I like this disposable email address

When you order something online one of the "required" fields is your email address. (It makes sense.) One big draw back in my mind is once this online retailer has my email address, it seems like I get at email after email from them about an upcoming sale.

I came across guerrillamail.com. This website provides you with disposable e-mail addresses which expire after 15 Minutes. You can read and reply to e-mails that are sent to the temporary e-mail address within the given time frame.

Guerrillamail's web site say's its used by 8,000 people a day and has created more than 538,000 temporary email addresses.

Leave me a comment on what use you could see for a temporary email address.

It's time you stop preapproved offers

You come home from work, open your mailbox and find the majority of the mail is prepaid credit card and insurance offers. Day after day, week after week.

Did you know that you can opt out and stop those annoying preapproved offers? Yep, all you have to do is either

1. Call 888-567-8688 or
2. log on to optoutprescreen.com

Note, in doing so, you'll have to provide your Social Security Number. It's safe and well worth it.

This idea to save some money is all wet. . . .

I've been in the market for some time for a rain barrel. They are beneficial in a number of ways.

1. It's rain water and garden plants and house plans do much better with rain water than with treated tap water.
   
2. Rain water is free. No money being poured down the drain. (Literally)
3. I like to think it's another way for me to live a litter greener.

Anyway, in doing some checking around online and locally, the average cost of a rain barrel is over $100. Ouch. I could never bring myself to send that kind of money on a barrel. We'll as luck / ingenuity would have it, I spend a total of $7.95 on my rain barrel.

I got the barrel for free and the parts from Lowe's. So far so good. It's raining tonight and my barrel is almost full. I'm keeping an eye on it to make sure my overflow tube works.

I'm excited about the money I saved and all the rain water I'll have for my house plants, garden, and landscaping this summer.

Do you have any experience with a rain barrel?

Financial Planning for the rest of us

Financial planning has always been important. In today's economy, it's more important than ever.

Now I know what you are already thinking. Your thinking 1 of three things.

1. Todd, I agree with you but a financial planner is so expensive.
2. Todd, I've tried those financial planners and all they want to do is sell me the products they represent.
3. Todd, I've got a some savings and retirement but what can a financial planner really do for me? Don't you have to have lots of money before I need something like this?

I'm happy to say, I've finally come across a financial planning solution that's worth checking out. It's called eFinPLAN. I've logged in, answered a list of detailed questions and was amazed by the 60+ financial plan that I received.

eFinPLAN the Only Web-Based Consumer Oriented Financial Planning Software makes financial planning easy, affordable, and understandable.

Save Now and earn an extra 3.25% on your savings

The state of Ohio has finally passed a savings incentive bill that been in the works for a number of years now.

The short version is this. When you take a qualified financial class, you become eligible for Ohio's Save Now savings rate at a participating bank. This savings rate is 3.25% above the banks normal interest rate. PNC bank, coming to Ohio soon in taking over National City Bank, is the first bank to participate in this program.

All the details are not out yet as the State has just passed this legislation. I'll post updates as I'm made aware of them. I'll be participating in this and will do everything in my power to make sure Financial Peace University qualifies for this program.

We the Savers. . .

ING Direct, one of the leading online banks has come up with a Declaration of Financial Independence. It's pretty cool. There are 10 "declarations" that you are making by signing it.

1. You will spend less than you earn.
2. You will build equity in your home.
3. You will take care of your money
4. You will defend your credit worthiness
5. You will ignore unsolicited credit card marketing
6. You will know the cost of your borrowing
7. You will invest for the long term
8. You will take care of the things you have
9. You will remember what matters
10. You will be heard

On the web site, the list above is explained. You can print it out. It's a cool reminder to have it in print.

As of this post, there have been 28,664 people who have signed the declaration. 28,665 with my signature.

Looking for a Coach?

Each weekday morning, I start my day off with some great motivation with a morning coach. Personal development is a key to growth and I came across a free tool via I-Tunes.

Morning Coach is a 15 minutes free podcast and web site that inspires and motivates. What does morning coach offer?

1. Daily motivational podcoast
2. A personal dream board where you can create a visual of your goals and dream
3. Online journal
4. To-do section
5. Values area

So, get motivated and check out Morning Coach it's 15 minutes well spent.

