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The Budget Stretcher
"Saving you money...One Dime at a Time!"
Week Of: August 20, 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.
The Ultimate Chicken Wing Cookbook
$2 Online Book
600 Delicious Chocolate Recipes
Chocolate Recipes For Chocolate Lovers delivers more than 600 of
the best recipes from cookies and cakes to candies and truffles.
This eBook is pure chocolate satisfaction for chocolate lovers
everywhere!
(Use the below link to order)
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Support Our Sponsor
Mvelopes Personal Free Online Budgeting
Mvelopes Personal is an online budgeting system that makes it
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always know exactly how much you have left to spend, instantly
know the impact of every spending decision, effectively manage
credit card spending, and quickly create an easy to use
household budgeting plan.
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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 - Mexican Hamburger Casserole
Watch for next week's newsletter featuring:
Colleges help to tame tuition
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Computer Tip
Editor's Note: Since I'm running out of Subscriber Tips I'm
going to run some basic computer tips.
How to make your computer restart faster
When you have a brand new computer, turn it on, 30 sec later,
you already surf the web. However, it seems, day by day, your
computer is getting slower and slower, just to restart. I will
show you how to fix this.
Learn how:
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
Certain times of the year call for extra bargain shopping
efforts to save money and "Back to School" is certainly one
of them! Whether you scout out extra coupons for school
supplies at drug stores, office supply stores and discount
stores, or take advantage of special shopping days (such as
"tax free" or "save an extra 20%"), every dollar saved will
help your budget go a little further!
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!
First, I've been visiting Clark Howard's web site and found a
couple of links that I believe will interest you.
Capital One gets a pat on the back from Clark
It seems that Capital One has not been reporting your credit
card credit limit to credit reporting agencies correctly. They
have recently changed their tune and that could mean a higher
credit score for you.
Call 1-888-5-OPT-OUT!
Calling this number can remove your personal information from
the three credit bureau mailing lists and stop a lot of your
pre-approved credit card offers.
Payday Loans
I thought I knew a lot about Payday loans until I read this
article at Wikipedia. It tells all...
I'm sure you've heard about the 9 million toy recall announced
by Mattel. Here is a link that will explain it in detail:
I've mentioned in previous newsletters that I am completely
revising the Budget Stretcher Premium web site . I have set an
expected launch date of September 15, 2007 (If I can get off my
tail and get it done).
If I can work it out I plan to give all subscribers to this
newsletter limited access to the new site for 7 days prior to
the launch which will include the Premium newsletter for that
week. You will be able to browse the BSP site and even download
some of the software that is free to Premium subscribers.
In the coming weeks, BSP will contain about 3 times the resources
that it has now and still without any advertising at all. I want
you to see exactly what you would be getting if you subscribed to
the Premium Budget Stretcher.
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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Get two Special Bonuses:
~~Free Copy Of "Recipe Box" Software
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50% Off for a Limited Time!
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Credit Card Information
The Dirty Dozen Credit Card Traps
By Care One Credit
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Grandpa Terry's Tip of the Week
Living On What's Left
Are you one of those people that pay your bills no matter what?
That is an admirable trait to have when managing your money. You
made the bill and you feel you are responsible for paying it.
Good for you.
Now let's talk about how much money you have to cover your
household expenses after you pay all of those bills. Your
household expenses would include your groceries, car gas, school
lunches, and all of the other stuff that it takes to run a
household. Do you have enough to pay this bill?
All to often, people tend to pay their bills and try to live on
what's left. This never works unless you have enough money left
to cover these at home expenses. The grocery bill will always
run about the same, you will always need about the same money
for gas, etc. In other words, you need enough to live on.
I have seen this time and time again. Another bill is made and
the money comes out of the household budget because there is no
money available in any other category. Then what happens?
Many people resort to using their credit cards to cover their
regular expenses. Since there is no other money available to pay
their increased credit card payments, that also has to come out
of their household expenses. This is how many people find
themselves in over their heads.
There is only one way to change this cycle. You have to allow
enough money in your budget to cover the things you need. You
must do this even at the expense of your other bills. That could
put you in a position that you can't make some of your payments,
but at lease you won't be increasing your debt, except for
possibly late fees. If this is your situation you need to seek
help to reduce the payments on your other bills.
Naturally, there are many ways to cut your household expenses
that will allow you to pay more toward your other bills. You can
save a lot of money on groceries by using coupons, buying
generic, not using processed foods, etc. The internet is full of
ideas and tips to help you save. I would start by visiting
When you develop or revise your budget, always put the emphasis
on your household needs. Once you have determined how much you
need to get by, then you can see what is left for other bills.
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Site of the Week
Mom Links
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Grandpa Terry's Email
Hi there. I was wondering something. We currently have a small
credit card debt. Would it be in our best interest to pay all
extra monies toward this debt or place it in a savings account?
Can't seem to make up my mind on this one. What do you think?
Andrea
Kentucky
My Response:
Hi Andrea,
Great question. Normally a credit card carries an interest rate
of about 15% to 18% where a savings account will be no more than
5% at best. You could possibly save hundreds of dollars by
paying off the credit card first, much more than you would earn
with a savings account.
