Ima Saver's Personal Finance Blog

We are having a very frugal father's day. I got a free turkey a few months ago and dh has spent all day smoking it on the grill. That will give us dinner tonight and quite a few lunches until we all get sick of turkey.
We stayed home all day, so no money spent on gas either. Braves won last night so I am adding $3 to the challenge, $1 for the braves and $2 for the no use gas day.

Dh is lining up all his cars on the front lawn to take pictures of them. His motto is: Life is too short to drive an ugly car!
He has his red 1933 ford Victoria, then his yellow 2008 corvette, the tu tone blue 1978 corvette and finally my 2010 new red corvette.

Happy father's day!!!!!!!!!


Prev. total $$10,050.00
today 3.00
new total $10,053.00

If you have seen "Keeping it frugal in Texas" new puppy, then you have seen mine. Molly looked exactly like that when I got her, and still looks like that, just bigger. Even tho she was 15 months old this week, she is still a puppy to me. She still wants to get into everything, but she has the sweetest personality and loves to be held.

I have done well on the frugal fast this week, other than the $20 that I spent on steaks on sale, I have not purchased a thing. I also have had 0 lunches out this month and only 1 dinner out. (and we were invited for that.)

The braves won last night, the stock market went up and I got a check in the mail from Wendy's for $8 (dividend) so I am adding that to my challenge.

Prev. total $10,040.00
today 10.00
new total $10,050.00

Day 3 went just great, I did not spend a dime. Three straight days of no spending. I did have to drive to town to cash dh's paycheck, so I could give him his allowance.
But on day 4, I caved! Bi Lo has steak on sale this week and we both love steak. I try and stock up on it whenever it is on sale. (That is the one meat that dh will eat even if I freeze it first.
So, yesterday, I spent $20 and got 2 rib eye steaks, 3 N.Y. strip steak, a large container of Hood low carb chocolate milk and regular milk. (We were all out)

I am back to being good today. According to my receipt, I saved $6 on the steaks; the braves won last night, so $7 goes to my challenge money.

Prev. total $10,033.00
today 7.00
new total $10,040.00

I did ok on day 2 of the frugal fast. Again, I stayed home all day, so I did not spend any money. we played bridge all afternoon and had some great snacks, but they were all purchased in the past few weeks. Plus, often my bridge ladies bring snacks for us to munch on.
I saved $2 by having a no use gas day and i have 3 ones left in my wallet, so a total of $5 to add to my $20 challnge.
Prev. total $$10,028.00
today 5.00
new total $10,033.00

I started this week's frugal challenge yesterday; to spend no money all week long. (thru Saturday) Yesterday went very well since I stayed home all day. It is hard to spend money when you are at home. The Braves won two games in a row and I had a no use gasoline day, so I have $4 to add to my challenge money. (I did however pay my estimated tax bill today)
Prev. total $10,024,00
today 4.00
new total $10,028.00

My little town is really hurting. I live in a small mountain town in North Georgia. Most of the jobs around here use to revolve around construction. Now there is no building going on, at all. The newspaper is filled with foreclosure notices every week.

We have a guy laying rock on a chimney for us this week. He said that he has only worked 11 days so far this year. The year is almost half over.

DH stopped to get some blueprints made at the survey office on Thursday. We have know the owner for over 20 years. He is from a very well know family; his brother is our doctor. He has lost his home and is now living in his office. He has had to lay off all of his workers.

It saddens me to see so many people losing their jobs and their homes.

I got a $3 pinecone check to add to my $20 challenge.
Prev. total $10,021.00
today 3.00
new total $10,024.00

The newest challenge is starting tomorrow. It is to try and go one entire week without spending any money. Of course you can pay bills. (the government would not like it if I did NOT send in my estimated income tax on June 15th.

So, today, I did my grocery shopping several days early. Our payday is Monday, so I usually shop near the beginning of the week.
The hardest part for me is that my dh does not like to eat frozen meat, so I bought no meat.
This started when we first moved here; we lived in a travel trailer for almost a year while he build our house all by himself.
We had a tiny refrigerator with no freezer, so I would drive the long drive to town and back every few days to get more food.

We do have some steaks and chicken that I bought yesterday on sale, but other than that, we will just have to come up with something or spend money! At least I made sure that the dogs will not starve.

I saved $7 at Bi Lo yesterday buying steaks and ice cream on sale, so I will add that to my challenge money.

Prev. total $10,021.00
today 7.00
new total $10,028.00

So far, after the first 10 days of the month, I have not eaten out even one time. I know it is easier for me since I do not work, but believe me, I use to eat lunch out a lot; a cheap lunch, but still lunch. I use to get a small plain burger at Burger King with water for a grand total of about 83 cents.

