When I was a kid, the first day of May was called May day. We had a may pole and a big carnival. Does anyone celebrate May day anymore?

I miss Thrifty Ray. She has gone camping with her family and I hope she is having a great time, but i sure do miss her posts!!

About once a month, I figure out my net worth. I started doing that over 10 years ago. It is fun when the net worth increases and not so fun when it decreases. I did it today and was happy to see my net worth has increased a little this month.
I wish I could start back contributing to my mutual funds. Ever since we started building spec houses 3 years ago, I feel like I need to keep a lot of money in money market accounts. I keep it locally, so I can get it quickly, so I miss out on some of the higher rates from the internet banks.
On the other hand, it is nice not to have a loan at the bank to make payments on.
We have a friend who built a $300,000 spec house that he has not sold in almost a year. I am too scared to ask what his payments on the house are!
Fortunatly, all my husband's houses sell before they are ever finished. We have already had someone tell us they want this house and we just have the roof trusses up. We don't know what the house will sell for??

I just love this place, savingadvice.com. This is my favorite, is it called web site? I am sorry, I know nothing about computers but I sure am getting some good saving advice on here.
Plus, everyone is so friendly.

That is the way every concert ended. I only got to see one Elvis concert and he was great. I had front row seats too. I still have the ticket stub and a framed elvis poster that I bought that day.
When we moved into this house, I turned one of my bedrooms into the Elvis room. I have all my old 45's and albums displayed in there along with other elvis stuff!! I have signed drumsticks from his drummer and the Colonial signature on a poem he wrote. I was invited to a 50's party and if I can get the costume, i will go as elvis!!

My husband got up to go to work and decided to take the day off instead. He spent the first two hours, cleaning the car and washing it, even under the hood. Then he borrowed my new "free" swifter duster to dust the car inside.
Now he is out cutting the grass. He can't stand to sit still and I am glad. I don't know how someone can live with a couch potato!
He wants to go on a picnic, but we have no food in this house!
Had dinner out with a couple that we have nothing in common with. They just show up once a month or so, and join us.
I am looking forward to just being alone with my husband tonight. I am marinating some pork chops I got on sale, so we should have dinner for less than $3 tonight!

A few years ago, we had a male cardinal that just drove us crazy. He kept hitting the window right by my side of the bed. Then he would sit on my husband's van and peck at the window. That happened for a couple of years, then he vanished.
Yesterday, I saw a female cardinal and she kept flying to the same window, and pecking at it. This morning, she woke us up at the crack of dawn. I hung some alum pans on the little tree in front of the window.
She is sitting at the window above right now, watch me type.
I wonder if she is the daugher or granddaughter of the first cardinal?

I bring home part of my dinner every night to share with my little Holly. I was so hungry this afternoon, I just ate the food meant for her. Taste pretty good too. Now the sun is shining after the terrible thunderstorm this morning. I have had 2 no spend days except for dinner out last night.

I have always tried to talk to our waitresses and encourage them to save money. I tell them how I started off waitressing over 20 years ago and how I put 10% of my very low tips, into savings and into mutual funds.
Last night, our waitress Julie, told us that she has saved over $500 and put it in a certificate of deposit. I am so proud of her.

I had a hard time going to town today. Every place I wanted to turn, it seems the road was blocked off by a sheriff's car or an ambulance.
I finally made it to Ingles and bought some sausage I forgot to get on Saturday.
When I got home, I got on our local forum and found out there was a bomb scare at the courthouse, so that is why all the roads were blocked off!!
I have done my budget for the week and I always look forward to that.

Just wanted to say Happy Easter. We are invited to an easter brunch at a friend's house today at noon. Wish we could hunt for eggs like back in the good old days!!

Wow, they are cut down, one day and back the next day. But it is good to see spring arriving, even if it does bring dandelions. Actually I think they are pretty. I need to get to the library to make copies before they close, then on to the grocery store. Happy Income Tax Day!!

