Ima Saver's Personal Finance Blog

That is what we are getting right now. However, the electrical storm has also cause the power to go on and off at least 6 times. I was running the dish washer the first time and now, it will not allow be to reset it. I hope lightening did not strike it, but I have a feeling it did. I open and close the door, but nothing will work.
I did make it to the store before the storm where I stocked up on steaks for sale. I saved $11 on steak and some bogo fritoes. I will add that to my challenge money.
Prev. total $19,520.00
today 11.00
New total $19,531.00

Enjoy your life while it is happening to you.
I got an e mail from my best friend. She and I met in Jr. high school. We were not really friends in high school but became very good friends when she moved back to our home town and have been best friends every since.
I got an e mail that said her husband was in the hospital. He woke up Tuesday morning with a bad headache. He got dressed for work but laid back down on the bed. When she came out of the bathroom, he had passed out and she had to call an ambulance.
Something in his brain has burst and the doctors don't think he will ever recover.

On Wednesday, he received his 2nd social security check in his checking account. It will probably be the last one he will ever get.
I feel so sorry for my best friend, having to go thru all this. Thank goodness, she has a large family and church family to help out in her time of need.(she lives a long way from me)

Well, the stock market did go up yesterday but that was about it. I was completely out of diet sprite, so i went to the store and got some on sale and saved $2 on that. I also found a quarter in the newspaper rack thing. That makes $1.25 I have found at the newspaper stand in a week. I will add $3 to my challenge money.
Prev. total $19,517.00
today 3.00
new total $19,520.00

I got the interest added to my largest money market account yesterday. That makes my balance go up by $975.20. So far this year (knock on wood) I have not had to withdraw anything for emergencies.
The van seems to be running fine right now and I had expected a big bill on that repair. (It still may happen) My husband went to the dentist this week and it was "no charge"
Everything seems to be going great except waiting on permits to start a new house. We applied 8 days ago and they usually come out and check out the property in 2 days.

I do not add the interest that I receive each month to my $20 challenge, but I am keeping track of it cause my goal is to earn $20,000 in interest this year.

That is unusual for me. I guess it is the heat. It is just so hot here. I hate to think of those poor guys putting up roof trusses out in this heat, but that is what they are doing!
We are going to have a garage sale. My first one is over 12 years. dh got a lot of stuff cleared out of his garage this weekend and we need to get rid of it. Right now ,it is piled on his car hauler and covered. I just put the ad in the paper, so I have to go thru with it. I just wish I could have picked a cooler time.
I got my check for $538 today, so I will add that to my challenge.
prev. total $18,979.00
today 538.00
new total $19,517.00

I made it under budget which surprised me. We have had a heat wave for the last three weeks. Of course, the meter was read about aug. 14th, so next month's bill might be higher; but this bill is for under $118. I budget $160, so that gives me $40 to add to my challenge. Plus the stock market went up yesterday and the braves won twice the past two days. That is a total of $43 to add to my challenge.
Prev. total $18,936.00
today 43.00
new total $18,979.00

dH headed for work Sat. morning and then I got a call. His van had quit. He had it towed to the repair shop. So he could not work all weekend and on Monday he used my vette all day.
Well, the good news was, the van had just run out of gas. Apparently, the gas gauge is not working correctly. There was no charge except for the towing and our insurance will reimburse us for that.
So, I hope that we have no more problems with that vehicle. It was having a transmission problem, but now that has stopped. Dh doesn't really want a new van. He is even thinking about getting a used pick up truck as a back up. We just don't have another vehicle that makes a good work vehicle. He is a carpenter and has a million tools!

My husband draws all his own house plans. He has been doing it almost all his life.Usually he draws plans for our spec houses. No pay there. But occasionaly he will draw the plans for a custom house.
The past few months he has been working on a big plan, 4550 sq. ft. He does the whole thing, floor plan, roof and floor truss plans, elevations, electrical, etc. Usually about 8 sheets, hand drawn. (he does not know how to use a computer)
He just got paid for the plan today and I plan to add that money to my $20 challenge.
prev. total $16,669.00
today 2,267.00
new total $18,936.00

BTW, he charges 50 cents a square foot, preety cheap by today's standards.

Baselle took mine, pay your self first every payday. I have done that all my life.
I have saved a lot of money by keeping my electic bill low and saving the rest of what I had budgeted for it. I do this by keeping the heat down and the hot water heater turned low.(usually off)
I also have saved a lot of money by coloring my hair myself the past 35 years.

