I have felt badly the past several months because all my cash has been sitting in 2 different accounts, each earning about 4%.
I keep watch the topic that lists the different on line banks and the good rates they are paying.
I wanted to open an account, so i could get at least 5% on my savings, but I hesitated because I need this cash to build this spec house and it is handy to be able to transfer the money locally.
Yesterday, a new ad in the paper, our local bank is offering a new money market account that pays 5.25%
I was there at 9 am this morning when the bank opened to close one account, (well I left $600 in here so I won't lose the interest) and went an opened a new account!!
I am tickled about this!!

I took my doggie to be groomed this morning and I feel so lost without her. I can see why older people are much happier when they can have pets.
I have been so attached to the last two, that I have never been on a trip without them. I have a gift certicate for $500 to the Grove Park Inn in Ashville and we won't go because of their no pets policy!

When I wrote to the pathologist, I also asked for my test results. I did not want to pay for an office visit just to find out. The tests were benign!! Yeah, it is a good day!!!!!!!

I just heard on tv, that dolphins shed their skin as often as every two hours. so, they never get wrinkles. I wish that would happen to me. I have never spent much money on make up, but one thing I have used all my life is ponds cold cream.
I think it has helped, I have very few wrinkles.
I did order some wrinkle cream from QVC after hearing about how great it worked. I tried it, nothing happened.
I sent it back and got my $20 refund. I did the same for some pills I ordered. I am tired of paying for products that really don't work!
From now on, I am getting my money back.

On aug. 18, 1984 I moved to this area. I left a town that I had lived in for over 30 years. Boy, things were sure different when we moved to the mountains from the "flatland" Florida.
We moved onto land that no one had ever lived on. The first settler to that county came in 1832 in conestoga wagon. His relatives still have the wagon. They lived right across the river from us.

Is it my imagination, or are we getting a lot more blogs these days? I always spent the first part of my morning reading them, but now every time I come back to the computer, there are a dozen more! I appreciate all the tips, I just wish some of them could be combined! I hate to skip any of the blogs!

Our restaurant has changed their policy. Instead of going up front and paying the bill, you pay your server. Now you no longer get back your exact change. Instead, the server rounds up the bill. I was supposed to get $6.52 back in change last night, instead I got $6.50! I don't begrudge the server the 2 cents, but I had already left her a $6 tip on a $23 bill. Somehow, that doesn't seem right! I must be cheap!

We got an invitation to a Halloween party today. It is the lady that gives the great parties.
She invited us to her first one and we have never even met. Someone just told her we liked dressing up and going to parties.
My husband won the 1st place prize in halloween dress up contest.
She had a 50's party this summer and even tho I was a pretty funny looking Elvis, I did not win. I did win the dance contest. I gave my prize away; I guess I should have sold it, It was 1/2 hour massage!
I am looking forward to it!

I have no clothes lines or drier racks, so i have to use the dryer. However, I drape the clothes all over things and let them air dry as long as possible. When my dh got home the other night, the first thing he thought was the dryer was broken.
When I told him why I was doing this, he thought I was kind of silly.
I realize now that I have always been a non spending person so he has never lived with any one that was a spend thrift.
He has never worried about money cause I have never given him a reason to worry. I don't think he has any idea what some people go thru, with money problems.
He has it pretty good!

I forgot to mention that yesterday was the 29th anniversary of elvis's death. I still have the ticket stub to the only concert of his I ever attended. The really funny thing is that I still have the "jumpsuit" I wore to the concert. It was a memorable week for me.
After seeing Elvis on Feb. 15th, 1977, I went on a blind date 3 days later with my dh!!

I have been missing Ray, but I just read that she is having an extended vacation. she is out camping and river gazing. It reminds me of how lucky I was to live on a beautiful, remote river for 11 years. My house was right on top of the river, but so hidden by trees that the tubers and canoers could barely see it. We sat outside by the river every night and just listened to it.
I live on a very nice big creek now, so it is almost the same, but no canoers. We do get lots of deer. I had a mamaa deer and spotted baby in my back yard, just a few days ago. Life is good.

My puppy was due for her grooming today, but the groomer was out sick. So that is$32 I saved today, but I won't add that to my challenge cause I will just have to pay it out later. She still looks pretty good except her ears. She gets them in her food, no matter how little a bowl I give her. I guess she needs a pony tail holder!

Are all builders rich? We're not. My husband has been building in this area for 22 years! He has always worked by the hour. He started making $7.50 an hour and now he is up to $25.00 an hour.

He really saves the customer's money cause he does all the work by himself. He can build all the cabinets in the house for under $8000, that is labor and all materials. Get a quote from a cabinet shop, they will charge you about $40,000. (I am talking kitchen and 3 baths)
He does everything else too, hardwood floor, paint, trim, plumb, elec. tile, etc.
I just found out that a house he finished in 2000 is going on the market for 1.3 million. I looked to see how much he made in labor on the house (he was there 18 months) He made $28,000, so see, not all builders are rich!

I put the $36 check I got in the mail, into the bank this morning. I had ordered a mag. subscription on Mar. 11th and never got anything. I called and asked for my money back. The check has no address on it , just a name. I wonder if it is any good? How long does it take for a check to bounce? I guess I will know something in the next 2 weeks!

Well, I am back from the bank. I hate when I have to get up early to get a check into the bank. I worry that all the checks will come in and something will bounce. You see my husband wrote out 4 checks yesterday for close to $5000 but the customer only had $2100 in his account. Why don't people realize that you have to have money to build their houses.?? The locals here cash their checks quickly. I paid a guy $4300 last Friday morning. When I checked my account at 11 am that same day, the money was already out of my account.
I sure don't want to have to pay whatever the fee is for bouncing a check!