Well I picked up my taxes at H &R Block, ready to mail them on Monday. Seems like you can't mail them anymore, it is all electronic. I don't think I like that. So my husband signs nothing.
It cost me $198 to get the taxes done. I will get a small sum back but I have to pay in $1650 to the state of Ga.
I stopped at Ingles in that town, and they had diet sprite on sale. (For some reason we can't get it in my town) I bought the maximum and saved $7. I also bought some beer cause you can't buy anything here.
Noticed that premium has gone to $3.05 a gallon here.
We got invited to an easter brunch. My husband wants to work on the yard all day, but we don't know how to get out of it!!

I loved Oprah's show yesterday about the debt diet. The couples seem to be making progress.
I like the way that found new work to bring in extra money. I was thinking about my husband, but gosh, he works 7 days a week now.
I guess I should get a job, but at my age, it is hard, since I have no skills. I guess I will just keep trying to save and be frugal to try and do my part.

My gecko came today. We eat out every night at a place called Monets, so we have gotten pretty friendly with the owners, Joan and Dave.

They just bought a new little place down the street and they are going to open another restaurant which will serve tex/mex food. They are calling it Dos Geckos.

I found the cutest little gecko in a catalog so I ordered it to give them for a gift for their new place. It lights up and the head and tail both move.

It came today and my husband just put it together, it is so cute. I am excited about giving it to her tonight.

Yeah, I had a no spend day, that doesn't happen very often. I stayed home all day today, no gas money running to town.
I have not balanced my check books since December, and I have 4 checking accounts. That took up most of my afternoon, so i just stayed home today.

I swear to you, my dog talks to me. If I am somewhere in the house, Holly comes and stands by me and "talks". That means she wants me to follow her to see what she wants.
Sometimes she goes to the door, that means, go potty. sometimes, to her bowl, that means feed me.
Sometimes she goes to the closet, she wants me to open the door so she can go and hide under the pillows. Sometimes she just stand in a spot in the sunshine. That means she wants a chair or pillow put there. She does NOT lay on the floor. Nor does she eat much dog food. ( I have taken her to the vets and we have finally all given up on her, she will starve herself)
So she gets people food a lot.
Today she wanted to eat, so I fixed her some people food. No, she said to me and went into the pantry.
That means she wants me to microwave it so her dinner will be warm.
Of course I did.
Holly is a poodle, weighs 5 pounds and is the boss of this house!!

I use to love to go dancing and we lived near Daytona Beach, so we would go nightclubbing once in a while. When we moved here in 1984 to a dry county, that stopped.
Finally someone opened up a little honkey tonk that had a live band on sat. nights. (byob) and we went every sat. night and listened and danced. About 8 years ago, they closed and I have not danced since.
Last night as we got home after dinner, they were playing one of the songs they use to play at the honkey tonk, a fast song. I told my husband to turn the music up and I got out and danced til the song ended.
Hey, he kidded me about being a little out of breath, but I got to dance!!

When I first moved into my new home, I filled it with many live plants. Not having a green thumb, the plants started looking puny! I have been replacing them with fake plants. I have been buying the good ones, so they look nice.

Yesterday, my final 2 plants arrived, 2, 4foot trees to put on each side of the french doors, in my all-white living room.I finally got my kitchen back today and being out of it since Sunday. The paint is dry and I got everything put back in the kitchen.
Then I unpacked my two new trees. They come with christmas lights. Of course, where I put them, there are no plugs. Fortunately, I married Mr. can do almost everything, so he can run some wire and put light plugs in for me.
Then I can turn on the christmas lights all year long.
Merry Christmas, everyone!!!

Did you ever see one of those old comedy shows, where someone is painting a floor and paints themself into a corner?
Well that almost happened here!
My dh informed me he was going to resand and paint our hardwood floor, 3 coats.
So I took everything I thought I would need out of the kitceh for 2 days. I have an ice cooler, water, glasses, diet sprite, liquor, snacks, checkbook, all my bookwork, microwave, garbage can, etc, well you get the picture.
He painted last night. Everthing is great.
He paints the second coat this morning and exits out the garage, ready to now go to work while coat #2 dries today.
In the kitchen, he forgets his wallet (license, credit cards, money) his cell phone and his car keys!!
The he says, why didn't I remind him of that!!! I got everything I would need out of the kitchen: he couldn't remember to move his few personal things?? MEN!!!

