So I got a call from my mortgage company yesterday informing me that I could refinance with them for a lower interest rate. My rate with them right now is 6.75%.

I have never been late on a payment and I also add extra to my principal every month.

Why would they want to redo my loan for a lower interest rate. Of course, I will take the lower interest rate.

At the time, I was unable to ask a lot of questions, so I did take their phone number and said I would call back. I guess I would like to know.

*How much are costs
*What kind of interest rate
*and Why would you call me out of the blue if I am never late.

You would think they would be too busy trying to help those loosing their houses.

Go figure.

I took advantage of the Revolution Money Exchange thing and got my $25.00 deposited into my account and the 12 cents to verify it. I will add that to my challenge.

Prev. Balance $2,590.96
Add deposits $25.12
New Balance $2,616.08

So it costs $4.00/gallon gas, yet most people only get paid minimum wage of $7.50/hour, and that is before taxes are taken out.

So, we are merely working to put gas in our cars. Not much left over for bills and groceries.

I pray for those people struggling.

Got a Commissions Check in the mail today. I am adding that to my $20 Challenge

Prev. Balance $2,563.96
Add Check $27.00
New Balance $2,590.96

I started 2008 with 22,696.29 in debt. When I look at my debt total today, it is $22,213.87 . Not much difference. The problem was, I didn't have an emergency fund set up at the time and had to charge my son's dental visits and I got another Visa and charged it up.

Well, I have remedied that problem and I am getting rid of my debt, no matter what.

The good news, a year ago, I was $23,853.40 in debt, so I am making some headway, but not much. I am paying off a big debt, either cc1, cc2 or cc3 the beginning of June. Then onto the next one.

Believe it or not, I used to have no debt about 3 years ago, besides my mortgage, and I loved it, but life got in the way and, well you know the rest - I'm in Debt.

Looking forward to being "Debt Free" again.

I just realized that I have enough money in my checking and my wallet to pay off cc3: Gardner White without touching my EF or Freedom Account.

My only problem with this - cc3 is sitting at a 0% while cc1 is setting at a 19.99%. Should I drain my Freedom Account to add to what is in my checking and wallet to pay off cc1 or pay off cc3 and then put the extra each month to cc1 for the snowball effect.

Dave says to pay off the smallest amount first, but I think I should be paying off cc1, then snowballing to cc2 until paid, then cc3 and so on.

Anyone else have an opinion. Trying to stay Gazelle Intense to being Debt Free.

I do also need to live on some money and pay for DS's dentist appointment the beginning of June and pay for my drywall to be mudded and taped, but I start my Beach job next weekend and will have another check by then. Hmmm. I might be able to manage it if I pay off cc1 and snowball to the next cc. I will know more the beginning of June, so stayed tuned as to what I decided. I am getting really excited about paying off another cc, no matter which one it is.

So, as we all know, yesterday was Mother's Day. It was a pretty good day overall. My kids bought me cards, I made dinner and we went to my brother's house to see our newest baby in the family. He is so adorable. He is 2 weeks old.

So, let's get off track for a minute. A couple weeks ago I was having a conversation with my youngest boy (13) about his conversation when he was with his dad driving in a car. It was about my birthday gift which is next Friday.

Anyhow, I asked him what dad was getting me. No secrets here, he just said, well it starts with a G, ends with an S and there is a P in the middle. I was like, what, I don't want a GPS. I would never use a GPS. I actually thought he was kidding, just to humor me and not tell what they were actually talking about.

So I let it go, until Mother's Day, when my husband said, how about opening your Birthday gift from me today (on Mother's Day) while all the kids are here. What, they will all be here next Friday also. Okay, if you want to.

So, I open this present and sure enough, he bought me a GPS. I was totally dumbfounded. I don't want a GPS. To me it is a total waste of time. I don't even talk on my cell phone when driving down the road, now I have a GPS. And, if I do pull over to use it, I have to put on my glasses and figure out how to work the dang thing, just to get somewhere, when I have never had a problem getting anywhere before. What a waste of time and money to me.

It actually upset me and my oldest boy said "Mom let's go to the car". He showed me a little of how it works, but it was so upsetting to me and my son totally understood why.

As we sat there in the car, this is what we discovered:

*It is totally not who I am.
*I am a simple mom. I take really good care of myself for the sake of my family so that they won't have to. (Hopefully)
*Memories mean way more to me. I have lost so many loved ones in the recent years, and since my daughter's diagnosis of cancer 13 years ago, I have become a completely different person.
*It hurt me, because I felt like he just doesn't know my heart and what I stand for.
*Personally, I think they cost way to much and that money could have been better spent.

My oldest son sitting in the car with me realized that it went way deeper than just getting the gift for me.

Here is the kicker. They all asked me what I wanted. Personally, I would rather not have anything but their time. But, they persisted, so I came up with some simple items (a hanging plant, a potted tomato plant, rembrandt toothpaste and a margarita machine - I found one at Tuesday Morning for $50.00 - this was supposed to be the gift my husband was getting me. My kids still haven't given me their gifts, but my husband totally did not listen to me.

