Ima Saver's Personal Finance Blog

Well, I stayed home all day, so i always add $1 to my challenge money when I stay home. I figure that I spend $1 going to town and back, a round trip close to 10 miles. (this was yesterday) I did book work most of the day. We did go out to eat last night as usual. It seemed so funny to go out in the old vette. It seems so small, the new ones are much bigger now. My dh said, did we really use to go on vacations in this car? We did, a lot of them.
Prev. total $4327
today 1
new total $4328

I spent most of the afternoon paying bills for the houses under construction. Got everything done and another 10th of the month bill arrived about 4 pm. It has been lost in the mail. The city, state and zip did not show on the bill thru the little window.
Darn, now I have to get everything out again. I did get a check from home depot for an overpayment or something. It was for $10.75, so I will round up and add $11 to my challenge money.
Prev. total $4316.00
Today 11.00
new total $4327.00

Well I am driving my 28 year old car for the next few days.It is a pretty blue vette, but hasn't been driven 100 miles the past two years. I am a little leary of it, so I will spend most of my time here at home. I wonder how the old car likes this $2.50 a gallon gas? Last time this car got gas, it cost about $1.20 a gallon. Oh well, I will save money if I stay home this week.

I just got our mail, it comes late. My friend sent my husband a birthday card and it came today. His birthday was Feb. 24th. Do you sent cards late? I feel like it is a waste of money. I put cards out to look at before my birthday, but after that I throw them away.
So she spent $3 on this card and I am just going to throw it away.
I have found my grandchildren don't card about the card, just the check inside. I buy my birthday cards at the dollar store for 50 cents each. Is that being cheap?

UPS guy came today, my husband finally has some dress pants and blue jeans that will fit him since he lost 35 pounds. I hated to spend the $95 but he has been looking like he is wearing someone's cast offs for months now.
I ran major errands today, bank, grocery store, liquor store, drug store because I might be without a car the rest of the week. We have 2 other cars, but I won't touch my husband's hot rod and the old vette is just that, old. I will take it to town if need me.
I had to buy some more prilosec and it was $5 off with my advantage card, so I will add that to my challenge money.
Prev. total $4311.00
today 5.00
new total $4316.00

Forgot my totals

Prev. total $4310.00
today 1.00
New total $4311.00

Just got back from Bi Lo. DH wanted to cook steaks out on the grill tonight. I spent $24 and I can eat out at my restaurant for $16. We also got squash and some cookies on sale. I saved $1.38 with my bi lo card and found a penny. I will add the $1 to my challenge money. I throw all my change (except pennies) into my change jar and I will add that total when I take it to the bank.
Spent $13 buying bird seed at Ace, but that is ok. I am cooking a roast in the slow cooker, so that will be dh's lunch for several days. It is too pretty to stay inside today. Let's all go outside and play!!

I am trying to type this with my puppy on my lap. Since she is standing up, this is not easy,
Need to got to ace and buy some bird feed, we go thru about 50 pounds a month. I know it is money but I love feeding the birds.
I will put a roast that I got for sale inthe crock pot for my husband's lunches. I will be back when i am not being licked to death. My puppy is almost 6 and is named Holly.

Boy when I read Flash's blog, I feel bad. I have not eaten a carrot in my life. I just bought some Murray's sugar free choc. covered wafers and they were great. My dh and I are dieting, but only about cutting sugar out of our diets. Wish I had her disipline! One thought though, I did buy the cookies on sale today to try them out.
I also did spend some money besides grocery shopping. I have a friend who is going to walk for breast cancer and she is asking for donations. So I dropped off a check where she was selling girl scout cookies and didn't buy the cookies!! I got the sugar free ones instead.

