Actual lightning photo taken in May

Make It Cheaper is an online price comparison site, but that’s not all they offer. Unlike other comparison sites, they are focused specifically on small to medium businesses and as far as I’m concerned they are a completely free service dedicated to finding you the very best deal for your gas and electric. Two other things stood out for me: they research the cheapest power suppliers for your business needs, and make sure you get set up on the contract that gives you the best deal and the most flexibility and they stay in contact with you all through your contract, and even let you know when it’s next up for renewal, so you can take advantage of the best deals around once again.

Their ‘Savings Organiser’ system will find out when your current contract is up for renewal and when the end date is, evaluate your power usage, find out what type of contract you are on and what type you should be on, and search all the major and local power companies to get you the cheapest fuel prices possible. All you have to do is fill in a simple form detailing your current energy costs, and they do all the rest. You can even fill it in online, and it will take less than five minutes of your time.

Make It Cheaper advertises they will make the supplier switch for you at no charge to yourselves, leaving you free to take care of business – and with up to a 40% saving on your next year’s fuel bill, there’ll be plenty more business opportunities to come.

Related posts:

1. Home Improvement Tax Credits, Breaks, and Incentives: Would You Take Them?
2. What’s in the “Bailout Plan” – Division B: Energy Amendments
3. Christmas comes in November: Home Entertainment Center

It’s a fact of life that with millions of motorists taking to the road each year some will be involved in an accident.

Car insurance provides some peace of mind in this situation, however there are a few simple steps that people can follow to make sure any claim they make is successful and is awarded with the least amount of hassle.

I don’t think I’ve posted about it here but our car was broken into about 9 months ago and our navigation system was stolen.  The crook used an old rail road spike to bust the window while I was photographing the barbecue festival. The ribs were good, the smashed car was not.

I’ve learned that choosing the right car insurance provider is one of the first steps towards making life easier when a claim has to be made. A reputable insurer may not always be the cheapest, but it is important for a driver to find a policy that fits their needs.

When taking out the initial policy it’s essential that all information provided is as detailed and accurate as possible; if it isn’t then any policy could be void.

It’s also important to update car insurance providers to any change in circumstances which may affect the cover as soon as possible, which is relatively quick and easy if drivers have a policy they can track online.

As the Association of British Insurers explains: “Holding back something that is relevant will be a false economy if it means your claim is later turned down. If in doubt, always tell your insurer.”

Essential information includes the name, contact details and insurance information of the person involved in the accident, the details of any witnesses, and the time, date and location of the incident, including any factors such as poor weather conditions.

If possible, photographs of the scene may help, particularly if there is any dispute surrounding the claim; even poor quality images taken on a mobile phone could potentially help.

The more information provided, the easier it will be for the car insurance provider to establish liability, and if necessary claim off the other drivers’ insurance – protecting the no claims discount of the motorist who was not at fault.

Neither driver should admit liability at this point as it may affect proceedings later down the line.

Once the initial aftermath of the accident has been dealt with, motorists should inform their provider of the accident as soon as possible, even if they don’t intend to make a claim. If they believe any unlawful activity contributed to the incident, for example drink driving, the police should also be told.

Those making a claim following theft or damage to their vehicle must also have a crime number in order to make their claim.

In the event that an accident involves an uninsured driver, there are options available. Comprehensive insurance is likely to cover a driver for any repairs which need to be made; although it is unlikely motorists will be able to claim any additional costs.

An alternative is to contact the Motor Insurers’ Bureau, which has funds to help those make claims after being involved in an accident with an uninsured or untraceable driver.

In some cases, where only minimal damage has been done, motorists might question whether it is worth making a claim. This generally depends on how the cost of repairs compares to the size of their excess, and also how much a claim would push up their car insurance premium.

When getting a quote for the work, take the vehicle to a garage which is approved by the insurer, as drivers can be assured it offers a quality service and the provider is unlikely to dispute the cost of repairs. Don’t pay for any work before the insurance provider has confirmed they will cover it.

If drivers do decide to make a claim, they should keep a record of all correspondence with their car insurance provider while it is being processed. This way if the claim is rejected, drivers can discuss the reasons with their insurer and find a resolution to the problem.

No related posts.

On my way into work every day I pass several billboards. Lately one of them has caught my eye.

Feed the Pig Billboard

The billboard shows a person skydiving with Alexander Hamilton on their back, and the caption: It takes Courage, but saving money is worth it.

At the bottom you see that the sponsor of the ad is Feed The Pig

Feed the Pig is a site that helps you find ways to save money every day. A similar site in the UK is Money Supermarket. They go beyond daily savings and even help with saving money with expenses like energy by comparing electricity suppliers.

It’s true that saving money on utilities will add up. So will saving money by avoiding interest and fees and paying down debt. So will not getting a cup of coffee at the drivethru each morning, or cutting out the little used Netflix subscription.

There are many small ways to save money every day.

But honestly – most of us know this already. We know what we need to do in order to make the most progress towards long term goals, and yet we still struggle to actually get things done.

One of the biggest hurdles to saving money is the inertia of the status quo, and the allure of the here and now over the undefined future. We know what we need to do, but its just a little bit easier to not change our habits.

I’m not sure how effective these billboards and campaigns really are, but maybe the simple fact of seeing a reminder every day will be enough to trigger change. I know it’s at least got me thinking about what I can do to save more money and grow my income, and exploring the website for ideas, so in that sense its a success.

Related posts:

1. How to Save a Bunch of Money Buying College Textbooks
2. Save Money: A Unique Way to Make Coffee at Home

How many can you guide to safety?

Gary Gensler, chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission under President Obama shared a favorite “way the world works” metaphor in the book Confidence Men.

