About Budget Stretcher and Grandpa Terry


About Budget Stretcher -- Budget Stretcher is a one man operation home based in the hills of Southeast Missouri. It was started in January 2000 as a means of helping anybody that needed help with their financial problems. After searching the web for several months I realized that most budget systems offered were complicated and didn't offer the budget forms necessary to setup and maintain a budget.

I had personally been using a budget system I developed several years ago that was simple to setup and easy to maintain. I had also used this same system to help family members and many others with their budgets. It took some time to learn enough to develop the forms on the web in a useful format. My main goal was to make the forms as easy to understand and use as possible while still giving all the information needed to control an individual's or family's money.

Budget Stretcher not only offers a complete budget system free of charge but also a simple way to organize your files and make sure your bills are paid on time each month. All of this is done with a simple three ring binder with tab dividers inserted. This system allows you to tell at a glance what has been paid, what is left to be paid and quick access to your bills and receipts.

To reinforce the Budget Stretcher web site, I publish a weekly newsletter. The Budget Stretcher Newsletter is filled with articles by the foremost authorities on personal finances, links to relevant web sites and money and time saving tips to help subscribers learn new ways to manage their finances. Subscribers to my newsletter free access to "The Complete Budget and Bill Organizer" and several other helpful resources.

While, for the first few months I was able to finance Budget Stretcher out of my own pocket, I realized that I was going to need help with the ever increasing costs of maintaining a web site that reaches 10s of thousands of people each month while still keeping Budget Stretcher free. To help with this I developed a few products to sell and became affiliated with several excellent products that I promote in my newsletter and on the web site.

The first is my ebook "Living Within Your Means - The Easy Way". This ebook is based on my 30+ years as a personal financial advisor and contains everything you need to learn how to properly manage your personal finances.

Budget Stretcher Premium (BSP) is an alternative to the free site of Budget Stretcher. You get literally thousands of resources, including my ebook. The main feature at BSP is that it contains no advertising of any kind. You get a complete web site and weekly newsletter for a small annual fee.

Along with the above services, Budget Stretcher also accepts advertising. Each of these advertisers are hand picked to ensure that they can provide subscribers and others visiting Budget Stretcher with ways of making the most of their money. Anyone attempting to advertise at Budget Stretcher offering anything other than a legitimate offer is refused advertising.

Buying my ebook and other services offered at Budget Stretcher is strictly voluntary. This site is for people that are experiencing money problems so if you don't feel you can afford these services, the free side of Budget Stretcher has what you need to better manage your money.


About Grandpa Terry -- My real name is Terry Rigg. I am the editor and chief bottle washer at Budget Stretcher. Some of you may wonder why I refer to myself as Grandpa Terry. I've got 6 grandsons, 5 of which live within a hundred feet of my house, and three granddaughters. They range in age from 10 to 17. I consider being a Grandpa my main job right now and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Just to give you a little history, I have been married to the same woman since Christmas Day 1964. My wife, JoAnn, pretty much raised our three kids, two girls and a boy, by herself since I was gone a lot while I was in the Navy. After I retired, we bought a house and 10 acres in Southeast Missouri where we are still living. Our kids are grown now with families of their own.

I spent 20 years in the U. S. Navy retiring in 1987 as a Senior Chief Personelman. I served aboard 3 ships, the USNS General Nelson M. Walker (TAP-125) (JUN66-JAN68), the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVA-41)(JUL71-JAN75) and the USS Arkansas (CGN-42) (JUN78-JUN83). The rest of the time was spent on shore duty in Brunswick, GA (JUN64-JUN66), Pensacola, FL (JAN75-JUN78) and Recruiting Duty in Springfield, MA as a Vocational Interviewing and Placement Counselor (JUN83-AUG87).

My primary job in the Navy was in Personnel Administration. Early in my career, my main tasks were basic office functions like typing, filing, office machines and the like. Once I reached Second Class Petty Officer, I was starting to get into management. As such, one of my responsibilities was to interview sailors when the command received word that they were having financial problems. This was a little difficult since my own finances were a mess.

It wasn't until I was selected for Chief Petty Officer that I decided it was time to start getting my finances in order. Being a Chief was a goal I had set for myself when I went into the Navy. I considered being a Chief as my ultimate accomplishment. Quite frankly I was embarrassed that I had finally reached my goal and still couldn't handle my money.

It was at this point that I developed the budget system I use in Budget Stretcher. I had tried everything and it always seemed too complicated. By using a binder with labeled tab dividers along with a budget that only had four categories, it was simple. I started recommending this to the sailors with money problems and others that asked me for help.

Budget Stretcher happened almost by accident. I bought my computer in April of 1999. After taking a few months to learn a little about how it works, I decided I wanted to have my own web site. I couldn't decide what theme to use. My kids and some friends suggested that I use my knowledge about basic personal finances. Since I had been doing that for the past 25 years, I decided to go with it.

I would like to say I had all of the answers when I started Budget Stretcher but that wouldn't be anywhere close to the truth. I learn more everyday from the subscribers to my newsletter, webmasters at other money saving sites and searching the web. Maybe if the internet had been around when I was younger I could have avoided a lot of the money problems I had.

My knowledge of personal finances are based on personal experience with no formal education in the field. It took several years for me to get my own personal finances in order. It is my sincere hope that Budget Stretcher may play a small part in helping others to have it a little easier.