Gosh I never have lunch out two days in a row, I feel like I have really blown it. I talk everyday on a local forum for our town and 2 gals were meeting for lunch and inviting everyone else. It was mexican and I don't like mexican food, so today they changed it and one e mailed me asking me to come. I had met her once and we hit it off. So I went and we all had a great hour together. But I spent $3.50 on a plain burger with water.
Did my grocery shopping for the week and only spent $40. I got a roast on sale and I will fix that with potatoes in the crock pot and it will be 3 or 4 lunches. I saved over $3 on it.
All total with my advantage card my savings today totaled $5.95 so I will add $6 to my challenge money.
I have signed up for some of the free samples here, but have not received anything yet.
Prev. total $4304.00
Today 6.00
New Total $4310.00

Well I splurged yesterday, got a sandwich form blimpie with the thought that it would do me for 2 lunches. Well, I have just been invited to meet some ladies at lunch, so what will I do with my half sandwich. Guess I will just go eat in for breakfast. Can't waste that money!

Ok, I splurged and went to blimpies. I have been wanting a turkey sandwich from there for ages. It cost me $3.95, but I will have half for lunch tomorrow.
Went to rite aid with a coupon to buy 8 light bulbs for $1, They were out and won't give those things, where you can get them later. I have never been good on coupons, so i can see that the early bird gets the worm.
I did go to Ingles and write down some prices so I can do some comparison. I got over $2 off my few purchases and I spent less than $5. I also stayed home all day yesterday, thereby saving $1 in gas, so I will add the $3 to my challenge money. (It would have been $6 if I had gotten the light bulbs.)
prev. total $4301.00
today 3.00
new total $4304.00

Reading Karensue's last post reminded me of when I worked for $3.15 an hour. We had moved to the mountains from Florida and neither of us had a job. My dh built our house completely my himself while we lived in a travel trailer on site. This was the first house he ever built (a lincoln log house) and he could not hire anyone to even help him lift the logs. He had to do it all alone.
We lived on our savings.
I looked for a job, but no one would hire someone who was not local.(I was used to office work)
Finally after 8 months, I got a job at McDonald's make minimum wage, $3.15 an hour.
Everytime I wanted to buy something, say like a paper back book, I would think how long I had to work to earn the money to buy that book.
I still try to think that way, how long does my husband have to work to pay for what I want to buy? Do I really need that? Yes, I am still guilty of buying things I don't need, but I am sure trying to get better.
You know what is getting to be the hardest? Buying things for christmas for each other. My husband is getting a $1000 tool he needs right now. wish I could give it to him for christmas, but he needs it now.

I am upset with myself not having anything to add to my challenge so I went thru my budget envelopes.
I still hae $120 left in my credit card envelope after I had paid my cc bill last week.
But I ordered almost $100 worth of new pants for my husband from Penny's. He has lost 35 pounds and kept it off this past year. When he gets dressed to go out and has not yet put on his belt, his pants fall down!
Plus they look all baggy, like he is wearing someone's hand me downs.
So I decided I had better keep $100 in my credit card envelope, but I do have the $20 left over to put in my challenge money.
Prev total $4281.00
Today 20.00
New total $4301.00

What is wrong. All of the blogs from March are missing on the left hand side? I like reading all the new ones.

My challenge is going slowly the past few days. I have looked at things on sale, like BLOGs , but if I don't need it, why buy it. I saved a big 7 cents yesterday using a senior citizens card. That is depressing because I don't feel like a senior citizen. I have long blond hair,like to dance (fast) and leather coats with fringe on them.
WE have had company at dinner the past two nights also. The same man! He was waiting for us when we go to the restaurant. Maybe I should rent an office! That would be kewl! (we use to say cool, but I understand the spelling has changed now.
Well I am not going to add my 7 cent savings cause I am trying to keep my challenge money in dollars only. I have added it to my change jar.

A thought to cheer me up, it is less than 3 weeks til spring. We went to look for some lots today and wound up taking two of them.
It is hard to believe that we sold our first spec house just 3 1/2 years ago for $112,000. Now we just paid (or will pay) $80,000 for each lot! Ouch!!
Land is just sky high around here!
It is warmer outside than it is inside. we don't have screens, so i can't open the windows.
Happy 1st day of March and come on spring, I am ready for you!