His next move is to try and jump on the counter top and walk across them , then leap over to another counter top. I visutalize him breaking his neck, so I stop that.
I mention that I knew where a second set of keys are, I have an expired driver's license of his, and I will loan him money. The phone he will have to do without. He is gone and for once, I am glad!!!

It was 29 years ago today that my darling husband proposed to me. On the beach, all dressed up from an evening out. Guess what I said? As I said, somewhere else, I have been on a date every night since that night 29 years ago. We never go our seperate way at night, it is always a date. Dinner out, getting in the jacuzzi, grilling on the back porch, watching the sunset, picnicing at the park or our mountain view lot, or us just sitting on the deck listening to the creek, the two of us have our date every night!

We went crusing last night. We have a 1933 ford victoria that we only take out once in a while. It can't be driven in the rain, it has no windshield wipers. (they are not cool)
It also has no heat, so it sits in the garage in the winter time.
DH got it out and polished it all up and out we went to dinner.
After we are, we drove all around town, thur all the shopping areas and around the town square. My Dh turned 55 last month and still likes to cruise town!!
Keeps us young.
Most people are surprised when they find out our age.

I usually keep track of my mutual funds, Ira's, stocks in a notebook and put the value down the first of each month. I was very upset to see that one stock was only worth half as much as last month. It could not have gone down so quickly. So I did some research on the stock and finally found that they had issued a stock split. Now I have twice as many shares. I know they are not worth any more, but it is still nice!

I have just turned on the air conditioning and put on shorts. While I love not running the heat. I hate to put the a/c on so soon in the year. It gets so hot upstairs. We put the treadmill right in front of the window, so that doesn't help either. I need to do more of my exercising in the morning! Happy April 1st!!

I first visited this site about the end of December, I don't know how I found it. I have learned so much. I never was much on looking at flyers to see what was on sale. If I don't need it, I don't buy it just cause it is on sale.
I was never much one to clip coupons because we only have a weekly paper and it does not carry coupons.
Since I have been reading this site, I have learned so much and saved a lot of money too. I have been real pleased with the $20 challenge.
I just want to say thanks to Jeffrey and Nate for providing this site. Hey, it is so good, I will pay you to let me come and visit every day. Thanks!!!

Well I am really excited about the new pay day loan people buying this sight. I am sure we will all learn a lot.
I have a local site that I post to.
I mentioned today that I was getting a job at a local college teaching cooking. It did not take too long for people to say "April Fools!"
They know that I eat out every night and I really don't like to cook!!

I visited the spec house being built across the street from our spec house yesterday. The living room is two shades of green. The kitchen and dining room was bright yellow. The bedroom and bath were dark brown and the whole downstairs was painted bright blue.

Come and visit my house across the street. It will be painted all white inside!! I guess I don't have much imagination. My own home is all white inside, walls, carpet and furniture. (can you tell we have no kids)

I am so happy, I have been trying to get into the blog site all day and it says this page can't be viewed. Has this blog been moved to another site?

BTW, we didn't freeze to death. The propane truck came Monday afternoon, and right after that, this site went down (for me anyway) I was told I was set up for propane for tomorrow, but we have a little "in" with this company. We use them in all of the houses we build, so they gain a customer every time we build a house. Most people do not spend the money to buy and bury their tank. We got a "deal" on ours, so we did.
Then we found out a year later, that we had bought a "hot" tank. (It was such a good deal cause it was stolen.(

That show is helping me to get exercise. I tape it for my husband to watch. We both think it is the silliest show on tv. I keep watching to see if some of our locals will be on.
We watch it commercial free, so I am up and down the stairs about 8 times, while taping it. That is good, cause I hate to sit still very long!