked 7 days this week, so it was a good paycheck.
I am giving him a little extra for his allowance, gas is just so high he can't make it on $60 a week. I had to get a few things at the grocery store that I forgot on Saturday and I used coupons and saved $3, which I will add to my challenge money.
prev. total $4881.00
today 3.00
new total $4884.00

I promised my self that every time I walked at least 30 minutes on my treadmill, I would put $1 in my challenge fund. I did that twice the past two days, so I have $2 to add to my challenge money.
prev. total $4879.00
today 2.00
new total $4881.00

When I was a kid, the first day of May was called May day. We had a may pole and a big carnival. Does anyone celebrate May day anymore?

I miss Thrifty Ray. She has gone camping with her family and I hope she is having a great time, but i sure do miss her posts!!

About once a month, I figure out my net worth. I started doing that over 10 years ago. It is fun when the net worth increases and not so fun when it decreases. I did it today and was happy to see my net worth has increased a little this month.
I wish I could start back contributing to my mutual funds. Ever since we started building spec houses 3 years ago, I feel like I need to keep a lot of money in money market accounts. I keep it locally, so I can get it quickly, so I miss out on some of the higher rates from the internet banks.
On the other hand, it is nice not to have a loan at the bank to make payments on.
We have a friend who built a $300,000 spec house that he has not sold in almost a year. I am too scared to ask what his payments on the house are!
Fortunatly, all my husband's houses sell before they are ever finished. We have already had someone tell us they want this house and we just have the roof trusses up. We don't know what the house will sell for??

Our primary grocery store is Ingles. Not much competion in this town. We have a bi lo, but it is usually more expensive.
I did my grocery shopping yesterday at Ingles. I always use my advantage card,which sometimes gives you discounts on certain products.
For the second week in a row, they had pork chops on sale, so that is our dinner for tonight. I saved about $3 using my advantage card, so I will add that to my challenge money.
previous total $4876.00
today 3.00
new total $4879.00

I just love this place, savingadvice.com. This is my favorite, is it called web site? I am sorry, I know nothing about computers but I sure am getting some good saving advice on here.
Plus, everyone is so friendly.

It is a beautiful spring day here. I saved a dollar in gas by staying home yesterday. I really needed a few things from the store, so i went into town today. I had a coupon for $2 off of the hair color that I needed, so I saved $2 there. Picked up a few things at the grocery store,but nothing that was on sale. The store was crowded but no one at the self check out, so I got out quickly. I wonder why no one wants to use those things??
prev. total $4873.00
today 3.00
new total $4876.00

I stayed home yesterday and didn't spend a dime. Didn't even use gas. I made meatloaf and mashed pototoes for about $3 for dinner, plus enough for our lunches today.
We sat outside, but it turned cool. Had to put on sweaters but we still enjoyed the outdoor time.

That is the way every concert ended. I only got to see one Elvis concert and he was great. I had front row seats too. I still have the ticket stub and a framed elvis poster that I bought that day.
When we moved into this house, I turned one of my bedrooms into the Elvis room. I have all my old 45's and albums displayed in there along with other elvis stuff!! I have signed drumsticks from his drummer and the Colonial signature on a poem he wrote. I was invited to a 50's party and if I can get the costume, i will go as elvis!!

Got my car dirty, driving in the rain today. My DH spent 2 hours cleaning it on Sunday, but I needed to go to the store.
I stocked up on the store brand of oyster crackers. They are 99 cents compared to $2.85 for the brand name and we like them better.
I got ground beef on sale and used a coupon for dog food, so I saved $3 to add to my challenge money.
previous total $4870.00
today 3.00
new total $4873.00

I paid the end of the month bills this morning. I budget $40 a week ($160) a month for our electric bill, based on the fact that is the highest I have gotten. Now it might go up this summer because they have raised rates and running the a/c is my biggest expense.
Today I paid the bill and it was $86, so the remaining $74 can go to my challenge money.
prev total $4796.00
today 74.00
new total $4870.00

Today is our payday. I love cashing the check and coming home and putting the money in our budget envelopes.
I am always happy when there is enough for all the envelopes, because my husband's hours can vary sometimes. When I am a little short, I can skip the christmas envelope and also the van payment envelope.
The van got paid off last christmas, but I keep putting the money in the van payment envelope. I deposit it once a month to my "pay off my vette" fund. It works for me.
I have $3 to add to my challenge money, $2 for doing my walking, and one for not going to town one day, saving gas.