I am kind of upset today. I talk on a local forum a lot. Yesterday, one of the newer members mentioned that her son need a trumpet for band and she could not afford it.
I asked if it was possible to make payments on it cause I did not know the cost.
Well, another old time member just jumped all over me about saying that.
She talked about me online and made it obvious that I had made the new member feel put down. (she would not do well on this forum as we ask each other questions all the time)
Actually, I was going to offer to pay the payments on the trumpet myself, so she could have it for free.
Trying to do something nice and is caused a big controvery!!!
Guess I just saved myself over $300!

I took my little dog Holly to the groomers this morning. It is so lonely here without here. I stopped at the CVS and used a $2 off coupon I had, so I will add that to my challenge. Ialso got a new coupon from there for $2.50 off, but I have not used that yet. My husband hurt his back today, so he came home to get some aspirin.
I did spend some money, almost $100. My husband has lost 35 pounds and all his pants are just downright baggy. I usually get things at Wal mart, but could not find any size 34's with a 29 inch inseam. I finally had to order out of a penny's catalog, both jeans and dress pants. Plus I blew $4.10 on sugarless candy! Then it will be $32 for my doggie's hairdo! I spend nothing on my hair and $32 on my puppy every 6 weeks or so. Oh well! She is worth it.
Prev. total $4279.00
today 2.00
new total $4281.00

I feel like a moonshiner when I make my liquor run. we are a dry county. They sell liquor and wine in Murphy. N.C. about 25 miles from here. They sell beer and wine on the county on each side of us, but no liquor. Murphy sells no beer. We folks spend a lot of time driving and our tax monies in other counties.
I decided to drink the bottle of dark rum that I was given, even to I don't like dark rum as well. But I figured that would save me money and it did. i did not buy any rum today, so i saved $12 to add to my challenge. I also stopped at the grocery store and bought something I had forgotten and I saved $3 with my advantage card. So that was $15 saved today.
I went into one of those discount grocery stores and looked around. They had a lot of off brand products and dented and banged up looking stuff. They did have a great deal on low carb ice cream, but 25 miles is a long drive, plus I had several other places to go before I came home.
I had to make a really big withdrawal today to put towards our spec house ($38,000) but I waited til after 2, so I earned another $3.73 in interest.
Prev. total $4263.00
Today saved 15.00
new total $4279.00

Stayed home all day yesterday but my husband worked half a day. Then he came on and worked some more. He cleaned the house and moved the ice maker from one garage to the closer garage and got it hooked up. He washed his van, the hot rod and the old vette.
He did not touch the new vette. I know he can't stand to look at the bumper where it got hit a few days. We have an appt. Mar. 7th to take it in and leave it for 3 or 4 days.
We cooked ribs and potatoes on the grill and I made some cube steaks in the crock pot.(I don't like ribs) We have enough left over for two lunches for dh.
Relaxed in the hot tub last night. I have figured out if I do not go to town every day, I save about $1 in gasoline money, so I will add that to my challenge.
Prev. total $4263.00
today 1.00
new total $4264.00

I mentioned going to a hot dog bonfire/ccok out last night. It was held for members of a local forum but only 9 of us showed up. No one knew each other. How suprised I was to find that I went to school with one of the ladies there. We graduated from the same high school in florida only 2 years apart.
Looks like we are staying home tonight and cooking on the grill. Wish it was warm enough to sit outside, but it is so windy!

We went to a bonfire and cooked hot dogs on a stick. I don't think I have ever done that before. We stayed outside all night, with a coat, it was pretty comfortable.
We were all strangers, meeting for the first time. We are on a local forum for our home town and decided to get together. Only 9 attended but we had a nice time. You had to have four wheel drive to come up the driveway, so the vette could not make it. Thank goodness for phones, they came down and got us.
I think I will just stay home today, so if I do it will be a no spend day. My husband went to work but said he would be home early.
I am so glad that his work is starting to pick up, it has been a lean past two months, waiting and waiting on concrete people.
Since I did not go out to eat like I usually do (every night but Sunday) last night, I will take the $20 I saved and put it in my challenge money. so the total is
prev. total $4243.00
today 20.00
new total $4263.00

