Cable

While I don’t have the most tricked-out DVR plan available, I do have one premium channel and HD service. Combined with internet service, this clocks in at around $100 per month. Ouch. I’d like to have that $1,200 a year back, but unfortunately I still need Internet service. I wouldn’t call myself an avid TV user, but there are shows out there I watch on a regular basis (Looking at you, NCIS). As an alternative, I may cut down my cable service to the absolute minimum, saving me around $50.00 a month. To replace it, I may pick up Hulu Plus, which offers TV shows streamed from their site for around $8.00 per month.

Savings: $42ish/month

Gaming

When I subscribed to Gamefly a few months ago, I was convinced that it would be a better alternative to buying the actual game. This is due to the fact that for most single player games, I play through the story and then throw the game away, never to be seen again (except in my attic). Unfortunately, I’m easily addicted to multiplayer games. This is especially true for free to play competitive games like League of Legends and Battlefield Heroes. I wasn’t getting my money’s worth, so it had to go.

Savings: $15.99/month

Phone

Still struggling with this one. I often tether my smart phone on trips to do work on my laptop. Unfortunately, this means I need a smartphone with that capability, which costs $30.00 per month for the privelege. I’m going to call up Verizon and see what I can negotiate.

Savings: ?

What about you, readers? If you’re going to trim the monthly cost fat, where do you tend to start? Have any of you tried Hulu Plus?

And worry I did.

After settlement, I was a wreck. Not normally rattled, I was bombarded with the idea that things needed to be fixed, improved, maintained. I had a hard time working because I would think about painting a room, or having the foundation checked, or…well the list went on. Such uncharacteristic behavior really made me wonder if I had made a huge mistake. Thankfully, after a few weeks, the worry subsided. This was my house and, come what may, I was going to do my best to make it a home. We made a lot of purchases in the first few weeks, but that has slowed down as well. I have a general list of what needs to be done, and we’re going to fix things as they come. It isn’t always perfect, but I’ve settled into home ownership, new responsibilities and all.

So, here are my thoughts, if you are considering buying a home in the near future:

Pros

• Ownership: Despite all of the finance posts you will read about being a slave to your mortgage, buying a home should not be treated as an investment. You are buying a home. A base of operations that allows you to mold the place into your image. As long as you plan properly and only buy a place you know you can readily afford, the financial aspects of purchasing should fall into place.
• Customization: When you rent, you have to get permission to do just about anything. When you own, you can do whatever you want with your new property. This opens up a lot of possibilities if you want to make adjustments, renovate rooms, etc. There’s a certain amount of fun to be derived from such projects, even as the process itself can be stressful.
• Light at the End of the Tunnel: When you have a mortgage, you also set an endpoint. If you rent, you will always need to pay someone for the space you live in. When you are working toward home home ownership, you know that somewhere down the line, you are going to live mortgage free. That is a very liberating thought, and certainly reinforces the idea of financial freedom. If your mortgage payment is modest, you can accelerate the payment of your loan, and the tunnel gets that much shorter.

Cons:

• Worry: Being responsible for your own property comes with a lot of upkeep. You have to mow the lawn, pay taxes on your land, make sure that all of the structural aspects of your home like electrical, plumbing, etc. are in tip top shape. Failure to do so can have serious financial consequences, and that can weigh on anyones mind, especially when you are first starting out.
• Mortgage: Paying a mortgage, simply put, isn’t fun. While you are working toward the end goal of owning your home outright, the bank will be bombarding you with interest in the interim. As far as I am concerned, the sooner you pay it off, the better.
• Other Costs: There is a certain element of randomness to owning a home in terms of the financial costs. Things may break that are completely out of your control, but will deal a significant blow to your bank account. These costs exist no matter how well you maintain your property, so owning adds a variable cost that can be hard to predict.

1. Site Portfolio Revenue: Bring Adsense revenue up to $15.00 per day on average
2. Lose 30 Pounds/Increase number of daily pushups to 150.
3. Hire an Accountant

As you can see, most of my goals are fairly modest. Our sites currently bring in about $10 a day on average, and increasing that number to $15.00 would increase our revenue by $1,825 per year. Groundbreaking? No. Significant improvement? Yes. When I was still working the 9-5, I had a daily routine when it came to working out because my firm had a gym on the premises. Now being at home and on my own, I’ve slipped little by little throughout the year. I’ve made significant improvements both in weight and strength in November and December, and to lost 30 pounds by 2012 I would have to lose a meer 2.5 lbs per month.

Finally, whilst I have been socking away about 30% of any income I bring in, my understanding of my tax situation is still flimsy. To rectify this, I’m going to need to find an accountant to help guide me through the process. So with that in mind if you know of any that wouldn’t cost me an arm and a leg, I’d be happy to hear about them!

