The team has let me down this week and has lost several games. So I haven't been able to add that money to my challenge money.
Maybe I should add a $1 every time the stock market has an up day! This has not been a very good week for the stock market either. I lost (on paper) almost $4000 in the stock market this week.

I was just reading a blog about someone who went to the movies and the ticket was $14!! Is that for real?? Last time I went it was $5 and I thought that was too much.
Our movie theater closed down a few months ago and now I know why.

Debt, I have always treated it like a $20 challenge. Any extra money I could come up with, went to paying off our debt.
A few years ago, we bought a beautiful piece of property with a view of Brasstown Bald. (the highest peak in Georgia)
We put down 20% and financed the balance of $64,000.
Every month, I made the regular payment of $660 plus anything I could save up during the month, usually at least $1000 or more.
I got the land paid off in January, just two years after I took on the payments. I paid it off 10 years early and saved us thousands in interest!!
I do not like debt at all, but I feel this property is worth much more than I paid for it. I expect to either build on it someday or sell it for a large profit.
This property is called "The Ridge at Owltown"

We took another house to build yesterday. We had pretty much decided not to take any more custom homes to build. But we see how much house building has slowed down around here and how many spec houses are sitting on the market for sale.
We have always had great luck selling our spec houses because our houses are built much better than most houses. My husband is not a builder, he is a craftsman, and does all the inside work himself.
We have already taken on a big house to build. It will be a spec house, but not our spec house. An attorney is building this one for sale.
Looks like we will be eating for the next year and that is all that is important!!

I just received an invitation to my class reunion. My class has one every 5 years starting with the 10th reunion.

They use to be so much fun. We would all meet at a bar after the football game on Friday night.
Then Sat. night would be a fancy dinner with live band or disc jockey.

The last one we met at a bar on Friday, but only had dinner on Saturday.

This time we are meeting after the parade on Friday, no Friday night meeting. There will be a bar b que dinner on Saturday at 4 pm. Who eats at 4 pm?? No dancing?? I love to dance!!

The cost is $70 per couple. That is a lot of money for a bar b que dinner. (which I won't eat cause I hate bar b que)

For the first time ever, I am considering not going, cause it is a 12 hour drive one way. I don't know??

Sounds like a bunch of old codgers!!

I was having a dream this morning. I had just been offered a job that would pay $50,000 every six weeks. Unfortunately, my husband woke me up when he got up and I never found out what the job was all about.
Do you ever dream about money? I tried to go back to sleep and pick up the dream where it left off, but that didn't happen!! Darn!!

Last night, i ran out of alumimum foil and glad wrap too.
I just went into the pantry and got two new rolls.
That made me think. When I was young and newly married, if I ran out of something, that was it. I was out, completely.
It took many years before I could stockpile and always have 2 of the same item.
I started early, with the envelope method and no one showed me what to do.
I allowed myself $12 a week for grocery money and that included $2 for a cartoon of cigarettes. I added up my groceries as I picked them up, and when I neared $12, I stopped.
That was eating all dinners at home.

I am glad the budget is not as strict anymore. Of course, I only made $1 an hour back then. I am happy to say that I still managed to save at least $15 a week, which I used for a down payment on my new house.

My ex brother in law and his wife stopped in for a visit yesterday. They live in florida, but were in the area.
One of the first things she asked me was if I have had a face lift!!
I don't know if that was a compliment or an insult??
I got asked that at my last class reunion too.

We had a nice quiet dinner out all by ourselves last night. We have had so many people wanting to join us for dinner lately. We may have to change restaurants for a while.
We splurged on dinner last night because we were celebrating the fact that my husband finally got his georgia contractor's license. (We applied last October)

We are having a "gathering " today. Some of the members of the local forum are meeting for a covered dish lunch. We have several members coming from Florida and one is even here from Switzerland.
It sure would be fun if the saving advice forum could get together some day!

Happy first day of June. It is time to figure out my net worth. I usually do it the first day of each month. I know my savings went up, not sure what my stock and mutual funds did.

Today is actually memorial day, so i wanted to wish everyone a good day. I am going to play bridge all afternoon, so i won't be here on saving advice until tomorrow.
At least it will be a no spend, no gas, day!! Enjoy your day!

It is a special day for me because my father fought in world war I and world war II. He was stationed in France and later in Germany.
I kind of wish we would celebrate memorial day on the correct day, May 30th. I guess I am just old fashioned.

I slept in late this morning, planning to go grocery shopping this afternoon. When I got up about 10:30, I got a frantic e mail from a friend on my local forum. It seems that the humane society had a persian kitten going up for adoption today at 11:30. Problem is, she has to work til 3:30 and she wanted the kitten.
I emailed her back to get the details and by 11 am., I was heading out the door. No breakfast, heck, I didn't even wash my face.

Mai ling is now residing in a pet carrier in my living room, awaiting her new owners.
Well, I can't spend any money when I am kitty sitting, so I am staying home.
My little Holly is so jealous!

I read an article today that said if you could save 2 times your annual salary, you had a pretty good chance of being a millionaire. Because you would keep saving, but your money would also grow at a good rate.