More than just how Washington works, I think it can be applied to a lot of the challenges we face everyday in achieving goals. Here’s why we need to think more about gazelles.

“The way Washington works is you often start with whats optimal, a best solution to some complex problem, and surprisingly there’s often quite a bit of bipartisan consensus on what will work, at least in private. That’s your heard of gazelles…”

The same thing happens when we tackle a long term problem at home or plan how to achieve business objectives. We rarely have a problem thinking up a pretty darn good solution and we usually agree on just what we need to do to get it done, but that’s where the challenge begins:

“…but you’ve got to get them across the savanna safely, to a distant watering hole, and the longer it takes, the more you lose, you may end up with very few, you may lose them all, because there are predators out there, lions, tigers, and packs of hyenas, and they’re big and fast and relentless.

Time and distance are funny things. You’d never let something come along and kick you off course or in the opposite direction, but when you are traveling far it doesn’t take a kick, it only takes a small nudge to end up somewhere else way down the road a long time from now.

Considering how any significant solution to a problem is bound to be opposed do or die by some industries or interests that have figured out a way to profit from the way things are, even if they’re profoundly busted, and often because they’re profoundly busted…

You, me and Washington are set in our ways. It’s not easy to change because we’ve carved out a nice life from the way things are. Sure, things might not be great, but admit it: we’ve figured out a way to prosper despite things being broken. Change is hard but if you want to do unique things, better things, you’ve got to take a chance.

“…so thats your challenege. see how may gazelles you can get to the watering hole.”

Once you take a chance on a goal, risk things today to make a better tomorrow, you’ve got to protect it.

I just finished Confidence Men and while I was surprised that the book went into such great length describing the origins of the financial crisis (something I’ve already read about many times) it did provide fascinating incite into how the Obama administration acted (or failed to act) on some of the most important decisions of our generation both during the campaign and the first 2 years of his presidency. An interesting read.

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I love spontaneous conversations, especially when something as absurdly unrelated as the Federal Reserve and Valentines Day get mashed together.

Thought up by economist Justin Wolfers, some of the funniest #FedValentine tweets have come from economists and Federal Reserve branches themselves, not to mention a slew of regular financial cupids looking to join the fun.

It was pointed out on Marketplace.org just how strange it is that the dry and wonky Fed itslef got involved in this whole thing. Who knew they had it in them? Here’s what I mean:

@SFFedReserve before #Fedvalentines

@SFFedReserve during #Fedvalentines

@SFFedReserve after #Fedvalentines

Here’s my top #FedValentine list:

What’s your Valentine to the Fed?

No related posts.

There’s battle lines being drawn
Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind

Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth” was playing as I drove into work this morning.

I have heard this song countless times before, but this morning the lines about “battle lines being drawn”, and “nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong” really hit me.  

Maybe it’s because I’ve been watching too many Republican presidential debates.  Or maybe it’s because I drive past Occupy Rochester camping out downtown every day on my way into work. Or maybe its because I’m went to Tea Party protests in Rochester three years in a row.

There’s something happening here
What it is ain’t exactly clear

Whatever the reason, I couldn’t help but agree with the sentiments in the lyrics… Congress and our representatives do nothing but belittle each other, and say how the other side is wrong.  Nobody is ever right.

There are battle lines drawn in the sand that people refuse to cross without a huge blowout fight, even if they are wrong.

But the worst is when both sides of Congress actually agree and STILL CAN’T PASS A BILL.

Do you know how many times thats happened, or almost happened?  Look at the debt ceiling debacle.  Or the extension of the payroll tax cuts.  Or countless other examples where even when they agree congress screws up.

Remember when the Tea Party stood for getting lobbyists out of Washington, and shrinking government? What happened? It’s been co-opted by the mainline Republicans, and now one of the Tea Party members actually endorsed Mitt Romney, one of the people most opposite to the original Tea Party.

So far Occupy has resisted co-option by the Democrats, but not without much effort on the part of the Democrats and media to make it their own.

I’ve thought for a long time that Occupy and the Tea Party (originally) were not so different. Both see an imbalance in our current system that causes a severe failure in the main goal of our government: representing the people! And not just listening to the money and special interest groups.

I think Washington is too far corrupted. We need to do more than replace a single Senator or a few Congressmen here or there, we need to boot out the whole lot of them and start over. The virus has spread to the core and we need to reboot the harddrive, and install a new motherboard.

Stop, now, what’s that sound
Everybody look what’s going down
Stop, children, what’s that sound
Everybody look what’s going down

We need to get rid of Super Pacs, we need term limits for all members of government, we need to seriously look at the debt problem, and above all: we need to get the influence of special interests and big money OUT of Washington as fast as possible.

We need to Kick All The Bums Out!

And even that might be not be enough…

No related posts.

With so much negativity spewing from the politicians and the news media, it was nice to see a Super Bowl 2012 ad that was so uplifting.

One that reminded us what America is about.

It was the Chrysler, “Halftime in America” ad with Clint Eastwood.

“This country can’t be knocked out with one punch. We get right back up again, and when we do the world is going to hear the roar of our engines.

Yeah, it’s halftime America. And, our second half is about to begin.

In the clearing stands a boxer
And a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders
Of ev’ry glove that layed him down
Or cut him till he cried out
In his anger and his shame
“I am leaving, I am leaving”
But the fighter still remains

It’s all too easy to see one failure and think the game is over.
But in reality, you can be down at the half and make a come back to win the game.

The message was clear that even if you’ve lost in the past, or even if you’re not winning now, the game isn’t over, you still have a chance, unless of course you give up.

Ryan and I recently spent a good 5 hours just talking this weekend. Talking about where we’re going, how were getting there, and even if in the end the goal is what we want. We talked about our progress, our successes and failures, and what we needed to do in the second half to make our goals reality.

