We had a cheap dinner at home last night. It looked like we would not get any snow, so we dressed and headed out. We had not gone a mile when it started snowing hard so we turned around.
Back home, we had an omelete and corn beef hash for dinner. Well, at least we saved money. Right now we are "snowed in" with only about an inch. In Georgia, there is not much snow equiptment. We have to wait for the sun to thaw out the roads.
The birds are really active this morning; it is time to fill the feeders back up.

What has happened to the updates on the $20 challenge? I added some money to my challenge today and it is not posted to the right>>>>>>>>>>>>
Nothing has posted new to the $20 challenge since Feb. 15th? Anyone know??

They are calling for snow to come in tonight, so I am going to go to town and buy some meat for dinner. We usually don't go out to eat when they are calling for bad weather. We have nothing with four wheel drive, so we don't take a chance. Maybe I can find something on sale for dinner!!
Last night our waitress hit us up for money. She is collecting for a lady that picks up stray cats and has them spayed. A very good cause, so of course, I did donate.
I think everyone should have their animals spayed. That being said, I am ashamed to say, I do not have my little Holly spayed. Just as I was planning to do that, I heard about a puppy that was spayed. Something went wrong, and they had to put the puppy to sleep. I could not bear to lose my baby!! However, she only goes out on a leash!

Kendra is the name of the teen age girl we have taken an interest in.
Kendra does not have a cell phone or a car. Kendra has very few clothes.
I do not know a lot about her, but I do know that both of her parents have died and she is an orphan.
She is a senior in high school and lives with her two brothers.
She works at the restaurant we go to every night, and you have never seen such a hard worker.
She does not live with her brothers for free, she has responsibities. She has to pay the electric bill and she is upset because this month the bill is $150.
Kendra needs glasses. The owner of the restaurant talked to one of the clubs in town and they are going to pay for her glasses.
I gave Kendra money at christmas time and again on valentine's day. She practically jumped for joy!!
I think if each of us would help just one person, life would be so much happier.
I plan to keep helping Kendra. She wants to go to college. I don't know how she will do it (no money and no car) but I will be glad to help her.

Thirty years ago today, Feb. 15th, 1977, I went to see Elvis in concert. I had been a fan of his since he first made records, in the 50's. He had come to Daytona when I was young, but I was not able to get to see him.
Finally, in 1977, he came to Orlando, florida and I was able to go and see him. I was getting a divorce, so I went with 2 girlfriends. Elvis was fantastic!
I still have the ticket stub from that concert. Heck, I still have the outfit that I wore, a brown suede jumpsuit!!
That was definately one of the best nights of my life!!

Wow, the stores are mobbed. I had to go to 3 places and everyone was grabbing valentine stuff, cards, flowers and candy. A lot of money is being spent today and some of the people don't look like they can afford it.
One of the best presents I ever got was a homemade card my husband made me about 1980. I still have it sitting on my desk! Little things mean a lot!

Happy Valentine's day! We don't spend much money on valentine's day. We recycled cards from last year. Somehow, our puppy, Holly, got us a little box of candy that we both like.
I prefer giving over getting.
There is a little teen girl that works at the restaurant that we go to. She is an orphan and has no money for clothes. She wears the same two outfits every time we see her.I am giving her a card and some money for valentines. What a nice day it is!!

Today is Feb. 13th. I would say we are about half way thru with winter. Now, that is a happy thought!!

42 years ago today I eloped. Within the first year, I knew it was a mistake, but I think the person making the biggest mistake was my mother.
She did not like the man I was dating because he did not graduate from college. I was 20 years old then and a legal adult age was 21 back then.
I had won a full scholarship to college and was going completely free, except for my books.
At the time, I had finished the first half of my junior year.
In order to break us up, my mother took away the phone and my car, (which I had paid for, but could not yet be in my name because I was not 21)
She also withdrew me from college. Because I was only 20, I could do nothing about this, so I got a job.
I had to walk to work.
With no car and no college, I decided I might as well get married, so we did elope. (I was not old enough to marry in the state of florida, but I was in South Carolina)
I wonder how my life would have been different if I had finished college?

Well, after meeting my dh 30 years ago, life has been really good for me, so I am not complaining one bit!

