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The Budget Stretcher
"Saving you money...One Dime at a Time!"
Week Of: June 18, 2007
AOL Users Please Visit Online
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Free Ebook Download
For the next few weeks I'm going to give away an ebook each
week. All you have to do is click on the below link and the
download will start. The Adobe Acrobat Reader is required
to open the ebook and is on most computers.
Emergency Preparation: How to take care of your family when
Disaster Strikes
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Support Our Sponsor
MOMS MAKE MORE!
More financial freedom!
More time for your family!
More control over your life!
More flexibility!
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***What's Inside***
Free Ebook Download
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 - Salsa #1
Watch for next week's newsletter featuring:
Affordable legal help for bankruptcy
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Subscriber Tip
Here's an idea for saving water. If any of you are like me, my
utility bill is going through the roof! Anyway, for most of us,
wanting hot water means turning the faucet on and waiting until
the cold water becomes hot. My advice to you is save that cold
water for something else! Our faucet water is pretty good, so
while I'm waiting for the hot stuff to flow, I put bottles
underneath the stream while it is still cold. I then stick the
bottles in the fridge so we can drink it later. If your faucet
water isn't good enough to drink, save that water for the
plants. You're helping save the environment and a bit of change
as well.
Kristin
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 or 10 of
my Budget and Credit Card Calculating Forms.
Please use the form available at:
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Coupon Savings
by Michelle Jones
Savvy shoppers who regularly use grocery coupons know that just
one missed week of clipping coupons can really set you behind.
When working with coupons it's important to develop a weekly
routine. Try to choose the same day and time to clip your
grocery coupons each week. I like to do mine at the beginning of
the week, either on Sunday afternoons or Monday mornings. Within
a short time this should become a habit for you just like any
other household duty and before you know it you'll have no more
missed weeks!
Save hundreds of dollars on your groceries each month, with or
without using coupons! Read more of Michelle's FREE grocery
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Grandpa Terry's Update
Welcome to The Budget Stretcher!
A subscriber brought up the idea of printing ebooks rather than
expecting you to read them on your computer monitor and the fact
that she believes most people would pay a little more to have
them in print.
While this wouldn't be practical for Budget Stretcher, being a
one man operation, I wanted to get your opinion.
Would you rather read ebooks on your computer or have them
printed and sent to you?
Just send me an email with your comments to
I just received my paper bank statement and it's 9 pages long.
This used to be the time of the month that I dreaded reconciling
my check register. It normally took about an hour or more and
then sometimes I would miss one or two.
Since I've been using the Bill Pay Management System my check
register is kept up to date daily using online banking. It's so
much more accurate and easier to catch any mistakes immediately.
If you haven't ordered your copy of the Bill Pay Management
System you can still get it for only $5.57 using the link in
the right column of your Subscriber Benefits Page at the below
link:
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 just have them visit:
Have a great week,
Grandpa Terry
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Support Our Sponsor
Get More From Your Budget Stretcher Subscription
Did you know that all of that stuff I sell on my web site and in
this newsletter is free with a Budget Stretcher Premium
Subscription?
That's right, all of the ebooks, budget organizer, debt
elimination summary, calculating forms and a whole lot more
won't cost you any more than a 1 year subscription of only
$13.96 ($19.95 value). You can download to your heart's content.
You Get:
Living Within Your Means - The Easy Way
The Complete Budget and Bill Organizer Download
Budget and Credit Card Calculating Forms
Fast and Easy Debt Elimination
Plus 100s Of Other Resources
Here is how to subscribe to Budget Stretcher Premium. Just
visit the below link and look in the right hand column. Click
the link "Click Here To Set Your Discount Code". You will be
immediately returned to the same page where you can click on
"Budget Stretcher Premium". On your final check out page the
discount of 30% will apply.
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Credit Card Information
What You Can Do to Stop the Abusive Practices of Credit Card
Companies
By BSC Alliance.com
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Grandpa Terry's Tip of the Week
I'm posting one of my most popular articles again as the tip
for this week. It seems that too many people have problems
knowing exactly what their financial priorities should be.