We wrote the beginning of our perseverance story.

It isn’t always easy, but it is always possible.

What’s your perseverance story? Are you ready to begin writing it now?

Related posts:

1. Why ‘Buy American’ in the Stimulus is Bad For America

January was the month of the savings reboot. At least the start of it.

A little while back we wrote about a potential job loss on the horizon and some of the exciting (yes, exciting) and challenging things that will likely result from it.  It’s also forced us to do a little priority shuffle as we plan out the next 6 months or so.

Here’s a few updates on the changes so far this year:

We pressed pause on debt destruction. You’d think it would be easy to select that “minimum payment” button instead of the “enter the biggest number you can” input field. We’ve been going at it for such a long time now (full-on destruction in 2011 to the tune of ~$28,000), I guess it’s just tough to switch things around.

Our savings goal moved to 6 months of expenses ($12,000). This might be a little high but around $12k should put us in comfortable place going into the unknown. We’ve managed to keep our expenses pretty low so hopefully any kind of transition will be pain free.  Ok, maybe not pain free but at least cherry lozenge numbed. More adjustments to follow.

In February a lot of stuff will be shipped.  Beat us if it’s not!  Shipping more is our main goal and one of our three words for 2012. Nothing really matters until it’s shipped, published, put out there for sale, and some ideas we’ve been working on for a while are just about ready to get pushed out of the nest. Slap us around if our February report is weak in the shipping department.

Don’t sweat the small stuff, at least not this month. Isn’t a simple spread sheet refreshing.  No really.  There’s something nice about nostalgically getting back to a monthly breakdown report instead of just reporting a net worth total.  I like it.  We’ll rekindle a better sense of how things change throughout the year.

“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.”  - Einstein

It might not all happening at once, but it sure is happening.  It’s hard to believe January is already over. Is it just me or is this year really flying by?

We were lucky to spend some time in Vermont in January.  This was a beautiful sunset behind Stratton Mountain.

Related posts:

1. Net Worth Update: January 2010
2. Net Worth Update: January 2009 +6.28% or $1,214
3. Net Worth Update for April 2010: $22,358 +$4,971

It’s hard to believe it with the mildness of this winter, but it’s nearly time to start preparing for spring and gardening. I love winter, and all the seasons, but I can’t wait to soak up the sunshine in the summertime.

Up here in Rochester, (zone 5) we start growing the super-slow things like peppers and tomatoes from seeds in March so they are ready for the ground in late May.

I’ve slowly been opening my binder of garden notes from last year, and reading new tips and tricks to help us have a higher yield than last year.

We’ve got a difficult spot to garden: our backyard is totally wooded, and the only sun we have is a small patch on the side yard. We’ve got deer, cats, slugs, squirrels, chipmunks, and a mailman that all walk across our yard potentially eating and trampling things. By far the worst of that list are the deer and slugs – the bane of my garden’s existence.

In the spring we get slugs that destroy the leaves of our plants. I’ve had some success with putting coffee grinds in a ring around the seedlings, but I need to be more diligent and earlier in my placement. I’ve also had limited success with the beer cup in the ground method. Luckily, this plague only lasts during the rainy season, and I think I have enough knowledge and preparation to get it fully under control this year. So that leaves the tougher, more stubborn, and larger problem: Deer.

The deer are constant trouble. They’ll eat everything they see, and even plants that they aren’t supposed to like have been reduced to mere stubs several times. The worst is when they leave the tomatoes juuust long enough for me to think I’ll have a chance to harvest them and then destroy everything that I might have wanted to pick. Any sign of ripeness and they are destroyed.

I’ve tried mixing deer resistent plants, like basil and marigolds, around the tomatoes to no avail. I’ve tried spraying them with deer deterrents, again with no success. I’ve tried putting out a bar of soap, and putting up blood scented diffusers. I’ve even tried putting up a mesh fence four feet high. All things the deer have gotten around. Although the fence nearly worked…

This is the third year I’m trying to grow tomatoes, and I’m determined to outsmart the deer this year. I’ll put the fence up higher, put the blood scent out in advance. Spray the plants, AND mix things they don’t like around those they do. I figure if I do a combination of all three things I should have some success, right?

Besides the animals, we also have soil issues. Our soil is sandy and not conducive to growing lettuce or spinach. Our radishes never got very big either, and our garlic never reaches full sized. I think I’ll have to do a full soil analysis to see what we are lacking, and likely augment the plots with fertilizers and topsoil.

But other than all that, it’s been easy peasy. Ha…

At least in our situation, where we are constantly battling the elements and the forest, gardening in our apartment was much easier.

In the apartment, even though we only had limited space on the balcony (I never really measured it, but we had maybe 10 ft square, and likely less than that.) we didn’t have to worry about predators. We still got decent pollination and plenty of bugs, and and had plenty of sunshine all day.

The biggest worry there was that the soil would get too dry and many times in the heat of summer we had to water twice a day. The other issue we had was caterpillars in the broccoli. I’m still not sure how they got there. But otherwise, gardening in an apartment was a breeze.

The quality of soil was always high, because we purchased good stuff. The plants loved the sunshine. And for the most part, everything thrived.

We actually got a lot more harvest from our container garden plants than we have from either year in our house yet.

I came across this video, of Martina who lives in NYC and has a “farm” on her balcony and roof. Her site is fittingly called Farmtina. She grows enough that she doesn’t need other vegetables all summer. Although you do have to be creative with containers in small spaces, she certainly makes it look easy.

Do any of you garden in tricky places? What have you found to help you overcome natures natural inclination to sabotage your garden?

I’m determined to have a successful garden this year – so all tips and tricks will be appreciated.

Related posts:

1. Gardening in an Apartment, Phase 1
2. Making your own container garden for a small patio
3. Gardening in an Apartment: Tips and Tricks for staying Frugal

Thud!