Yet if the holy grail of earning money is passive income, then logically it would make sense that passive calorie burning is in turn the holy grail of fitness. Now I can just hear the “skepticism” alerts going off and for the most part you’d be right, but stick with me here for a moment. Much like a portfolio of passive income like real estate, investments, or in my case small niche sites, they won’t provide you with all of the calorie burning power you need.  You will still need to monitor your nutrition,  and you will still need to exercise on a regular basis. There is no way around this, it’s just a fact.

Still, there are plenty of tips and tricks you can use to help augment how many calories you burn in an average day.  Here are some nutritional tips:

• Tea and Coffee: I blame the 9-5 workforce for addicting me to caffeine, but a cup of Joe or his weaker counterpart Ms. Tea can have some serious calorie burning effects. Studies have shown that your average cup of coffee will burn about 30-60 calories while 3 cups of green tea will knock off the same amount. Note that if you use creamer or milk the end result is null and void.
• Spicy!: The chemical (drawing a blank on the name) that give chilies their kick can also hep you burn those unwanted pounds off. Eat at least 1 a day and you could net up to 100 calories of calorie burning power.
• Portabella Mushrooms: Packed with potassium, these guys help flush salt out of your system.

If you’re looking for passive ways to exercise..well..there aren’t very many options. The whole idea behind exercising is getting your body to move around to burn calories, so you’re probably out of luck. Still, here are some helpful ideas.

• Embrace the Stairs: The bottom line is throughout the day you’re going to have to get from point A to point B, and I shake my head when I see people taking the elevator instead of one flight of stairs. They should put up a sign next to them that say “free calorie burning this way!” If you’re going that direction anyway, take the stairs and get some extra burning power in.
• Walk Fast: Sprinting to your car when you get out of work might send the wrong impression to your boss, but walking briskly not only saves you time but also helps burn significantly more calories. You don’t have to get winded every time you take a leisurely stroll, mind you, but it’s easy to turn it up a notch or two.
• Consider Mini-Workouts: So I’m breaking the line of “passive” here, but one of the biggest reasons people don’t exercise is that it’s long and boring. You can combat this problem by working at home in small intervals. If you have a stationary bike, hop on for 5 minutes before dinner and/or during your favorite show. I also like to get in 100 pushups a day, every day. 100 pushups at once is very hard (for me) but 20 at a time is easy.

As long as you  aren’t relying on these steps to do all of the dirty work for you, you can net better results by incorporating them into your daily routine. Fitness and finance are getting more linked by the day as healthcare costs continue to rise, so start making changes now.

Other blogs, however, like Ittybiz and the Art of Nonconformity, serve an entirely different purpose. They are short on details but big on grandiose. Chris and Naomi both are out to let us know we can live life how we want, when we want it. On the surface, the message is absolutely important. Many people out there are unhappy, stuck, grinding through life with little sense of direction or purpose other than feeding their kids and making rent/mortgage payments. They want an out, and blogs like this are happy to tell them that there is one. When I read J.D’s review on Chris’s new book, aptly named The Art of Nonconformity, my impressions were confirmed when it sounded like the book is a really long post on his blog. Big on ideas, short on details. I have a hard time deciding if that’s a good thing.

On one hand, it is always good to spread the idea that people have influence over their own life. Breaking out of traditional molds and doing your own thing can and should be encouraged, and I think Chris goes a long way in accomplishing that. On the other, however, we have comments like this one from J.D’s Blog:

According to your review, Chris offers us these truths:

“You don’t have to live your life the way other people expect you to.” (Wow, I’m shocked by his brilliance)

“No one else can be responsible for your success or well-being but you.” (Be still, my heart)

“You are a grown up. As long as your actions aren’t directly preventing others from pursuing their dreams, you have the right (and responsibility!) to pursue your own dreams.” (Thanks for letting me know I’m a grown-up.)

Does anyone seriously believe this is new, original, or even helpful? Maybe others are blinded by his brilliance, I find his style pompous and condescending. It might be less irritating if he were addressing 12-year-old’s. I’ll pass on the book and the blog, thanks.

While blunt, the commenter still has a valid point. At some point, we are inspired, motivated, and rip roaring ready to go do….what? That’s the ultimate question, and something that can’t be universally applied to anyone. Chris and Naomi can talk about hitting the ground running, busting your ass, going for what you want, but they can’t tell you what you want. Often times their blog posts are a really long way of saying “Hey, you can do it,” without defining what “it” is. Most people are beyond the point of motivation. They know what they want, they just don’t know how to get there. They want to be self employed, creative, making their own way, breaking away from conformity. They just don’t know how to get from point A to point B.

Have we been mislead? Are these blogs more akin to snake oil and than a product with real value? Both Ittybiz and The Art of Nonconformity make their living telling people to get motivated, but do they go far enough in showing the way? Having purchased one of Chris’s products myself, I can say: Maybe. Perhaps these blogs and the products that accompany them do inspire people to start their own businesses, quit their 9-5 jobs, and accomplish their dreams.  If that’s the case, I’d love to hear from you! Until then, I’ll keep on reading Itty Biz, AONC, and of course Get Rich Slowly. I just have the most faith in the latter.