How do you measure up?

The list of 12 items from my last on a Healthy Financial Plan included retirement funding. (That was item #5)

In doing some reading today, I came across this very interesting chart. Based on your age and retirement Savings Value, what percentage do you fall into?

To be truthful, it doesn't really matter. The important thing is that you are saving for retirement and that you are doing it consistently.

Retirement Savings

Reported total savings and investments not including value of defined-benefit plans or primary residence, active workers by age group, 2007

	Age group
	25-34	35-44	45-54	55+
Less than $10,000	50%	36%	24%	26%
$10,000-$24,999	18	16	10	5
$25,000-$49,999	9	10	11	9
$50,000-$99,999	10	14	15	11
$100,000-$149,999	7	7	9	11
$150,000-$249,999	1	9	10	9
$250,000-$499,999	1	4	12	11
$500,000 or more	4	4	9	17
Note: Survey of 1,001 active workers.
Source: Employee Benefit Research Institute

Healthy Financial Plan

How do you know if you have a healthy financial plan? There is more to it than saving for retirement and your kids college.

Here a list of items you should have in place or be working on as part of your overall financial plan.

1. A per pay cash flow plan. (Tell each dollar where it's going before you get paid.)
2. A Will (This is a must have!)
3. A debt reduction plan.
4. An Emergency Fund
5. Retirement Funding
6. Life Insurance
7. Health Insurance
8. Disability Insurance (Most people ignore this one. Don't you ignore it.)
9. Adequate Auto & Home owners insurance. (When did you last review these?)
10. Charitable Giving
11. Teaching your children how to handle money.
12. College funding for your kids.

If you are addressing these 12 items you have a health financial plan. If you are missing some of these 12 things then set an action date right now and get it done.

18 wonderful years

Yesterday was my 18th wedding anniversary. I am very blessed to be married to a wonderful woman. Among many important milestones in our marriage, Cindy played a big role in me having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. For that, I am eternally grateful.

I must say our 18th anniversary day will be a memorable one. We spent 7 hours together in our own private room. . . . at Union Hospital. A blood test, chest x-ray, and 3 bags of I.V. solution we headed for home. Cindy started getting sick Friday night and continued to get worse. So Sunday it was off to the emergency room.

I just got off the phone with her and she's feeling a little better today. Say a get well prayer for her.

Thanks

1400 chairs in two minutes flat

Each week, teams of dedicated NPCCers come in on Saturday nights to transform our auditorium from sports space to worship space.

Thanks guys for your dedication and attention to detail. Take three minutes and enjoy their efforts.

Top 5 signs you may be in financail trouble

Getting into financial trouble can happen to anyone. There are some signs that are obvious but there are many more than are not. Spotting the signs that allude to underlying troubles can often be difficult. While we all know that we should get out of debt and spend less than we make there are plenty of more subtle clues out there that could signal pending financial problems in the future.

Here are 5 warning signs to look out for.

1. You have little or no savings. At a minimum, you should have $1,000 set aside for emergencies. (Ideally, you should have 3 - 6 months of living expenses in a savings account.)
2. No Budget. You have to have a game plan and tell your money where to go each pay.
3. Financing a vehicle for more than 5 years. (It is possible to pay cash for a vehicle.)
4. Money fights with your spouse. This is the number one reason for divorce.
   
5. Using Credit Cards to pay for necessities because you don't have the cash.

There's lots of help out there in getting your finances under control. One of the best resources I know of is Dave Ramsey and his Financial Peace University. I've got his best selling book, The Total Money makeover available here on my blog. (See below.) This book will change your life, if you apply it.

Mega Millions, Just another Tax

One of the articles on the front page of our local paper today was "Mega jackpot: Area residents lining up for chance to win". The jackpot is up to $330 million. That's a lot of money and people line up to buy tickets for a chance to be a millionaire.

Did you know that your odds of having the winning ticket is One in 175,711,536. Did you know a person who plays the lottery on a regular basis spends on average $30 per week. Let's see, $30 per week x 52 weeks a year = $1,560 with little if any winnings. (Looks a lot like a tax to me. . . )

How about this instead of purchasing tickets. $30 per week invested in a Roth IRA earning 10% from age 20 to age 65 (45 years) equals $1,233,641 TAX FREE every time.

This sure beats odds of 1 in 175million. So this weekend, skip the Mega Millions ticket line and open up a Roth IRA.

Do you have a Cash Flow Plan?

Well? What's your plan? One of the most valuable things I've learned in leading Financial Peace University is this: If you don't tell your money where to go, it will leave all by itself. Hang with me and I'll explain.

Before I had a paycheck by paycheck cash flow plan when I had money in my checkbook a day or two before I got paid, that money left. I found something to spend it on. I said, "Hey, I get paid tomorrow so what can I buy? This money's not doing any good just sitting in my checkbook." Have you been there?

Now with my cash flow plan, every dollar is "spent" on paper before I actually get paid. I even have a "blow" category in my cash flow plan. We all blow money and that's ok. Just plan for it.

So why do a cash flow plan before each paycheck?

1. You avoid managing finances by crisis.
2. Managed money goes farther. ( I don't know why but it does.)
3. It reduces money fights in your relationships.

Three great reasons to me. Try it. If it doesn't work, you can always go back to the way your doing it now.

History and a Bike Ride on a Sunday Afternoon

Today was a great day. Worship was wonderful as always. NewPointe is a great place to worship God. Cindy and I hade some old friends check out services today. It was nice to see Greg and Sandy. Worship is always a little extra special when you personally know people are here for the first time.

Sunday afternoons this time of year for me include bike rides. That bicycle rides. I'm now pushing close to 1,600 miles for the year. Today our route started from Gnadenhutten. Gnadenhutten was the settled in the late 1700's Ninty-six christian Indians were massicured there in 1782.

We left from Gnadenthutten and headed out on hill after hill until we reached Peoli. Peoli is where baseballs greatest player of all time is burried. Cy Young. It was cool to ride by his grave. I'm sure most people didn't know that he is burried right here in Tuscarawas County. Now you do.

To Rollover or To Role Into?

My mom has come to me for some financial advice. She currently works at a local bank and do to an acquisition, her bank is now a different bank.

With the ownership change of the bank, comes stacks and stacks of paperwork and choices for her and her fellow employees. One critical choice is what to do with her 401k from the now non-existing bank. Of course the acquiring bank wants all the employees to roll their 401k dollars into the new banks plan. I told my mom that's a bad idea. Here's my opinion why.

Anytime you have the opportunity to roll retirement dollars out of an old employers retirement plan into your own self directed "rollover" IRA you need to do it. The biggest reason why is fund choices. Instead of being stuck selecting from a limited number of mutual funds the new employer is offering, with your own "rollover" IRA you have access to every fund, stock, and then some in the market.

In my mom's case, I'll be helping her open a "rollover" IRA this weekend with Vanguard. I'll place 100% of her money into their Target Retirement 2015 fund. There are a couple of reasons I picked this fund family and this fund for her.

1. Vanguard has very low fees
2. Vanguard has been around a long time
3. Their target retirement funds are simple and somewhat conservative. (That's real good for my parents.)
4. This fund is diversified and it changes it's allocation of holding (Stocks /Bonds/Cash) over time.
   

I'll talk more about Target Retirement Funds if anyone has a desire for me to do so. Just post a comment.

Where to put your 401K money?

I get asked all the time, "What funds should I pick for my 401K?". Before I give my answer, I ask a few questions.

1. Are you at least putting into/having withheld from your paycheck an amount that gets you 100% of the company match? If not you should be.
   
2. Do you have consumer debt? If you do, don't contribute more than what your company will match. You must get out of debt.
   
3. When was the last time you reviewed your retirement plan beneficiaries?
   

With answers to these 3 questions, I don't give "financial advise" I can only tell you what I do and my what your hearing from me is free. So here it is.