We are going to a bon fire tonight. I haven't been to anything like that since I was a kid. The couple that invite us, we have never met. We have all met over a local forum and talked there, but none of us has met. It should be interesting. The only thing worrying me is that their drive way is so steep, you have to have four wheel drive, which we don't have. They will have to pick us up at the bottom of the drive.
I don't like steep driveways, heights make me nervous.
I went grocery shopping this morning and looked for something cheap for supper tomorrow night. I got 4 cube steaks for $2, which I will cook in the crock pot.
Then I have been doing book work and paying bills for the past two hours.
I used my advantage card and a free coupoon, and I saved about $5 which I am adding to my challenge money.
Prev. total $4238.00
Today 5.00
new total $4243.00

I just wanted to remind everyone that 10 months from today is Christmas. Have you started your shopping yet?

This is my husband's birthday. I went to work with him to help him put wire mesh down in the basement before the concrete is poured on Monday. Poor guy, he can't get any help and he pays $18 an hour. I wonder if I should pay myself today and put it in our challenge money.
Well it is time to go out to eat and to celebrate.
Not much celebrating when you get our age, no presents, no cake. He is getting a $1000 new tool that he ordered and we are both on diets.
But we will enjoy our night out together!

I have only seen my husband cry about 4 times in his life. When his mother died and when our dogs died.
My husband cried last night.

You would have to know my husband to understand what kind of car fanatic he is. The first date I had with him, he had to wash his car first. He has washed our cars almost every day for almost 30 years. He wants cars that are perfect.

My mother died in 1978 and left me a little money. Being young and foolish, I used it to buy a car, something we both wanted, a 1978 corvette. Back then, you could get a car to come into the dealership in primer paint and this one did. One of 16 that year. It was painted tu tone blue with pin striping.
I still have that car and it has never had a scratch on it.

We bought a new vette a while back, a bright red one. My dh washes it almost every day. He spent an hour and a half on it yesterday cleaning it before we went out to dinner.

We were the last people in the restaurant, only two cars in the parking lot. The other car managed to hit our red vette as they were leaving.
my husband was so upset because now it is a damaged car and he does not like damaged cars. It can be fixed, but it won't be the same to him.
He cried. Today is his birthday, not a very good birthday.

I had to go to the grocery store or my outside dog was going to starve. I usually buy what is on sale, if possible, but I got her favorite food today. they had a big bag (8pounds) marked buy one get one free.
Ingles lets you just buy one item and get it for half price when they offer bogo's (I know what that is now thanks to this site) That plus another coupon got me more than $5 in savings to add to my challenge money.
Then I took my little dog and we went to visit my husband's job site. So far with the land and the concrete for the basement, we have almost $110,000 in this spec house. Things are just going sky high around here. We built our first spec house for about $100,000 4 years ago, and now we have more than that in just some land and concrete. Oh well, I am just fortunate to have the money to pay cash.
Prev. total $4233.00
Today 5.00
New total $4238.00

My husband, who is a builder, has 3 projects going, 2 houses and a garage. All three are just sitting. Our helper has not come to work all week. We just found out that he fell (while drinking) and broke a bunch of ribs last weekend. That means he can't work for months.
No one around here wants to work. This is really frustrating, cause he pays well I think.

My husband came home from work, covered with red geogia clay. Good thing I had washed his other pairs of jeans today. He had to change clothes in the garage. He is working on plumbing and all this rain doesn't help either.
We are having someone look at our house at 5 pm so I am cleaning up a little. They have a SIL that is a builder, but they just like the way our house looks and wants my dh to draw the plans for their new home.
I could not think on anyway to add to my challenge money except to just stay home today. I figured that every time I make a trip to town and back, it cost $1 in gas. So I will just add that dollar to my challenge money.
Prev. total $4232.00
today 1.00
new total $4233.00

I tried to open a savings account with Umbrella bank to get the 4.6%, but they will only open accounts on line. Darn!!