My dh is busy cleaning out the other garage. We have two 2-car garages, but one side is filled with mostly his stuff!! Old tools, things he just needs to get rid of. There is an exercise machine out there that I really like, but it throws grease all over the carpet so it stays in the garage.
I hope he can make a few dollars on this junk and get rid of it.
The braves lost again, but I did walk a mile plus I have the ridge money to add to my chalalenge money.
prev. total $16,503.00
today 166.00
new total $16,669.00

We went to an open house the other day. It is the house that my husband took to fix up after another builder really botched the job. I am happy to say it looks much better and has passed inspection for everything and is back on the market for sale.
They had a drawing at the open house and I won! It was for an mp3 player. I have no idea what it is since I still live way back in the last century! However, I am sure I can find a good home for it! I am just excited to win something!!!

I don't feel right if I don't at least add a little bit of money to the challenge everyday. The braves let me down again, but the dow was up over 200 points, so I will add $2 for that.
prev. total $16,501.00
today 2.00
new total $16,503.00

I got a call first thing this morning, my husband's work van had died on the way to work. He has no idea what is wrong with it, it just sputtered and died. He was on his way to rent a ditch witch! He was supposed to put in a water line today.
Instead, he is at home. We have no other vehicles capable of hauling a ditch witch (two corvettes and a 1933 ford victoria)
It is going to be a long weekend. They won't even look at the van until Monday.
I am thinking it is almost time for a new work van, but he wants a new car instead. Hopefully, it won't cost too much to repair it, but he will definately be out of work for a few days.

It has been one of my goals this year to earn $20,000 in interest this year. Yesterday ( I just added it up today), I hit the $15,000 mark ($15,059) in interest, on ELVIS day of all things.
Unless I have some really big expenses or start a new spec house, I should hit the $20,000 mark this year, with no problem.

I took 2 short surveys this morning. I check my points and I have 990 points. One more short survey and I can cash out again. This is with NFO mysurvey.
I did do my grocery shopping this morning and also stopped to buy hair coloring. Using coupons, I managed to save $5 which I will add to my challenge money.
Prev. total $16,496.00
today 5.00
new total $16,501.00

After being down as much as 300 points, the dow just turned positive with about 4 minutes to go. Go, dow, Go!!!!!!!!

I just checked my mutual funds and it ain't pretty. From my high on July 19th, I am down $29,000 as of yesterday. I sure hope this downward trend ends soon. No, I am not worried!

I had a no spend day yesterday. I needed to pick up a few things at the grocery store, but my husband was with me and needed to get to a job site quickly, so he just dropped me off at home. Today, I am meeting with some of my local forum friends for lunch. I am looking forward to it; I don't go out for lunch very often.
Well, the braves did win, I won't even mention the stock market, and I walked 20 flights of stairs yesterday, so $2 to add to the challenge.
Prev. total $16,494.00
today 2.00
new total $16,496.00

Today is the 30th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death. I saw Elvis in person, only once. I still have the ticket stub in my "elvis" bedroom. It was on Feb. 15th, 1977. It was a lucky week for me. I had front row seats.
I also met my dh 3 days later, on Feb. 18th, 1977.
I do have a poem written by Col. Parker and signed drumsticks by Elvis' early drumer, D.J. Fontana!
Guess I will go put on my blue suede shoes and hang out at the Heartbreak Hotel! Thank ya, thank ya very much.

(Oh the poem is signed too)

My dh and I had a free lunch at an open house today. It was the house that my husband took over to fix up for a nice couple building it for sale.
He has worked on it several months and it looks nice now.
The owners had the house,"staged" That is furniture was brought in and the house was all decorated. It really looked good.
The owner is from New Orleans and she made all New Orleans style food, which my husband tried. I hope he does not have heartburn tomorrow. I stuck with food that I know, namely dessert! But it was fun to get to go out with dh in the middle of the day.
We are going to build a big house (over 4550 sq. feet) for them next, so we gave them the house plans dh had drawn for them. wow, now I get to collect for all those weeks of drawing!!