Diversification - To spread around. As the saying goes, money is like manure, spread it around and it helps things grow. Leave it in one pile and it stinks.

Most people will do well to pick / spread their retirement fund choices between 4 - 5 classes of mutual funds. I currently have 5 classes.

• Large Cap
• Small Cap
• Foreign
• S&P 500 index
• Growth & Income
  

I came across a free asset allocator calculator from cnn money that may help you pick your categories. The answers I gave returned this asset allocation. Not that far off my my current mix.



The most important thing is to get started and stick with it over a long period of time.

Who's in control

In my conversations and readings here of late, the topic of email has been coming up over and over again. The more I engage in conversations about email, I keep recalling my high school science class when we talked about Pavlov's dogs. (Pavlov was the Russian scientist who conditioned dogs to salivate when a bell rang.)

I get the feeling that's what most people do when they are working on their computer and that "dig" sounds letting them know a new email has just arrived. Most people then can't resist. They stop what they are doing and read the email. (Email is in control.)

I no longer "Pavlov" to the ding. I've turned it off. I'm going one step farther and am about to set-up an auto email response letting people know that I'll only be checking my email twice a day. 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. (I'm back in control)

Here's what my auto response is going to say:

Thanks for emailing me today. I have scheduled the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. to review and respond to my email. If you need to reach me before those times, please call me at 330-365-xxxx.

Thanks.

What do you think? Good idea or bad?

Goal Reached!

I've reached, surpassed another goal. I'm very excited about reaching this goal so soon in the year. Ok, here it is, and it's a big one for me.

I've exceeded my 1,500 miles goal for 2007. (That is miles pedaled)

See, the bottom number on my bike computer is showing 1,504.4 miles as of today. (Don't tell my wife that the 43.7 number was my max speed on Kinsey Valley's downhill. She doesn't like when I got that fast on my bike. Maybe it has something to do with my bike tires being less than one inch wide.) This is a story for another time.

I've set a new goal of 2,000 miles before the year is over. Will I get it? Who knows but the important thing is I've got goals.


I love the line by Zig Zigler, "If you aim at nothing you'll hit it every time." His statement has motivates me. I've come to realize that reaching the goal you set is never as important as who you are becoming as you move toward the goal. When you set a goal you have to push yourself to reach it. If your not pushing then your goal wasn't "stretching" enough for you. If you really want to reach a goal, tell a few friends what it is and ask them to hold you accountable.

Setting goals for me also helps me to stay focused on what I value. It allows me to say no to some good things and some not so good things without feeling guilty when say no.

If you're looking for a simple goal to get started, here's a good one, read a non-fiction book in the next 30 days. Go visit the library. There's lots of books to choose from and it won't cost you a dine. I just checked out "The Power Years" by Ken Dychtwald.

Is winter here yet?

Ok, I'm not wishing for or wanting winter to come but it will be here sooner than I'd like. With this thought in mind, I started searching for a good rate on natural gas. This is how we and most people heat their homes.

Now is a great time to shop and lock-in natural gas prices for the upcoming winter. If your living in Ohio, here's the best place to start doing your research. The PUCO of Ohio has an "Apples to Apples" comparison of gas suppliers.

I took this directly from the web site.

The PUCO produces the Apples to Apples charts to provide consumers with a snapshot comparison of current natural gas and electric supplier price options and contract terms. The PUCO updates the Apples to Apples charts on a regular basis and verifies each supplier offer to ensure accuracy. The charts list only the certified suppliers that are actively enrolling new customers. As with all contracts, consumers should carefully read and understand all terms and conditions before signing any forms or agreeing to enroll with a supplier for natural gas service.

After I did my research, I signed up with Lakeshore Energy Services. They had and have the lowest rate per mcf @ $9.117

How best to pay down your debt?

There's more than one way to attack your debt. The first step in this is stop borrowing money.

When your ready to get serious about becoming debt free, you need some tools to help you get there. I'm a big fan of Dave Ransey's debt snowball concept. It's the system I used to become debt free.

Just the other day, I came across a new online service, www.debtlogistics.com. This site analyzes your debt and suggests ways to pay it off most efficiently. There's lots of good stuff here for free. You can get a personalized plan for $30. My suggestion is check out the free stuff then head over to Dave Ramsey's site.

One of the happiest days of your life will be the day your can proudly say, "I'm debt Free"

Free Financial Advise - Complements of Kiplingers

As I've stated in the past, I'm a fan of Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine. Here's another reason why. On August 17th and again on the 3oth, Kiplinger's along with the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) will answer your finance and retirement questions for free. Hey, these fee only advisers normally charge clients $100 to $250 an hour.

On the 17th and 30th you won't pay a dime. So, get your financial and or retirement questions ready and call 888-919-2345 and a NAPFA adviser will respond to your question. You can also email them a question @ jumpstart@kiplinger.com

Everyone has at least one retirement question you've been dieing to ask. Why not ask and expert for free?

Here's a link to Kiplinger's Jumpstart article.

I'm off to phase my question.

In the lead. . .

As you may recall, our staff here at NewPointe are participating in a wellness program. We are currently tracking our walking with pedometers. Today at all staff, we received certificates for the miles we have walked through the first three weeks.

I'm very proud to say that I'm in the lead. I've walked 238 miles so far. Way cool.

How about you? What do you do to keep your body in shape? I truly believe that there is a spiritual side of exercise and eating right. So get yourself an accountability partner for fitness. It can lead to all sorts of good stuff. For example, yesterday during my 35 mile bike ride, a new rider asked me, "So, what's your testimony?" I spent the next 5 miles talking with him about my relationship with Jesus Christ. Way cool.

As we finished the ride, I told him on our next ride, I wanted to hear his story. (That will be Tuesday.)

Purchase price X 2

While doing some work tonight, I had the national news on tv. I stopped working when the news anchor was doing some shopping and comparing shopping with credit cards vrs. shopping with cash. (I didn't catch all the details of their test.)

I did catch the results. Here's what NBC news found, people were willing to pay twice as much for the same item when they paid for it via credit card vrs cash. That's unbelievable to me.

This may the best reason not to use credit cards for those who tell me "I always pay mine off when the bill comes." That may be so but NBC's news test says you're willing to spend twice as much.

Wesabe - led to online discounts

I just signed up for my free Wesabe account. (See my last post to see what Wesabe is.) Right after is signed up it took me to an Account page and there was a tip from another user that we all can use.

Checkout currentcodes.com when shopping online to get that checkout discount. Here's what Debbie P inside of Wesabe said.

During checkout, most online stores have a "Discount code" or "Promotional code" box. Before you complete your purchase, check www.currentcodes.com to see if you can save some money by filling in that box. The site maintains a database of active codes to save at online stores and lets you search by store name. They have lots of biggies like Amazon.com, gap.com, car rental sites, etc. It's pretty hit or miss... some of the deals are on really specific items, but you sometimes find a flat "15% off" or "free shipping" code that saves you $ and makes you feel in the know.

Here are a few more sites to check out.

www.slickdeals.net

www.fatwallet.com

www.dealcatcher.com

Have fun with them, I'm going back to my Wesabe set-up.

Financial Tips / Advise . . . . WESABE

Today was the first day to sign-up for our next Financial Peace University class. I was very pleased with the response today. I'm looking forward to next Sunday's final day of sign-ups. After that, I'll order material.

With FPU just around the corner, I'll be doing lots of personal financial posts over the next quarter. Hopefully you'll learn something new and even more importantly, put something new into practice.

In reading my Kiplinger's magazine today, I came across a small article entitled "Budgets made Simple". In the article it talked about several softwares that help you track your spending. Kiplinger's picked Wesabe as their favorite "FREE" site.

According to Kiplinger's, the site provides excellent security and it doesn't ask you for your account passwords. (This is a must for me!). Once your up and running, Wesabe lets you tap into the insights of more than 30,000 users..

I'm off to set-up my own Wesabe account. I'll report back soon.

