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The Budget Stretcher
"Saving you money...One Dime at a Time!"
Week Of: March 17, 2008
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***What's Inside***
Grandpa Terry's Free Ebook
Subscriber's Tip of the Week 1
Coupon Savings
Grandpa Terry's Update
Credit Card Information
Grandpa Terry's Tip of the Week
Site of the Week
Grandpa Terry's Email
Subscriber's Tip of the Week 2
Subscriber's Tip of the Week 3
This Week's Articles
Special Recipe - Magic Pie Recipe
Watch for next week's newsletter featuring:
Should You Pay Off Debt or Invest in Savings?
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Subscriber Tip #1
My husband recently learned this while taking a Microeconomics
class towards his college degree... If you buy gas at Sam's Club
(and maybe at the other wholesale discount stores like BJ's),
you may want to reconsider making that purchase. The gas that's
Sam's Club buys is the left over sludge, water, sediment, and
other junk that remains after gas stations get their fill. That
is why the price is 5-10 cents a gallon cheaper than what local
gas stations are charging. This fuel will also damage you car
over time from the sediment buildup.... and you'll end up
dumping that "saved" money into auto repairs.
Joanna/P/031708
Subscriber Tip Of The Week
Vote For Joanna's Tip and Get A Free Gift!
Use the form at the link below to vote for this tip:
All you have to do is submit a "Subscriber Tip" and if it
appears in The Budget Stretcher you will get your choice of
either The Complete Budget and Bill Organizer Download, 10 of
my Budget and Credit Card Calculating Forms or my Bill Pay
Management System to keep track of your bills and checking
account.
Please use the form available at to submit your tips:
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Coupon Savings
by Michelle Jones
If you would like to learn how to save more money with coupons,
including how to use them WISELY, how NOT to use them, and how
to FINALLY get them organized so you CAN use them, order your
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Grandpa Terry's Update
Welcome to The Budget Stretcher!
If you have ever visited my Other Author's Articles page you
probably closed it immediately. It was a list of about 350
articles with all of the links run together. Actually, it was
a mess.
With the help of my friend Suzy, I was able to get these articles
placed in 18 separate categories with links between the different
pages. Why not take a look. You may actually be able to find
something interesting. Here is the link:
Last week I listed a Tell-A-Friend form that I'm using so that
you can tell your friends about Budget Stretcher. Apparently,
I didn't understand the software to good because using the link
in an email didn't work.
If you would like to tell your friends about Budget Stretcher
use the link provided at the top of the page.
Our Recipe this week is something a little different. I have no
idea whether it works or not. Try it and let me know...
My list of tips is getting low. Please take some time and submit
your tips to me using the form at:
That's all for now. Remember, I really enjoy hearing from you
folks. If you have any comments, complaints, suggestions or just
want to say Hi, please send me an email to
If you know someone that may be interested in subscribing to our
newsletter have them visit:
Have a great week,
Grandpa Terry
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Credit Card Information
Best moves to make in 2008 Credit Cards
By Ellen Cannon • Bankrate.com
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Grandpa Terry's Tip of the Week
How Much Do You Pay For Nothing?
Recently I had a client with 6 credit cards, 7 loans and almost
a $300,000 mortgage. They owed overall about $480,000. That on
the surface is not a bad thing but when I went to break down the
monthly interest I almost fell out of my chair.
Here is how the interest alone worked out. Remember this is
every month:
6 Credit Cards - $446.66
7 Loans - $942.05
1 Mortgage - $1518.01
Total Interest Only Per Month - $2906.72
Could you handle that? Yes, the client was making pretty good
money but that set them back knowing that almost $3000 a month
was coming out of their income solely for the purpose of using
someone else's money.
It would be interesting to see how people would react if, instead
of saying they paid $20,000 for a car, they would include the
interest and say they paid $28,000.
Don't get me wrong, if it wasn't for banks and other lending
companies most of us would never own a home or a car. They are
in business and deserve to be paid for lending us money.