What To Pay When You Can't Pay Everything
With ever increasing consumer debt more of us are finding
ourselves robbing Peter to pay Paul each month.
We go through our bills and find that the money just won't
stretch far enough to cover all of the bills and expenses. It's
hard to decide who you should pay when you have one bill that is
stamped with "Final Notice" and you are behind on several of
your other bills.
If you don't pay the credit cards you know that you are going
to start getting those harassing phone calls. If you don't pay
the house payment you are looking at foreclosure. If you don't
pay the utilities they will shut them off. How do you decide?
When you get to this point it's time to get down to basic
survival and work from there.
I have actually talked to people that stated their credit cards
were up to date but their mortgage was two months behind. This
is one of the biggest mistakes we can make when we don't have
the money to pay everything.
Another mistake I see on a regular basis is that some people
pay their bills at the expense of their food budget.
If you have the money to pay some of your bills, you have to
start with groceries first and necessary health items. You can
try to save as much as possible on your food but that money has
to be set aside before anything else.
The next bill you must pay is your mortgage or rent. While
credit cards companies will drag out their collection process,
mortgage companies and landlords will start the process of
foreclosure or eviction within just a couple of months.
Your next priority is your utilities. In many cases utility
companies will turn off your utilities if the bill isn't paid
within a few days of receiving the bill.
Once you are sure you have enough to eat and a roof over your
head you can start thinking about your other bills. The secured
loans, like your car payment, should come before your unsecured
loans, like your credit cards.
The reason for this is simple. Creditors that have secured
property will sue or repossess much quicker than the credit card
companies.
If you find yourself in this situation it is a sign that you
need to do something drastic and fast. By not paying all of your
bills each month they are going to add up quickly and you are
going to accumulate a lot of late fees.
The best place to start is to find out exactly where you stand
and what is causing the problem. This is as simple as listing
your income on one side of a piece of paper and your bills on
the other. Total each and subtract your bills from your income.
Your next step is to develop a budget. You can find a free and
simple budget by visiting The Complete Budget and Bill Organizer
Whether you use my budget system or another it is very
important that you start one as soon as possible. For those of
you that believe a budget is to restrictive, just the opposite
is true. The only way you can get what you want and know you can
afford it is to have a budget in place.
It is important that you pay all of your bills on time each
month. When you don't have the money to pay everything it is
vital to your survival that you pay the most important bills
first.
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Site of the Week
Grocerygame.com
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Grandpa Terry's Email
Hi Grandpa Terry—
Ooooh, those credit card companies! They are out to get the
last penny they can. My latest complaint is about RBS. I know
Chase is bad, but I think RBS might be even worse. After I paid
off my card, I continued to receive statements—the last one was
70-some dollars. When I called they absolutely would not budge,
and said if my card were paid by the 14th of the next month that
would be the pay off amount---no adjustments or taking off
additional "interest" charges they had added after I paid off
the card the first time. So, I waited for my statement, which
did not come until the 10th of the month. I tried to go online
to pay off my balance on their website, but guess what? I was
not able to pay the full amount on their website—only a portion
of what they said I owed. So, in my opinion, their goal was to
keep their customers from being able to pay on time so they can
justify additional charges. Thanks to websites like yours, I
think I am a little more wary of some of their tactics. As soon
as I received my statement from them I paid the full amount with
my online bill pay through my bank, since there was no way my
payment could have reached them on time by mail. I have not
heard from RBS anymore so far, so hopefully am done with them.
It was worth the $70 to me to get rid of them.
I am totally against the use of credit cards. We have quit
using all of our cards. Now I'm starting to get letters from
some of them saying they are going to close our accounts because
of "disuse" (I love it!).