We had dinner at home last night, a rare thing for us. Now, I remember why, I get too bored sitting here all night. So, we took a ride to look at the beautiful mountain view on some property that we own. Wasted a bit of gas, but the ride was nice and Holly loved it.
We had pork chops last night which cost me about $5, so I figured we saved about $15 dollars last night, plus the braves won. That is $16 i can add to the challenge money.
prev. total $16,478.00
today 16.00
new total $16,494.00

Yes, I splurged. I have not bought a pair of shoes in 3 or 4 years. I am going to Gatlinburg in Sept. and to my class reunion in florida in October. So, I ordered a new pair of shoes from J.C. Penny. They were $10 off and under $40. I also realized I only have about one decent pair of shorts.
There is no place to buy shorts in August around here. They are getting rid of the summer stuff. So I ordered a new pair from QVC, denium and company for those who order from QVC. I would really like a black pair, but they were sold out. Then I splurged and got my dh a few new short sleeved shirts from Penny's. All in all I spent close to about $100, but we really needed these things.
Well, the braves didn't play, the dow went down, I did not walk or do stairs yesterday (I played bridge), so no money for the challenge there.
However, I am not making a liquor run to Murphy, N.C., so that is about $6 in gas that I am saving.
I will add that to my challenge money.
Prev. total $16,472.00
today 6.00
new total $16,478.00

What did the dow do yesterday. I know a computer literate person could figure out how to look that up, but that is not me! Could anyone tell me, please??

Since I have joined this forum, I have looked for loose change on the ground, but have not had much luck. One thing I also do and my husband doesn't like, it to look at newspaper stands. I look at the newspaper headline, but I also look in the coin return to see if there is any money there. He hates that.
Today, I stopped and looked at the local paper stand and there were 2 quarters in the coin return.
When I came out of Ingles, I looked at the Atlanta paper and found two more quarters there. Wow, I gained a buck just for looking.
I walked a mile yesterday, saved a dollar on bacon on sale, plus my dollar today. I also have $50 in the money I have saved since I cancelled life insurance. So $53 to add to my challenge money.
Prev. total $16,419.00
today 53.00
new total $16,472.00

I went to Mary Hunt's website this morning. She says if we had started saving $1 a day from the day we were born, put it in good mutual fund earning 12% and never touched it, we would have over 7 million dollars when we turn 65.
That being something that we did NOT do in our lifetime, she suggests we start now and save $2 a day. If you are young enough you can still become a millionaire. Who is game for it? Want to save that extra $2 a day?
I walked a mile yesterday, plus the braves won and I have the Ridge money to add to my challenge today.
Prev. total $16,252.00
today 167.00
new total $16,419.00

I just read Tynana's blog and I was so sorry to hear of her brother's suicide. He had lost his job and had a lot of debt.
I got over my head in debt once about 1980. We had decided to go into business with 2 other couples. We were all supposed to put in equal shares of money, but at the end, one couple had no money, so we loaned them their share.
The fellow we loaned the money too was supposed to be the "expert" and run the business. He turned out to be a bit of a crook and business was very bad.
My dh took over the business and ran it for a long time with absolutely no pay at all. It was a rough few years and it was not uncommon for my husband to work 20 hours a day.
We made it thru those years and sold the business and broke even.
But there were many many worried days and nights for us.
After that we learned to really save our money and build up a large emergency fund. Believe me when I say, a large emergency fund will take away most of your worries and I have such a happy life now.
I am so sorry for your loss, Tynana.

A friend called and stoppped by to bring back a vcr tape I had loaned her.
She wanted to go out to lunch. I convinced her to eat lunch at home and put that $5 she would have spent in her ING account.
I ran to the post office to put the paperwork in the mail for selling my home depot stock.
Then I did my weekly grocery shopping; using my store card and a coupon, I saved $4. I walked a mile and did 20 flights of stairs yesterday, so that is a total of $6 to add to my challenge money. (the stock market and the braves let me down yesterday)
Prev. total $16,246.00
today 6.00
new total $16,252.00

I got a letter from Home Depot offering to buy my stock from me at $39 a share. Since it is selling at $35, I thought it sounded like a good deal. I called them, and they have lowered their offer to $37 a share.
I still think I will sell because I am not happy with that store like I was when I first bought their stock in 1995. My husband goes there almost every day and he says the service is terrible and they are always out of everything.

I was reading an article about living below your means.
Start talking to yourself. Whenever you are faced with a desire to spend, STOP and ask yourself:
Can I afford it?
Do I really need it?
Do I need it now?
Do I have something like it already?
Can I find a cheaper substitue?
Is this the best deal?

Now, go home and sleep on it. Tomorrow you will probably change your mind!!

Opps, I did not add any money to the challenge yesterday. The stock market was up on Wednesday (down terribly yesterday) and I walked a mile. Yesterday the braves won by one run and I walked another mile.
I am also re reading all my copies of cheapskate monthly, now called debt proof living.
I will add $4 to the challenge money.
Prev. total $16,242.00
today 4.00
new total $16,246.00