Happy new year to everyone! We went to a great party last night. There must have been 50 people there, even our county commissioner was there!
I have spent the morning figuring out our net worth. I hated to see that it had gone down, but it did. The stock market did not help either.

Of course, we bought 6 pieces of property this year. We paid cash for a couple, but have mortgages on three of them. However, they were all bargains.
I just got the tax bill on one of them. (in North Carolina) The land was appraised at $100,000, but we paid $28,900 for it. (Only one acre)
I am going to appeal the appraisal in April.
We plan to build spec houses on each property.

Let's hope 2012 is a much better year for the economy!

The rates at ING have dropped again. Both the savings account and the electric orange checking have dropped to below 1%. I had always planned to live on the interest on my savings someday. I couldn't do that at today's rates. They paid higher interest rates than this in the 1920's. Heck, I have an amortization book and the rates START at 3%.

My husband's framing crew is working today. They are putting up roof trusses.
That is so amazing to me cause in the 27 years he has been building, no one else would ever work on a saturday. Dh has always worked saturdays, sundays and most holidays. Of course, he gets no paid time off, so he works. You would have to know the locals to know how rare it is for them to work on Saturday. Most people here are out of work and need money, badly, but not bad enough to work on Saturdays!

I can't get over it.

Well, dh just got home. It seems that only 2 of the workers showed up (2 didn't), so dh had to help them put the trusses. It is a windy day, so it was not an easy job.

I got a check from Pinecone. plus had a no use gas day yesterday, so $5 to add to the challenge.

Prev. total $18,799.00
today 5.00
new total $18,804.00

Plus, I found a quarter!!!!

Today was pinochle day. I have taken both pinochle and bridge classes this year. I love playing cards. I did this a lot when I was young and first married. It is a cheap way to have fun.
I like bridge the most. We play every Monday at my house and I have just signed up to play on Thursdays at a local church.

Has anyone heard anything about "networthiq"? I went to their website last month and again today and was advised not to go there. (by McAfee)
However, I did do my networth on paper and was happy to see that it finally went up after months of going down, down, down, due to the stock market.

SAving advice, for some reason I have not been able to come to this iste for the past two days. I have missed you all. I don't know if it was just my computer, which has been acting up, or if this site has been having a problem. Anyway, I am so happy that I could get here today! I am going to a land auction today. I already bought 5 pieces of property since last December, so I really don't need any more. But I may find a real bargain!

It dropped down to 40 degrees here in the mountains this morning. The house inside is down to 64 degrees. I have little Holly on a heating pad to stay warm. Bigger Molly can handle the cold weather better than Holly.
We spent the afternoon with a mother and her son yesterday. They are from Wisconsin. Son got a real good banking job here and moved into the fanciest subdivision in the area. His home has 7500 sq. feet.
Mom wants to build in the same subdivision as the son. However, she wants a 2500 square foot house with basement for $200,000. That just can't be done.

They went to a company that operates in several states and they advertise that they build home for $48 a square foot.
What they don't tell you is that the price does NOT include the following; permits, septic tank, grading, rough in plumbing, digging the basement, the basement itself and the floors. The price starts inside from the walls up. They also hire the cheapest subcontractors that they can hire to do the work as fast as possible.

My husband builds every house as if he is going to live in it himself and his workmanship is the best ever. We showed them 3 of our houses and they were in awe that dh could do all of the work by himself.
plumbing, electrical, tile work, hardwood floors, staircases, cabinets, built in furninture, rock/sone laying, etc. They said he really had a lot of talent.

But, I don't feel like we will get the job cause the most important thing to them was the price. Dh works by the hour, so we do NOT give a contract price.

I give them every paid bill, so they know to the penny what the house cost. I have done it that way for 27 years and I will continue.
It works for us!

Today, I paid my electric bill online. It is the very first time I have ever tried to pay anything online.
I am trying to spend $3000 on my new Chase sapphire card in order to get the $500 bonus. I paid off my husband's hospital bill, but that still was not enough. I don't need anything and don't just want to buy "things" so I thought I would charge things I normally pay cash for. I have never once charged food at the grocery store, but this week I think I am going to. I will just take the cash and put it in an envelope to pay the credit card when it comes due.
I have used the cash system all of my life, so this seems really strange to me.

I have been buying property this last 8 months. Land prices have really gone down and my dh is a builder. We have been looking for lots with a view or on the creek, to build spec houses on.
So far, we have bought five pieces of property.
I paid cash for the acre we are building on now, but I financed the other 4. The local bank is financing land at 2.99% which I thought was pretty good.

What I did not really notice was that the land I bought in North Carolina had a 6% interest rate.
OMG, when I made the first payment, it hit me how much interest I was paying every month.
I have the money in a money market paying me .008% (yes, that is 8/10th of one percent.)
It is stupid to earn 8/10th of one percent and be paying out 6%.

