Ima Saver's Personal Finance Blog

Enought of this snow and being out of everything! I managed to get out to the grocery store and bought more than I have bought in years! I really stocked up on the only food my oldest baby (poodle) will eat. She is such a picky eater but loves people food. But is upsets her tummy, so she has to eat a certain type of dog food. I was down to one pouch left for her. Fortunately, my puppy will eat dry food, so she was fine.

According to my Ingles receipt, I saved $5 using my advantage card. I also had a no use gas day yesterday (cause I was snowed in) and that will add $2 more to my challenge total.
Prev. total $3209.00
today 7.00
new total $3216.00

What is with this weather. We are snowed in again. Dh tried to go to work this morning, but had to turn around and come back home. We live in North Georgia, not in Alaska!
I filled up my car with gas on Sunday. I had to pay $2.95 a gallon. I don't think gas prices will ever go down. I can remember when I could fill my tank for $3. Good old days!
I did get a 5 dollar bill in change at the gas station, so I will add that to my challenge money.
Prev. total $3204.00
today 5.00
new total $3209.00

I got my little Molly a new toy to play with. They have valentine's day gifts priced at about 80% off at Wal Mart. I got her a cute little stuffed animal that sings and dances. Gosh, If I had kids, I would stock up on gifts AFTER valentine's day. I got a $5 bill in change today, so I will add that to my challenge.
Prev. total $3199.00
today 5.00
new total $3204.00

My puppy chewed her bed all up. She ripped all of the stuffing out of it a few days ago. Luckily, we had a 2nd bed for her. We keep one in the pantry and one in the kitchen. Yesterday, she ripped up the 2nd bed! Luckily, they were not real expensive, but now we don't know what to let her sleep on, other than the floor!
Even tho yesterday was my hubby birthday, we did not go out to eat. I gave him a choice and he chose to stay home and eat the steaks I bought on sale yesterday.
I had a no use gas today today ($2) and another $1 for not eating out last night.
Prev. total $3196.00
today 3.00
new total $3199.00

I cashed in my certificates of deposit yesterday. My bank failed, was taken over by another bank and reset my c.d. rates from 4% and 2.75% to 1%
I was able to get almost 2% at another bank, so I was able to redeemed the c.d.'s without any penalty.
That has cut my interest income in half. I was hoping that someday I could live on the interest, but not with these rates.
My electric bil came and was much lower than my budget , so I am adding what was left in that envelope to the challenge money.
Prev. total $3096.00
today 100.00
new total $3196.00

My usual check was deposited into my checking account this morning, and I will add it to my challenge money.
Prev. total $2610.00
today 486.00
new total $3096.00

I took my coin jar to the bank yesterday and received $40 back in bills which I will add to my challenge.
Prev. total $2570.00
today 40.00
new total $2610.00

I have only eaten out once this month, but last night I had dh stop and pick up some blimpie sandwiches for dinner, so I lost another point.
I have had 2 no use gas days on Sunday and Monday ($4) and will have $2 for not eating out on Sunday and Monday.This will go to the challenge!
Prev. total $2564.00
today 6.00
new total $2570.00

Friday night, we went out to eat at our favorite restaurant. It was the first night we had eaten out all month. I am really realizing how much money we save by eating at home.
I think I just got tired of planning meals, cooking and the clean up. (Although dh does most of the clean up)
I am planning to eat a lot more meals at home and save going out to eat as a treat once in a while!!

I just got back from Wal mart. I buy only the groceries there that are cheaper than at Ingles. My bill came to $25.01 and I gave the cashier $40 and a penny. He gave me the penny back and told me that Wal Mart did not need my penny.
What happened to balancing out your cash drawer? That is what we had to do when I worked as a cashier. At the savings and loan I worked at, we had to balance to the penny every day before we went home.
Before all this snow, we went to wal marts to buy a copy machine. I make a lot of copies for business purposes and I always have to use the copier at the library.
The library is not always open, so I decided to splurge and get a copier.

I found one on roll back for $59. However, when i got home, I found they had charged me the original price of $74.

I took the receipt back to customer service today. They argued with me a bit, but finally refunding me $16.05. So I am going to add that money to the challenge since it was a bit of a challenge to get the money back.
I had a no use gas day yesterday ($2), stock market went up ($1) and I did not eat out ($1), so a total of $20 to add to the challenge today.
Prev. total $2544.00
today 20.00
new total $2564.00

I actually have 17 points in this month's challenge. We have not eaten out one time this month. I did not plan on being quite this frugal. I was planning on going out to eat on valentine's day, but we got snowed in.
I have been pretty much stuck at home for this entire last week. So, I haven't spent any money or gotten any $5 in change! I already paid $7 to the challenge for the first 7 days of no eating out, so I will add $10 for the last 10 days.
Prev. total $$2534.00
today 10.00
new total $2544.00