One of the warmest days in weeks. We decided to ride over and look at a house that I never got to see, but my husband built it for an elderly woman.
Then we rode around for hours looking at lots for sale. There are so many new spec houses in this area, it is scary.
I did have one savings. My dh works outside and desperately needs some long johns, new ones. (His are about 10 year olds) I found new ones at the dollar store for $2.50, I doubt I could find them any cheaper. My only expense for the day, we had to stop and buy a bottle of water, we got so thirsty.
Now we are going to make a home made pizza tonight.

My husband was talking to me last night about the young fellow that does his house framing. He is about 27 and makes very good money, but he does not have a pot, if you know what I mean.
Dh says he just hates to give him this big paycheck every week, knowing the money will just be wasted. He does buy tools once in a while, but he never takes care of them, just throwing them in the back of his pickup.
Last week, he spent $800 for a camera. He has no savings, no EF, no ira, nothing. Just rents a place and makes payments on his pickup.

It is annoying to see all the young people that make the same or more than us, but all they do is waste their money.
People on my other forum make fun of us because we have money. What I can't get thru their thick skulls, is that we have money because WE SAVE IT!!!

I can't believe it, but my granddaughter is 18 today. She is an adult. It just seemed like yesterday when we left the hospital at 4 am. I remember that it was 8 degrees outside.
How did I get to be this darn old?? Well, at least I don't feel like I am old.

We had a great evening with friends last night. They invited us over for dinner. she has just gotten interested in making wine at home and sent us home with all kinds of literature. too bad the only wine we like is Boones Farm!!

For 2 days, we have been trying to get the oil changed in the vette.
This car is different and uses a different type of oil. There is a gauge that tells you when to get the oil changed, about every 10,000 miles. When you get it changed, the mechanic has to reset the gage.
Yesterday dh took it to our local garage. (before that, we had gone to the chevy place which is 20 miles away in North Carolina)
The mechanic did not know how to reset the gage and also asked, when did corvettes get automatic transmissions?
That got my husband to wondering how much this guy knows about cars.

This morning, dh took it in again, hoping that the owner would be there and do the work. The owner was out sick but the office lady said, Jamie can do it, it is his first day.

Dh took one look at Jamie and brought the car home. Jamie worked for us for about 3 weeks. He was supposed to be a carpenter, but he wasn't.
Someone broke into our spec house shortly after that, and from the discription of the car, we are sure it was Jamie. He stole a thousand dollar tool and several other things.

Now Jamie is a mechanic?? Not on our car, he is not!

One good thing is, we figured out how to reset the gage ourself, now just to get the oil changed!!

I just got a copy of Money magazine. I have subcribed for years and then decided to stop. I missed the magazine, so I subscribed again. This month's issue showed how some of the larger mutual funds did for the past year.
I have our Ira's in the vanguard Index 500 funds. according to Money magazine, the index fund produced a 16.2% gain last year. That seems pretty good!

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 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 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.

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!!

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.

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!!

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!

It is another frosty day here in the mountains. My window cleaner just showed up. What a hard worker he is. He is just like my dh and works 7 days a week. He has another job, but does window washing on weekends or whenever he is off. I hope he finishes today so i can pay him what I owe.

Another date night in Georgia!! Hope everyone else is having a good night too.!!

My window washer is back. He has been here for 4 1/2 days so far. I have no idea what the bill will be, but I am sure it will be expensive. I got all my end of the month bills paid yesterday, now I just have to balance all the checkbooks. I think I will grocery shop today too cause I am almost out of diet sprite. I love stockpiling it when it is on sale, but I have run out. Hate to pay regular price!!
Our waitress last night, said she told her boyfriend how we came into her restaurant every night for our "date" Instead of saving, wow, that is romantic, he said, wow, they must be rich!!
My husbands says we can eat out cheaper than we can cook at home. That works for me! (Besides, no one wants to cook)

I had a no spend day today. I was supposed to go to my bridge lesson, but I just didn't feel like it. It is really cold and windy. So, I just stayed home and walked on my treadmill for a while. Now I think I will go and pay my end of the month bills. I got the final electric bill from the spec house to pay also.
So, a no spend, no gas day. I love the fact that it is staying a little lighter every night!

Just 11 more months til christmas!!