“Good but next time tuck your chin in more”

Thud!

“Almost got it, just be sure to keep your arm straight”

Thud! …

These were the sounds of my karate class this week. We were practicing falling, rolling, and getting back up unhurt to keep fighting another day.

When you think of karate you probably think of Mr. Miyagi, or of little kids punching in unison. Kyokushin isn’t really like that; it teaches you the basics, but it also teaches you how to really fight on the street. It teaches you a tournament punch but also a “knock-the-wind-out-of-your-enemy” punch. (And honestly, that second part is why I love it so much.)

This class was all about deflecting energy. When you get knocked down, the energy of your body striking the ground needs to go somewhere. You can either take the brunt of the impact on your body and likely get hurt, or release the energy some other way. If you fall correctly, you won’t get hurt – even if you fall on concrete.

The key to successful falling is not to flail, and definitely not to panic in the “Oh $hit I’m going down!” moment, but instead to consciously hold your arm out and slap the ground with your forearm. If you keep your arm in a T (not too high so you tweak your shoulder) the impact will be released out your arm rather than through your back, shoulder, or neck.

We practiced falling for a good half hour. If you get it wrong, you definitely feel it. But when you get it right its as if you’re landing on a soft mat in gym class.

This got me thinking about all the negative energy in our daily lives, and how with the right mindset you can deflect it with minimal pain. It’s all too easy to face a setback, and fall down flailing; emotionally panicking, giving up, or getting hurt.

But what if you realized what was going on before you hit the bottom? What if you adjusted your mindset to release the negativity energy so you could land and rebound ready to fight another day?

Over the years as we’ve faced many tough and emotional decisions, I’ve found the best deflection of negative energy to be the “worst case scenario” path of thinking. It seems counterintuitive but whenever I’ve been worried about a decision or about taking a new path, I try to imagine what we would do if things really went sour. With a little reflection more often than not it isn’t very bad at all, or if it does seem bleak maybe there are a few things we can change now to soften the blow no matter what might happen.

Then I go to work getting things done. I feel a new sense of confidence.

The point is, you can’t start off fighting until you know how to fall and get back up. You can’t strike until you know how to block. You take on risk until you know you are ready to deal with the consequences. At some point you will fall, you will miss, and you will get hurt unless you are mindful of how to deflect the negative energy.

No related posts.

Whenever I type something on the computer, invariably I’ll have a cat friend who decides my lap is the best place to be.  She’s on me now, kneading and asking for head-scratches.

I’ve heard a lot of people refer to their cats as being “more like dogs than cats” in personality.  Usually this means the cat greets them at the door (both ours do), asks to play with them, follows them around, and generally like being with them.   This goes counter to the stereo-type of cats being aloof, distant, and generally only barely tolerating humans as a food source.

For some reason the comparison never gets reversed. You never hear of an an anti-social dog being explained as “more like a cat.”

I heard this so often that I have to think, maybe happy cats aren’t like so much dogs,  but are actually more like themselves: cats.  I think the stereotype of scaredy-cat needs to be changed.  Even our “1 card short from a full deck” Jackson can be “dog-like” with her favorite person (me). She runs to the door and plays when no-one else is around. And she’s always on my lap nestling in asking for more love.

One thing is certain, animals are great companions and friends.  It’s so neat to think of them as living, breathing, thinking, and feeling beings that hang out and live with us.  I never had pets growing up (other than a guinea pig for a few years…) but I don’t think I could go back to not having them again.  The house is just so much warmer when you’re greeted by a friend at the door after work.

(UPDATE: Jackie seems to be doing better now that the antibiotics have kicked in. No more accidents or pain.)

No related posts.

Today started off normally. I got up, enjoyed a Greek yogurt (tried a new flavor, pomegranate. Yum!) and made some delicious scrambled eggs with spinach. It was sunny and there was snow on the ground, and I enjoyed looking out our huge kitchen window at the squirrels and birds in the forest. Everything indicated it would be a good, regular, day. However, that quickly changed and it turned into the most expensive day I’ve had in months.

Here’s how it broke down:

Last week I took my car in for a routine oil change. This time I took it to one of the Toyota dealerships because we were being reimbursed for a mystery shop. As part of the oil change they did a full inspection (looking for additional charges and stuff to repair, of course) and told me that the serpentine drive belt was starting to crack and needed to be replaced. They also mentioned that with the high mileage on my car that it was time for a transmission and power fluids flush, (neither of which had been done before) along with a few other small things. Of course this was several hundred dollars and I wanted to shop around because I knew the dealer would be costly.

So this morning I took my car into a local repair shop and was able to get the same services completed for nearly half the cost. Even with the discounts, it was still $300 in car repairs when everything was said and done. I know we are very fortunate to have a car like Agnes the Toyota, who doesn’t need a lot of work. In fact, this is the first expensive servicing she’s had since we bought her. Which is pretty great considering she’s 12 years old and nearing 100,000 miles quickly. I could deal with a needed (and infrequent) $300 charge for taking care of the car, even if I didn’t like it very much, and handed over my debit card. And when I drove home the car definitely felt lubed up and was handling beautifully.

