Way cool online financial software and it's free

Surfing the net tonight as I wait for my son to get home from the varsity away football game, Chaz is sophomore dresses for varsity and plays reserve, I was doing some research on online personal accounting software.

I came across a site that I had not seen or heard about before until now. The site is Geezeo. I'm very impressed. Geezeo keeps your personal budget organized while providing a social network to help you stick to your budget and to get ideas for spending money more effectively. The social aspect of Geezeo acts as a financial support group.

The budget tool in Geezeo is graphically presented with each tag resembling a tile. The tiles are green, yellow (reaching budgeted spending limit) or red (over budget) so you can tell at a glance where you need watch your spending.

Fox news out of Boston even did a piece on this. It's worth a look.

I'm all for using tools that help you manage your money.

Your Health Credit Report

We are all aware that we each have a financial credit report. Did you know more than 200 million Americans also have a Health "credit report"?

Your health credit report draws from databases containing your prescription drug records. What's the big deal here? Well, more and more heath insurance and life insurance companies are paying these database companies, Milliman IntelliScript and Ingenix are the two largest, for your prescription information. Armed with this information, insurance companies then make decisions about offering you coverage.

How can this be you ask? When you sign a consent form while appling for insurance, you are giving insurance companies the permission to search your medical history. If you want the insurance, there's no way around this.

When your precription information is gathered by the database, it provides insurers a "phamacy risk score". A higher score implies higher risk.

How popular is this database becoming? IntelliScript got about 1 million quereis from insurers last year. So much for HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)

Freeze! - Your credit report that is. . .

Experian and TransUnion 2 of the three credit reporting agencies, (Equifax is the third) now allow residents of all 50 states to freeze their credit online . This is something you should consider doing.

A credit freeze is a way to block your credit reports to make it a lot tougher for an identity thief to get a loan or open a credit account in your name. That's because while a freeze is in place, no one, not even you, can open an account in your name. Lenders, insurers and even employers doing background checks are not able to access your credit file.

You can have the freeze lifted if you need to get new credit, but you have to give the bureaus a specially issued personal identification number and a few days' notice to do so.

Note that while a credit freeze can help shut down economic ID theft, it will not help eliminate criminal identity theft. That's where crooks use a fake ID with your information.

So, If you're ready to freeze your credit here are the links

TransUnion or by phone at 1-888-909-8872

Experian or by phone at 1-888-397-3742

Equifax (Online for Georgia, Iowa, New Jersey and Wyoming) or by phone at 1-800-685-1111

Doing Life together

Today, our small group along with two additional NewPointe staffers (John Bunn and Danny Bunnelle) spent the afternoon serving together in a big way. We through NewPointe were able to present the Coshocton Boxing Club with an official sized boxing ring. The club does some great work with the youth and we've been able to develope a relationship with the club owners.

Getting together with my small group each week to learn and grow though studing differnent topics is a vital part of group life. But when we serve together is when we bond. I can't imagine doing life without being in a small group. You need a group of beilvers in your life that you can laugh with, share with, and support through lifes ups and downs.

Today we shared some "up time" in helping others. After an day of good work, we went back to Steve & Sherry's (a couple in our small group) house for a great dinner.

The 3 big take-aways for me from this day were.

1. A small group is a vital need in my relationship with God.
2. It's a blessing to serve with friends
3. Somethings the doors God opens make me laugh. (A boxing club???)

Here are some pictures from the day.

Making Changes

Lot's of great stuff happening here at NewPointe as we get ready for the Fall season. One of the major building changes is the move of our Bookstore. There are a lot of folks around here that are very excited about our new space. Take a look.Thanks to the work of some awesome Bookstore volunteers (Rich Rilke, Nancy Rilke, Sherry Trimmer, and Therese Fillippi) we made some great headway last night in the new space.

Rich & Nancy are coming back in tonight to put the finishing touches on and to get ready for the grand opening on Sunday. Stop in and let me know what you think.

Great financial advise

I know these are crazy financial times. With every 401k statement of late, the value is less than it was the month before. What's a person to do in times like these?

The best answer is stay the course and look to those who are much more successful. A great read / place to spend some time is Shareholder Letters for Berkshire Hathaway Inc. They are written by Warren Buffett. He's arguable the greatest individual investor of our time. He's #1 on Forbes list of Billionaires in 2008. (current net worth $62 billion)

Plan your final exit online

You and I are most likely not going to be able to plan or anticipate the when and where of our exit from this world but a new online tool can allow you to detail out your final wishes.