So, today, I drove over to the bank in North Carolina and completely paid off the loan. I feel a little less stupid now!!

My dh was in the hospital emergency room last August and ran up a bill of almost $8000. Since we have no medical insurance I told them I would pay cash and they gave me a discount of 15% off.

In February, he was in for one day for the same problem. (Kidney stones) This time the bill was for $7000 so I have been paying on the bill every month.
I have paid the bill down to less than $3000 and today I called to see if they would lower the bill if I paid it in full. They lowered the bill by 20%, so I saved $585. I guess that is why the bills are so high, so they can give discounts to those who pay.

I am charging this to my new sapphire chase account so I can earn my $500 bonus. Of course, I will pay it off right away next month when the bill comes due.

I received another invitation from Chase Sapphire today. I had already opened an account in my husband's name, charged the $3000 and received the check for $500.
This invitation was to open an account in my name with the same $500 bonus, so I am going to apply.
I would think they would go broke giving out so much money, but I must be wrong. I paid my first card off the day I received the bill.

I don't have a bit of luck when it comes to finding change on the ground! I know that some of you are very good at it and you keep a running total.
So far this year, I have found about 2 pennies in a parking lot.

I do sometimes find change in my washer, but I know it came out of dh pockets!
Yesterday I found a dime in the paper machine, on Monday, I found a quarter in the changer at Ingles and last week I found a nickel and a dime! I save all my change and turn it in once a month, then add it to my challenge money.

Things are looking up!!!!!

WE woke up this morning to the sounds of the water department digging up our front yard (again) When ever the water main breaks, it breaks in our yard cause we are at the bottom of the hill beside the creek.
We were without water for over 5 hours, plus our yard id now dug up. This is very annoying, because it happens about every 6 months. One time, our driveway even caved in. We got an estimate last month to have it repaved for almost $6000. I am so glad we did not have it done. Then the braves lost after being ahead for 6 innings! I think I will go to bed early and wish for a better day tomorrow.

Well, I got my first bill from Chase and I got my bonus 50,000 points. (I charged $3000 on my dh's hospital bill)
I tried to redeem my points on line, but I couldn't do it. So, I called and got someone who spoke terrible english. He said he will be sending me a check for $500. My dh does not believe that I will get $500. I hope I do and I will add that to my challenge money!

We opened a large certificate of deposit at Melrose credit union in New York, on March 1st. They pay interest every quarter and were paying 2.9% interest on a 5 year c.d. WE got our interest added this week and it was $1449.70 for the quarter. I don't add that interest to my challenge money, but it was nice to see the balance go up.
The rate is 2.8 per cent now, but I may open another c.d. when the spec house sells.

I have a question! If you were having a new house built, would you want carpet or hardwood floors? (or both) My house has hardwood in the kitchen and breakfast room and the rest of the house is carpeted.
The spec house that my husband is finishing, has hardwood in the living room, dining room and kitchen. We were planning on putting carpet in the bedrooms but the buyers asked for hardwood floors thru out. So my husband put down hardwood in the master bedroom and laminate in the downstairs bedrooms. You have to use laminate on concrete floors down in the basement. It is the first time he has used laminate and I think it looks nice.

We are going to start a new house this summer. Maybe we should make the floors all hardwood? What do you think?

Whenever a house that my husband has built goes up for sale, my husband's name is always in the multiple listings. Whether it is an old house, or a brand new house, his name is always mentioned. Most of the buyers have never heard of him, but the realtors all know about him and his workmanship.
The people that put a contract on our spec house last month came back today to look at it again. (They live in south georgia) They were thrilled at everything! They have been looking in this area for over 2 years. When their realtor told them that a Gary Denski house had just come on the market, they came to look at it. They said they are buying the house because of the house and Gary's reputation. He builds every house as if it was for himself and it has to be perfect. That is why he does almost all of the work by himself.
We are so lucky, in this economy, that his house sold so quickly. Wish us luck on the next spec house. We plan to start it this summer as soon as he finishes up the house he is on right now.

I took the money out of the corvette envelope this morning to add to the challenge money. Somehow, I always have more than the actual payment. I have $810 to add to the challenge money! Dh still does not know that I paid the corvette off a few months ago! shhh.........

Prev. total $10,298.00
today 810.00
new total $11,108.00

I received a Lowe's credit card in the mail a few weeks ago. We needed to buy light fixtures for the spec house, so we used it today and saved $50. Lowe's gives you 5% off every time you use their card for your purchases. Pretty nice!