Money Slang. . .

I've always wondered where the different terms for money come from. So the other night I started doing some Google searching. Here's what I came up with.

Bacon - In the middle ages, among the British, having this food in the house was considered a sign of prosperity. 'Bringing home the bacon' was the new slang when games of catching a greased pig at county fairs took effect.

Buck(s) - This became popular in the mid 1850's. It was an abbreviation for buckskin, a unit of exchange in the west.

Bread / Dough - A main staple in numerous peoples lives and has been equated with cash for centuries.

Moolah - mill, from le moulin - This word may be the origin of the English slang meaning of "moolah" as "money", as mills are even today equated with income in the Northwest.

Cash on the Barrel - The barrels used as informal counters in old-time general stores or to merchants refusing to hand over a barrel containing goods until it had been paid for.

Greenback - A nickname originally applied in the 19th century because of the color of paper money.

Smackers - This referred to the sound the clamshells made on the string. It was also heard in the 1920's and referred to the sound when coins weresmacked down on a counter.

Do you know of any other slang words for money? If so, I'd like to know.

Employer to Fine Unhealthy Workers

I've talk with lots of business owners on a consistent basis. One of the recurring issues for them and for us here at the church is the rising cost of health insurance. More and more businesses are looking at creative ways to get their employees healthy in hopes their yearly insurance premiums increases will drop below double digits.

My good friend Dr. Kindra Browning sent me an article from Workforce Management. The article covered a company in Indianapolis that's going to start fining employees with unhealthy habits.

Here's the deal. The following numbers carry a $5 per pay fine that is deducted automatically from an employees paycheck.

1. Body mass index over 29.9
2. Blood pressure over 140/90
3. Blood glucose over 120
4. LDL (Bad) cholesterol over 130

I'm very interested to see how this plays out over time. Will more companies follow suite? Will employees not work for this company? Will this really effect their health insurance premiums? Would you work for a company that has policy like this?

It's time. . . . . . Sign ups for Financial Peace begin Sunday

It's that time again. Time to sign up for this fall's Financial Peace University class here at NewPointe. I'm very excited as lives are changed and marriages saved with each class offered here.

Here's the scoop on this round of classes.

1. For the first time, we are limiting the class size to 30 people. (So don't delay in signing up.)
2. Classes begin Tuesday August 21st @ 7 p.m. here at the church.
3. Sign-up's start this Sunday at the church. Look for the FPU sign in the main Atrium.

To get a great feel for what the class is all about, watch this short FPU video. I get goose bumps every time I watch it.

Without a doubt, this is one of the best investments you could ever make.

Sweet Corn Chalenge

What is the Sweet Corn Challenge? It's a bicycle ride that starts in Richfield Ohio and weaves in and out of the Cleveland Metroparks. This is the 4th time I did this ride and it was the hardest. My Buddy's Bill G., Kevin B., and Bud K., and I tackled the 55 miles of hill after hill. (We missed you Scott)

There were more than 2,000 riders in total.

Here are a few pictures I took and our new van in all it's glory. My wife Cindy wasn't crazy about all the bikes on the van. I thought it was way cool.


Arrival at Sweet Corn. Kevin's helping to get the bikes ready.



Bud, looking for the port-a-pots before we take off. (Bud's on the left of the picture walking away from the camera.)


Our fist pit of the day. 20+ miles into the ride. Two optional hills under our belts. (Pain!!) Kevin, (White & Black) and Bill (Sleeveless jersey) are enjoying the shade and the rest.


The Ride's over (3hrs 20 min of ride time). We've finished off our lunch, picked up our bags of sweet corn and are ready for the drive home. Don't ask how we got out of our bike cloths into street cloths. (It not a pretty site.)

No pictures of me. I was the camera man.

Blogger Tag

Tag, I'm it. There is a game going around the blogging world right now and it's my turn to play. Thanks Double D.

The Rules:

1. Players start with 8 random facts about themselves.
2. Those who are tagged should post these rules and their 8 random facts.
3. Players should tag 8 other people and notify them they have been tagged.
   

8 Random (cool) Facts about me:

1. When I'm deep in thought, I take one shoe off as I work. If I'm alone the sock comes off as well.)
2. I love live musicals / operas. (I've seen Phantom of the Opera 3 times)
3. I sat for the CPA exam while still in college.
4. I've had 13 broken bones (1 in a youth fist fight)
5. I worked in a coal mine 3 out of my 4 college summers. (The other summer I worked in a slaughter house. . . . Don't ask what I did, it involved animal guts.)
6. I taught 3 semesters of accounting at Kent State University - Tuscarawas
7. I love public radio. . . Any Prairie Home Companion fans out there?
8. I have a relative who is a Secret Service agent on President Bush's detail. I'm looking at Mike's (the Secret Service agent's) business card right now. He was home this weekend for my grandmothers 90th birthday party.

Ok, now it's my turn to tag 8 people. Here we go.

1. Joe Sangl
2. Jennifer Bartlett
3. Dr. Scott Matthews
4. Dave Mast
5. Tony Morgan
6. Tom Troyer
7. Tina Lawver
8. Rita Hershberber
   

Credit Report take 2

As a follow-up to my post yesterday, I received a great email from my good friend K. (Yes, here fist name is the letter"K",) Here's what she had to say.

Hi Todd,

Be sure people use the www.annualcreditreport.com to get the free report ( you can buy the credit score form them for about $7.00) do not use the www.freecreditreport.com scam site . One woman wrote Dave Ramsey that she paid almost $300.00 in stupid tax before she got free of the scam site. They advertise on TV all the time but I see now that they print a very small disclaimer at the bottom of the screen. Consumer Reports is also running warnings about the site in their magazine.

Have a great day,
K

Thanks for the great info.

Credit Reports

I was cleaning out our some files this weekend and came across my Equifax credit report from June of 2006. That made me realize I hadn't pulled a credit report on myself in some time.

Did you know that each credit reporting agency is now required by law to give you one free credit report per year? If you work it right, that allows you to look at your credit report 3 times a year for free. Let me explain.

I'll run an Equifax credit report on myself tonight. It will be free since the last time I did this was over a year ago. In November, I'll run a credit report from Experian. Then in March, I'll run one from Transunion. Then I'll start all over again.

Each reporting agency reports the information a little bit differently. None of them will give you your "famous" credit score for free. All three agencies charge for this. I'd consider paying for this once a year.

This goes without saying but I will say it.

1. Keep your credit reports in a safe and locked location.
   
2. Take action on anything in your report that looks funny.
   
3. Close those old dormant credit card and department store accounts.
4. Don't add more debt you your life. (I listed this one for good measure.)
   

Goal accomplished!

I'm posting this to encourage and to let others know it can be done. In no way am I sharing this to boast or brag.

My wife and I are the proud owners of a 2004 Honda Odyssey. Here's the best part, we paid cash for it. That's the accomplished goal. When we started our savings plan years ago, I really didn't think paying cash for a vehicle was possible. I'm happy to say it is possible with steady plodding.

So what's the alternative to paying cash? Debt. According to the latest figures I could find on the internet, the average car payment is $378 per month over 63 months. (Just over 5 years) Car dealers are now offering loans over 72 months (6 years).

If you do borrow for you next vehicle, and I'm living proof that it's possible to pay cash for it, remember to take all the costs of ownership into account and your car debt & insurance shouldn't be more than 12% - 15% of your monthly take home pay.

PS - The car we sold as part of this cash transaction was a 1998 Honda Accord. In 7 years of ownership of this car, we put 112,000 mile on it.

What is your TV costing you?

It seems I'm constantly on one of my kids, I won't tell you which one, to turn off the TV and get outside. That conversation usually gets me thinking about how much time I spend in front of the TV. It's not a lot but probably more than I realize.