Anyway, it took me to my mid-50's to realize some of this
stuff. We are paying off all our cards, but keep a Citibank card
in case of emergency. Citibank has taken off late charges when I
forgot to pay and once, when I hadn't looked at my statement and
realized my payment was due that day, I called Citibank and they
let me pay over the phone and waived the phone charge. So, I
know they are all out to make money, but I have found Citibank
to be the most respectful of their customers and the easiest to
work with.
Thanks for your newsletter. I look forward to it every week.
Brenda
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Dear Grandpa Terry, I want to thank you for using my suggestion
last week for getting discounts for "Senior Beverages" at fast
food establishments. And I truly appreciate the Budget Stretcher
Bill Organizer you sent too!
I've been subscribed to your website for quite a while now. I
LOVE the ebook titles that you have available, and I know that I
could use some of them, but never have taken advantage of the
offers because (1) I hate to download and print them out and (2)
I dislike having to sit at my computer to read them.
I'm the type of person who likes to sit at the end of my day,
on my cushy recliner with a cup of tea and peruse something
tangible. I've been asking my family and friends, from their
30's to 60's, how they feel about ebooks. They unanimously
agreed with my sentiment.
I know it's no easy task running a website and you do a
fabulous job. I was wondering if a poll of your readers would
give you the same results on the ebooks as my little poll did?
Of course, I know the bottom line is your preference. I just
wonder if people would be willing to spend more money for a
booklet than less money on an ebook? Just a thought.
I hope you have a wonderful week, Grandpa Terry. And thanks for
allowing me to put my idea in your Suggestion Box...Now there's
an idea!!! A suggestion box! I'm on a roll...LOL!
Your Avid Fan in NC,
Linda
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Terry,
Not too long ago, I wrote you in a panic and you sent me an
ebook for finding emergency money. It is a great book! It really
helped to put things into perspective for me as well as helping
me find ways to come up with money in a pinch! Thank you!
A tip:
Since that day, I have been working really hard to bring my
families budget under control. With the ultimate goal of 100%
budget control in mind, I found Microsoft's Office template
website...there are thousands of free office templates there;
everything from calendars to resume wizards to recipe cards.
Extremely helpful and 100% free. Here is the link:
I used this website to download a basic calendar template,
printed it out & have it hanging directly in front of my face on
the wall behind my computer desk. I have written all of our
bills on it (with amount due) on dates a couple days ahead of
the actual due date (if it's due on Thursday, I write it as due
on the Tuesday before). I am taking the time to write down each
bill as it comes in so that I don't miss anything...I've only
been doing this for a couple of weeks, but it seems like it
might work as a reminder for me. We'll see! But, before this can
really work for me, I need to know how much money we have, and
that is where I need your advice.
I graduated from college on June 10, and because my last
quarter was so very hectic & time consuming, I totally lost
control of our bank account....I do not know how much money we
do or don't have, what is coming out, etc. I have not balanced
our checkbook in over 3 months, I have been using the "memory
method" and it is not working. I have paid nearly $100 in
overdraft charges this month because of my lack of a balanced
checkbook. I don't know where receipts are, or if I even have
them all. Is there a good way to fix this? My husband and I use
our debit cards like cash (another no-no that we are putting to
a stop!) so I don't know what will come out & when! What would
you suggest we do?
Again, thank you for the ebook, it was great & extremely
helpful. I appreciate that you took the time to help me with my
problems! I hope you have a wonderful week, and I look forward
to your next newsletter on Sunday.
Christine
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Subject: tip about newspaper mulch in 6/3 newsletter
I just read it today (I'm a little behind in my email reading)
and a reader said to use newspapers as mulch; this works fine
but you must tell people NOT to use papers that have colored
ink on them. The ink may have lead based colors in them and
these will leach into the soil. Sawdust is a wonderful mulch
also; but you CANNOT use sawdust from treated wood. Treated
wood has many chemicals in them that will make you sick. I
love your budget stretcher. Have a wonderful day.