Last week it got hot. It was in the mid to high 80's every day. I finally gave in and turn on the air conditioner.
Now, we are getting a cool snap. I love it. No air and no heat! That is a great way to save money.
On the other hand, I am spending a lot of money buying special food for my elderly dog. She won't eat any dog food at all. I am feeding her ham and chicken. However, she is worth it. I want her last days to be as good as possible.

$8232.00. According to the social security flyer that we all get before our birthdays ever year, that is the most money I ever made in one year.
I check on my interest in my 3 local accounts every day and I keep a running total.
Yesterday, my interest for the year, surpassed $8232.00, more than I have ever made working.
I guess that is why they call it "having your money working for you"

It is a nice cool day today, about 70 degrees. I love weather like this. Nothing has to run, no heat or air.
I am making my own "bottled" water today, plus I have plenty of left overs from last night's dinner.

I have started to run the air conditioning. There goes my nice low electric bills. I read my meter every day and the kilowatts used are increasing. I cannot stand to be hot. I spend most of my time upstairs, and heat rises, so it is hot up here.
I should have a decent bill this month, but I dread next months bill.

It should be a frugal day today. I have 3 ladies coming over to my house to play bridge. So other than the snacks I bought when grocery shopping there will be no money spent today.
I did have to run down town to cash my dh's paycheck, but I have already done my envelope bugeting!

I got married 30 years ago today. This is the first anniversary we have ever stayed home, I am pretty sure. We usually go to Gatlinburg.
My old dog is failing fast and we did not want to leave her.
We did go out for breakfast this morning at Waffle House. First time I have eaten there for many years.
Tonight we will have to eat at home. There are no restaurants open on Sunday night in this town.
Steak on the grill and drinks by the creek. Hey, some people would pay for that!!

Happy Mother's day to all you mother's out there. I got my first ever mother's day card in the mail yesterday. My girlfriend sent it to me!!

I try to be frugal in the winter and I keep the heat on 60 and dress in sweaters.
But, I cannot stand hot weather. That is the main reason I wanted to move from florida. I can't stand heat.
Of course, i want my electric bill as low as possible and it has been great since last October. But now it is getting hot!!
What do you set your temperature on?
Right now, it is 87 outside and I have turned on the a/c for the first time this year.

I forgot to pay the water bill!! This is the first bill I have been late on ever, in my entire life! It was due yesterday, the 10th and I just forgot about it! I will have to pay the $2.10 late fee. Oh, it is not a lot, but I am embarassed that I am paying it late. I will take it into the office TODAY!

My husband was raised by his parents that insurance was a waste of money. They never had health insurance or life insurance.
I did take out a 10 year term policy on my husband when we built this house for about $200,000.
However, when it expired a few years ago, the new policy was so expensive we could not afford it.
I took a small policy out for $25,000 from AARP. It started out $30 a month and it is now almost $45 a month. I know it will just keep getting higher.
I was discussing it with dh last week and he wants me to drop the policy and just save the money.
We have plenty of cash in the bank and he thinks it is a waste of money.
I will continue to save that money and add to my challenge.
Just wondered what you all think?

We had a new gazebo delivered to my next door neighbor's house today. It really is pretty and they placed it near the creek.
We thought about a gazebo but decided to build a deck over the creek. This way, we can sit right on top of it and listen to the water flow by.
I hope it is warm enough this weekend that we can set up a bar and have drinks outside on the deck at night. Sounds nice.

I just finished a survey with NFO mysurvey. It is amazing to me how fast those points add up. I just requested another $10 check. I should have kept track of them, but I think this will be number 7. If anyone is interested, send me your first name and e mail address and I will send you an invite.
The checks do take about 3 weeks to arrive.

Our little town is getting a 5 star resort. who would have ever thought this would happen to this area. I guess building will be booming. I hope our house prices really go up too. Soon, everyone will want to live here.

is a broom!! I don't know where the brooms go in this house, but they always disappear.
I am sure my husband borrows them to take to the job and they never come back. The broom I have now is about 20 years old and just does not do what a broom should do. I would love to sweep off my front porch, but I need a good broom!
Actually, I would like a card too. I have never had a mother's day card. Even one of those 50 cent ones from the dollar store would do.

I was thinking about beer this morning. It is a big deal to buy beer around here. You have to drive to another county.
I have to drive to North Carolina to buy liquor, but they don't sell beer there. I can buy beer in Georgia, but no liquor.

My husband likes beer and drinks one a day. When we buy beer we buy 2 big suitcases. a suitcase holds 12 long neck bottles of bud lite.
A suitcase costs about $10. It just dawned on me that it has cost $10 for years and years.
With the price of food and gas going out of sight, why hasn't beer gone up?
Too bad I don't like beer at all.

My dh and I both had a free breakfast this morning. The guy that he is building a house for, gave him a free ticket to the pancake breakfast at the Methodist church.
Our local bank is having customer appreciation day today. They are giving away free tomato plants and free hot dogs. Well, I never had a hot dog for breakfast but it was pretty good. They also had free cake, but I resisted that!!
Now to plant those tomato plants.