Financial things that drive me nuts

Do you have financial "things" that get under your skin and drive you nuts? If not nuts, at least makes you ask why. I've got a list and thought I'd share it.

1. People who pay for memberships, don't use it and then complain that they are see limited or no results.
   
2. Buying something you don't need or fully understand because it's the latest and greatest thing out there and you just have to have it.
   
3. Ring tones for your cell phone. Why spend $$ for this?
   
4. Buying bottled water. What's with that?
5. My favorite office supply. . . . "Air in a can". I've heard of Prince Albert in a can but that's a whole different story.

What would be on your list?

New Record!

I'm pumped. Last night we cut up another 9 credit cards in our Financial Peace Class. That brings the total to 90 credit cards destroyed in this class. A new NewPointe record.

Way to go guys! I'm very proud of all you have accomplished these past 7 weeks.

81, a number that's hard to believe

I'm so excited and humbled at the same time. At last night's Financial Peace class, we kept on cutting up credit cards. This is the third class in a row that multiple people have
cut up multiple cards. 15 cards from one person alone.

So, where does the number 81 come into play? That's the total number of credit cards cut up by this class of 60 people. Incredible.

So much life change has taken place in this FPU class, I could type out page after page in sharing their stories. The very short story is this group of people are getting it and making significant changes in their financial lives. In doing so, my hope is that they become open to what God wants for their lives.

See, once you put your financial problems behind you, your now free to experience the life God has in store for you and that makes life worth living.

A great tool to track your . . . . health

I'm always on the lookout for a cool tool that's easy to use and track data. Earlier this week, I came across prevention magazines website and saw something here that really caught my eye.

It's their "My Health Tracker". I like tools that help you track your money so I though to myself, this health tracker thing may be cool. I'll check it out.

After using it for only one week, I'm hooked. This thing tracks the following all for free!

1. What you eat and all the related calories, fat, protein, ect related to that food.
2. Your exercise and the calories burnt by exercising
3. Your weight loss or gain
4. Your mood
5. Your body size (I've lost 19 inches this year. Thanks Thin & Health / Super Fitness)
   

It also have over 20 reports you can run off of this data. Here's my calories burnt versus calories eaten this week. Based on me burning more than I've eaten I should have lost weight this week and I did. I lost 2lbs. (PS, I'm very close to my preseason cycling goal weight)

So, set some goals for yourself this week and find the tools to help you meet them.

I made the top 20 list. . . Way cool

I'm happy and excited to be mentioned in the Christian Personal Finance blog, written by Bob Lotich let alone be considered one of his top 20 sites. Way Cool.

Looking at how Bob came up with his list, I'm quite honored to be one it. He writes some great stuff on personal finance from a Christian perspective. Please click on the link I provided above to see a listing and description of all 20 sites. It will be time well invested and who knows, it may even put some money in your pocket.

Keep checking out his blog because from time to time, He gives away stuff. I haven't won one of his giveaways yet but making his top 20 list is way cooler.

Thanks Bob and keep up the good work.

Jumping for Joy . . . 27 times

I'm very excited.

At this weeks Financial Peace class, we cut up 27 credit cards.



Life change is beginning for these families who cut up their credit cards. I'm so proud and humbled to be part of this. (Yea God!)

Working on your taxes yet? Direct deposit

I started working on my taxes this weekend. (Along with taxes for by brother and a few friends.) When you're taxes are completed and you've check, double checked and checked one more time before you file them, you'll have one of two outcomes.

1. You owe the IRS
2. You are getting a refund

First, if you owe, don't panic, Start saving now and don't file your taxes until April 15. This will give you about 2 1/2 months to save for what you owe. (Use this same principal if you owe your state and or city) Even if you can't pay 100% of what you owe, please file your return. This will keep you for going to jail.

If your getting a refund, did you know you can have your refund direct deposited into as many as 3 different accounts? I think this is way cool. You could have a few buck deposited into your checking account, a few more into your savings account and even some into your IRA. All you have to do is include form 8888 as part of your tax return and the IRS will do the rest.