I have had two 2 use gas days in a row, the stock market went up yesterday (finally) and the braves won yesterday. That plus my extra one's in my wallet, give me a grand total of $14 to add to the challenge money.

Prev. total $10,007.00
today 14.00
new total $10,021.00

( I meant to say NO USE gas days)

As I have mentioned, we have a lot of critters in our back yard. We have had the bear visit twice this month. We have deer every day and evening. We have wild ducks and wild turkeys. (The ducks live in the creek)

We have had a ground hog who lives in tunnel near our deck over the creek. I looked up ground hogs and found out that they hibernate all winter. They have their babies in April or May and within 6 weeks, the babies are out on their own.
A few weeks ago, mama ground hog came out with her baby. Last week, I realized that she had 2 babies. On Saturday, mama showed up with all 3 babies. I think they are so cute but dh thinks they look like rats. (They don't)

I did my grocery shopping yesterday and saved $4 with my advantage card, so I am adding that to the challenge money.

Prev. total $10,003.00
today 4.00
new total $10,007.00

Well, we woke up yesterdday morning to find water sprewing all down our driveway and our front yard. I called the closed water department, but they gave no emergency number. This has happened to us many times, so luckily, I had written down the emergency number in an old phone book.
Last night, the bear came again and again tore down the bird feeders,
So, that was enough excitement for one day. The bear is gone and the water is fixed and back on. The braves won last night and I had a no use gas day yesterday, so that is $3 more to add to the challenge.

Prev. total $10,000.00
today 3.00
new total $10,003.00

I hit the big $10,000 in the $20 challenge for myself today.
The braves are doing so well and have won 9 games in a row! For that I am adding $10 to my challenge money.

Prev. total $ 9990.00
today 10.00
new total $10000.00

Look out $20,000, here i come!!!!!!!!!

I made a loan to nice couple that we are friends with. Actually, I made them two loans last month. One had the first payment come due on June 5th and the other will have the first payment due on July 5.
I am charging them 4% interest, which is better than either of us could get at the bank.

I got my first payment yesterday and I am going to add the interest payment to my $20 challenge.

Prev. total $ 9860.00
today(interest) 130.00
new total $ 9990.00

Almost to $10,000!!!!!!!

We had a very nice and thrifty Memorial Day. DH did work, but came home early so we could attend a bar b que at a friend's house.
The only money I spent that day was on a memorial day decorated cake. I bought it early Monday morning, never expecting it to be on sale til the next day. I got a $6.99 cake, marked down to $1.50 and boy was it good!
The hosts of the cook out actually live in Florida, so they gave us a bunch of leftovers to bring home. That gave us another free dinner last night, plus we have more for another meal.

I am so proud of the braves. They went from last place in their division to first. They have won all three of their last 3 games, so that is $3 for the challenge. I also have 8 more one dollar bills in my wallet, so a total of $11 going to my $20 challenge.
Prev. total $9849.00
today 11.00
new total $9860.00

I always figure my net worth on the first day of the month. It turns out that my net worth went down about $26,000, mostly because of the stock market. In case you don't watch the market, it went down 1000 points in May. I hope things are better this month.

Today is Memorial Day, the 30th day of May! I honor the memory of my father, who served in both WWI and WWII.
I paid my end of the month bills today and had $100 left over in my electric envelope which I will add to my challenge money. I am sure the electric bill will go up next month and we start running the a/c!
Prev. total $9749.00
today 100.00
new total $9849.00

Today is memorial day, but most people celebrate it tomorrow. But the 30th is actually the real date. Sometimes I wish that holidays were celebrated on the actual date, instead of on Mondays. Of course, I don't work, so I understand why most of you like the long 3 days weekends.
I paid my end of the month bills today and I have $100 left over in my electric envelope, so that is going into the challenge. I know the bills will get bigger next month as we run the a/c more and more.
Prev. total $9749.00
today 100.00
new total $9849.00

I did my grocery shopping this week and really stocked up on sprite while it is on sale. According to my advantage card, I saved $12 buying food on sale. I also had 2 no use gas days in a row($4) plus the braves won 2 games ($2), so a total of $18 will be going into my $20 challenge.
Prev. total $9731.00
today 18.00
new total $9749.00

With my new car, I got free On star for a year. I also got XM free radio for 3 months. I can listen to the all elvis station that is located at Graceland. On my way home today, I heard Elvis sing, "In the ghetto" with a female. I have never heard him do a duet before.