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Subscriber Tip
Actually, I have two tips for helping to keep your summer
electric bill (read: air conditioning) from destroying your
budget: one by one, replace your regular light bulbs for compact
fluorescents (many home improvement stores have sales and/or
electric companies give coupons) but still turn them off when
you leave a room...it has saved us about 25% each month (about
$35.00/mo) AND, do the analysis yourself about what your annual
electric budget is and pay that amount in 12 equal amounts
throughout the year (especially in spring and fall when there is
neither electric use for heat yet nor air conditioning any
longer). We find it is better than using the electric company's
plan because if there is an emergency during the month and we
can' t pay the higher amount, we do not risk defaulting on a
payment plan.
Gina
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Support Our Sponsor
250 Quick, Easy Dinner Ideas
Do you ever get stuck in a rut, preparing the same meals for
your family week after week? I do!
What's for dinner tonight?? The Creative Homemaking What's for
Dinner? cookbook contains more than 250 quick, easy,
family-tested dinner ideas plus a lot more.
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Budget Stretcher Partners
At Home Parent
Work-at-Home Team
Frugal Folks.com
Tidbits from the Pantry
Abbys Good Stuff for Free
Diva Tribe
Free Credit Card Reviews
MomsMakingMoneyOnline.com
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Subscriber Tip
I refill a dishwashing liquid foam dispenser with regular
dishwashing liquid and use this to hand wash my dishes. It
cuts down on using dishwashing liquid and saves water because
the foam is much easier to rinse off than full strength
dishwashing liquid. The dishes get just as clean.
Diane
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Support Our Sponsors
Consumer Lending and Personal Credit Guide
LendersMark.org is a consumer credit website with a growing
collection of bad credit loans, debt consolidation, and
mortgage-related articles. If you are a mortgage expert, loan /
lending officer, or operate a credit organization, we encourage
you to submit articles that may be of particular interest to our
readers.
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This Week's Article Links
Just click the links to view the article
10 things to do before you retire
By Sharon Anne Waldrop Bankrate.com
How to Dispute Credit Report Errors
Federal Trade Commission
Teaching Children the Value of Money
By Gregory Thomas
To read more articles visit:
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Take Advantage of your Budget Stretcher Subscriber
Benefits Visit:
Visit Our Forum
Budget Stretcher Subscriber Benefits Page
Join This Groups
A_Simple_Life
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Support Our Sponsors
A VA Loan can keep High Interest Rates Away
In today's housing market there are a record number of
foreclosures throughout every state. Don't be a part of the
growing number of Americans staring foreclosure in the face and
obtain a loan insured by the federal government.
The VA offers many great benefits to those that have served our
country and are looking to purchase their first home. A
for veterans who are first time home purchasers with little
credit to poor credit to obtain a competitive interest rate. If
you currently have a VA Loan you may also look into a
that loan to help save you money with your mortgage to receive
the best rate.
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Special Recipe
Salsa #1
4 cups canned tomatoes with juice
1 large onion, diced
1 green pepper, chopped
1 small, fresh jalapeno pepper, minced
2 to 3 Tbsp. lime juice (to taste)
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
2 Tbsp. cilantro, chopped
salt and pepper
Cook all the ingredients in a large saucepan on medium heat for
20 minutes. Pour into hot, sterile quart jars and seal. Process
in a pressure canner for 25 minutes. We use salsa frequently
enough that we don't have to can it. Store it in the
refrigerator.
This recipe compliments of The Best Cookbook Anywhere
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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.
Stain Removers
~~Oily/Waxy Stains - Try one of the following: "Scrubbing
Bubble" bathroom cleaners; Rub white chalk into the stain
before laundering; Rub with damp cloth dipped in Borax;
Apply a paste of cornstarch and water, let dry and brush off.
Blood Stains - Fresh - use cold water. Dried - Use Hydrogen
Peroxide. Pour over stain as soon as possible.
Red Stains (Kool-Aid, Popsicle, Berry Juice) - Rubbing
Alcohol. Pour over stain before washing.
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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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