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The Budget Stretcher
Week Of: November 13, 2006
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Grandpa Terry's Quips
Tip #42 - Question - You have a credit card with a $2, 000
balance at 15% interest. Your current minimum payment is $40.
How much would you save by continuing to pay $40 each month
instead of paying the declining minimum payment?
1) $200 - Pay off 3 months earlier
2) $400 - Pay off 6 months earlier
3) $800 - Pay off 1 year 2 months earlier
4)$1000 - Pay off 6 years 5 months earlier
Answer Next Week!
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"The "New" Complete Budget and Bill Organizer" just released in
May 2006. This Premium Edition of the Organizer has everything
and is quick as lightning. All of the instructions, Forms
(Including 10 Redesigned Calculating Forms) and Worksheets will
make your Budgeting Task so easy a child could do it. Bonus:
Receive "How To Budget Successfully".
I am currently running a Special Introductory Offer of 50% Off
the Regular Price. Get yours now but please hurry!
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***What's Inside***
Money Saving Tip
Subscriber's Tip of the Week
Coupon Savings
Grandpa Terry's Update
Credit Card Information
Grandpa Terry's Tip of the Week
Site of the Week
Grandpa Terry's Email
This Week's Articles
Special Recipe - Stuffing
Visit Our Web Site Sponsors
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Subscriber Tip
Hi, Grandpa Terry,
Here's a great "recipe" to make your own baby wipes that my
daughter-in-law uses.
This is a not only a terrific way to save lots of money, but
these are safe to use on baby's delicate skin. The wipes can be
used for diaper changes and on little hands and faces, too. You
will need:
Round plastic container (Rubbermaid #6 or #9 works well)
Thick, strong roll of white paper towels (Bounty brand paper
towels work best)
Sharp knife to cut paper towel roll in half
2 cups water that has been boiled and cooled to room
temperature
2 Tablespoons baby shampoo or baby wash
1 Tablespoon baby oil
Cut the roll of paper towels in half with a knife and remove
the inner cardboard core. Mix liquid ingredients in container.
Place the paper towels in the container with the cut side
facing downward. Secure lid tightly and allow to sit until all
liquid is absorbed into the paper towels. Turn the container
upside-down and allow to sit for 10 minutes.
Open container and 'start' the roll by pulling a towel from the
inside of the roll. Wipes are now ready to use.
Tips: These also make a great gift for new parents. You can
decorate or personalize the container and, of course, be sure to
include a copy of the recipe. Save the other half of the roll
for use next time you make wipes. Make sure the container is
closed tightly after each use to prevent drying out. When your
baby is older and his skin is less sensitive, you can add about
a teaspoon of rubbing alcohol to the mix.
Susan
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
Did you know you can view your local grocery store sale flyers
online? Not all stores have a Web site but thankfully most of
them do. You can also often get free recipes and other services
from your store's site and I think they are a great service! If
you do not know if your favorite grocery store is online you can
browse through our directory at
We update these store listings every month and have over 100
grocery stores listed for your convenience. And by the way, this
service is completely FREE! Once you locate your grocery store's
Web site be sure to bookmark it or save it to your desktop, that
way you can visit the sale flyer section every week and know
which coupons to use for maximum savings!
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
(Quote - "Do It Now Before Your Future Becomes Your Past")
I want to personally welcome you to this week's newsletter. If
you are a new subscriber all you have to do is just sit back,
read and enjoy.
I have been hearing from some of you that you are having
problems paying your mortgage payment or rent. When I inquire
about your other bills, many times they are up to date.
If you never taken any advice I give please heed this! If you
have any money after you buy groceries, it goes toward your
mortgage payment or rent, period. Not your car payment or your
credit cards or any other debt, I don't care how much they are
hounding you.
In next week's issue of our newsletter I will be running an
article about the devastating effects of getting behind on your
mortgage.
Because very few of you took advantage of the 7 Day Free Trial
offer for Budget Stretcher Premium, I will be canceling it on
November 20th. You can still sign up and receive BSP free for
a week before that time. Here is the link:
I'm going to start listing links for saving you some time,
headaches and money in the coming winter. Here's the first:
Winterize Your House
by Janet Wickell
Getting the House Ready for Winter
I finally have a Budget Stretcher Web Site Agreement and Privacy
Policy in place on my web pages. You can review these by
visiting the below links:
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:
All the best,
Grandpa Terry
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rebate savings, Mr. Rebates offers thousands of money-saving
coupons from select stores including coupons that can reach up
to 40% off instant savings on purchases. Registration is free
and you get a $2.50 bonus just for signing-up today!