I love google. I don't know how to use the computer very well, but I do use google a lot. So I google the song to find out who was singing with elvis. Do you all know who is was??

Well, it was Lisa Marie, his daughter. And she did the song in honor of the his death, 30 years earlier. She has a beautiful voice! I even found a video showing the both of them singing the song, seperately, of course.

I got my usual end of the month check for $486 today plus a $3 pinecone check. I will add that to my $20 challenge money.

Prev. total $9242.00
today 489.00
new total $9731.00

This week, I made a personal loan to a couple that we have known for almost 10 years. As a matter of fact, we built their home.
They called us about buying a piece of property that they own, but we really were not interested. The property is designed for a high end home and if and when we build a spec house again, it will be a small house.

They wanted to sell, so they could buy another piece of property, so I offered to be their "banker" I loaned the money to them at 4% interest, which is double what I can get at the bank. It is a good deal for them too, cause they can't get a 4% loan at the bank.

The couple is retired and I don't know what his pension is, but he once told me that he gets six figures! That is more than we make. Plus he gets about the top social security. So I am not too worried about them making the payments.

Since this is a new source of monthly income, I am going to start adding the interest only, to my $20 challenge next month.

The braves won 5 games in a row, so I am adding that to the challenge today.
Prev. total $9237.00
today 5.00
new total $9242.00

I turned on the braves game yesterday. The pitcher had been having a bad day, obviously. The Braves were in the bottom of the 2nd inning and they were already losing 8-0!!
I decided I did not want to watch the game, but I turned it on later to find out the final score. I got the tv on just in time to watch a replay of a new player hitting a grand slam home run.
It turns out the score in the bottom of the ninth was Braves 3, Reds 9.
The braves scored 7 runs in the 9th inning and won the game 10-9!! Wish I had watched the 9th inning.

I have made 2 personal loans in the past month to a couple that we know. I am going to start adding the interest that they pay me to my $20 challenge. So yesterday, I got a check for $25 interest, 3 braves have won 3 games in a row and I had a no use gas day, so I have $30 to add to the challenge today.

Prev. total $9207.00
today 30.00
new total $9237.00

We have a lot of critters in our yard. We live on 2 acres on a large creek. My husband built deer feeders and we keep them filled with corn. The squirrels love the corn, so does our local groundhog. This spring we have gotten wild turkey and a pair of mallard ducks that come at least once a day.
We usually sit outside in the evening and watch all of these critters with our two dogs, Holly and Molly.
Last night was a bit cool, so we sat inside. I am sure glad we did.

I looked out to see a bear at the feeder, eating away. He even laid down while he was eating.
When we got up this morning, we discovered he had come back and completely smashed up our bird feeders. These were the squirrel proof feeders that cost about $65 each.

I hope he does not decide to go and visit up every night! We will take in the new feeders and I guess we will have to skip the corn for a few nights. It is scary to think that I had a bear about10 feet away from my bedroom door last night. (door goes out onto the deck)

I made the first car payment on my new car last month. One other time, I tried to pay my new car off early by adding extra to the principal each month. That only confused the finance company (or bank, I forget which) and they showed me as paid ahead. So, I quite doing that and just paid myself and kept track of it on paper.
This new car is financed with Bank of america. Last month, the statement had a place for extra principal, so I filled it out and sent an extra $1000/
I just got this month's statement and the entire $1000 was credited to the principal. I am going to do this every month so that I can get the car paid off early!
I did my grocery shopping this morning and saved $4 using my Ingles card and the braves won yesterday. That is $5 to add to the challenge.
Prev. total $9202.00
today 5.00
new total $9207.00

Gosh, it is funny, I use to eat out all the time, now I feel funny about eating out two nights in a row. We went out on Thursday cause it was our anniversary.
Then some good friends called and asked us to meet them for dinner last night. She had had surgery 10 days ago and was going stir crazy in the house. They invited us to go and listen to a band tonight, but I think we are stay home tonight. We have a ton of leftovers and things from the two restaurant meals. Plus, I just don't want to spend any more money this weekend!

We went out to dinner for our anniversary last night. I never look at drink prices because we always brown bag it. If not, then we just drink water. I happened to look on the menu and noticed that a glass of milk was $2.59!! Can that be right??

Growing up in my home, I drank a lot of milk as a kid. A coke or something like it, was just not allowed. You drank milk or you drank water. An orange crush was a big treat you got when on a trip.

So, I grew up liking milk and I drank a lot of it. I still like milk but I don't buy it very often.
I can see that if you have kids, you wouldn't want to take them out for dinner and have them drink milk. It is way too expensive and that is a shame. I think our nation drinks way way too much soda!
I never got addicted to it like some people cause my mother just never bought soda! I guess that soda is cheaper now than milk!

