My credit score used to be below 600, now it’s over 800.

I was stressed out over money the first 40 years of my life.

In the last 8 years I shifted my INNER thinking about MONEY, lowered my costs and totally revamped my finances.

In doing so I finally reached some financial peace and equilibrium.

BTW, everything I wrote in this post is what I’ve taught my 2 daughters, and both my gilrs have decent credit, zero college debt and they are working in jobs with a decent income.

That’s my oldest daughter, Claire, in the pic above.

THIS is what I’ve learned in taking my credit from 600 to above 800:

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#1. Look hard at your current work and ask yourself “Am I EASILY REPLACED?”

The easier it is to REPLACE you the easier it is to pay you peanuts as an employer. At Tampa Bay Solar we pay experienced solar installers up to $30 an HOUR because GREAT INSTALLERS are really hard to find, hire and replace. Installing solar is hard work, in tough conditions, but the pay matches that hardship.

If you work as a barista or a janitor or an unskilled ditch digger you will NEVER be paid well. If you can manage a TEAM of ditch diggers you’ll get a raise. Maybe you can LEARN to operate a ditch digging machine?

If you learn how to build a business that digs a million ditches each year you’ll be a millionaire.

I make a strong income at Tampa Bay Solar because I’ve spent the last FIVE YEARS becoming skilled at closing solar deals. When I started with TBS in 2017 I had NO IDEA what I was doing, but by the time I had closed 100 deals (a few months later) the owner had enough confidence in me to put me in a leadership position.

BTW, I was 43 when I got started at TBS, it’s never TOO late to find success and fix your finances.

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#2. Can you earn MORE where you’re currently at?

If you work a low paying job ask your boss about management opportunities. How does one move into management and get a pay hike? What does it take? The answer might surprise you. Being able to manage knuckleheads is a skill, and companies need people with management skills who can lead a team.

If there is ZERO path to management at your crappy company go work elsewhere, your ladder is leaning against the wrong opportunity.

Do not keep working as a waiter or bartender thinking you’ll make $100K a year someday, move onto a more skilled opportunity. If you don’t do that you’ll still be hustling for tips when you’re 50, when you’re body is broken and your feet hurt, and that really sucks.

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#3. Are there a bunch of credit cards in your wallet?

Credit cards are financial CANCER, each credit card you carry around is like a malignant tumor growing on your ass. If you had a gnarly tumor on your left buttock you’d go get it removed. Chop up your credit cards and use your raise at work to evaporate your balances.

I’ve used a DEBIT card for the last 8 years. My debit card is tied to a business account (owned by my LLC) that tracks my expenses, which helps me pay LESS federal taxes at the end of the year.

When the computers at Experian and Equifax figure out that you have multiple credit card outstanding loan balances your credit score will go down. Same goes for high balance amounts on auto loans… I bought several cars in the last decade and paid them off EARLY, and this raise my credit score really fast.

Paying off all your credit card balances and NOT having auto debt is a sure path to a higher credit score.

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#4. EAT OUT LESS.

$20 in groceries will buy you a few basic meals, but it will barely buy you one sit down meal at a restaurant. PLUS you have to tip the server.

If you’re broke? Eat at home before you go out, it takes a minute to make a salad or fry some eggs, but it is FAR cheaper than even the crappiest fast food.

Also; getting drunk at the bar is expensive… especially if you get pulled over after 6 or 7 drinks….

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#5. DITCH THE EGO PURCHASES!

If you’re broke, and live in a shitty apartment yet you drive a $40,000 Lexus (on lease) and rock a $10,000 Rolex (on a payment plan) you’re only fooling YOURSELF.

Folks who finance luxury goods usually have poor credit and pay 14% interest on dumb stuff THEY DON’T NEED. Do you earn $50,000 per year and drive a $50,000 SUV? This is why your credit sucks.

I drive a used Chevy Volt that I bought for less than $20,000… and it has 110,000 miles on it. Luxury cars, luxury watches, fancy clothes… that’s all bullshit to impress other people. Don’t try to impress people who don’t give a shit about you.

The people who CARE about you don’t give a rip about your luxury goods, and if they DO you might want to reconsider your social circle.

A luxury car (or big SUV) has more expensive tires, maintenance, fuel costs, payments and insurance.

The fancy Rolex on your wrist is just plain stupid…. especially if you have lingering credit card debt.

I made ALL these dumb mistakes, but when I finally ditched luxury / ego purchases my credit started to go up. Good credit, no debt…. your will have financial PEACE when you get there.

My inexpensive Chevy Volt with lotsa miles costs me very little to own and drive…

Paying OFF my home is my main financial priority this year.