MyWonderfulLife.com is a web site where you plan and share funeral details including things like music choices and where and how burial will take place. Up to 6 loved ones can have online access to your wished and instruction on where to find you r will and account information. This site was started by two women after the death of their husbands.

While I'm one this subject, did you know you can also order your final resting bed, ok your casket online? When I did a Google search on "buy casket online" I got back 180,000 sites. Most online sources have Next Day shipping. I've told my wife many times I want my casket purchased online. This is will be my last money saving adventure and bargin purchase.

Financial Stress

Recently I've been consulted by a number of people who are experiencing financial stress in their lives. The reasons are all different but the anxiety and pressures are similar. What's a good plan to deal with financial stress?

Here's my advise.

1. Acknowledge that you feel overwhelmend by your situaition
2. Pray for God's help and comfort as you go thought this time
3. Exercise hard. Yep, exercise helps you clear your head.
4. Talk with someone you trust. They are not emotionally attached to the situation like you are.
5. Cut out all extras. Yes, cable TV is an extra.
6. Are there things you can sell on Ebay or Amazon?
7. Talk to those you owe and explain your situation.
8. Never sign or agree to something you don't understand
9. Never allow automatic drafting out of your checking account
10. Talk with your church. Most churches have a "helps / benevolence" fund.
    

Mission Accomplished (333 miles in 4 days)

I'm home. Mission Accomplished. Close to $100,000 raised for the two Ohio American Cancer Society Hope Houses.

A very short summary of my great bike adventure.

1. It was a great life experience.
2. Our team "Heals on Wheels" is a great bunch of people.
3. 333 miles peddled. (Only two close calls. One at high speed.)
4. From day one, I wondered where each rider stood in there relationship with God. I had the opportunity to have a couple of spiritual conversations.
5. Some good pictures. See below.
   
   

Day one in the books (79 miles)

Our first day on the PAN Ohio hope ride was great. I'm meeting lots of new people and blogging from the college of Wooster. I haven't been on a college campus in many years. Boy how things have changed.

I've had the opporuntiy to talk with one of my team members about NewPointe. Funny thing is it's not who I've been investing in. Anyway I'm very pumped that she will be checking out NewPointe next Sunday.

Here are some pictures from today.

Our Team "Heals on Wheels" before the start today.



Rock & Roll HofF (Cool)

Browns Stadium. (Go Browns!)

Ride countdown begins

In just over 24 hours, I'll be leaving for my PAN Ohio Bike adventure. Cleveland to Cincinnati Ohio in 4 days. (over 300 miles)

I'm very much looking forward to this ride for a number of reasons. Here are the top 5.

1. The cause. Hope Lodge and the families that get to stay there.
2. Being able to say I road my bicycle from Cleveland to Cincinnati.
3. Four days of nothing but riding bike and hanging out with bike nuts.
4. I'm praying for an opportunity to share my faith with my team.
5. Every time I'm away from my family overnight, it makes me appreciate and value them more when I return. (I hope they think the same about me.)

Raising them right!

Like all parents, I want my kids to be responsible, respectful and full of love for people. With two teenagers, it's hard to get a read on how they are doing in life. Our kids are trying to find who they are and want to be independent of Cindy and I. I'm ok with that as it's the way life works.

Every once in a while, God gives me some insight into how my kids are doing. I had one of those moments this week. While at work, I received a phone call from Chaz. He started off the conversation with, "Dad, your mountain bike is ok and so am I." (I've got a pretty nice mountain bike but that's another story.)

Chaz said he and some buddies were ridding bikes and horsing around. Chaz ended up riding into the back of a parked van. He cracked the tail light of the van. At this point it would have been very easy for him and his buddies to ride off but Chaz didn't do that. He told his buddies to stop. Then he when up to the house, rang the door bell and told the owner of the van what had happened.

Chaz told the owner he would pay to replace the tail light cover and gave the owner our contact information. I was so proud of the way Chaz handled the situation and as a reward to him, I said I would pay to replace the cover for doing the right thing.

For days now, I have been thanking and praising God for how Chaz handdled this situation. I'm very proud of him. This event has drawn me closer to God and I'm thankful for that. Through this situation, God gave me a glips into Chaz's character.