Prev. total $4793.00
total 3.00
new total $4796.00

Last night we sat outside, right over the creek and enjoyed ourselves. I set up a bar on the creek, so we could make our drinks and not have to go back into the house to get ice, misc. It was so enjoyable and we had a great, no money spent, day.
Later, we moved onto the deck by the house and cooked pork chops. ( We have a deck that is right over the creek, about 50 feet from the house) It was so relaxing! I know we should sell this house and take the profit, but I love that creek!

My husband got up to go to work and decided to take the day off instead. He spent the first two hours, cleaning the car and washing it, even under the hood. Then he borrowed my new "free" swifter duster to dust the car inside.
Now he is out cutting the grass. He can't stand to sit still and I am glad. I don't know how someone can live with a couch potato!
He wants to go on a picnic, but we have no food in this house!
Had dinner out with a couple that we have nothing in common with. They just show up once a month or so, and join us.
I am looking forward to just being alone with my husband tonight. I am marinating some pork chops I got on sale, so we should have dinner for less than $3 tonight!

Well, I am sitting here with an ice bag on my sore knee. My knees have hurt me for quite a while and today, it felt like it was swollen.
I go my 30 minutes of walking and 20 flights of stairs in yesterday, so that adds to my $20 challenge.
But it looks like I will have to take it a little easier today. Oh well, I have stayed home all day and not spent any money. We are eating out tonight. A couple we don't particularly care for says they may join us! They do that a lot, they never ask, they just show up. Sorry, it just irks me! I would rather stay home.
prev total $4791.00
today 2.00
new total $4793.00

A few years ago, we had a male cardinal that just drove us crazy. He kept hitting the window right by my side of the bed. Then he would sit on my husband's van and peck at the window. That happened for a couple of years, then he vanished.
Yesterday, I saw a female cardinal and she kept flying to the same window, and pecking at it. This morning, she woke us up at the crack of dawn. I hung some alum pans on the little tree in front of the window.
She is sitting at the window above right now, watch me type.
I wonder if she is the daugher or granddaughter of the first cardinal?

I received a coupon for a free bag of dog food in the mail today. Now, I have to find a pet store that sells it.
Went grocery shopping today and saved $3 with my advantage card, so I will add that to my challenge money.
Still no heat and air running, that is really nice!
Prev. total $4788.00
today 3.00
new total $4791.00

We had dinner by candlelight last night. Not romantic, the power went out right before we were going to eat. We had a bad storm, so we ate by candlelight and lightening. The food was still good and we saved a little money by staying home. It was thundering this morning, but my husband went onto work. Neither one of his houses are dried in, so if the weather gets too bad, he can't work and doesn't get paid.

We are going to eat at home tonight. Of course my dh wants to cook on the grill so I had to run to the grocery store to get charcoal and meat, so I spent $10 today. I will still be saving at least $10 by staying home, plus he will get his lunch out of this.
I did my stair and walking challenge yesterday, so I am adding $2 to my challenge money.
prev. total $4786.00
today 2.00
new total $4788.00

I also got my free swiffer sample and a coupon for $1.50 off the dog food my little dog is eating now.
Now I need to go and walk!

I was invited to a 50's party last night. Everybody has to dress like the 50's, which means poodle skirts and shirts for the women,
I started checking these out at a site a friend told me about. An outfit will run about $80 before shipping. And that is just my outfit!!
I love to dress up and go to parties, but I hate to spend a fortune on something I will probably never wear again! Any suggestions??

I bring home part of my dinner every night to share with my little Holly. I was so hungry this afternoon, I just ate the food meant for her. Taste pretty good too. Now the sun is shining after the terrible thunderstorm this morning. I have had 2 no spend days except for dinner out last night.