I have delayed writing this for a few weeks now, but I cut the cable on cable one month ago this week.  My delay was really to see what the impact was as a result of our decision.  Here are the facts – my cable bill was $100 a month (after they raised it again without warning), the alternative total cost was $150, annual savings will be $1200, we are all still alive, and I have really not missed anything.

Really, I had enough.  Like most people, I have and love my HDTV.  Honestly, I am not sure how I lived without the HD quality before it was available.  We had TV at our disposal.  With some 250+ channels we could be watching anything at any time.

So I started researching alternatives last fall.  I found that you can mount a HD antenna and pick up all the over the air channels that are within your reach.  Those that broadcast in HD will be received in HD.  Additionally, I was trying to decide if I should invest in a AppleTV box.  My mind was made up last fall, but I delayed the change due to the death of, and subsequent book on, Steve Jobs.  Thinking that Apple may have some alternative to what I was about to do, I delayed my action.  Everything was put back in motion when Apple failed to give a solid alternative in their February announcement.  I did, however, get the AppleTV.  The cost of the AppleTV, since it was not necessarily a part of the solution, is not included in the $150 investment.

Concerned about my investment and change, I made sure I could return the antenna if things did not work out.  My son and I gave it a try.  With him standing on the deck and me scanning the available antenna channels, I could see that there were 65 channels in my area that could be found.  Not every channel was showing up.  Several days later, I mounted the antenna on the house and most, if not all, of those 65 channels came in.  Some were Korean, some Spanish, some shopping, some radio – 65 channels!

The first Monday of this past month I called my satellite provider and canceled.  They were very inquisitive as to why I wold make such a decision and offered to cut my monthly expense.  Since that had not offered to do that over the last four years, I said “no thanks”.  Today we have no satellite or cable TV.

Honestly, my son is going through withdrawal.  I think he is counting the days until he can graduate high school, get a job, move to his own place, and have ESPN reconnected.  My wife misses some of her shows, but she has found many of them on Netflix or the internet.  Additionally, she has found some new shows that she is now hooked on.  For me, the loss of continuous news, weather, and sports have been noticed but far from missed.

Once I found it would work, I bought a splitter to allow the signal to be split to three TV’s.  That may have caused an issue.  It seems that one of the TV’s will not pick up a weak signal after they come through the splitter.  After trying to adjust the antenna, I have lost a few channels on that one TV.  I need to re-adjust the antenna or I may be required to invest in another, separate, antenna for that one TV.  That may cost a little more, but I am still way, way, way under that $1200 annual charge to watch a screen that shoves commercials at me several times an hour.

It does work!  you may want to give it a try.

This is a national election year.  While on the state and local level many will be elected, it is also the year that we elect a President, a new House of Representatives and about 1/3 of the Senate.  At the state and federal level, there are qualifications identified for the various offices that are open for election.  While those qualifications may mean age, a degree, citizenship, et. al. – there is one area, not documented, that may disqualify you from holding elected office.

I have been teasing many of my clients recently about this disqualification that is now apparent in their life.  Because of their financial success, they have disqualified themselves from public office.

What is this disqualification?  The simple fact that they built and execute to a balanced budget!  Yes, a balanced budget!  In many of these clients, not only did they build and execute to the balanced budget  but they successfully lived within their means and came in at or under their plan.  What a victory!

How unfortunate that our politicians, our elected officials, have the inability to balance the budget for our country.  It is hard, I know, and it is even harder when one would have to cut expenses and possibly lose some votes!

Responsibility.  Execution.  Discipline. Key criteria that many are missing in their financial lives, but allows them to run for office!

Are you disqualifying yourself?

This year, like most I find as I get older, is passing us all by. We are well into the second quarter of this year and it shows no signs of slowing down. As you try to keep up, have you looked back to see how you did last quarter? Have you taken time to assess the good and the bad to prepare you for an even better rest of the year?

There are so many areas to look back on and reflect. Finances, relationships, goals, your relationship with God – whatever you are looking to improve. How did you do last quarter?

From that review, what are you doing different today, this week, this month, this quarter? You have less that nine months before this year is over and you will be reflecting on what you did or what you could have done.

Now is the time for your personal assessment. Where are you off track and what are you doing to get yourself back on track?

What is your game plan?

Recently there has been an abundance of bad news from the government. The GSA and the Secret Service are just two of those things in the recent few weeks. It seems like there is always something. One thing that caught my attention recently was the NFL. That’s right, the National Football League.