Budget Stretcher readers, stretch your budget farther with Mr.
Rebates!
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Credit Card Information
Costs and fees: Introduction
By Bankrate.com
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Grandpa Terry's Tip of the Week
Are You Afraid Of A Budget
There's that horrifying word. The one that makes so many people
cringe at it's very utterance. It seems like they could make a
very good spooky movie with the title "You Have To BUDGET!".
Yeah, that's a little dramatic but I have been helping people
with their personal finances for almost 30 years and it's not
too far off base. The word scares the daylights out of some
people.
You should see their faces when I tell them they are already
budgeting no matter whether they have anything written down or
not. It's a fact.
Whether you run your budget out of your wallet or on a printed
budget form you are still budgeting your money. The main
difference is that running your budget out of your wallet
doesn't have a plan or anyway to control your spending.
Maybe we should refer to managing our finances as a road map
instead of a budget. It doesn't sound quite as bad and it
identifies what you are doing more clearly.
Budgeting is exactly like taking a trip in your car. You know
where you are and where you want to go but you need a road map
to find out how to get there. You are simply developing a plan
or route if you prefer.
No one would even consider starting out on a trip to unfamiliar
places without a road map. Why would you consider managing your
money without a budget?
The reason most people give for not budgeting their money is
that it will deprive them of the things that they want. They are
right to a certain extent.
If they want something that they can't afford then, if they are
living by their budget, they won't be able to get it right now.
However, if they plan their budget correctly they will
eventually be able to get what they want and know that they can
afford it.
Almost all of the people that I have counseled over the years
either don't have a budget in place or wouldn't have any idea of
how to start one. This is one of the main reasons that so many
people are having serious financial problems.
Then you have the people that start a budget and within a few
days or weeks it's just sitting in a drawer somewhere. Chances
are that the budget they had was too difficult and takes
entirely too much time to manage. That's a big mistake.
A budget should be as simple as possible and take only a few
minutes on payday to manage. Sure, it does take some time and
effort to setup your budget properly but after that you just sit
down on payday, write out your bills, make a few notations on
your budget forms and do some filing. This is what it takes to
stick to a budget.
The best part about having a budget is that you will always be
able to answer the question we ask ourselves many times in our
lifetime, "Can I Afford That". You will have the answer at your
fingertips. Yep, sometimes the answer will be NO!
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Site of the Week
Get a FREE poster and FREE issue of Zoobooks magazine!
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Grandpa Terry's Email
You know, Grandpa Terry, I was pretty skeptical at first when I
found your site and thought, yeah, right!!!
But you know, your approach to teaching and making me feel like
you and I were chatting over coffee, made me feel very
comfortable at tackling this budget thing!!
I really liked the fact that this course was being stretched
over two weeks, and having homework...I actually looked forward
to doing it and hearing from you. Your plan of attack was great,
and it helped me see where I was really messing things up and a
better way of doing things. My way just wasn't accomplishing
what I wanted.....within a couple of days I could see where
yours would.
Thank you for putting so much time and effort into making this
program free and educational. It's pretty obvious that you know
of which you speak. I hope that we can stay in touch....I'm
looking forward to your newsletters, and know that the
encouragement continues thru it....
Eilish
-------
Terry,
I was a little shocked and a tad disappointed that you were
promoting a product called No Adware in your latest Budget
Stretcher newsletter (actually you asked your online readers to
"Download and Try Adware Free", which made me smirk a little at
the omission of the word "No").
I did download the product, which was a free download. I let it
scan my system, and it found 23 items. Oh no! What should I do?
Clean them? In order to do that, I have to register. So I click
on the "Register" button, and it brings me to a site that says,
for ONLY $37.00 I can register No Adware.
Terry, this is what's commonly referred to as "crippleware". A
product will only do so much, and when you want it to do the
rest (usually the reason you download it in the first place),
you have to pay for it. I cannot and do not support crippleware,
so I will not support this sponsor. It would have been different
if, for example, it had a one-week restriction-free trial.
If nothing else, the advertising of this product should have
given a few clues:
Your PC is probably infected with adware & spyware if:
You have downloaded music online
Your PC is running extremely slow
You are pestered by those horrible popup ads
Your homepage keeps changing
1. There are legal ways to download music that will not
necessarily infect your PC, so this first example is a scare
tactic.
2. There are a number of other reasons a PC can run slow, such
as a heavily fragmented hard drive.
3. Pop-Up ads can also come from the Windows Messenger service,
unless it is disabled.
4. A changing homepage results from a Browser Hijacker and yes,
this is bad.