Consider this,the average adult watches 31.5 hours of TV each week. Let's put a value of minimum wage of $5.85 an hour to this. That equates to nearly $800 a month ($9,600 a year) to watch TV. If you value your time more than minimum wage, then this figure goes way up.

I'm not suggesting everyone give up all their TV time. What I would suggest is you consider reducing the time spent watching TV and do something you believe is more valuable with your time, like blogging. . .

How many steps does it take to . . .

This past Sunday, we kicked off our staff wellness program here at NewPointe. Over the next 11 weeks, 78 days, our staff is keeping track with pedometers of how many steps they take each day. I mentioned this in a prior post.

We are posting daily steps taken in our staff break room. I'm very proud to say that I walked the most steps on the first day of the competition.

36,269 steps taken by me Sunday.

I checked out some web sites on walking and it's around 2,000 steps equal one mile. So I walked an equivalent of 18 miles Sunday. Way cool.

Just so you know this is not a fluke, yesterday I walked over 22,000 steps. My wife says I never stop moving until I lay down in bed for the night. I think she's right.

It's official . . . I'm addicted & rated "G"

I was over at John's blog reading up on his great post. Recently he's had a lot of quizzes on his blog posts. I came across one I couldn't resist.

Are you addicted to coffee? Take the test yourself. I'm very please with my high score.

I am 92% Addicted to Coffee

Also thanks to John, I found out my blog was rated G. So everyone is welcome. . . read on.

The Power of Cash continues to work. . . .

Opening my email this a.m., there was one from my buddy Tom Toyer. Tom attends NewPointe and has recently joined the blogging world.

He shared with me his furniture purchase from last night and how he used cash to get a good deal (Stewardship). I've copied his blog post here. It's worth the read....

This evening we made a purchase ... with cash and got a good deal. We have been shopping for living room furniture for the house we are buying. We have two chairs so we decided that would buy a sofa or a sectional. Last week we found a sectional at one of the furniture stores in New Philadelphia, it had a small hole in the back and was marked down considerably. We liked it and had decided that we would get cash and go down again this week and offer them less and use the cash as a bargaining chip. Well, tonight we went with our cash & our game plan to get the sectional, they were closed. Ugh now what, Elsie says: "do you want to stop at this other place just up the road". "Sure" I said: "why not". So we stopped and guess what, God literally closed & locked a door and opened another. Make a long story short ... we ended up buying a couch - no damage, more features & much nicer.

Here is the deal: $999 regular price, on sale for $759, we got it for $700 cash delivered & tax included. We paid about 63% of the original price or saved $131 off the sale price. I'm pumped. Todd it works. The guy jumped all over that offer I think he may have come down even more.

Check that thing out, isn't it sweet!

Stewardship is personal responsibility for taking care of another person's property or financial affairs.

- In our case this money is God's and we are trying to be good stewards of it

Wellness at work

Today we kick-off a wellness program for the staff here at NewPointe. I'm excited for the events of the day and what this "should" mean for each staff member as the program gets going.

A month ago, our staff participated in a health screening held here a the church. We each gave blood, had our blood pressure checked, was weighted, ( I'm weighted in at 177) and filled out a questionnaire. (There was no filling of cups. Think on this for a minute, it will come to you.)

As part of the program today, we'll each get our screening results back from Dr. Browning. In addition to that, we'll be divided into three teams and the competitions will begin. The team names are:

1. Fatty Acids
2. Protein Shakers
3. Triple Bypasses

Our first completion is 10,000 steps a day for the next 12 weeks. We have pedometers for each team member and we'll be putting up a chart in the break room to track progress.

Wish us good will and root on the Fatty Acids as I'm the team captain.

Personal Check ordering tips

These day's I don't write many checks any more. It's usually cash, debit card, or online bill payment. Today however, I did put the last set of 50 checks into our checkbook. ( I'm hoping they will last 6 months or more.)

My next task was onto the net to find the best price on checks. I ended up ordering 3 boxes of 200 checks in each box from Super Value Checks The total with shipping was $20.70. ($0.0345 per check)

Here are a two things I did to help guard my identity on the checks.

1. I didn't put my wife's or my first name on the check. I used our initials from our fist name. T or C Colucy. This way no one other than us and the bank know how we sign our checks. This will be a big plus if your checks are stolen and you try and prove to the electronics store that you didn't write a check for that big screen TV.
   
   
2. I put my work phone number on the checks not my home number. If someone tries to use your personal information from your check to open up a bogus account somewhere in your name, they will not have your home phone number. When they use your work number as your home number, this should send up a red flag where the account is being opened.
   

Next time you order checks, let me know if you find a better deal and if you used your initials and work phone number.

4th of July and my personal best

The 4th has been great for me so far today. I enjoyed reading the newspaper on my back porch as the sun was coming up. With my newspaper I had two cups of my fresh home roasted coffee made in my press pot. (Coffee doesn't get any better that that.)

At 9 a.m. it was off to the meeting point for our annual 4th of July bike ride. We had 10 riders today. I knew I was in trouble as I looked over the field of rides. All speed guys and a tandem . When it was all said and done today, I'm was jacked.

Ride distance: 50 miles on the nose

Average speed for the entire 50 miles. . . . 19.5 mph. (My new personal best)
We had miles of speeds around 25 mph. That allowed us to average 19.5.

Now I'm tired and my legs ache. It's time for some vitamin "I" (ibuprofren) and a nap.

Happy 4th to you.

5.36%

In my continuous pursuit of high savings rates, I came across AmTrust Direct. This is a bank located right here in Ohio. Cleveland to be exact.

I applied for my account with AmTrust on line over the weekend. The application process took less than 10 minutes. I'll be moving some of my savings from Emigrant Direct (Paying 5.05%) to AmTrust (Paying 5.36%)

I'm looking forward to comparing the two web sites head-to-head and to see how long it takes to transfer funds in and out of these accounts.

I've been asked many times, "Is it worth switching savings accounts from my local bank because of higher interest rates on the web?" My answer. . . You bet. With the internet, it's easy and fast to open a new savings account and in this case, and extra .31% in interest for the 10 minutes it took to set up the account will be time well spent and money well earned.

Is it proper to get a great deal?

My last post resulted in 8 comments as of Friday night. I'd venture to say I evoked some emotion. That led me to this post.

Is it proper to get a great deal by negotiating?

My answer is yes. . . . If you follow these five basic rules/techniques in negotiations.

1. Always tell the absolute truth
2. Use the power of cash (see my last post) Cash is:
a) Emotional b) Visual c) has Immediacy
3. Understand and use "Walkaway Power" (It's ok to leave and not buy it.)
4. Make the offer then "Shut up". Wait for them to respond to your offer.
5. You can say to them, "That's not good enough".

Remember, as long as you always tell the truth, everyone wins.

Deals on Wheels

It's way past time for new tires on my wife's Honda. The thing is we'll soon be trading it in or selling it to one of two friends. Regardless, new tires are needed now.

I did all the usual checking in the Sunday paper and I wasn't real excited to lay down $280 - $350 for tires. So today, I let my fingers do the walking and call the local salvage yards.

On my 3rd call, BINGO. 4 used tires the same size that I currently have on the Honda. The tires have 90% life left. Jeff, the guy at the salvage yard told me $30 each for a total of $120.

A quick stop at home to pick up some cash and off to the salvage yard. When I met Jeff, I told him I was here for the tires and then I pulled out 5 $20's and counted them out in front of him. I said $100 cash was all I could do and then I held out the $20's and shut-up.

Jeff looked at me, then the $20's and after a few seconds of silence said ok.

Let's add up the savings. I'll split the $350 - $280 price. $315 possible vrs $100 actual paid = $215 savings. Wow. Way cool. I love the power of cash and a bargain.

It's time for you to opt out

I get to spend/invest lots of time meeting with people one-on-one to talk about their personal financial issues. It's a true blessing. (Thanks God!). When those I meet with have financial trouble, one of the major culprit is credit card debt.

