Archive results for “January 2009f 2009”

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No, It’s Not a Joke – You Can Have a Checking Account at Redneck Bank

I grew up in the country. Anything related to country life I get such a kick out of. Just thinking of how the neighborhood dads used to drive their lawn mowers to visit each other makes me chuckle. Ah, I loved the community where I grew up

Anyways, I better get back on track. I find myself wanting to stroll down memory lane.

I received a tip about the Redneck Bank – where bankin’s funner. According to everything I have read, it is a real bank and it is FDIC insured. But they do things a little differently as evidenced by their name and their website (the horse says different things if you move your mouse around). They also are offering a pretty decent APR on their checking accounts – 5.25% up to $25,000.

In these days of savings account interest rates plummeting (one of mine went from 4% to 1%), that rate is very nice. There is a long thread going at fatwallet.com for some user feedback. It’s funny, a few people there are signing up for the account mostly for the interest rate and to get the checkcard with the horse and “where bankin’s funner” on it.

There are conditions for the account like a certain number of times a month that you have to use the checkcard. I’m going to keep my eye on it, though. I haven’t been happy with one of my banks lately so perhaps it’s time to “buck yer old bank” like the horse suggests

Thanks Beverly for the tip!

Posted by Tricia on January 30, 2009 at 10:50 PM in General Personal Finance | 3 Comments »
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Dusting Off the Sewing Machine

The last time I visited my parents, my mom let me take home one of her sewing machines. I graciously accepted it, even though I wasn’t sure if I’d use it. I’ve never used one in my life, and the few things that needed mending in the past were easy enough to do by hand. A few days ago, the zipper on my son’s sleeping bag partially came off.

An hour later and a few finger pricks later, the zipper was back on. It was a bad, bad, sewing job. LOL. Yep, it was time to bring out the sewing machine and learn how to use it.

The one I received didn’t come with a manual. I found the company on the web and sent out an email asking for a copy. It may be a long shot to get a free copy, but I found one on eBay for $9.00 so that won’t be that bad as a last resort. Hopefully I hear back soon.

On a complete side-note, sewing machines are fascinating. I had no idea how they worked, but found some neat graphics that explain it.

Now that I am more open to using a sewing machine, I can see it saving us money down the road. I can patch up the knees on my son’s play pants so they last longer and we can keep the good ones for school. I can also mend things faster and do a better job at it. Many times I would sew something only to have it last a few days before unraveling. I also found a few neat sewing projects like this grocery bag. We really want to start using reusable grocery bags but the quality of the ones you can buy at the grocery store does not impress us.

I’m excited – I can’t wait to hear back about the manual so I can get started!

Posted by Tricia on January 29, 2009 at 10:14 PM in Life Experiences | 12 Comments »
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Do It Yourself Savings

A reader sent me a link to an article at the This Old House website. It’s all about saving some serious money by doing things yourself. A few things cost a little to do, others don’t cost anything but a little bit of your time. Surprisingly, we were already doing a few things on the list.

It’s nicely organized by the amount of money you can save ($50 to $500) so you can start there or read the entire article.

One that we currently do is #3 – we close closet doors. Both get really cold since they are along exterior walls. Sure, our clothes are a little chilly, but they warm up quickly once you put them on and it helps wake you up in the morning

You can read the full article here. Thanks Dawn for the tip!

Posted by Tricia on January 27, 2009 at 10:05 PM in Saving Money | 3 Comments »
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One of My New Favorite Sites

We have had to make some changes with our diets. As a result, I am making a lot more things from scratch so we can control the nutritional content. It’s been a challenge, but I am really enjoying it. There’s one site that has been very valuable: All Recipes.

Did you know that you can make graham crackers from scratch? The site has the basic recipe, and you can find some real treasures while reading the comments! There are many users who have tweaked the recipes to fit their health needs.

I’m finding that I am feeling more confident with trying to add my own creativity to the mix. If I don’t have a particular ingredient, maybe I can try something else. I can also see if I can do anything with food that is near its shelf life. I bought a canister of prunes but I can’t eat them fast enough. No one else in the house likes them, so I may try whipping up this prune cake that has rave reviews. Of course, I won’t mention there are prunes in it

Today I made some pudding from scratch and it was yummy and easy to make. It will be a great snack to put into little containers for a road trip or a summer picnic.

Posted by Tricia on January 26, 2009 at 11:16 PM in Life Experiences | 16 Comments »
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Someone Who Was Successful at Getting a Promotional APR Reinstated

Right now, all of our credit card debt is at 0% under a promotional offer. It’s a gamble to do that because one little mistake (late payment) can send that interest rate through the roof. I have heard many horror stories about that. Today, I read about a man who lost his promotional APR but was able to get it back!

The Consumerist shared a story from a Chase customer who happened to set up his automatic payment incorrectly after transferring a balance to his Chase credit card. The customer was at fault and he admitted it. He wrote a letter (full text is at the Consumerist) and they reinstated his rate!

I think this one should definitely be bookmarked:

Consumerist Article: Nice Letter Gets Chase to Reinstate Man’s Promotional APR

Wow. That’s awesome he got the promotional APR back – and I am thankful that he shared his letter with everyone!

Posted by Tricia on January 25, 2009 at 11:26 PM in Credit Cards | 6 Comments »
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Monetary Ouchie From Our Arctic Blast

Earlier in the month, we had some mighty cold weather in the Midwest. With temps hovering around zero degrees, the windy weather made it seem like more than 20 degrees below zero. I knew it would hit us hard with our gas bill. Boy, it sure did.

I opened up the envelope and closed my eyes as I pulled the bill out. Wait, I didn’t just close them…they were clenched shut. I was mentally preparing myself. I opened my eyes and witnessed the highest gas bill we have ever had – just shy of $200. Gulp.

Our usage was up and so was the price of the gas. I knew the day would come where our bill would be that high (bound to happen with the way prices are going lately). But I didn’t think it would be so soon. Times like these really light that fire to get that energy efficient home of our dreams. We’ll also inch down the heat some more than it already has been lowered.

Hopefully, upcoming reductions in our electric usage will help counter the increase in our gas bills. There will be more on that later

Posted by Tricia on January 23, 2009 at 9:08 PM in Spending Money | 16 Comments »
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Getting Some Deals, $5 Dinners and Making Salad for the Week

It’s Thursday, but it has felt like a Friday all day today. So, I thought I would cruise around the blog-o-sphere and do a little round-up of sorts.

I may be getting back into using coupons for groceries. So I found this article interesting. Danielle tallied her deals at Kroger. She saved quite a bit.

Beverly sends me some of the greatest links. She didn’t disappoint with the following one. I haven’t tried the recipes yet (I’m still working on switching gears with our meal changes so I’m slow at trying new things right now). But I have this one bookmarked: 5 Dollar Dinners.

I LOVE salads, but lettuce and I do not get along. Our lettuce goes bad by mid-week. Now that we only go to the grocery store weekly I only buy enough for a few days so none goes to waste. Jeremy at Generation X Finance is my new best friend. He wrote a post about preparing lettuce to last all week and I am so pumped to give it a try this weekend!

Posted by Tricia on January 22, 2009 at 11:21 PM in Saving Money | 12 Comments »
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