So far, on this month's challenge, I have not eaten out at all. Not even a bag of chips or a coke! However, I had planned to eat out on valentine's day because it is just something we always do. Well, then we got invited to a friend's house for dinner for tonight and we accepted.
But the snow came in on Friday afternoon and we have been snowed in ever since. Of course our invitation got cancelled, cause they live on the top of a mountain and more snow is expected soon.
This afternoon, we got a break and the snow stopped. All the roads have been salted, so we made a break and went out to Ingles to stock up.
Snow is expected both tomorrow and tuesday.
So Valentine's dinner is at home tonight.
Of course, I am saving money, but my dh is not working at all. He can't stand to sit idle, so he is painting all the trim on the stair railings.
I did save $6 at Ingles using my advantage card.
Prev. total $2528.00
today 6.00
new total $2534.00

Happy birthday today, Abe Lincoln! I got married on this date to my first husband!
Well, we are in the process of being snowed in, again. My dh has already come home from work as the snow is starting to stick to the ground. I had two no use gas days in a row, Wednesday and Thursday, so $4 to add to the challenge. I did run out this morning to get something for dinner. I have yet to eat out this month, a record for me!
Prev. total $2524.00
today 4.00
new total $2528.00

I got a letter from my bank that failed, saying that they had lowered the rate on my certificate of deposit from 4% to 1% as of next week. That means I will lose about $18 a day in interest for the next year, or $6570. I never thought I would see the day when a certificate of deposit paid only 1%.
Hey, but I am grateful that I have that money saved up! Gotta look on the bright side, right!!

I am tired of winter!! This has been the coldest one I have seen in 25 years. It is so cold today with the wind and the snow that I haven't even been out of the house except to take the dogs out to potty! Dh stayed home because of the snow, but he is doing handyman work at a neighbor's house.
I read the fine print on the notice I got that my bank had failed. I have a c.d. there paying 4% for almost another year and they can lower the rate as much as they want. Darn!!
Well, I have to $5 bills to add to the challenge.
Prev. total $2514.00
today 10.00
new total $2524.00

I got two letters in the mail yesterday (two accounts) telling me that my bank had failed and had been taken over. No one lost any money.
I am glad they raised the limit on the fdic insurance because I was over the old amount. Both of my accounts are c.d.'s, so I will just write to them and tell them I wish to keep the c.d.'s there.
I made it thru one week of no eating out challenge with 7 points, so that is $7 I will add to the challenge money.
Previous total $2507.00
today 7.00
new total $2514.00

That is pretty unusual these days. About a year and a half ago, my bank offered a great deal on checking accounts with a $1000 minimum. They were paying 3.1% interest, so I opened 3 accounts. One was for business checking, one was for personal checking and the third was for a local savings account. Last July 1st, the lowered the rate and it has been going down ever since. They have been paying less than 1% now for a couple of months.
I logged in today and see that they have raised the rates.
My savings account checking, the one with the biggest balance, is now paying 1.74%; the others are paying a lower rate, but still higher than last month.
Heck that is almost as good as I can get on a 1 year c.d.!
I had a no use gas yesterday and the stock market went up slightly, so I am adding $3 to my challenge money.
Prev. total $2504.00
today 3.00
new total $2507.00

It has been windy and rainy, all day yesterday and all day today! Weathermen are calling for snow and rain tomorrow. My dh is keeping busy fixing leaky new houses. He checked out two this morning.

I have a 5 dollar bill in my wallet and got a $3 check from pinecone today for a survey I took last week. That is $8 more to the challenge.
Prev. total $2496.00
today 8.00
new total $2504.00

My husband has been doing some odd job work for the past several months. We know an older couple in their 80's. He is an attorney and she is a judge, both retired.
They hired a builder and their son to build them 4 spec houses in this area. Unfortunately, the houses were poorly built and did not sell, even tho they had great views.
The couple hired my husband, a licensed builder, to fix up their house and sagging porches. After he fixed it, they asked him to repair whatever was wrong with another one of the new houses. (doors hung wrong, house leaked, floor was buckled, etc. etc. etc.)
He has been working on the house, off and on since November.
Yesterday, he came home with a check for all the hours he has put in since last November.
Since I have not counted this money in our budget at all, I am adding the entire check to my $20 challenge.