The word "probably" saves them from potential harm, as the
novice user may not necessarily know about these other issues.
Before your readers download and install No Adware, I think
they should check out the MajorGeeks Top Freeware Picks at
particular contains a bunch of FREE fix-it utilities, and the
site as a whole is a treasure trove of both freeware, shareware
and trialware utilities.
In the interest of disclosure, I am NOT an employee or
otherwise affiliated with MajorGeeks. I am just an intermediate
computer user who visits the site on a daily basis to download
updates to software that I use and to check out new programs.
While budgeting my income is not my strong point, computer
safety and education is a big part of my life.
I have a surfing habit that blocks ads while I surf the web,
and would share my method with you…but I know your site is
ad-supported and I don't think you would want to share it with
your readers.
Regards,
Jim M.
-------
Hi Grandpa Terry!
Last week we came home to a cold house...For the second time.
our 11yr old Lennox furnace broke down again. We called our
repair guys (dial one) here locally in central Indiana. He said
it would cost $455.00 to replace the circuit board. since it was
so old, we opted not to keep putting money into it, and bought a
new-energy efficient system from them...Trane brand. 92% energy
efficient. We feel it was a wise decision, however, after being
out of debt for only a year, it was kind of hard to go back into
debt even though it'll be worth it in the long run. They financed
us through a finance company (12 mo same as cash) at 15.5%. My
Question is this...What's the best way to pay less interest
to pay for it? Lower interest bank loan or low interest credit
card?????? ANY ADVICE would help us decide.
Thanks a lot .
Lisa
My Response:
Hi Lisa,
Replacing your heating/cooling systems can cost an arm and a
leg and usually comes at the worst time.
Naturally, the best way would be to pay the heating system off
in the 12 month period. However, the payments would probably be
more than you could handle.
To get the lowest interest rate possible, a home equity loan or
line of credit probably would only cost you about 5% to 6%. Even
a low interest credit card, unless the rate is 0% and that only
lasts usually 12 months max, would cost you more even if you got
the same interest rate as a loan. The credit card companies
figure their interest rates differently than loan companies.
I hope this helps.
All the best,
Grandpa Terry
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Subscriber Tip
Don't toss out your expired coupons because Jewel Food stores
will still take them, especially through the self check lanes.
I've seen these machines take coupons that were 5 years
old. Jewel does it as a courtesy to their customers to take
expired coupons. I know this because I work there.
Maureen
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Subscriber Tip
I put a Mr. Clean sponge in my shower and usually before or
after my shower I wipe down the walls then even the tub. the
shower always looks clean. The sponge lasts a long time before I
have to replace it.
Nancy
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This Week's Article Links
Just click the links to view the articles
You've got money! Finding hidden cash
By Bankrate.com
Holiday Driving Tips
by Arthur A Hawkins II
MAKE-AHEAD TURKEY FOR THE HOLIDAYS
By Deborah Taylor-Hough
To read more articles visit:
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Join These Groups
A_Simple_Life
Frugal-Folks
FrugalMomsNews
FunOnABudget
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My Budget Planner
Are you frustrated trying to get by on the money you make?
Would you like to get a good view to where all your money is
going?
Would you like to start saving your money, or save even
more?
Looking for something easier then software like Quicken or
Money?
Would you like to teach your children about finance?
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Special Recipe
Holiday Cooking
Stuffing
6 cups cubed bread
1 Tbsp. parsley flakes
3 Tbsp. chicken bouillon powder
1/4 cup dried minced onion
1/2 cup minced celery, or fresh celery may be sautéed
and added just before cooking
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. sage
1/3 tsp. salt
Preheat oven 350 degrees. Spread the bread cubes in a cookie
sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, turning to brown evenly.
Cool. In a plastic bag or bowl, toss the cubes with the rest of
the ingredients until well-coated. Store in a tightly closed
container in the pantry for up to 4 months, or in the freezer
for up to a year. To use: Combine 2 cups stuffing mix with 1/2
cup water and 2 tablespoons melted butter. Stir to combine
thoroughly. Warm on the stove top or in a microwave. Stir again
just before serving.
This recipe compliments of The Best Cookbook Anywhere Not Just
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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.
~~Soap scraps - Mix with water to make soap jelly. Put in sock,
mesh, or used pantyhose to use in bath or for scenting drawers.
~~Pantyhose - Use for ponytail holders, to secure plants, or
buffing your shoes.
~~Coffee filters - Use to clean and polish, or as a replacement
for cheesecloth, paper towels, and napkins.
~~Glass jars & bottles - Use as a vase, for canning, or melt
and pour wax in for candles.
~~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.
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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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