I went grocery shopping today and picked up some more items for the food bank. The post office is picking up the donations this Friday and Saturday.
The food bank issued a list of what they need the most, so I thought I sould include it here in case any of you are interested:
canned pototoes (I love them)
canned peas (a vegetable children will eat
chunky soups
instant pototoes
tuna, canned
chicken, canned
peanut butter
jelly
home style baked meals
powdered milk

I picked up most of the above items and I also added 3 boxes of mac and cheese (my granddaughters favorite) 2 cans of beef ravoli, scalloped potatoes, vienna sausage, spagetti, ragu sauce and toilet paper.

I sure hope they get a lot of food this weekend to replenish the food bank.

A few years ago, my friend gave me a surprise birthday party. All of my gifts were gifts to the food bank. I had a full grocery cart of food to deliver to them. (and it was a month before christmas) It was the best party I ever had!

Dh came home with a hurting back last night. He is been laying hardwood floor for over a week (alone) and it is hard on his back.
This morning, he could not go to work, so he went to the chiropracter. $45. The doctor told him to get a back brace, $62. Then the a/c needed recharging to the tune of $100. He has to go back to the chiropracter tomorrow too and has no idea when he will feel good enough to go back to work. There is still more hardwood flooring to put down.
I am keeping him busy today drawing plans for our next spec house to build. We took a ride out to the new property to get some ideas!

WE listed the house for saleon Friday the 13th and had our first lookers last week. On saturday, they made an offer. The offer is what we were asking, but they want some changes made.
They want the garage converted to a rec room or family room. That involves taking out the garage door and putting in a french door. Of course, that involves tearing off the hardee plank, trim, etc. Then frame in the house again, insulate the walls, patch up the ripped up drywall and get heat and a/c ducts put in. Of course, everything will have to be repainted 3 coats of paint. They also want the entire floor of the garage and two bedrooms downstairs to be finished in laminate flooring. (Pergo)
We have been discussing this all day and still have not decided whether to accept this offer or not! Any thoughts?? This is a spec house we built with our own money, so we do not have to pay back a bank loan.

I have been married for 34 years today to my wonderful dh. We got married on Friday the 13th back in 1977!

It has been a bad day. My dh woke me to tell me that the water main located in our front yard had broken and water was spewing all over our yard and driveway. (This has happened about 10 times before and once our asphalt driveway fell in!)
When I went to call the water company, the phone was acting up and I had to call 4 times and scream over the noise before the repair guy heard me.

Dh called on his cell phone and reported the phone out of order. So, of course the computer did not work either. I was without water, without a phone, no computer and even the tv is so snowy you can barely see the picture.

As I looked out the front door, I noticed that my first rose is coming in bloom, so I had to cheer up!

It has taken all day, but I finally have water, phone and a computer. The pictures on the tv's are still bad, but I have a beautiful rose to look at.

If you have never been to one, you must remember to move fast and get the earliest appointment. This is a fairly new subdivision with some lots on the river and a small lake. All lots have river and lake access at two nice pavillions.
Within 10 minutes of entering the subdivision, we bought an acre with a nice view.
WE are going out to dinner tonight to celebrate, so it won't be a very frugal weekend for us!

I spent $134 at the vet yesterday. My older dog has not been eating. The vet gave me some medicine, but so far, she is still not eating today. She only weighs 5 pounds, so she cannot afford to skip many meals. Maybe she will eat when dh comes home from work today. She is acting like she feels better.

Dh went to his first car show of the season yesterday. He came home telling me all about a new car he had seen. He really wants one.
It is called a McLaren, made by Mercedes. He was guessing it would cost $100,000-$150,000.

I googled it this morning, so I could see what it looks like. It is neat looking, with doors that open upwards like butterfly wings.
Mercedes only made 500 of them a year for 7 years, for a total of 3500 cars.
The price tag, $450,000!!!!

I quess I could trade my house for one and live in the car. I don't think a McLaren is in my husband's future, poor guy!

Well, I joined this site on Jan. 13, 2006, so that means I have been posting on this blog for over 5 years. I have finally decided that it is time for me to leave SA, but I will really miss all of you. You have become like family to me. I really love this place.




good bye!
Ima















(april fools!!) ha ha
you're not getting rid of me that easily!!

I don't check this account very often. At the beginning on last month, I opened a 5 year C.D. with them. It is paying 2.8% interest which is the best that I could find anywhere.
The interest is paid quarterly.

I didn't know if that was 3 months after I opened the account or just the calendar quarter. I checked it today and apparently it is the calendar quarter. So, I earned $508 in interest for the month. That is nice.

That is the most I have ever spent in my life. I paid $3.85 per gallon and had to buy almost 15 gallons.
Wow, I can remember when gas was under 20 cents a gallon. The stations use to have gas wars all the time. For that 20cents they also pumped your gas, washed your windshield, and checked your water and oil.
My poor husband has a 35 gallon work van. I guess I need to raise his allowance.