The time has come for everyone to opt out of credit card offers forever. How can you do this? It's very easy.

This website www.optoutprescreen.com lets you opt-out for either five years or forever from annoying credit card solicitations by adding your name to the do-not-call/mail lists at the three major Credit Bureaus. This will reduce your junk mail and keep your credit report and social security number from the companies you don’t want to have it.

As an added benefit, this removes trash from the waste stream — people literally throw away tons of mail from credit-card companies every day. This doesn’t just save paper; it also cuts down on the weight of the mail carried each day, helping the postal service burn less gas while reducing green-house gasses and other harmful tailpipe emissions.

So go for it. Opt out now!

$300 in my pocket today

With one phone call today, I put $300 back into our family finances. With our do we / don't we purchase a new to us car, I also took a look at our car insurance. (By the way, we are going to wait another year before the car purchase.)

Since both our cars are 1998's, don't laugh, they have both been paid for for years now. I called and asked our insurance agent what would happen to our premium if we went with liability coverage only. End result, $150 per car savings. I pulled the trigger right there. Why did I do this and carry the extra risk?

First, we have to be involved in an accident that is our fault. This has not happened in over 6 years. Second, the book value on our cars is less than what it would take to repair the car in most cases. If the book value is $3,000 and the cost to repair is $5,000, the insurance company declares the car totaled and pay you the $3,000. After my $1,000 deductible, that's only $2,000 in my pocket and increased insurance premiums to go with it.

So, I'm going to take that $300 savings and put it in our new car fund. The goal this time next year is we'll own 1 1998 vehicle and 1 2004 or '05 or '06 vehicle. Whatever we can get for the cash we have saved.

Happy B-Day to me

Today June 18th is my birthday. The question that always follows that is how old are you? 41.

Some other birthday fact.

1. I'm not into presents. (Just let me go for a bike ride) I did ride 65 miles this weekend.
2. If you must get me something, make it bike or coffee related.
3. I don't like cake. I get a fruit pie every year. This year it was peach. (It's all gone already)
4. I don't mind getting older and I wouldn't go back if I could. However, I would like to spend a weekend or two back in college.

Anyway, Happy birthday to me. . .

Bike Helmet saves my buddy's life

Last night I got a phone call from my good friend Bill. He told me our biking buddy Steve was the victim of a car being larger than his bicycle. The details of the accident are not real clear at this point.

What is clear is during Steve's commute home from work on his bike, a car caused him to crash. Steve when over his handle bars. His bike helmet was broken in three places. Just like his leg. His leg will heal and there is no dough that the helmet saved his life.

Steve is recovering in the hospital and is awaiting surgery. Please say a prayer for him and his family today.

Thanks

Decision time?

My wife and I have the opportunity to purchase a 2005 Honda Accord EX for trade-in value. A co-worker is purchasing a new car and will sell me his Honda for what the dealer will give as a trade-in.

Our "family" car is a 1998 Honda Accord with 140,000 miles on it. We have a 14 year old son who will be driving in 2 years. Our original game plan was to keep our current Honda as the family car until our son was driving. Then we would give that car to him and then purchase a good "used" car with CASH.

If I pull the trigger on the 2005 Accord and am able to sell our 1998 in the next few months, I'll have a loan around $3,000. I hate borrowing money it makes me crazy.

Decision time. . . What would you do?

I Love a bargin!

Like all of us, I work hard for the money. When it comes time to send it, I want the most for the dollar.

We have been doing some remodeling around the house. One of the updates was a stamped concrete walkway and patio. It looks like flagstone and it's truly wonderful. With the new patio come the need for outdoor furniture so we can enjoy the new patio.

Off to Lowes we went. My wife and I looked at all the outdoor furniture, sat in all the furniture and by the Grace of God agreed on the same furniture. (Thank you Jesus.)

Now it was my turn to take over the shopping experience. I found the set of furniture we wanted in an open box. I'm assuming it was returned and one of the cushions had a dirt spot the size of a quarter on it. I asked to talk with the manager to make a deal.

The original price of the 4 chairs was $239. Lowes had a sale and marked it down to $191. I showed the manager my cash, told him I was going to pay cash and wanted a discount because of the open box and the dirt spot. He asked me what I had in mind and I said, "I'm not sure but the $191 wasn't good enough (This is a classic Dave Ramsey line.) He said I'll give it to you for $150. I said Sold!

That was a $89 / 37% discount off the original price and a 21% discount of the sale price. That made sitting in the furniture tonight ever so sweet. The power of cash and the ask is always worth the effort.

Next time your in the market for a big ticket item, take cash and try negotiating a better price. But remember, you have to be willing to walk away.

Online Giving

We have successfully rolled out another component of Fellowship One here at NewPointe. We have added online giving to our web site. We have put together a great Frequently Asked Questions pdf file related to our online giving program. You can check it out by clicking here.

The main question seems to be, Why should I give online? It is a personal preference, but here are a few of the benefits:

1. It's a step of faith . . . deciding in advance to give faithfully.
2. It helps simplify life.
3. It allows you to give consistently . . . even when you're not at church.
4. It allows you to focus on the service when you're at church.

I'd like you're thoughts. Feel free to leave a comment or email me.

99 words for every morning

Our family and Terry & Sondra's family, a couple in our small group are coming together this weekend for a garage sale to be held at our house. For our family, the process thus far has been fun. We are going around the house putting stickers and our initials on lots of "stuff" to sell in our garage sale. I'm even selling my crossbow and tree stand.

In looking though my collection of books, (I love books, even the word "book" sounds good to me when I say it.) I came across a leather bound copy of "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers. (Not for sale) When I picked up the book, an email that I printed out from 2003 out fell out of the book. It was a saying/devotion, I'm not really sure what you would call it but it's worth sharing and I'm glad I came across it again.

99 Words for Every Morning

I live today with gratitude, humility, and patience, accountable for:

Serving Others;

Building, never destroying;

Sharing my gifts freely and abundantly, needing neither notice nor credit;

Treating everyone with compassion, candor and fairness;

Encouraging others generously;

Honoring others' feelings;

Regarding everyone as peer and teacher;

Appreciating differences while withholding judgments;

Trusting others, assuming only good intentions;

Forgiving quickly when I feel wronged;

Holding my tongue when I want to criticize or condemn;

Confronting only with love;

Being a source of comfort, inspiration, and joy for all I am privileged to meet;

Living as I want the world to be.

I'll be reading this and "His Utmost for His Highest" daily.

Weekend round-up

I wanted to list out my weekend activities on this post. I must admit, this post is more for personal documentation than anything. However, Maybe you'll see something interesting or fun that you may want to do/try.

1. Took my wife and daughter to the library. I love the library for many reasons but that's another post someday. I did check out 3 books. Read two of them already. (Our iceberg is melting & Be the elephant.)

2. Took the family to see our fist ever arena football game. It was a blast. (Thanks Mike)

3. Roasted some coffee. There is nothing in the world like fresh roasted coffee.

4. Cindy and I tackled tiling the kitchen back splash. 100+ tile & 15 hours over two days, it looks "phenomenal". God was with us because we enjoyed the process and time together doing this project. No arguments or fights. There is ongoing conversation about the caulk.

5. Worshiping God @ NewPointe Sunday was special for me. For only the second time since we have been in the building (7 months now) Cindy & I were able to sit together in a service. Great Message as always Dwight!

6. Hanging out at the cafe @ NewPointe. I meet new people almost every week and touch base with friends. I get into some great conversations and sometimes I'm able to bring encouragement.

7. My only disappointment this weekend. . . . . I didn't get on my bicycle.

Thanks for sticking around and reading over my weekend. Have a great week and stay encouraged!

Who's keeping you accountable?

I've been meeting with guy for some time now. Our relationship and our conversations have grown and we are getting to know and trust each other more and more. As such, I felt lead to take our relationship (touchy word for a guy) to the next level. Why? Because I need it and I miss having a trusted friend hold me accountable to the things I should be doing on my own. (Scott any chance you'd like to move back to Ohio?)