I guess I would save money if i did not feed so many critters. We have 3 big bird feeders, plus a hummingbird feeder, so i buy a 50 pound bag of bird feed every month. I also buy a 50 pound bag of corn. The deer like that, along with the squirrels and groundhogs.
I wonder what the birds ate, before there were bird feeders.
Anyway, I consider it money well spent!

Good morning, it is only 8:08 am and I am already up reading these blogs. I enjoy them so much!! I get so many good ideas, and I feel like I am reading about my family! That is nice when you don't have any family!

I often wonder if anyone uses the middle priced gas. I use the premium otherwise my car makes a pinging noise.
I have stuff on the car that lets you know what the average mile per gallon that you get. On my trip to Murphy., N.C., I got 29 miles per gallon. It is a small two lane highway, but there are several red lights along the way, so i thought that was pretty good! See, I drive an economy car!

The magazine place that tried to rip me off is called Premier subscriber services! I ordered from Magsforless about 2 weeks ago. I wonder if that will be a rip off too. At least this one was cheaper, only $6.50! They have already charged my card, so we shall see. I think I have learned a lesson, just pay full price and get over it!
I only read Money but my dh loves Street Rodder!

Most of you don't remember that movie! It is all about running moonshine! Whenever i make my liquor run, i think about that. It is silly that I have to drive to another state to buy liquor, even sillier that I can't buy beer there, I have to drive to a different county to buy that. Oh well!!

today is pay day, my favorite day of the week. I slept in late too, which felt good. I got up after my husband left for work and laid on the couch. I wish I could sleep on it every night, it is so comfortable!!

We are just starting to build for a guy we have known a few years. He has heard me complain about having to beg for money to pay for bills. He said "money will never be a problem with me"
I asked for money last Tuesday. Today, we paid several bills for a concrete pour. My husband asked him again. Still no money. so I am $3000 in the hole right now. I am writing him a letter today!!

It rained all day yesterday and cooled down a lot. I wish I could open the windows, but I have no screens. Anyway, the A/C never came on all day. We can turn off all the lights and tv's we want, it is the A/C and hot water that make the big difference. My meter reading looked good today, the first time in a month!!

I am getting nervous about this house we are building. I never dreamed we would have so much money in it.
You see, land has gone sky high the past few years around here. We seemed to have picked out a very expensive planned house to build.
Georgia is now having inspections and everyone is required to have general liability insurance and workman's comp, so prices for things have gone sky high. Last year we paid a roofer $650 to work for a few days putting shingles on, now it cost $2400!
Yesterday, I transferred $40,000 from my savings to my checking to pay the bills.
To date, I have $162,000 in this house and I don't even have the drywall done inside yet. That is not counting the $65,000 that I paid for the lot.
That is $227,000 that I have so far, just sitting.
My husband is so busy with the other 2 houses, he does not have much time for this one.
I hope our next house does not cost this much. I liked building cute cabins better. It is so hard to find a reasonable lot around here. Everyone wants a mountain view!!
I need to quit worrying and be grateful that I have so much!! Thanks for letting me get this worry off my chest a little bit!

Nothing about money, but I just went downstairs and my puppy (6 years old) is in the living room, she runs to the french doors, and there 15 feet away , is standing a mother deer with her spotted baby. So beautiful. How anyone can kill an animal is beyond me.

When I first moved to this area, I use to see lots of turtles crossing the road. The locals seem to get a kick out of running over them and killing them. (they like to throw puppies and kittens in the dumpsters too)
Now, I hardly ever see a turtle cross the road. Today, I did, so I turned around and came back.
I just dared any of those fast drivers to run over my turtle while I waited for them to pass me. I got the turtle, put in in my vette and brought it home. Holly has never seen one, so she is barking at poor Myrtle.
After I while, i will carry her down to the creek and hope she stays in my yard and stays safe!

After I get to know our servers, I often mention the fact that they should start saving young and open roth ira's. I talked to a young woman last week and last night she told me she was going to the bank today to see about opening a roth IRA! I finally got someone interested!! The first one!!

I have really enjoyed this forum the past seven months. Yesterday, one of the members on here accused me of sponging off my husband because I don't work, and it made me feel kind of sad.
How can we judge and say unkind things to people that we don't even know?
Did he read that I started work at age 12 and worked for over 40 years since then. Did he know that my last full time job was working 7 nights a week? Did he know that my husband asked me to quit so that I could stay home with him at night?
A big thank you to all of the really nice people on this forum that have made me feel happy to be here!!!!!!!

I had a crummy evening last night. I stayed home all day, so i was really looking forward to going out last night. We had only been sitting down for 5 minutes when in walked " the couple from hell" Of course, they wanted to join us for dinner, just like they do everytime.
We eat at the same place every night, our car stands out in a crowd.
Once, we tried eating someplace else, but they found us anyway.
He drops in once or twice a week to visit with us while we are eating dinner, but when he brings his wife, they are there for the night.
I am sorry, I try to be a nice person, but they are the most boring people in the world.
Plus, I think it is rude, to just show up and join people for dinner. (constantly)
We can't tell them no because my husband is going to build them a house.
Did you ever see Archie bunker holding his finger to his head (like a pretend gun) while Edith is babbling on and on and on.
that is how I feel when they show up.
thanks for letting me vent!!!!

I have done 4 days without spending. It really has not been that hard. I think I go to town because I am bored. I need a hobby!! I use to play bridge, but my partner died and I have not played in years now. When you don't play, you forget. I wish I could take lessons on bridge again.