It seems that one team, and there may be others, has had a bounty system in place that was financially rewarding players who physically injured players of an opposing team. Not good. Not good at all of you are a fan of the New Orleans Saints.

As a result, their head coach and others have been suspended for this conduct. I applaud the NFL for their quick and decisive action to address this issue. It will hopefully teach others that you must play by the rules.

It is what happened next that really got me.

It seems those in the United States Senate have decided that the Senate, if not the whole Congress, needs to look into what is happening in the NFL. Really, the NFL? Well, according to Senator Dick Durbin from Illinois, that is exactly what needs to happen.

Never mind that they economy is struggling to get some stability. Never mind that our nation is some $15,000,000,000 (that’s 15 TRILLION dollars) in debt. Never mind that companies financed with your tax dollars are going bankrupt. Never mind that the US has not had, or even voted on, a budget for the last two fiscal years. Never mind……

According to Senator Durbin, let’s make sure that the NFL plays fair.

Give me a break!

I have to believe that most of those who elected officials in Washington would have extreme problems trying to successfully run any type of business or even a household budget. We need 536 people up there who know how to balance a checkbook, who know how to live within their means, who know how to build and work a plan to get out of debt. We need someone who is truly committed to our country’s finance’s, future, and family.

No, this is not a political blog post. It is a financial blog post highlighting thenfinancial ineptness and unconcern of our elected officials.

Leave the NFL alone. Get about your true purpose – and that is not to get reelected!

This may be catching some of by surprise, but gas prices are still climbing!  I can look out my office window and keep an eye on changes daily.  One recent Saturday morning the owner increased prices six cents within two hours of opening and, no, there was not a truck that made a delivery that morning.

We all know that gas prices are increasing.  Unless you have had your head stuck in the sand, you have felt the impact of the increase.  People are beginning to talk about reducing or eliminating vacations due to the cost of travel.  In addition to your fuel budget, there is virtually nothing that is not impacted.  Food, entertainment, heating/cooling, etc – fuel costs really impact your wallet.

Our economy is very fragile right now.  Many see that we are turning the corner and starting to come out of the malaise we have been experiencing for the last 4-5 years.  Rising fuel prices will not help this recovery!

It is estimated that the US uses 19.6 million barrels of oils each day!  At the end of 2008, when oil prices collapsed the last time, a barrel of crude oil was selling for $45/barrel.  Right now a barrel of oil is at $106/barrel.  When you do the math, look at the money that is taken out of our recovering economy due to this increase.  That loss of money hurts anything trying to recover – housing, airlines, retail…..

But what is your impact?  What you losing as a result of the rising fuels costs?  Yes, I know you are losing your patience and your mind, but what financially?  If you are not living by a budget, you may not actually see the impact while you most certainly feel it.  Rising fuels prices rob you in so many ways.  You struggle harder to get your debt paid off.  You lose in trying to keep up with food.  Looking long-term, your ability to save for retirement is even greater while you try to keep up with fuel costs and their rising impact across all segments of our economy.

What do you do?  Live by a plan and with a purpose.  Work to identify where you can cut back as you struggle with the situation.  Cut spending in non essential areas including your driving habits, focus on the short term tighter management of your money, and work hard to stay on your longer term plan of dumping debt and building your financial future.

There is only one who controls your economy – you!

There is much talk today about going green.  From recycling to alternative fuel sources, many are focused on going green.  Many are deeply committed to protecting our limited resources and want to do all that they can to make sure we respect the limited supplies of these resources.  You may very well be one of those who do.

Whether you are or whether you are not, the protection of limited resources is a very good thing to do.  In fact, several years ago, my wife and I realized that our resources were limited and we began our approach to go green.

We found out that we were broke.  Really, it did not surprise us we just became aware of the situation.  Due to our actions, the fact of being broke crept up on us over time and part of the reason was that we had not gone green.

In our period of change, we removed the credit and debit cards and went green.  Yes, we went to cash!  You see, cash kept us on track and kept us from going deeper into debt.  The green kept us from over spending as we normally did and reigned us into what we had both agreed we were going to spend.

Going green has done wonders!!  Honestly, is has liberated my wife and I from worrying if we would have enough to meet our needs.  Going green is something that I encourage everyone to do.

Clients who really go green really begin to feel the freedom and liberty going green brings!