Over the years I've been in a couple of different accountability groups. What is that? It where the same group of guys got together every week and we asked each other a series of tough questions. I've made a few changes to the list of questions I'd like to use this go around.

Here's my list. What do you think of it? What would you add or take off the list?

1. How have you spent time with God this week?

2. How did you honor your wife this week?

3. Did you make your kid(s) a priority this week? How?

4. What was your area of greatest victory/accomplishment this week?

5. What was you area of greatest struggle this week and what’s your plan?

6. Did you look for and take advantage of opportunities to serve others?

7. What did you read this week and what did you learn from it?

8. How are you honoring God with the financial resources you are stewarding for him?

9. Who or what are you praying for?

10. How can I pray for you this week?

61 Miles and Thanking God

I hope you have a good holiday weekend. Mine was eventful. I always look forward to Memorial Day as we plan a long bike ride. This year we decided to ride out and around Clendening Lake in Harrison County. (ride distance 60 miles)

As the ride started and the bikers gathered, I was thanking and praising God for such a beautiful day. I couldn't wait to get riding. I'll fast forward this story to mile 40. . . .

We just began a decent after a long and hard clime. I was moving at 30+ mph on this down hill when a small dog started chasing after me. Because of my speed, the dog couldn't catch up to me. Andy on the other hand wasn't so lucky. . . .

Andy and the dog got real close and personal. Out of my rear view bike mirror, I saw Andy go air born off his bike. It was one of those time when it felt like things were moving in slow motion.

Here's were the thanking God part comes in. Andy landed in a grassy field and for the most part was fine. No blood no broken bones. Walking the crash site was chilling. Andy just missed a deep ditch and a culvert. Landing in the grass saved a trip to the hospital. I was praising God for the second time on this ride. We were able to fix his bike and Andy finished the ride.

As we rode the rest of the way home, I kept thinking how God is concerned with the everyday things of our lives. I sure an glad he's there and that he give me opportunities to see and thank him daily.

Perspective

Just before my trip to the Dynamic Church Conference, I was handed a box of newly designed "business" cards. I think they look great and not just because my wife Cindy designed them.

Shortly after I got done admiring the new cards, I headed down the office hallway. I noticed in our our Executive Directors office, Mike Conn had his card enlarged and in a picture fame. Upon further inspection of the "enlarged card" I noticed the following alterations and phrase at the bottom of the card.

Mike's title was crossed out and it was replaced with the phase, "Child of Mine". The phase below the business card read, "God is more interested in who I am than what I do. Way cool.

I couldn't get this out of my head and the next day, I asked Cindy to make one for me. It's framed and sits on my desk.

6% on your savings

I'm a big fan of online banking. There are so many +'s. Here's another reason to be banking on line. I just came across FNBO Direct. It's the online arm of First National Bank of Omaha.

Though September of 2007, they are paying 6% interest. Wow, that's worth switching to from whatever/where ever you currently have your emergency fund.

I'm always looking for ways to make my money (God's money) work harder for me. This is an easy way to do that.

It would be cool to track how fast, how much and from where new accounts are opened with FNBO for this 6% rate. There will be at least one from Ohio.

Dynamic Church 07 Day 2

Day two of Dynamic Church 07 is over. It was a great day.

I have a few divine appointments today. I spent some time getting to know and talking with Jeff Hook the CEO of Fellowship Technologies. Among other things, I came to find out Jeff is a bicyclist. He rides a Banchi. Way cool.

At lunch, I found myself in line with Tony Morgan. We started talking and then enjoyed lunch together (that hour was the highlight of my day.) Tony grew up in Ohio and that gave us common ground for some good conversation. We talked church stuff, life stuff and coffee roasting. (Ok, I brought up the coffee roasting.)

Dinner tonight was with the GCC gang. We when to Sonny Bryans Barbecue and I enjoyed some great Texas BBQ ribs. I’ve also tagged around with the GCC gang a lot over the last day and ½ there a fun bunch. Thanks Dave!

Oh ya, the F1 stuff. Today for me was full of great and practical information. I wont bore you with the details. Here are the sessions I participated in today.

1. Effectively managing Your Volunteer Pipeline

2. Why Your Ministry Can’t Afford Not to Track Volunteers

3. Advanced Query Builder

4. Fellowship One for Outreach Fund Raising

5. Customizing Contributions Statements with XSLT

6. RUG’s (Regional Users Group initial meeting)

I’m looking forward to the sessions tomorrow and for a safe trip home.

Day 1 of the Dynamic Church 07 Conference in the books

It's 10 p.m. Texas time and I'm just getting settled back in my hotel room. Day one of the Dynamic Church conference in the books. It was a great day on a number of levels.

1. I met and spent time with lots of new people.

Joe from Anchorage Alaska - Database manager
Dave Moore - my counter part at Granger Community Church
Susan Griffiths - Senior Manager of Operations Mariners Church Irvine Ca
Karen & Cory Estanbrok - Grace Brethren Church Columbus Ohio

2. I was filmed during one of the breaks and found myself in a video that opened for Fellowship Tech's CEO Jeff Hook. That was cool.

3. Hands on training for the Volunteer Pipeline.

4. 2 Breakout sessions.
Best practices for contributions processing (Look out Anita I'm bringing back some ideas)
Best giving reports.

5. A few key points from Jeff Hook's keynote talk.
a) You cannot improve what's not measured.
b) When someone hits your website do you consider them a 1st time visitor?
c) You have to measure what you value.
d) Maximize the Change in peoples lives.

I look forward to tomorrow toward more learning and connecting to more people.

Road Trip Day 1

My day started very early. Up at 4:30 a.m. to take my son Chaz to school. Why so early? He and 165 of this closest classmates were off to Washington D.C. for his 8th grade trip. I hope they have a great time.

I went back home, caught and hour of sleep then headed for the airport. My first flight was delayed an hour (Akron to Atlanta) which meant I missed my connecting flight and had to reschedule. (Atlanta to Dallas) The rescheduled flight put me on the ground and in my rental car right in the middle of rush hour. To add to my adventure their was much construction on Texas 121 N and the road I needed to turn left on wasn't accessible. (I took me over an hour to travel some 18 miles.

Anyway. I'm in my hotel room after a wonderful dinner with Mark Lindsley and his wife. Not only did they treat me to some great Texas barbecue they also drove me around and showed me the sights. Thanks guys.

Oh ya, I almost forgot to tell you why I'm in Texas. I'm here for the first every Fellowship One End Users Conference. My hope is to learn and connect. I'll keep you posted.

41 cent tipping point?

With the USPS increasing a first class stamp cost to 41 cents, is it time for you start paying your bills on line? I've been using free online bill payment through my bank for year. Each time the postage rate goes up, I feel even better about banking online. (Yes, it's safe and I'd venture to say much safer than writing a paper check.)

According to the 2007 Consumer Bill Payment Survey just released by Harris Interactive and The Marketing Workshop, for the first time bill payments made online exceed paper check bill payments among online households. Some 74% of households pay at least one bill on line.

Online payments are good for your bank also. According to an IBM study, it costs banks some 9 cents to 15 cents to process a paper check and about 1 cent to process an electronic transaction.

Here are three great reasons why you should be using this free service.

• Complete control. With online banking you can time your payments and get real-time alerts. The savings comes from avoiding late fees and spending less time resolving problems.
  
• Better security. Here's another tipping point. The funds are transfered out of your account into the bank's account and then the online check is written from the bank's account. So your personal information stays secure. (ie. your home address and phone number do not appear on the check.)
  
• Better organization. Less paper means less clutter. You can also do online research for years of payments to anyone you have paid through online bill pay.
  

So what are you waiting for? Find a bank, online or local that offers free online bill payment. It's fun, fast and reliable.