Then this afternoon is where the costs really started to rise. We have two cats, and one of them, Jackie, had peed outside of her litter box on my work bag last night. I thought it was anxiety, or maybe we didn’t clean the box as well as we should have. Not a big deal, and more annoying than anything else. I scrubbed everything down and continued about business as usual. She was acting normal, so I didn’t think anything of it. Today she peed next to the fireplace, and before peeing there made a noise of pain. When I went to clean it up I noticed blood. My sweet kitten was peeing blood and in pain! No wonder she wasn’t using the litter box! I knew a trip to the vet would be costly, but I also knew that I couldn’t let her suffer and didn’t want to have to clean up more messes. The vet was awesome and got her in quickly this afternoon. They did a urinalysis and I’m waiting for the results of the culture. It’s either a urinary tract infection or bladder stones and inflamation, and we won’t know for sure what it is until the results of the test come back. They did find some bacteria in her urine, along with the blood, so gave me an antibiotic and pain medication to help. Hopefully this clears everything up and we don’t need to worry about more serious issues. The total cost for her medication, exam, and all the tests, came to $250. Ouch. (And this was after I turned down some optional services) I don’t regret taking her in to the doctor, because I love her and want her to feel well, but I do wish it were cheaper.

Suddenly a normal day turned into a $550 dollar day. I’m glad we have an emergency fund to cover costs like these, but it still stings.

No related posts.

A few days ago on my morning commute I heard a radio ad that just about made me pull over.

Cue the ocean waves sound effect:

Man: “I’d never thought I’d be that guy, I can’t believe I’m actually doing this…”
Woman: “Can I open my eyes now?”
Man: “Not yet…”
Sound effect: WhhhhHoooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnkkkk! **Cruise ship horn**
Woman: “We’re going on a cruise?!”
Man: “Yes… its the honeymoon we never took…”

Next comes the voice-over explaining that the man got a personal loan to pay for all of this, and since interest rates are at historic lows why shouldn’t you?

Now ads for bank services, credit card, auto loans, debt in the media is nothing new however I was surprised to hear a credit company that was so direct about it.  They might as well have said: “Your wife deserves better, go into debt today!”

Have we gone beyond advertising simple credit card perks and shiny sapphire colors and gone straight to encouraging you to buy stuff you can’t afford?

Do you think it’s right?
Should a bank or loan company directly market the stuff you could buy if you used their credit?

“Your child deserves a college with marble dorm bathrooms and a brand new athletic facility, who needs retirement security anyway? Cosign a bigger loan with my company today!”

Does it matter who is behind the ad?
Just about every company that sells higher priced consumer goods and services offers some kind of credit financing.  I may have been born at night, just not last night. So is there any difference in these two ads:

What if Best Buy said: “Did you know that HD is roughly five times better than standard definition? You’ll want to get the reoccurring monthly HD satellite fee too, don’t want to miss Tebow.  No money, No problem! My company can provide the credit you need.  Just sign here.”

What if Discover card said: ”Did you know that HD is roughly five times better than standard definition? You’ll want to get the reoccurring monthly HD satellite fee too, don’t want to miss Tebow.  No money, No problem! My company can provide the credit you need.  Just sign here.”

It’s the same thing but it feels different to me. Maybe I’m just weird. I guess in one sense it was a good commercial, because I remembered it, but I don’t think I could bring myself to use the bank that sponsored the ad.

What do you think?  Is there a difference between the two?

Related posts:

1. A Man’s Credit Card Debt Exceeds World GDP!
2. Economic Comics! Government Spending Edition
3. Masters in Marketing: Classes started

Stratton Mountain sunset

“You wouldn’t let someone push you off course, but you might let someone nudge you off course and not even realize it.” Jim Rohn

Some questions have been tumbling around my head this week:

If you know you are on a self-destructive path, if you know you are not heading where you want to go in the long-term, what does it take to really and finally change course?  What does it take to overcome the “pleasure now” bias and works towards the “long-term good”?

Will it take a serious traumatic event like a stroke?  Do you wait to start exercising until after you have a heart attack?  Or do you put down the chocolate covered doughnuts while you are still relatively healthy and go for a walk around the block even though its dark and misting and you’d really rather stay inside?  If someone else is sitting on the couch watching a movie instead of skiing, do you give in to the warmth and power of the snuggie, or do you get out there in the cold for “good healthy fun?”

When you do decide you want to change, is it better to put in partial effort, (like eating low fat mayonnaise while still eating three servings of ice-cream each night), or do nothing at all?  Is it an “all or nothing” game?

I am not sure what the answers to these questions are.  It’s so easy to make small decisions every day that slowly lead you down the wrong road.  It’s not as easy to jump out of the deep ruts that have formed from years of bad choices, and to start making the small good decisions every day that are required to stay on course.  It’s a constant uphill battle since we are surrounded  by a culture of excess that pushes us the other way.

This weekend we went on a ski trip to Stratton Mountain Resort in southern Vermont.  This is a trip we’ve been doing for years.  My brother, father, and I always try to go for a week and ski together.  It’s a trip I really enjoy and look forward to each year.  But this year I struggled seeing where my family was health-wise.  They haven’t been truly healthy in years, but this year it seemed particularly noticeable.  My dad seems to have given up on trying to be healthy and he just accepts the fact that he’d rather have Taylor pork roll today than be able to ski 5 more times with us on these trips.  As it is now, we only go out for a few hours a day, with many breaks, and he’s still got some foot pain.  If we only go once a year, then he likely has only 5 more times, if that, in his current condition.  It makes me sad when I see my mother harping on him while not doing anything to change her own habits.  I see a spiral of anger and inaction.

I don’t think switching to calorie free soda and fat free margarine is sufficient to turn things around.  I don’t think 3 days of 3 hours exercising a year is enough to stay in shape.

While I don’t expect my parents to ever be fitness gurus, I do expect them to really put in the effort if it matters to them, but I’m not sure it does.  It matters to me: I want my kids to have “Grandpa Lessons” on the slopes when they are old enough.  But it’s not my decision to make.

How do you deal with people you care about making poor decisions?  I don’t think there is much more I can do, and that is the toughest path to accept.

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How much money do you have riding on your next action? No really, how much? I’m talking about the very next thing you do after you leave here, can you place a dollar figure on it?