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#6. Housing is freakin’ expensive.

As I write this in February of 2022 real estate prices (and rents) are through the roof in Tampa and this is a BAD time to buy real estate. Many of you are renting… and the struggle sits between finding an inexpensive place, but one that is NOT in a ghetto neighborhood where you won’t be safe.

My daughters are 22 and 24, so I feel your pain here… if you can find roomies who have a steady job this might be a way to parse your expenses.

One solution to this……………………

Wait out the market… when we get into a deep recession in two years buy a house cheap, then rent out 3 rooms to your friends and BECOME THE LANDLORD. Your three friends will cover the mortgage, you’ll live there for free, not a bad deal.

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#7. STOP TALKING ABOUT YOUR CRAPPY BROKENESS.

First of all, no one gives a damn if you’re broke.

I was listening to a young comedian bitch and moan about being broke… I offered him a job at Tampa Bay Solar and he did NOT take it. He’s probably STILL broke.

Silly goose…

If you talk about being broke you attract that crappy energy into your life. Talk about the future in a positive way, from your mouth to God’s ear, right?

When I started Balloon Distractions back in 2003 I would talk about having 100 restaurant clients when we only had 15. Once we had 100 clients I would talk about having 400 clients… you get the idea.

If you change your (broken) thinking about money it will be ABUNDANT.

Alos, don’t hate on successful people, instead use that energy to ask them how the hell they did it… you might learn something you can use to change your financial scenario.

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#8. Find a creative solution.

In 2003 I was twisting balloons on the street in Ybor to pay my mortgage… I was 29 years old… and in the next 9 months that goofy idea was making me over $100K a year. NO ONE thought it would work, yet that business went on to grow all over the United States… giving me a decent income until I sold the company in April of 2018.

That totally goofy idea got me on Season 5 of Shark Tank…

Need to make an extra $300 on weekends?

Buy a pressure washing machine and start handing out business cards… that’s better than complaining about your lack of money on social media. We all have a finite amount of energy, are you using your energy to grow, learn and earn… or are you just complaining about stuff?

You can complain, or you can promote the tar out of your side hustle.

My buddy started a post office store 20 years ago… then he franchised the idea and has 130 locations around the United States… you never know where a creative idea will take you.

Just google “Marcus Price, Goin’ Postal”

Note here: Marcus recently tapped me to help him sell GP franchises at $5K commission per sale…. so I’m doing that in addition to closing solar deals. Yahtzee!

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#9. Exercise a little more, LOOK better, feel better, get STRONGER.

It can’t hurt to slim down, look a little sharper, be in better health.

There are a ton of studies showing how obesity and poverty are strongly connected.

If you LIKE how you look in the mirror you will reflect that out to the world.

I’ve been lifting weights lately in an attempt to slim down and look better… I’m not happy with the 30 extra pounds I’m lugging around, so I’m taking action to correct that issue.

#10. Finally. DO NOT INCREASE your lifestyle.

When you increase your income you can either buy nicer stuff, or pay down your debt.

I could have bought a much bigger home in the last few years when my income increased, but I’m holding steady and paying off what I have.

Many young people live WAY OVER their means, especially when they start making more income.

If you made $15,000 per year in college and THEN you graduate and earn $60,000 it feels like a fortune… but in reality you can get caught up spending 100% of what you earn.

In my 30’s I made $100K most years and SPEND $100K, I was still BROKE, just at a riskier level!

KNOW where your expenses are and KNOW your income after taxes.

Earning $60K a year and living on $35K is far more peaceful than earning $150K and spending $150K!

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Ok, that’s TEN ideas that will improve your finances AND your credit score.

When your credit hits 800 let me know!

Ben Alexander

February : 2022

That’s me on the left, on Shark Tank… back in 2014.

There are similarities in both.

You can make a fool of yourself in both, but if you do it on Shark Tank the YouTube clip will live forever.

There is less laughter on Shark Tank, unless you fail at stand-up, and there won’t be any laughter there either.

Most people who do both never make a dime off either.

Both involve some insanity, some risk.

Shark Tank is a mostly a one shot deal, but with stand-up you can fail your way to funny, eventually.

Both are fun to watch, most of the time.

If you gave Jesus a crouton, could he turn that into a large pizza?

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The pic above is from an open mic last night over in St. Pete…. at a freakin’ VAPE store.

I have too much free time on my hands, dammit.

The solar biz is slow right now, but I only need to close a few deals each month to cover my bills.

My girls are all grown up, so I have no family to take care of, not on a daily basis anyhoo.

