Ima Saver's Personal Finance Blog

I stopped to buy some baby clothes for a young lady who is down on her luck. she is 19, has a one year old son and had a baby girl this week. Her husband has left her and she is home with a blind mother.
I did get some cute outfits and they were all on sale, so I was happy about that.
Our local forum is collecting items to take to her next weekend. None of us have ever met her. It makes us all feel good to help someone out. What goes around comes around!!!

My dh worked yesterday. When he got home, we decided to cook steaks out on the grill, even tho it was freezing out there. About 8, he cooked the steaks. we dined by candlelight in the dining room and listened to music. Then we got up and danced in the living room. It was a very nice evening. (so glad my husband does not like football)

I just checked my ING account and I have another $10 in there. I gave an invite to a very good friend, but that was at the beginning of December and I had just about given up on her. So that is another $10 I can add to my challenge money.
Prev. total $3413.00
today 10.00
new total $3423.00

I walked on my treadmill for 2 miles yesterday, so I have $2 to add to my challenge money.
Prev. total $4311.00
today 2.00
new total $3413.00

I colored my hair first thing this morning. I was born brunette, but always wanted to be blond, so i have been coloring my hair blond for 35 years. I wonder how much money I have saved in the past 35 years for doing my hair myself. I think I should remind my husband how lucky he is, that I am not a high maintence woman!! That has saved him some big bucks!!

I went grocery shopping today. They had sprite on sale and the sale ends today, so I stocked up and saved a few dollars. I also went to rite aid with a coupon to get hair color on sale. I had a $2 off coupon, plus there was a $1 coupon on the box for a total of $6 saved today. I got a tiny valentine candy for my favorite waitress who is an older, single lady.
prev. total $$3405.00
today 6.00
new total $3411.00

I received an $135 card from ace in the mail yesterday. I had signed up for some kind of points program and then forgot about it. You earn dollars for a certain number of points.
My dh bought a lot of paint there for the spec house and we got $135 card to spend at Ace. Dh doesn't believe it is real, but it is!! I will let him choose a new tool or something. I won't count this in the challenge but it is nice to have.

I have lost my favorites, the sites I frequent the most. a friend set it up for me on the left side of my computer. When I click on favorites, I can see them, but they are no longer on the left side of my computer. What do I do go get that back? I know nothing about computers, but mine was acting funny and wouldn't do anything, so I turned it off. When I turned it back on, No favorites!! Help!!

I did 20 flights of stairs yesterday, so that is another $1 to add to my challenge money.
prev. total $3404.00
today 1.00
new total $3405.00

Today, I will take the $165 that I put in "The Ridge" envelope every week and add it to my challenge. Now that my property on the ridge is paid off, I am continuing the payments to myself. This will go into my challenge money and someday be used for a car fund!
Prev. total $3239.00
today 165.00
new total $3404.00

I just got back from town. I did not plan to spend a dime. I needed to turn in the signature card for the c.d. I just opened and mail something at the post office.
When I was in bi lo wednesday, I "lost" my bonus card. Actually, I think I was never given the card back. So, i stopped to apply for another one. I looked around a little to see if they had any good deals. They had our favorite microwave popcorn, buy one, get one free. So I did and saved over $2 to be added to the challenge.
Prev. total $3237.00
today 2.00
new total $3239.00

I just saw the news about the bad storms in florida. My in laws live in Lake county, near Paisley. My dh just came home for lunch (no microwave) and he called them. They are ok and had no damage, thank goodness.

Well, i walked over a mile yesterday, walked 20 flights of stairs and used no gas yesterday, so that is $3 more that I can add to my challenge money.
prev. total $3234.00
today 3.00
new total $3237.00

Dinner will be at home tonight. The owner of the restaurant we go to, called me and said they were going to close. So i will just take the $20 I would spend and add it to my challenge money.
prev. total $3214.00
today 20.00
new total $3234.00

That was during the great depression. The savings rate for last year has not been this low since 1933. It is a negative 1% which means people spent more than they earned and saved nothing.
The lowest in 74 years. That is sad! I am glad we have a group of people on this forum that is out to change that statistic!!

I wonder what it will be like when my husband really retires? We got up this morning and he could not go to work because of the snow on the grounds and roads.
He made his breakfast.
He completely cleaned out the refrigerator.
He vaccumed.
He mopped.
He decided to draw on some house plans for a house he "might" build for us someday.
He made his lunch.
He then decided that the roads look much better, so he left for work.

It is a lot cheaper when he is not here. He complained about how cold he was, so I turned up the heat by 2 degrees. Then he decided we should run the hot water heater for an hour or two, so we would have hot water if the power went off.

I love him to pieces, but I am glad he has gone to work!!

I just check my new c.d. and the money is showing up and I already made $15.53 interest for the one day. The nice thing is, the check has not cleared my bank, so I earned about $15 interest in that bank too. I have decided to keep track of all the interest I earn each month. It would be neat to add this to my $20 challenge, but I don't think that will be fair.
I did not get my "big" check into the bank until the 22nd and interest was paid on the 19th, so no interest will be included for the big check this month.
Total interest I earned in the month of Jan. from my savings, money markets, ing account and checking account (it pays a little) was $464.31!!
That is $464.31 in my pocket for just saving money!!