Is it $20? Maybe $50? How about this question:

How much are your goals worth? 
Is being healthy worth $50,000? Maybe $350,000? How about not struggling in retirement? Is that worth $250,000, $1.5 million, $3 million.

There is a battle going on and you might not even know it.
I love behavioral economics.  The emotions involved in financial decision-making just fascinates me. We all make choices. We make a ton of choices, hundreds each day, and each decision we make pits two versions of ourselves against each other.

It’s a fight between our current selves and our future selves, and I think our current selves are winning.
We are saving less historically and experiencing more risk of retirement income troubles than ever before. We are eating more sugar and refined processed foods and becoming overweight. We watch TV each night but never seem to have the time to learn something new. Time and time again we want something good for ourselves but we just can’t do what we need to do to get it.

It’s not our fault.
It’s just the way it is.  Our future self isn’t even here.  She’s never here. But our current self is another story. She’s always around and she’s been working out. She’s able to lift two slices of pizza at a time. She’s looking out for herself right now and who could blame her?

Here comes the $50 donut.
I found a site that sells donuts. $50 donuts to be exact. They also sell $100 ice cream sundaes, $200 large sausage pizzas, and for $500 they’ll let you watch Hulu on the couch each night for a month. StickK.com allows anyone to set a goal and put their own money on the line to achieve it, or should I say not achieve it.

Putting your money where your mouth is.
Want to stick to your new year’s resolution to exercise 4 times a week?  You’ll be billed a crisp $50 each time you skip and watch Breaking Bad instead. Want to pass on fast food and limit dining out each month?  That Five Guys double bacon burger just set you back $40. How about that book you are writing? It’s $100 each week you spend more time trolling Facebook than writing your next chapter.

Charity, anti-charity, or your friend Ned?
One of the fun things about the site is that if you fail to check in, or check in and divulge that you didn’t make your goal, that failure fee that you set up can be sent to a few different places.  You can choose a random charity, an anti-charity (think George W Bush’s library if you are a Democrat,  or the NRA if you are a Vegan), or just a friend/referee you designate.  One guy on the Freakonomics blog maybe even made money on his commitment by auctioning off the right to his failure fines.  If he fails, the high bidder gets the cash. Not too bad of an idea.

The idea isn’t new.
Self disciple and commitment devices are certainly not a new invention.  The famous myth of Odysseus takes us back in time a little.  He ordered his men to fill their ears with wax, tie him to his ship’s mast, and no matter what he said, ignore his pleas to be released as they passed by the seductive singing sirens. (His tactic worked and the sirens ended up killing themselves in defeat) It doesn’t always work out swimmingly though (get it, sirens… never mind).

Some people seem to think it works.
As of this writing over 100,000 commitments have been made putting over $8,000,000 on the  line.  That’s a lot of money and I’m all for whatever it takes to design a lifestyle and achieve goals to get you there, but is it really a good thing?

Be cautious choosing a commitment device:
Sometimes the devices can be more harmful than good.  Besides your alarm clock slowly shredding that $5 and you losing the cash if you don’t wake up after your first snooze (a product that would be great to invent, although money destruction is illegal), commitment devices might erode your ability to achieve things on your own.

“You have no self-discipline.”
Who wants a constant reminder that you are a weakling in the control department? If you can’t stay out of the cookie jar unless your credit card gets charged $10 for every mini sugar wheel you consume, do you think your confidence level will ever improve?  What if you find yourself in a situation where you have no commitment device at all?  Will you be more likely to just give in.

What I agree with and what I want to share is that self-discipline is like a muscle;  it takes time to build, but you’ve got to build it on your own. Tools are great and they can help you stay committed, focused and organized. Lord knows I love productivity gizmos, GTD apps, checklists and whiteboards.  I love gym memberships, workout gear and P90x.  I love budgets, retirement calculators, and a cash envelope system.

But if you get so lost and dependent on the commitment devices themselves and not the good habits that they help you create, then any change that comes from it is unlikely to last.

Does that $50 doughnut come in Bavarian creme?… and what’s that sound? Is that singing I hear?

Here’s the TED talk video that sparked the post:

What commitment devices have you tried? Did any of them work? Do you still use it or has it helped you create positive habits?

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In Chris Brogan fashion we have decided to ditch the new years resolutions and instead concentrate on THREE WORDS that sum up our focus for 2012. These words are a model for how we want to improve ourselves, and what we want to achieve more of in the coming year.

First, a year in review:

I think we can sum up 2011 as a year of firsts and a year of experiments. It was the first full year of the producer philosophy in action. Well, mostly in action.

It was the first full year of Ryan’s self employment.

It was a year of new ideas, new projects and new sources of income.

But looking backwards it was also a year slightly out of balance and one that has refined our perspective on how to spend our time in the coming year. Here’s how we stacked up against some of our original producer philosophy focuses.

Reducing inefficiencies:

Around the end last year we wrote that debt was our largest inefficiency. It still is. At around $126,000 (down from around $160k) it is still the yellow Hummer of waste in our financial lives.

We did make progress though and are getting so close to becoming student loan free. Here is where we stand today:

Total debt paid off in 2011:  $29,429

Student Loan #1:  $2,671
Student Loan #2: $3,000
Student Loan #3: $9,887
Student Loan #4: $17,113
Student Loan #5: $17,556
Student Loan #6: $22,632 (Current Balance: $18,426)
Mortgage: $124,900 (Current Balance: $107,408)

We also embarked on the challenge to control expenses, and vowed to design an average lifestyle (hey, who you callin’ average) on half or a quarter of what the average consumer spends (around ~$49k). To only own things we actually use, and to maintain the things that we buy. To seek refining experiences rather than status-driven experiences, and to substitute consumption for technical skills and creativity.