I spend some time every week with my girlfriend, but this relationship is kinda new, so I don’t want to crowd her out.

I have a tendency to do that, and I want to avoid that mistake this time.

My home is just too damn quiet, I gotta go out.

My small circle of friends and family don’t wanna see me all the time.

I’m in rehearsals for a musical with the Carrollwood Players, but I only have a supporting role… so I don’t have to be at every rehearsal. The show starts March 11th, and runs weekends until April 2… after mid-February I’ll be busier…

Of course, with Omicron surging that might all get messed up. Who knows?

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MEANWHILE… I filled a notebook with material and I’m openly experimenting with stand-up comedy.

It beats a heroin habit, joining a nudist colony, or knocking over banks.

I gotta do SOMETHING with all my free time, besides writing blog posts.

Being onstage and getting a laugh is AWESOME… when it actually happens.

Sometimes all I get is total silence from the crowd because my jokes suck, but you WILL NEVER KNOW if your 3 minutes is funny until you try it in front of a crowd of strangers.

Trial & Error, all the way. I’m failing my way to Funny?

Coming up with original stand-up comedy is harder than waking up from a hot date with Bill Cosby…

Pudding Pops anyone?

Last night I got there early and was playing pool with a guy who worked with young people at the youth center. He won 2 games in a row so I bought him a beer. I also met a cool chick named Angela who rides a motorcycle and works at a strip club!

Making friends, right? There’s a value in that.

If I’m going out to random bars I want there to be some purpose to it all, in addition to the alcoholism.

Be funny? Play pool and meet new people? Just make friends?

If I could develop 5 minutes of really solid comedy in 2022 I’d be real happy with that.

Realistically, how many folks have ever done that? One in 10,000?

I’m fascinated about comedy, comedians, what makes stuff funny… and how the entire industry works.

I don’t mind failing, because I know my brain is slowly learning in this process.

I’m doing the Open Mic at Side Splitters in Tampa tonight, 8PM.

Come get a beer, watch my ass crash ‘n burn!

Ben Alexander

Jan 16th :::::::::::::::::::::: 2022

Case in point:

I’ve been driving a GM Plug-in EV for the last 5 years… and I’m excited about GM’s direction moving forward!

Recently the Chevy BOLT has had a PR nightmare from LG Chem batteries that have caught fire… but GM seems to be moving past this (they probably need to recall 100% of the Bolts at this point).

GM sees the future here, and their EV innovations extend into watercraft, locomotives AND logistics vehicles as well. That’s a really broad platform. Based on my experience as an owner of a 2013 AND 2017 Volt I’m very confident in GM’s ability to pull this off with top notch products.

My Volt is fueled by the sunshine that falls on my roof.

Using solar to fuel your EV is the least expensive way to get around… my solar is paid off, so my fuel is essentially FREE.

This is an exciting time to watch tech progress in electric vehicles.

In my ownership role at Tampa Bay Solar I’m excited about the direction EV’s have taken… more electric vehicles goes hand in hand with more solar. As more commercial clients

EV tech is finally reaching widespread maturity just as fossil fuel prices continue to climb, and when American companies like General Motors and Tesla drive the progress this is great for our country.

GM sells a ton of vehicles in China, so GM’s top executives have seen the rapid growth of new EV companies over there… and they know that the competition in the EV space will be fierce in the next 20 years.

GM was a bit of a dinosaur from 1985 until about 2010, losing market share to companies like Toyota and Hyundai… seems like the GM giant has finally awakened!

Speaking of Giants… Toyota actually outsold GM in 2021 in the USA… but Toyota has been a slow mover in the 100% electric vehicle space. Toyota has over 1,000 patents on the next generation solid state battery technology… but I can’t currently BUY a 100% plug-in EV at my local Toyota dealer!

I hope that Toyota execs will start to move a bit faster once GM starts to sell hundreds of thousands of vehicles using the Ultium platform.

… reporting from Tampa …

Ben Alexander

January 10 ::: 2022

On Monday I was out in Plant City closing a solar deal and I pulled over to take a picture of these workers in a field:

Mexican / Honduran and Central American farm workers can be seen working out in strawberry fields all over eastern Hillsborough county.

These are the immigrants working on roofing, construction and landscaping crews all over Florida, doing the brutal and dangerous jobs in the hot sun that no one else wants to do.

In the last year there have been thousands of low level jobs all over the United States that have gone unfilled, at Tampa Bay Solar we pay $20 per hour (and UP) and we still have a hard time finding enough installers willing to stick it out and learn the job.