Way more fun than should be allowed at church

Kids love NewPointe and that gets me pumped. I know whey I was a kid going to church was not much fun nor was it something I wanted to go to. So what makes NewPointe different for kids? Great question.

One of many reasons is KidStuf. We like to say "KidStuf is where kids take their parents to church." KidStuf rocks! It’s fun, high energy and it teaches Biblical truths in a way that kids can relate.

Check out link below and you see what I’m talking about. You've got to watch the video on the link. Then come check out KidStuf live. You’ve got to act fast because KidStuf breaks for the summer. May 20th will be your last chance until fall.

Click here to watch. Enjoy!

Graduation

Last night was our final Financial Peace University class for this go around. I'm always grateful and humbled by taking part in FPU.

Here are four cool stats from this class.

1. 45 Graduates of the class (This was our largest class thus far.)
   
2. $5,400,000 in credit card debt offered to the class
3. 50 credit cards cut up in class. (Wow!)
   
4. Story after Story after Story of life change.

Here's a story that was shared with me last night.

A lady in our class was at a local retailer when she went to pay for her item, she reached into her purse and pulled out an envelope. FPU shows you how to use the envelope system to pay cash for certain items. The woman working the register as "what's with the envelope?" Our class attendee said, "Oh, I'm taking this financial class at my church. I'm trying to get out of credit card debt and the envelope system is something I'm implementing to help me do that."

The lady working the register almost started crying. She confided in our class attendee that this was her second job and she needed financial help."

I'm so proud of our class attendee. At this point she began sharing what FPU had done for her and recommended NewPointe in the fall as that's our next round of classes. Way cool!

How about you? Are you ready to "Change your family tree?" (Financially speaking?) FPU will change your life.

DVR

I'm not much on TV. I'd rather be doing something, anything other than sitting down in front of the TV searching for something interesting to watch. That is until yesterday. I'm always on the lookout for a "BBD" Bigger Better Deal. I found on from our cable company.

I switched from Dish Network and Verizon to Time Warner Cable. I now have my TV, Internet, and Phone service all through my cable at lower $$.

With my new cable service came a DVR. This is an amazing piece of technology.

With the DVR I'm able to:

1. Pause live TV.
2. Find a show I like and record the entire series.
3. Recored multiple shows at one time.
4. Store up to 46 hours of shows.
5. Fast forward through commercials in about 3 seconds.
   

So now when I sit down for 30 to 60 minutes in front of the tv, I'll be able to watch something I'm interested in vrs searching for something to watch. (Last night I set the DVR to record Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) and King of Queens the entire series.)

I'm really looking forward to recording anything and everything bicycle racing.

60 + 11

I hope everyone had a good weekend and got outside Sunday and enjoyed the sunshine.

I wanted to post a quick bog today and share two number with you. ( I like numbers)

60 - Is the miles I rode my bicycle Sunday. Left from NewPointe after second service. Rode with Kevin, Bill, Steve and Bud.

11 - Credit Cards cut up in my office today. Man I love being part of helping people get out of debt.

So, my week is off to a great start.
* Got to connect with people Sunday at church
* Got to ride lots of miles on my Bike
* Got to be part of life change

Grass is on it's way

Today is one of those days that makes living in Ohio great. Temp in the upper 60's nice breeze and sunny. If we're lucky, we'll get at least 5 more days like this before the bugs and humidity show up.

Anyway, this weather has brought with it the last big peace of our construction process. Planting of the grass.

Here's a picture outside of my office window.



Thanks Bruce and your employees @ Vandall landscapes. You guys work really hard and take pride in your work.

I hope to post a picture of the same view in a few weeks showing nice green grass.

Get out and enjoy the day!

Collection Practices at FPU Thursday night

This Thursday is week 12 of 13 for this round of FPU classes. (I can't believe we are almost done.) In this class, we will be talking about Collection Practices and Credit Bureaus. This is a very important lesson as debt is killing marriages.

I came across this video on YouTube. It's a tidbit on the upcoming movie Maxed Out.

Take the time to watch this video.

Paint Balling. . . . Ouch

Yesterday after 2nd service here at NewPointe, I when paint balling with my son, his small group, and three other junior high small groups.

My son is really into paint ball. He has claimed all of my hunting cloths and was dressed in full camo for the event. Myself on the other hand, this was my first experience paint balling and I wore a long sleeve T-shirt. (Not my best idea. . .)

How did it go? I have no less than 5 quarter size red welts on my body. The "prize" welt is just below my jaw line on the left side of my face. I was the "cool" dad because this welt also made me bleed. I enjoyed myself and the time my son and I spent together running around the woods trying to "paint" each other.

On a deeper level, it was great seeing the small group leaders taking time with 20+ JH boys doing something the boys love to do. Having another adult Christian male in my son's life is priceless. Thanks Marc for being that person!

For Sale

To make a long story short, NewPointe owns two houses. (They sit next to our former building. At one time there were plans on expanding the church in that direction.)

We put the house on Dover Rd. up for sale on April 20th. I just received a phone call from one of our Trustee's and he said there are five offers on the house. Wow.

I'll be brining our Exec. Director up to speed and by the end of the day I hope to have a SOLD sign in the front yard. (Being in the landlord business wasn't the most enjoyable thing for me.)

A big thanks to Jeff and Jeremy at Pissocra Mathias Realty. Thanks guys for the great job!

Jott It? . . . . I love it

My good buddy and co-staffer @ NewPointe Kevin West turned me on to Jott a few days ago. I'm addicted to it.

Jott is a free internet service that lets you use your cell phone to send people, including yourself, an email. It even lets you create groups so you can leave one cell to email message for the entire group.

Using Jott is so simple, all you do is call their toll free number from your cell phone and a voice comes on and ask, "Who do you want to Jott?" I said me, left a short message and as soon as I hung up my cell phone, an email from Jott was in my inbox waiting for me. I was able to read the email and click on a link that then played the audio.

This is way cool and you have to check it out. Have fun with it and pass it along.

Thanks Kevin!

Odds and Ends from my weekend

It was a beautiful weather weekend here in Ohio. Sunny and in the 70's. Thanks God.

This morning, I wanted to just jot down some of the things I did this weekend.

1. 84 miles ridden on by bicycle.
2. Two birthday parties for my son Chaz. He's 14
3. Pulled 1,000 plastic forks out of our front yard. (Birthday prank from Chaz's church friends)
4. Walked the dogs a lot
5. Jumped on the tramp with my daughter
6. Great small group time
7. Handed out pledge drive completion gifts as a thank you to those who have completed their three year building pledge.
8. Took a nap
9. Read a book
10. Enjoyed listening to the birds and smelling fresh cut grass.

Blogs vrs Podcasts

I enjoy writing and reading blogs. I use Google's reader to keep up with a dozen or so blogs. Two or three times a week I'll open up my Google reader and plow through 50 - 100 blog posts. I follow most of the NewPointe bloggers, all of the Fellowship One blogs at 3cords.org and of course multiple financial blogs. My blog reading keeps me in the loop and I pick up some great tips now and then.

I love listening to podcasts. I'm addicted. So much so that my car radio is never on unless my kids are in the car with me. Other than that, I'm using my fm tuner and my mp3 player to play my favorite podcasts. Yes, the podcasts I listen to the most are financial in nature.

The one podcast I can't wait to listen to . . . . .

American Public Media (APM) A Prairie Home Companion's News from Lake Wobegon with Garrison Keilor. You've got to know him to love him.

Here's a list of my top 5 financial podcasts.

1. APM - Marketplace (Daily; on business and economics)
2. APM - Marketplace Money (Weekly; on things that effect your wallet.)
3. Dave Ramsey Show (Daily; Personal finance call in show and home of FPU)
4. Kiplinger's Personal Finance (Biweekly; Just like their magazine)
5. NPR: The Color of Money (Weekly; on personal finance)

Check out my top 5 financial podcasts. I really enjoy them and their free.