We think we made partly made it. Running the totals, we’ve been able to design our required yearly expenses to be a little over $2,000 a month or around $25k a year (including debt payments). We didn’t always stick to our plan and certainly botched a few months.  But if we take a survey of where we feel deprived or luxuries we miss (other than a little more travel in 2012) it comes up pretty much blank. Room for improvement for sure, but we realize how fortunate we really are in many ways.

Investing in businesses:

Last year we wrote: If given the opportunity why not try to create a valuable product or service, to learn and experiment in the marketplace, to design an approach in such a way as to involve our always changing personal interests, and also provide increased freedom of time and location.

We’ve begun, but it took us a while to really get moving.  It’s been a year of growth for our service company here in Rochester, as well as an exciting end of the year for our online ventures.  We’ve really solidified a few new businesses involving teaching things that we love to do (cooking, photography, etc).

As part of our plan for 2012 we’ve laid out some significant production challenges and set a new online income goal of at least $30,000. To hold ourselves accountable and to better share ideas we’re excited to join the race to $30k online income challenge. Wish us luck!

Finding something meaningful:

I think this is probably the most important part of the producer philosophy. We won’t always be able to work on something truly meaningful, but a challenge will be to keep looking for activity that is.

The feedback from our teaching projects has been really incredible. We’ve always been a little bashful when it comes to feedback, but the kind words and thanks we’ve received from so many people is truly inspiring and motivates us to keep building. Even though these ideas are starting small, they’ve probably been the most meaningful areas of work we’ve been involved in yet.

Our THREE WORDS for 2012:

1. Ship

We’ve learned (and we’re embarrassed as to how long it’s taken us to figure this out) that nothing really matters until it’s shipped, published, put out there for sale, review, or critique. We spent too much time thinking, perfecting, and worrying about criticism – and not enough time shipping. Shipping stuff will be a major focus in 2012.

Books we’ve read that have shaped this focus: Do The Work, Rework, The Thank You Economy, The War of Art, We Are All Weird.

2. Go

It’s easy to stop. It’s easy to stay put. It’s easy to be pushed and it’s easy to float downstream. All good things are found upstream and require a fight against the current. There are places we want to see, there are fitness and health goals we want to make, there are clubs and activities we want to be part of. Go is the opposite of regret and will be a major focus for 2012.

Books we’ve read that have shaped this focus: We Have Met the Enemy: Self-Control in an Age of Excess,Five Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle, In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, EntreLeadership: 20 Years of Practical Business Wisdom from the Trenches, Early Retirement Extreme: A philosophical and practical guide to financial independence

3. Grow

In order to experience the areas of freedom that we want, we have to expand. In the coming year we will need to continue to learn new skills and try new things. We will need to grow our community, our audience, our tribe. We will need to build better relationships and expand our current ones. We will need to get rid of distractions, read more, and focus on building solutions instead of perpetuating pessimism. Growing will be a major focus for 2012.

Books we’ve read that have shaped this focus: Tribes: Why we need you to lead us, Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation, Survival+: Structuring Prosperity for Yourself and the Nation, The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves, That Used to Be Us: How America Fell Behind in the World It Invented and How We Can Come Back, Back to Work: Why We Need Smart Government for a Strong Economy

It’s going to be a challenge to keep our focus on Shipping, Going and Growing, but to modify a quote we use a lot around here:

The ultimate reason for creating focus is to entice you to become the person it takes to maintain it.

Thank you for a great 2011 and here’s to an incredible 2012.

-Ryan and Leslie

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I was watching the new season of Teen Mom 2 recently on MTV (guilty pleasure, please forgive me), and something one of the mothers said really made me pause and think.

The Backstory:
In one episode, Kailyn (and her baby Isaac) were trying to move out of living with her mom (Isaac’s Grandma) and her boyfriend. Grandma and Kailyn have always had a rocky relationship, and when she got pregnant she was living in her boyfriend’s house. After Isaac was born, Kailyn split up with her boyfriend and had to move back in with her mother, and her moms boyfriend, at their new place. The mother’s boyfriend had made it clear she was unwelcome there, and no-one was happy with the living situation. Kailyn has a full-time job, goes to school full-time, and is really trying to better herself. Despite her hard work, she still couldn’t afford an apartment.

What caused me to pause:
One day, Kailyn is talking with her new boyfriend about wanting to move out. He asks if she had considered welfare or government assistance, since it was designed for people like her who just need some help to get their footing. Her reply is what surprised me; she said she didn’t want to take government assistance, because the people who abuse the system give it such a bad name. Even though she needed the help, she wouldn’t take it from the government

Later in the episode, Kailyn gets housing assistance from a non-profit group that helps with rent for a few years, and helps her find a better paying job, etc. It’s a program designed to move her out on her on, gradually. So, while she didn’t accept government help, she did accept charitable help from another group. She moved out, and seems to be much happier living on her own without the stress of her mom and boyfriend drama.

What do you think about this?

Are there so many people abusing the government systems that you would turn down their aid when you really needed it?

I know a lot of people have the mindset of: “I paid into it, therefore I’m owed and going to take my due at the first opportunity.” And I’m pretty sure we all have the urge to hide stuff from the government “under the table” when we can, even if we never act on the urge.

Related posts:

1. To the Presidential Candidates and the American People:

This reflection comes because I will likely be losing my job in the next 7.5 months, and joining the ranks of the (officially) unemployed in New York state.

Where I Work
I currently work for a university research lab. I am not paid directly through the school; my salary is paid by the grant funding the lab. This grant is one we’ve had for 5 years and it is about to expire. The professor who runs the lab applied for a renewal, but it was initially rejected. This means that when the money runs out at the end of June my salary runs out with it. He is applying for another grant but it will take months to hear back, and it likely won’t provide funding until after the old one expires. Even if it does provide “gap” funding he won’t know for sure that it goes through until the last minute. When he told me this, he mentioned that he hoped it would be enough time for me to find another position. I was being let go, and I was stunned. I had always known this was a possibility, but to hear it was going to happen was still a shock.