The example above is on the high side. Most of us wouldn't or
couldn't pay that kind of interest per month. But, it makes you
wonder how much you are paying for nothing right now.
Why not get all of your loan and credit card statements together
for this month and just write down the interest you paid on each.
Then add the figures to see what your paying for the privilege
of using someone else's money. You may have to call some of your
creditors to find out.
If you like you can use the simple form I developed at the below
page:
While it's impossible to avoid all debt and interest we should
limit it to the very minimum. We work too hard for our money
to be giving it away for nothing.
There is a huge difference in how interest is computed between
loans and credit cards. Everyone should know this. I have an
excellent free program that will explain it in great detail.
You can download it using the below link:
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Site of the Week
MomsMakingMoneyOnline.com
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Grandpa Terry's Email
Hi Terry,
Please pass this along... to :
Here is my dilemma.... I have cut my living cost to the bare
minimum. I have no unnecessary expenses at all. Here is where
the GUILT hits me. I live in a very rural area and we have one
high-speed internet provider. Being the only provider, they
charge $70 plus dollars per month. I feel so guilty paying this
amount of money for internet when I could be paying $9.95 for a
basic dialup service. I suppose my question to you is: Am I
stupid for paying such a ridiculous price for internet???
Remember, I can afford it, but I could also be putting an
additional $60 of this money into savings. HELP!!
Regards, and keep up the great work, Ms. Lynn Thanks, Nanci Hi
Lynn,
I know what you are trying to achieve here. Fully understand,
cuz I run a tight ship too.
I do not see any reason why PeoplePC would not work for you -
since it does not matter who is the predominant provider in your
area, as long as you have a regular ordinary home telephone -
People PC can hook you up anywhere Thru the ordinary telephone
line. And you pay them by mail or online. Give them a try. I
would be surprised if they could deny service because of rural.
My mom is reallllll rural in Ohio and she uses PeoplePC just
from a disk she got at Walmart's checkout line. She's out of
range for cell phone service - that's how far she is into the
country. There just are no signals out there for any of the big
companies who give cell service. That's what your Internet
people are doing by charging so much - they are capitalizing on
the lines that are laid already, and by not offering you the
option to go with a different provider - they are making big
money . People PC just needs a telephone line.
Nanci in Pgh.
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For the frugal subscriber who is paying $70 a month for high
speed internet. Two issues: 1. It is OK to "splurge" and feel OK
about it and 2. Time equals money. If she figured out the time
she would save on the speed of the high speed would let her do
other money saving things with her free time. Saving money is
great but there is a real balancing act between
enjoyment/payback/payoff and spending.
Jann
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Hi Terry
It's me- Crystal- here in DE.....as is my routine- I was
reading my Budget Stretcher newsletter and when I clicked on one
of your links- this link was on that site. I need your opinion-
right now we are facing the very real possibility that I may
have to go out to work. My children are young and this is a very
disturbing thought to my husband and myself.
Would you please review this site and tell me what you think? I
trust your information and advice and would really appreciate
your help.
Sincerely
Crystal
My Response:
Hi Crystal,
I'll give you the best info I can...
First, make sure there are no fees involved in joining their
team. Most legitimate work--at-home businesses are happy to
train you and give you all the materials you need to get
started. I can't find anything on their site that they charge a
fee.
Secondly, these are sales positions whether you are a training
specialist or plan specialist. I'm sure you know that it takes
several contacts to make a sale no matter what you are selling.
However, if you are good with people this may be easy for you..
Now, and most importantly, what is it going to cost you to go
to work. There are a lot of hidden costs to a second income that
most people don't think of. Besides the obvious 2nd vehicle,
clothing, lunches, etc. you have things like taxes to consider.
Just to give you an example, my daughter worked part time at
Wal-Mart one year and only made $2100. Besides here tax
withholding and other expenses her and her husband lost over
$700 in earned income credit due to her salary. I wrote an
article about this and you can read it at:
If you find that the program you are considering isn't going to
work I would suggest that you find something you love to do and
try to find a way to profit from it. It's like not having a job
at all.