Prev. total $1071.00
today 1425.00
new total $2496.00

I went to do my grocery shopping yesterday. Ingles has been building a new BIG addition to the local store here. Yesterday, they decided to open the new part and transfer many of the products from the old area.
It was a mess and I could not find anything. I couldn't even find the sprite. So finally, I got some meat for dinner (they haven't moved that yet) and just gave up and came home.
I didn't buy much, but using my advantage card, I did save $3. I have also decided to pay myself $1 for every point I earn in the "no eat out" February challenge.
Prev. total $1,068.00
today 3.00
new total $1,071.00

I am playing bridge all day today so it will be a no spend day. I did stop at the bank this morning to cash the paycheck and received one five dollar bill which I shall add to the challenge money.
Prev. total $1063.00
today 5.00
new total $1068.00

I am always glad when January is over. It is the longest, coldest month of the year to me. (I know, February is just as cold)
I ran to Walmart's to get a few items that are cheaper than at Ingles. It is so nice to see the sun shine after the last few gloomy, snowy days.
I am not spending any five dollar bills, so I have one to add to my challenge money.
Prev. total $1058.00
today 5.00
new total $1063.00

The weather man predicted 6 inches of snow last night, but it did not happen. I am actually glad. It was fun when I first moved here, but now I don't really want it to snow. My dh stayed home all afternoon, bored to death.
It is supposed to snow today, but so far, no snow, so he went to work.
I just got back from Ingles and CVS and between my advantage card and free CVS bucks, I managed to save $6. I also had a five dollar bill, so I will add $11 to my challenge money.
Prev. total $1047.00
today 11.00
new total $1058.00

I received a $50 award check in the mail today from my credit card company. That will be added to my challenge money.
Today was a NSD. My dh came home from work early cause we were expecting heavy snow. It has snowed, but melted already, so he could have worked all day. It is suppose to snow all night, so probably no work for him tomorrow.
Prev. total $ 997.00
today 50.00
new total $ 1047.00

I had another c.d. come due today. Too bad that I have to renew it at a much lower rate. 2% is the highest I can find anywhere.
Gosh, in the good old days when c.d.'s paid 8% interest, I didn't have any money. Now, I have money and can't earn decent interest.
I had to mail some reference letters at the post office, so I got a 5 dollar bill in change. Yesterday, the stock market went up slightly, so a total of $6 to add to the challenge.

Prev. total $991.00
today 6.00
new total $997.00

I had a certificate of deposit come due yesterday. I earned $8386 in interest for the year. I am so glad when I got the c.d., I took it for 2 years and it is paying 4%
I did my grocery shopping yesterday and according to the receipt, I saved $6 using my store card and coupons. I will add that to the $20 challenge plus my check which came into today for $486.

Prev. total $499.00
today 492.00
new total $991.00

I picked up a couple of NY strip steaks at Bi Lo yesterday and saved $5. I also had a no use gas day on Monday, so I have $7 to add to my challenge money today.
Prev. total $492.00
today 7.00
new total $499.00

As I mentioned in my blog yesterday, I am no longer going to spend $5 bills, I am going to save them all and add them to my challenge money.
I already save all of my change and take it to be deposited every few months.
Mary Hunt had a few more tips in her newsletter yesterday.

She suggested that you take money that you save using coupons or store cards, and deposit those sums in your savings account. ( have been doing that in the $20 challenge for 3 years now)

She also suggested that you tax yourself every time you use an ATM and put that money in savings. You decided how much the tax will be. I have never used an ATM in my life, so that won't help me.

When you go out to eat, order water and pay yourself $1 every time you do that. Save that money! (I always order water, never soft drinks, coffee or tea.)

Rack up rebates whenever you can. I do that IF it is something that I really need.

Pick up one thing that you will give up just for this year. It might be manicures, fancy coffee, french fries, hair done, cigarettes, etc.
This the the one I am having a hard time with. I never get my hair or nails done and I don't smoke or drink coffee.

Well, I had a no use gas day yesterday and spent no money, so I have no $5 bills to add, but I do have $2 for the no use gas to add to the challenge.
Prev. total $490.00
today 2.00
new total $492.00

I don't know if any of you get the newsletter, debt proof living, but I do and enjoy it very much. It used to be called "Cheapskate Monthly" and is written by Mary Hunt.
In her latest newsletter, Mary suggests that we make a vow to select a specific denomination of currency, like the $1 or the $5 bill, that you will NOT spend this year, but save instead!
She also suggests that we hoard all coupon or store card savings and pay that in a savings account.
That is just what I have been doing in the $20 challenge. I add all coupon/card savings to the challenge and I have been adding all my $1's.
I have 3 one dollar bills to add today, but I am going to quit spending andy $5 bills. In my wallet, I had three $5 bills, so that will be added to my challenge money today.
Anyone want to join me??

Prev. total $472.00
today 18.00
new total $490.00

If any of you are car buffs, like my dh, the Barrett Jackson car auction is on every night this week and during the day on sunday! So, we have stayed home every night this week to watch it. His dream some day is to attend in person, with a blank check in hand!!
Good news this week about Monkeymama's husband's surgery and Amber's new job. My good news is that the electric bill was $50 under budget even with all the christmas lights on every night. I will add that to my challenge!
Prev. total $422.00
today 50.00
new total $472.00