I got a pinecone check in the mail, so that is another $2 to add to the challenge.
Prev. total $9199.00
today 3.00
new total $9202.00

opps, I meant to say $3 to the challenge!

I got married to one of the most talented men on earth. I went to an elvis concert on February 15, 1977 and just three days later, one of my good friends set me up on a blind date! It was my dh! Less than 2 months later, we were married; May 13, 1977.
It was a Friday the 13th, but it has been good luck ever since.

The braves won 3 games in a row (but are still in last place) and the stock market went up yesterday. That is $4 to add to the challenge.
Prev. total $9195.00
today 4.00
new total $9199.00

I got a free year of Onstar in my new corvette. We had it in the yellow vette, but never used it. However, this one comes with a handsfree way to make and receive phone calls. (Maybe the yellow one does too??)
The phone call feature is only good for 2 months, after that you have to pay for the minutes. Since I don't carry or use a cell phone, I thought it might be a good idea to activate my account and add some phone minutes to the account. So, for $15 and tax, I added 100 minutes to my account. That will be good for an entire year.
Now, if the car ever breaks down or I have an emergency, I can make phone calls. I think it was $15 well spent!

I had to turn on the heat today. It has been cool the past two days. I had the a/c on for the past week, but today, the doggies were shivering. So, I turned on the heat and got the heating pad out for the older dog to sleep on. I don't have one for the puppy, cause, well, she is a puppy and might chew on the wires.
I took her to get groomed today and she looks so pretty and cute! However, her shorter hair will make her feel even cooler.
I finally had the nerve to see what my mutual funds had done during the big fall in the stock market last Thursday. I lost about $20,000 in my mutual funds in one day. I checked again today after yesterday's good rise in the market and had gained back about $11,000.
I have given up on the braves, nuff said!
The market went up yesterday and I used a coupon for $2 off to buy hair color, so I am adding $3 to the challenge.
Prev. total $9192.00
today 3.00
new total $9195.00

I have been driving for a long time and I have never gotten a ticket.
My mother started teaching me how to drive when I was 12 years old. When she was young, women did not learn how to drive. When I got married the first time, my MIL and both of my husband's aunts, had never learned how to drive. I had to take them grocery shopping all the time.

By the time I was 14, I got my learner's permit. We use to drive from Florida to Virginia to visit my aunt, and my mother let me drive most of the way.

Back then, the speed limit was either 50 or 55, but the speed limit for trucks and semi's was only 45; so when you got behind one of them, you were stuck going 45. So, I never really drove very fast, plus we had no interstates back then. To the day, I will not drive on an interstate, if at all possible.

By the time I was 16 and got my driver's license, I had had 4 years practice and was a pretty good driver. I wish more young people had experience before they were allowed to drive.

Now, I have been driving for over 50 years and I have never had a ticket. I have never caused an accident.

It's funny, cause dh and I have almost always owned a corvette. He drove a 280Z when I met him and I had a triump spitfire. We both liked sporty cars.
After we got married, we decided we both just loved corvettes, so we traded in his car for a new corvette. That was in 1978.

This car was one of only 16 made that year that came into the dealership in primer only. The owner of the dealership had it painted a tu tone blue. (not a corvette color) We bought it new and still have it.
Of course, we also now have a yellow corvette and a brand new red corvette.
People ask me how fast it will go and I tell them, 50 miles per hour. That is about how fast I will drive. I guess that is why I have never gotten a ticket. Heck, I am not in a hurry to go anywhere. When you have a corvette, you just enjoy the drive.

Hope you have someone in your family that you can celebrate the day with. I lost both my grandmothers before I turned 12, lost my mother when I was 33 and all of my 4 aunts died a long time ago. Even my MIl died a long time ago, so I really don't celebrate this day.
But I do wish all of you a very happy mother's day!

I notice that many of the stores are now offering new store cards. I always use my Ingles card a lot. The other day, I got a new CVS card in the mail. Today at Rite Aid, I got a new card to use when something is on sale. However, they did away with 10% off Tuesdays for senior citizens. I will miss that. It was 20% the first Tuesday of every month too.
Bi Lo has a lady just working exclusively, signing people up for their new card. It will not only be used for sale items, but will means cents off at the pump at a nearby BP station. Since that is the only gas station we use for gas for the vettes, that will be handy.

Neither the stock market or the braves are doing anything to talk about, so i will just add the 4 one dollar bills I have in my wallet to the challenge.
Prev. total $9188.00
today 4.00
new total $9192.00