By the way, how big is your refund? I blog about why a large refund is a bad idea later on. Stay tuned.

One more reason I love Kiplinger's magazine. $100

I love personal finance. One of the resources I look forward to reading each month is Kiplinger's magazine. It's got some great down to earth financial advise, month in and month out.

A few months back, I took the magazine up on an offer and agreed to take part in their monthly online survey. The ask questions about the magazine. I'm sure there's a great marketing angle in the survey but I don't mind. The survey doesn't take very long and they always "goat' you into taking it by saying, "You'll be entered into a drawing for a $100 Amazon gift card."

Well, I'm here to tell you, the do give away those $100 Amazon gift cards. Today in my mailbox was a letter from Kiplingers. The first thing that came to my mind is "Why are they sending me something in an envelope. Where's the next issue?" To my great surprise, I opened up the envelope to a Congratulations card with a $100 Amazon gift card. Way cool!

See, It pays to read up on your personal finances. Off to Amazon.com

Secuity Allerts . . . Another weapon in my identitiy protection

I recently did a little digging into my account setup at Chase.com. I bank with Cash. In digging, I started playing around with their "account alerts". I've really come to love them.

I was able to set up alerts to email me and text me when certain things happen on my account. Here's the one's I've set up thus far.

• Transactions or ATM withdrawals exceed specified limits (text & emailed)
  
• My Online ID or Password is changed (text & emailed)
• My mailing address has been updated (text & emailed)
• When my direct deposits have posted (text & emailed)
• Daily account activity (emailed)

Does your bank have this powerful tool? Are you tanking advantage of it?

Want some FREE financial advise from a licensed professional?

Checking up on your investments / savings at least once a year is a must. This is even more important these days with the economic turmoil we are in.

Here's your chance to talk with a licensed financial adviser for free. These advisers normally charge between $100 to $250 an hour.

Take your pick on either Jan 13th an again on Jan 30th, Kiplinger's is sponsoring their annual "Jump-Start Your Retirement Plan Days". From 9am to 6pm est you can call 888-919-2345 and a NAPFA (National Association of Personal Financial Advisors) will answer your financial questions for FREE.

To make the most out of your time on the phone with the, list out your questions before you call and it may be a good idea to have your 401k statements in hand as well.

I plan on calling and i look forward to this each year.

Google Docs. . . . I like it!

I've had some time on my hands last week and the rest of this week as I'm on vacation. I really enjoy time off between Christmas and New Years. I get to spend lots of time with my kids as they are on break from school.

When Chaz & Katie (my kids) are off doing their own thing, I get to putter around the house. Last week, I stared playing around with Google Docs and I've come to really love it. For those who don't know what this is, Google Docs allows you to create Spreadsheets, Documents, Presentations, and Fill in Forms, store them online, share them if you wish and all for Free. You can even upload your existing Microsoft Office files to Google Docs.

I switched over my Zero Based Budget from Excel to Google Docs Spreadsheet and I love it. I can access my budget from any computer with internet access. This comes in very handy. I no longer have to load my file onto a flash drive or email it back and forth. The other spreadsheet application that I use it a check register template.

Give Google Docs a try. It's free. If you are already using it, what applications are you using it for?

Tax credit for Bicyclers. . . . (No Joke $20 a month)

I have no idea how or why this ended up as part of the Federal Bailout but I'm glad it did.

Starting in January, workers who use their bicycles as their primary transportation mode to get to and from work will be eligible for a $20-a-month, tax-free reimbursement from their employers for bicycle-related expenses. In return, employers will be able to deduct the expense from their federal taxes.

$20 a month to ride my bike is more than I get paid now to ride my bike. This will also cover the cost of most of my yearly "replacement part" that I need at the end of each season.

So, if this looks like something you can take advantage of, talk to your employer. I'm sure they are not aware of this upcoming tax benefit.

A great Christian based Financial Blog

I love personal finance. I'm always on the lookout for great sources of Christian based financial information.

Here's one of me favorite blogs that I follow. It's Christian Personal Finance.com Bob's always got great information and he also gives away great stuff. For Christmas, he's giving away 2 IPods.

Want a chance to win one of these IPods? Check out his blog. Click Here for the IPod link.