Exciting and Scary at the same time. . .

When I was bike riding down in N.C. with Kevin and Rod at Scott's house, I was doing some snooping through Scott's books. I was looking for a particular book that Scott had been talking to me about and agreed to let me borrow. I just finished it tonight. (Thanks Scott. I'll return it to you this weekend when your home.)

The book . . Epicenter by Joel Rosenberg. It was exciting and scary at the same time.

I can't begin do the book justice by trying to summarize it here as I like to keep my blogs short and to the point. What I can say if you have ever sensed in your being that we are living in the end times, read this book. Joel disects Ezekile chapters 37 - 38 and he believes Ezekile prophecy is being fulfilled now.

The book is a great read and after you read it, you'll have to make up you own mind or not. Either way, I know I've got eternal life in Heaven waiting for me.

Saff meeting Hot Seat

Here at NewPointe we start each week off with an all staff meeting. It's a time where we as a staff pray for each other, share stories of life change from the weened and occasionally, put a ministry and or staff person in the "Hot Seat".

Today was my turn, or the financial/administrative side of the church's turn in the hot seat. I was ready. We are making changes, like all of our ministries, since moving into this building. It's hard to believe we have been here for 4 months already.

Being in the "Hot Seat" gave me the opportunity to share with our staff, all 31 of us some hot topics as of late. Here's what I shared.

1. For Profit companies cannot conduct for profit activities on our campus. This question has come up twice in the past 30 days.
2. Our year to date giving and attendance vrs. budget. (Behind in giving up in attendance)
   
3. Check/Payment processing cutoff dates have been established for our once per week check run. We process somewhere between 30 - 50 checks per week.
4. Do NOT prop exterior doors open.
   
5. Fob's (keys) availability.
   
6. Doors will open 1/2 hour before a scheduled event unless instructed differently.
7. We have new written spending procedures in place.

To steal a line from Dave Ramsey, "This stuff is as much fun as a barrel full of fish hooks." It is however very important and a needed part of ministry of our church and I'm thankful to be leading in in this area.

Joy & Hope + 10 more Credit Cards

Just got home from another great Financial Peace University class and as usual I'm to pumped to go to get ready for bed. (Hey I get up at 5:15 a.m.)

I knew class was going to be great. Before we started the DVD, I gave the call to cut up your credit card! Guess what, we had another 3 people come up and we destroyed 10 more credit cards. That's close to 50 credit cards gone never to be used again out of this class.

Buyer Beware was tonight's topic and it's a great one. You'll have to take the class to find out for yourself. When the DVD was over, it was time for small group. This is were I believe life change really happens. Here was the quote of the night from one of the couples in one of the small groups, "Financial Peace has brought Joy and Hope back into our marriage."

I love being part of this life changing class. Quotes like this are priceless and will stay with me forever.

I want to publicly than the other leaders here for bringing about life change. A big thanks and eternal rewards to:

• K
• Larry
• Mike
• Ron
  

Can you guess what this picture is?

My right hand accounting person Anita works very hard and I'm a much better staff member because of her. I'm glad and grateful to be serving with her here at NewPointe.

One of Anita's greatest assets is her uncanny ability to find better deal on stuff we are going to purchase and by doing so saves the church lots of money. It's a true gift.

Well this time, I think she has taken things a little to far.

Can you guess what this is?



This is her cubical door. . . . (Stop laughing.) See it's we are still working on month end and this is her lame attempt at asking people to, well, stay out.

I was laughing so hard, on the inside, I told her to go ahead and get a door for her cube if there is such a thing. Within three minutes she found one on line for less than $40. I said go for it.

Thanks Anita for all your hard work and this blog material.

Background Checks!

Here at NewPointe, We take the safety of your children very seriously. We have a team of security volunteers who's role is the safety of your children during your time with us at weekend service. This group does a great job and I'm very thankful for them. (Keep up the great work guys!)

There's a lot of "stuff" that goes on behind the scenes as it relates to the security and safety of your children and it all starts with background checks for our children and youth volunteers.

Yesterday, we changed background screening providers to SecureSearch and we processed our fist screening through them. I was very impressed with the whole process.

Here are the benefits of using SecureSearch.

1. Fellowship One integration. (This is a big deal.)
2. Multi State Criminal check
3. National Sex Offenders check
4. Social Security Number trace
5. Address verification
   
6. It's all done on line.
7. We are reminded annually to rescreen volunteers.
   
8. Soon, volunteers can input their information online for screening.
9. The results of the screening are attached to the individuals record as a pdf file.
10. Peace of mind.
    

This is part of our comprehensive process in providing a safe environment for you and your family.

New High

I hope you were able to attend one of the two Easter services we had here at NewPointe. It was a great day. Make sure you check out Danny's blog to get a recap.

If you weren't able to attend, you can download or listen on line to Dwight's message by going to NewPointe's web site.

Since I'm the numbers guy here at the church, I wanted to share Easter's attendance number with you as that's a question we get a lot, "What was the attendance Sunday?". Well, no need to wait until next week for the attendance in the worship guide.

Easter attendance. . . . . 2,790

Beyond the new high, there was story after story shared at our all staff meeting today about people coming to NewPointe for the first time.

I can't wait for next week as we continue our series on forgiveness. It's called no strings attached. You can check out a quick summary here. Hope you can join us next week.

Two if by Sea

Just a little bit ago, I was checking out Google Analytics on my blog. As you might imagine, I find numbers and statistic fascinating and Google Analytics provides all that and graphs as well. As I was checking out the different stats, I noticed two recent visitors were from England. (Brighton and Droylsden to be exact.) (Get it, Two if by Sea? This is my sense of humor)

This makes me wonder how someone from so far away ends up on my blog? Then I got to thinking how cool it would be to have a conversation with them to find out the how and why behind stopping at my blog.

When I started blogging I really had no expectation or predictions of readership. As it continues to grow I'm feeling a sense of responsibility of weekly posts and relevant topics. I hope I'm doing both.

Online tickets & payment come to NewPointe

One of the new ministries we are launching at NewPointe in 2007 is something called Married Life Live. My buddy John Bunn does a great job describing Married Life Live over at his blog Thinking outside the Bunn. Please click on this MLL link for details. My wife and I are really looking forward to taking part of that Saturday night in April.

MLL is where online tickets and payment comes into play. K Greenwalt and I are implementing the weblink module in Fellowship One. Fellowship One is our church management software system. It and the people who work there are at the top of their game. Most recently, Maggie at F1 played a big roll in our online purchasing process. Thanks Maggie!

Starting today, for the first time, you can register and purchase your tickets via our church web site. Here's the link. So if you haven't read John's blog yet on MLL here's a brief summary and I hope you decide to come. Cindy & I are planning on being there.

MLL is date night--NewPointe style. At MLL you'll experience incredible music, creative programming, and a message that's very relevant to your marriage. It's all specially designed to encourage and empower you as a couple.

Purchase your tickets on line. (Way cool)

Whats in a Password?

Passwords. It seems like these days we need one for everything. I get asked this question a lot. "What's a good password"?

Your password should be easy for you to remember but difficult for unauthorized parties to guess. here are a few suggestions.

1. Create acronyms from the words to your favorite song. For example, Mary Had A Little Lamb becomes mhall. Even consider adding numbers characters to it. For example, 8mhall4 where 84 was the year I graduated from High School. (whoops did I just give away my age?)
   
   
2. Deliberately misspell a word. (I do that when I'm not even trying.) Example, locomotive could be lokuhmotiv. ( Ok, that one is hard.)
   
   
3. Consider combining a number of facts, such as dates and events such as 12Christmas25day.
   
   
4. Mix cApiTaL letters into your password.
   
   
5. Use punctuation characters and/or numbers.
   
   

Anyway, theres are some of my thoughts. I know there are lots more you could chose from. Have fun with it and please change your password to something different than "password".