You may want to give their interview a try. But, you interview
them at the same time. Find out everything you can and it will
be easier to decide.
I hope this helps,
Terry
--------
Grandpa Terry can you please tell me again what the percentage
formula you use, is? I know it's 30/30/30/5/5 but what falls
under each percent? Also, what category does tithe fall into?
Thank you Grandpa Terry.
Mrs. Cosgray
My Response:
Hi Mrs. Cosgray,
The formula is 30% for Housing, 30% for Household Expenses, 30%
for Other Bills, 5% for long term savings and 5% for short term
savings.
Your expense for tithe should probably fall under other bills
since normally it is about the same each month. Other bills
include credit cards, auto and other loans. Actually everything
except your mortgage expenses.
I hope that helps,
Grandpa Terry
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Subscriber Tip #2
One more idea for preventing your purse from being stolen while
shopping is to invest in a carabiner clip (around $1) and put it
on your keychain, when you get to the store clip your keys to
your purse and then to the shopping cart. You can also use the
clip to attach your keys to your purse and never lose your keys
again!
Tracy/031708
Subscriber Tip Of The Week
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Brand New: Use the form at the link below to vote for this tip:
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Subscriber Tip #3
In the past, buying the larger package of a product was always
cheaper than the smaller one. But lately, I have noticed that
the smaller packages are being priced less per serving than the
bulk packages. (particularly at Walmart). So pay attention to
price per serving, ounce, pound, etc. Many times the smaller
package is the better deal.
KimberLeAnne/031708
Subscriber Tip Of The Week
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This Week's Article Links
Just click the links to view the article
Courtesy overdraft: bad for customers
By Laura Bruce • Bankrate.com
(banking)
10 Quick and Inexpensive Ways to Brighten your Home for Spring!
By Kathy Wilson
Five Differences Between Debt Reduction and Credit Counseling
by Ellise Walsh
(debt)
To read more articles visit:
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Special Recipe
Magic Pie Recipe
4 eggs
1/4 cup margarine
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups milk or half and half
1 cup coconut
1 teaspoon vanilla
Place all ingredients in blender at one time and blend until
mixed together. Pour into a buttered 10-inch pie pan. Bake in a
350 degree oven for 1 hour. When done, crust will be on bottom,
custard in the middle, an coconut on top - right where they
belong.
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Everyday Savings
These Tips provided by The Frugal Shopper
Please show your appreciation for these great tips by visiting
this site.
~~Plastic grocery bags - Donate to local Salvation Army. They
deliver meals on Wheels to elderly and are a non profit
organization and need bags to put food in to deliver.
~~Plastic jugs - Cut out the side to make a big scoop or garden
shovel, cut off the top and use as a funnel, fill with water and
freeze to use in coolers, or cut off top and use bottom to store
toilet brush.
~~Baby food jars - Fill with salt or cornmeal and use for
paperweight, use for crafts, and for storing small items. Use
for Use for individual Jar Mix Gifts: 1 cup of coffee mix, 1 cup
of hot chocolate mix, or 1 cup of tea. Decorate jar, glue on
ribbon, and attach gift tag with instructions.
~~Broken crayons - Sort by color, melt in old can, pour into
molds that come with Jell-O gigglers, then kids have new crayons
in all different shapes. **Thanks Susie!
~~Socks - Use in crafts, to hold soaps, or to wash car.
~~Milk cartons - use for potting plants, or fill with water and
freeze to make blocks of ice.
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Contact Information:
Budget Stretcher
1203 Madison 228
Fredericktown, MO 63645
FAX: 573-783-5982
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Disclaimer: This newsletter is only intended to provide
information on proper money management. Budget Stretcher or
Terry Rigg can not accept responsibility for any injury or
damage that may be caused to yourself, others, or property when
following any advice given.
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