When, the credit card is paid off you could apply that payment
and any extra money toward your savings account.
I hope this helps you decide.
All the best,
Terry
-------
Can we ask your tip contributor to also share the recipe for
the potato chip cookies? I loved the tip for the chips in the
freezer and can't wait to try it! thanks, Grandpa Terry, for all
you do!
wordyblue
Here is Ginnie's Response:
Here it is... remember, this is a very old family recipe when
recipes were straight forward... nothing fancy. :-)
Ginnie
Potato Chip Cookies
2 cups crushed potato chips
3 cups flour
1 1/2 cup butter or oleo
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup nuts <I use pecans> OR 1/2 cup nuts & 1 cup coconut
Cream shortening and sugar.
Add salt and eggs and vanilla.
Add chips and flour and nuts.
Roll in sugar, place on cookie sheet and press with fork.
<No soda or baking powder used.>
Bake about 13 minutes @ 350
-------
I have a quick question that has been annoying me for a while
now. Maybe you've answered in the past and I simply forgot to
remember it. Here goes:
Would you save more money on interest charges if you paid
weekly on a credit card or car payment or would it be the same.
For example if my credit card payment is $200 a month would it
be better to send them $50 a week or save myself the aggravation
and pay the $200 once a month. I know this can work for a
mortgage, but will it work for a credit card and/or a car loan?
Thanks... and love the newsletter,
Joanna
My Response:
Hi Joanna,
I really don't think I would try this with a credit card. With
their minimum payments being set in stone, paying less may cause
a problem and a penalty. The benefit probably wouldn't be worth
the effort in any case.
I hope this helps,
Terry
-------
I just totaled my 2005 Nissan Quest and the insurance company
is paying me less than I owe on the vehicle. Any suggestions on
how to move forward and get another vehicle? Thank you.
My Response:
Hi,
I'm sorry to hear about your car. I hope no one was hurt.
The first thing you should be concerned about is the loan
company coming after you for the difference between what the
insurance paid and the amount of the loan. They may not give you
much time to come up with the money.
There may be a way to manage this. Many car dealers have big
rebates on their cars right now. It is possible that you could
purchase a car and use the rebate to pay off the remainder of
your old loan.
No matter how you decide to buy a car please consider GAP
insurance. This alone would have covered the amount you still
owe on your Nissan. Here is a web site that explains GAP
insurance:
I hope this helps,
Grandpa Terry
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Subscriber Tip
For those of us with cats and dogs, the price for flea and tick
monthly applications can add up. To save money, and still deter
the pests, I split the largest dog-size dosage up into several
doses for smaller dogs. For instance, I have both a 50 lb. and a
15 lb. dog. Instead of buying two different sized treatments, I
buy one larger size (usually 60+ lbs.) and use one application
for both dogs. The same trick works for cats, too.
Sara
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is full of answers and advice about activities, techniques and
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Budget Stretcher Partners
SavingAdvice.com
Thrifty Fun
Smart Money Tips
TheFrugalShopper.com
4 Moms at Home.com
Debt Smart
Maxxsave.co.uk
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Computer Tip
How To Change The Desktop Font Size For Windows
Using your browser click on View at the top. Scroll down to
text size then choose from the list (Largest to Smallest).
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This Week's Article Links
Just click the links to view the article
Worried about Countrywide?
By Bankrate.com
How much house can you afford?
By Bankrate.com
The Universal Default Credit Card Clause
How Your Credit Card Interest Rate Can Go "Through the Roof" for
No Apparent Reason
By Rebecca Lindsey, CardRatings.com Senior Staff Writer
To read more articles visit:
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Take Advantage of your Budget Stretcher Subscriber
Benefits Visit:
Visit Our Forum
Join This Groups
A_Simple_Life
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Support Our Sponsors
Debt Consolidation can:
H - Help avoid filing bankruptcy
E - Eliminate creditor harassment
L - Lower debt payments up to 50%
P - Provide one monthly payment
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Special Recipe
Just Cooking Tips
Mexican Hamburger Casserole
1/2 lb. ground beef, browned
1 (10 3/4 oz) can cream of chicken soup
1 lb. Cheddar cheese
1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 sm. can green chilies, diced
1 (10) pkg. corn tortillas
Mix browned ground beef, chicken soup, tomato sauce and green
chilies in a bowl. Put a layer of tortillas on the bottom of a
9x13 pan, then a layer of meat, a layer of tortillas, and
sprinkle cheese on top. Bake 300 degrees 30-45 minutes.
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.
~~To aid in washing dishes, add a tablespoon of baking soda to
your soapy water--it softens hands while cutting through grease.
~~Save your store-bought-bread bags and ties--they make perfect
storage bags for homemade bread. (Don't turn them inside out.
The labels are painted on the out sides of the bags with
lead-based paint.)
~~If you have problem opening jars: Try using latex dish washing
gloves. They give a non-slip grip that makes opening jars easy.
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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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