Well, I slept on it and found that I am still upset about it this morning. I put it on my gift shelf and I will give it to my husband on his birthday. Apparently, he is the one who wants it. So in my frugal state of mind, Thank You Dear Husband for saving me some money. I now have your gift.

So I really needed to get new tires for my Jeep. I called around today to get different quotes. One tire place gave a really awesome price for Wrangler P225 R75/16. Normally, the white lettering runs around $140 each. Most everyone I called gave me a discount of $125 to $129.99, until one of the tire places let me know that the black lettering was $69.99. Wow, what a difference. Not wanting to drive to far out of town to this particular tire place, I called back the tire place that gave me the lowest bid and told him the black lettering price. He said Okay. I got four tires, balancing, front-end alignment and taxes out the door of $339.20. I sure saved some money by calling around and negotiating my price first.

But, the kicker was that the guy at the tire place that actually did my tires was so impressed with my get-the-best-price tactics that he came to talk to me in the waiting room. He was wondering what I did for a living. I said "this". I actually have a couple degrees, but I stay home and raise my kids and treat my life like a business. I like to keep as much of my money as possible while getting the best price.

Most everything is negotiable. The only purchase I found not to be negotiable lately was Apple Mac Computer products. My son needed a new computer for recording. Apple knows they have the edge in that area, and were not willing to budge anywhere in price. The salesman tried by calling headquarters, but they wouldn't budge. They wouldn't even throw in a mouse. Well, what do you do. He needed to really upgrade his system due to how busy he is lately and the quality of his recording, so we bought it. My son is very satisfied with its performance; and if it goes on sale in the next 30 days, they will refund the difference.

Because I cannot get into the forums area again to ask this question, I will ask it here.

On another blog, a saver is getting up to 8.25% interest on her Australian money. Does anyone know how that converts to the U.S. Dollar. Here is the bank I am talking about

www.abetterdeal.com.au

I am just wondering if I should be utilizing this online banking for its interest rate, depending on how the interest rate converts.

I hope I didn't confuse you all. Anyone knowledgable in this area, please chime in, cause I am confused here. Thanks, and feel free to post this in the forums, cause I am unable to.

So, a while back, I closed my UPromise account because it grows so slowly. It was not something that I focused on. They sent me a check for what was in the account. Well, apparently, they forgot .04 cents, cause I received a check for .04 cents yesterday. I totally find that a waste. The paper they printed it out on had to cost more than four cents and it cost them .33 cents to mail it to me. Whey didn't they just keep it. I am not going to cash a check for .04 cents.

Also, received my stimulus payment in my account today. I will add that amount to my $20 Challenge.

Prev. Balance $1,363.96
Add Stimulus $1,200.00
New Balance $2,563.96

Yes, we have acquired a very old boat, but surprisingly in very good condition. It was given to us some time ago with the old motor that looks like it will still work. It still had all the chrome lights, mirrors, horn and Dorsett emblem on the side. We have taken out the old seats and carpet and re-fiberglassed the floor. We are ready to put carpet and seats back in it. The motor is missing the controls, so we need to search those out or buy a new motor with controls for it. I have looked on Craigs list and found some good deals.

While we were working on the boat, my husband was under the hull and found the original registration taped to the underside. What a find. So, yesterday, I went to Secretary of State to do a title search to make sure we can even use it. They really couldn't find any information on it, so they re-issued the title in my name with the same MC numbers and gave me my watercraft numbers for 2011. I am so excited. It only cost me $9.20 at Secretary of State.

I am off to get the carpet for the boat and order the seats. Can't wait to hit the water. I will take a couple before and after pictures and post them at a later date.

Got a rebate check from AT&T for $50.00. I will add that to the $20 challenge

Prev. Balance $1,313.96
Add Check $50.00
New Balance $1,363.96

My best friend moved to California and needed help getting her home here sold or rented. So I did all the showings, made copies of the rental agreement and got keys made for the new tenant.

She sent me a beautiful Thank You card with a $250 check inside.

I will add that to my challenge

Prev. Balance: $1,063.96
Add Check: $250
New Balance: $1,313.96

Wow, where did April go. I swear that was the fastest month ever.

*Groceries: $530.95 (my grocery total is still higher than normal. It must be that I am either not cutting enough coupons, or prices have just gone up that much)

*Eating Out: $52.07 (much lower this month that normal. Odd, normally when I eat out, I am paying for 3 to 5 people, so this is really good)

*Gas: $282.41 (Gas is more expensive due to the prices. I fill up my gas tank about once a week to every 8 or 9 days. That hasn't changed, but it is still about $60 to $80 more than a year ago)

*Still working on paying off debts.

*Still adding money to my EF and Freedom Account.

*Worked outside on the landscaping after taking down two trees last year. I needed to replant and replace the stones in the walkway and distribute the top soil around, rake leaves and weed other gardens. Done that and all Free.

Now, on to May. I start my summer job Memorial weekend at the Beach. I am also now the head person there, so I got a raise of $50 more a week in my check. Sweet. I am really going to try to use that for a few different things.
--Paying down debt
--Christmas money
--Vacation money
I just need to figure out how to allocate it into those categories.