I found out in October, which gave me just under 9 months leeway. I realize that I am extremely lucky to have so much advance warning. I have also been extremely fortunate to have my job as long as I have. This position is something I enjoy, am really good at, and has fantastic benefits with awesome flexible hours. I was even able to get my masters degree tuition free while I worked here. While the salary isn’t the greatest, and I do have to live in a basement most days, the other perks have been great. I couldn’t have asked for a better job.

After some soul searching, I realized that even as great as this job is for me – it is still that, a job. And I’ve never had to deal with not having a “regular” job before. Could I handle it? Could we handle it as a family, mentally, financially, emotionally?

The News
When I found out that the grant funding would be running out, and I’d officially be unemployed, Ryan and I did a lot of talking. We spent countless hours walking, talking, and having “business meetings” to figure out what we want to do, and make sure that what we want is realistic for what we can achieve.

Ryan had taken the plunge into full self-employment a while ago, but I never had to think about this for myself before. We looked over our expenses (including those we would have to add, like paying for our own health insurance), our monthly budget, and our other income streams. After much analysis we realized that with continued steady growth, which we so far have been able to maintain each month, we would in fact be able to be 100% self-employed by the time my salary runs out.

We had planned exactly what we needed to achieve (and a timeline for when) in order to make it all come together. After weeks of taking steps to make this a reality, we are enthusiastic, newly motivated, and ready to become really weird. It took a little while, but I was able to wrap my brain around the idea. I became excited for the beginning of this path and for our future, and excited to start each day.

And then there was another wrench thrown in the equation.
My boss comes in one day and asks to talk to me. He leans on my desk, and casually mentions that he applied for another grant, and there was “a very good chance” he would get stop gap funding that would retroactively pay for the lab from the time the current grant expires until the time the new one takes effect. And this funding would pay for my salary.

Just like that, the prospect of losing my job became a distant possibility rather than a near certain probability.

At first I was relieved. Quickly that relief was followed by questioning if I even wanted to keep my job if I was given this opportunity. I had just accepted the fact that I would be working for my own businesses, and the prospect of being tied to a job (even one as flexible as mine) was no longer as appealing. My brain was cluttered with thoughts. We would be able to meet or goals so much sooner, but what about some moderate travel that like to do. We can still try for total job independence, but having the safety net is nice. The thought of starting a family in the not-too-distant future also crossed my mind. It was a whirlwind. I immediately called Ryan, and we’ve had yet another batch of “business meetings” but…

I don’t know what I am going to do.

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“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” Winston Churchill

This video moved and inspired me, probably more than any other video in a very long time. The man in the film doesn’t wait for others to fix what he sees as broken, he fixes it. He doesn’t protest against those that have, he gives to those that don’t have.

Is he asking for change, or is he asking for change?

Change for a dollar (video link)

Related posts:

1. Weekly Debate (#1): Should Taxpayer Dollars Be Used to Bailout the Big Three Auto Companies?

Yesterday I wrote about how I would like, but didn’t need a million dollars or a high salary. We’ve designed our life, and are working on designing it further, to not need a lot of money. In other words we are creating options and flexability wherever and whenever we can. I’m proud of that, and very fortunate to have had the ability to do so.

However, this is both a blessing and a curse.

The blessing side of it is obvious: I don’t have to stress much about paying our heating bills, not being able to afford eating good food, or about buying gas. We may not be rich, but we’ve always been well-enough to not have to worry about things.

The curse stems from the same aspects as the blessing – that lack of fear always threatens to the dim fire that is us pushing us to do better and do things differently.  No “real” reason to change the status quo other than the ones we invent, and it’s not always easy to keep it strong.

We have many goals, and they’ve changed over the years, but a few things have stayed the same: our desire to be 100% debt free, and to be able to travel and see the world. To achieve these goals (in reasonable time – throughout life as opposed to at the very end of it) we have to really push ourselves, and it’s an upstream battle. As part of achieving these goals we would like to design a life based solely on non-traditional income streams, including (but not necessarily limited to) teaching, writing, and creating by tying all this together into our own entrepreneurial ventures.

A juggling act
An especially tough battle since we are at the beginning of all of this is that we can’t work all goals at once… We can pay off debt quickly if I keep my job (assuming I can keep my job – but that’s a topic for another post), but that limits our ability to travel. We could move to full time online teaching and online working, but then we lose cheap health insurance which slows our ability to pay off debt quickly.

Life is a bunch of small decisions made every day. Choosing the path that gets you where you want to go may not be most immediately satisfying, or the easiest, but if you lose focus on the destination then you’ll never be able to get there.

A candle is great until it burns the house down
I guess what I am trying to say is that we want to design a life full of contentment that doesn’t require a redlined salary to maintain, but at the same time we see the value in the drive that sometimes comes with an expensive lifestyle on the edge.

It’s easy to lose focus on the destination if you don’t have real adversity or real challenges. We sometimes fall, catch ourselves, and correct course, but as Jim Rohn’s message implies, going for a walk around the block ten times on Sunday because you didn’t do it all week isn’t the same as one walk a day.

The man says, “Well I didn’t walk around the block today and it didn’t kill me, so it must be okay.”

No, no, it is that kind of error in judgment, that after six years has him out of breath and panting as he walks from his car to his office. You can’t make those kinds of mistakes; it will end up costing you.

Doing the right things is easy…  but also just as easy not to do.

The battle against the thief in your mind, stealing your motivation, is the hardest one to avoid.

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