I bought my very first certificate of deposit yesterday. I getting a c.d. at 5.75% for 6 months.
All I got was a piece of paper. I don't know what i thought I would get. I am glad I finally know how to look up my bank accounts online. I am anxious to see if this shows up this morning!!
I love having that big sum in my money market account, but I know I should spread it around to make sure that I am covered with fdic insurance.
So, I put in $100,000.
I think I will put the next $100,000 in my name only. The way I understand it, you can have $100,000 in joint names, and $100,000 each in your name and your husband's name only.
Any banker's out there to confirm this??

We are snowed in, so today will be a frugal day as we can not go anywhere. I wonder how Bookie is doing today?? Well, we had dinner out last night, but it looks like we will be cooking at home tonight!! It will be a long day.

They say it is supposed to snow in the morning, so I like everyone else in this town, went to the grocery store today. I bought some hamburger on sale, so saved $2 to add to the challenge.
Prev. total $3212.00
today 2.00
New total $3214.00

I haven't eaten at a fast food place in ages. Last night we went to a meeting for builders to discuss changes to the building codes. We did not get out until 9 pm, so it was too late to go to a restaurant. (our little town closes up at 8:30!!
So, dinner at Wendys for us. We only spent $6, so i am adding $10 to my challenge money since I saved on dinner. I also saved $3 on sprite using my advantage card yesterday.
Prev. total $3199.00
today 13.00
new total $3212.00

On the local forum I am on, I started a thread entitled "what frugal thing did you do today?"
On the whole, that group does not want to talk about money at all. They do not believe in saving at all and their come back is, "you can't take it with you"
I don't want to. I just want to be comfortable while I am here.
One of the frugal entries yesterday, was "I got a pair of pants on sale for only $76!!
I know what this group would say to that. To buy clothes you don't really need and to pay $76 for one pair of pants!! Now, I know why they have no savings.
The funny thing is, many of them, dislike me. They dislike me because they think I have to much money!! Hey, I save my money, that is why I have it.
The people on that forum make just as much money as we do.
The thing is, I keep part of my money; they spend all of theirs!

I got a $100 check in the mail from state farm visa. They have a program where you can earn cash back on your visa card. I will add that to my challenge:
Prev. total $3099.00
today 100.00
new total $3199.00

I love Kentucky fried chicken. We don't get it very often cause we know fried food is supposed to be bad for you.
Actually, I never ate it in my life until I married my dh.
I am a very funny eater and always have been. I would not eat anything but boneless chicken cause I don't like to eat chicken with my fingers.
My dh, cuts the chicken off the bone for me.

I had picked up steaks earlier in the day, yesterday, cause they were on sale, but dh was really craving KFC. I will save the steaks for later, cause the snow word is mentioned for two days this week.
I really do think you can buy KFC cheaper than you can make your own fried chicken. First of all, I only like the breast and that is expensive. By the time you buy breasts , legs and wings, go home and use on the grill for over an hour (using 1/2 bag of $5 charcoal) you probably have spent just as much money.
So, for $9 we got a bucket of chicken; enough for dinner and lunch today. I had a coupon, so I got $1 off the chicken to add to my challenge money.
prev. total $3098.00
today 1.00
new total $3099.00

I ran down to bi lo's today. They are so good about putting steak on sale. This week was my favorite, N.Y. strip steaks. I got two very nice steaks for $7 and saved $3 using my bonus card. Of course, that gets added to my challenge money.
Prev. total $3095.00
today 3.00
new total $3098.00

My house is even smelling cleaner, dh is bleaching the carpet and he is using floral scented bleach.
Yesterday I had a no gas day and I walked a mile, so I have $2 to add to my challenge money.
Prev. total $3093.00
today 2.00
new total $3095.00

Yes, my dh took the day off today. If you know anything about me, you know my dh is a workaholic that usually works 7 days a week. That sure helps out cashwise and we do spend 7 evenings together on "dates"
Today he is staying home. Right now, he is cleaning house and then he plans to clean all the carpets. We have pure white carpet which he bleaches every few months. He is cleaning tubs, mopping, vaccuming, etc.
If I could "clone" my husband, I could make a lot of money!!

They finally finished my windows today and the bill was $802. That is ok, I was expecting a bill around $1000. I really have a lot of windows and they have been here for almost 5 days. I did do 20 flights of stairs yesterday for the tune of $1 plus I had a no gas day for another $1.
prev. total $3091.00
today 2.00
new total $3093.00

Does anyone else feed the birds. I know I spend some money doing it. We buy a 50 pound bag of bird seed (sunflower seed) every month.
I have 4 feeders, 3 are squirrel proof and one I just let the squirrels eat out of. That is one non frugal thing I won't give up, feeding the birds.

I just talked to my window cleaner. He is afraid of heights!! He brought his girlfriend with him today. (they are in business together) She is on the ladder and doing all the upstairs windows.
He has a second job and that is as a tree man. What funny two jobs to have, for a young man afraid of heights.!!
I am scared too, so I am not critizing!