During the Trump administration there was a huge backlash against illegal immigration to this country. Many people were hunted down by federal authorities and deported back to their native country. In most cases these were folks with jobs and families, homeowners who paid taxes and had never been in any legal trouble…

We have jobs that are going unfilled because there are not enough low level workers OUT THERE.

BTW… immigrants are not TAKING jobs from Americans, they are filling the jobs that no one wants to do. If you have a harder work ethic than the next guy you deserve the job, the promotion, the raise, etc.

If 90% of employers are hiring we should cancel all unemployment benefits until this problem no longer exists.

Maybe if folks HAD to work to feed themselves they would be more willing to do so.

All of the people I personally know who live here (but were not born here) are productive citizens. My ex-wife came here from Taiwan, worked as a school teacher then realtor… now she’s in school to be an RN… she is also a homeowner and a taxpayer.

My best friend Marcus came here from England 30 years ago, and he’s started multiple franchises that employ hundreds of people.

Many of my solar clients came here from India, got Master’s degrees and now earn six figures in the IT and engineering field… and these guys live in $500,000 homes, pay taxes, drive nice cars, etc.

New Tampa would be much smaller without the dynamic Indian population who lives there.

There are entire housing subdivisions that would not exist without the Indian immigrant polulation here in Tampa. How many construction jobs does a 1,000 home subdivision create? How many Central American workers built those homes?

Because of my educational background I see the world through a macroeconomic viewpoint; the benefit of NEW immigrants bringing a hard work ethic to our shores far outweighs the cost of immigration in terms of crime or social service costs.

If you are willing to come to the United States, work hard, pay taxes and NOT commit a crime? They should let you stay.

Maybe for the first DECADE we disqualify any immigrant from taking a dime in unemployment, not until they’ve legally paid federal income taxes for 10 years.

NO federal benefits for any immigrant, not until they’ve paid into our tax rolls for at least 10 years.

If immigrants from Mexico are willing to work as farm workers and roofers and landscapers I say let them come and build a life here. Let them start a business, build a home, pay taxes, etc.

If they don’t work, or get arrested? Send them back to Mexico on the next flight.

My ancestors came here in the late 1800’s from Poland, Scotland, Ireland and France… they worked their ass off and built a life here. Maybe that first generation was a bit rough; they drank too much, got in fights at pubs, etc… but they also became small business owners, fought (and died) in our wars, and became a part of the ever growing American tapestry.

Native born Americans are having less children, and if we don’t accept MORE immigration into this country in the next 20 years we will have eventually have more retired people collecting social security than younger folks paying taxes into the system. This is happening right now in Japan and Russia, both countries are seeing a decline in population!

Countries that don’t have a vibrant younger generation driving the economy forward are going to stagnate and possibly face an economic collapse.

The United States has always represented a beacon of hope and opportunity to people all over the world. Let’s get a simple program that lets immigrants come here, become a part of our country, and help keep our country economically dynamic.

Ben Alexander

Jan 5 ::: 2022

As one of the owners at Tampa Bay Solar one of the most common questions I get is “I’m building a new house, how much solar will I need?”

The answer to this question depends upon many factors, but the main factor is the overall efficiency of the home. The building stage gives the new homebuyer a great opportunity to build a MORE efficient home so they don’t NEED a ton of solar on the roof.

Disclaimer: I don’t sell HVAC systems, roofing or radiant barrier, I have NO horse in this race, but I’d rather give our clients better ADVICE. In the long run this is a great way to SERVE your clients, and you actually make more profits when you serve your clients better than your competition!

BEFORE you get solar do THIS:

#1. Opt for a higher SEER rated HVAC on your new home.

SEER stands for Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating. The higher the SEER rating on your HVAC the less $$ you will spend to heat and cool your home. Using the air conditioning from February to December will use 60% of your electricity, so why not spend a little more upfront to buy the MOST efficient HVAC in your budget? The general contractor building your home might install a 15 SEER HVAC because he wants to meet the minimum county code requirements, but in my experience most general contractors are not focused on long term energy efficiency.

The difference? Maybe you spend an extra $2K upfront to get an 18 SEER rather than a 15 SEER rated system, but it saves you $10,000 in energy costs over the next decade you live in that home.

#2. Get radiant barrier in your attic.

Many builders offer this as an option. Radiant barrier keeps your attic cooler, which keeps your entire home cooler. Cooler home = AC runs less = less wear and tear on your HVAC and lower energy costs.

#3. Get a 240 volt outlet installed on your garage wall.

If you plan on living in your home over the next 15 years there is a high chance that either you or the next owner will drive a plug-in electric vehicle. This outlet is inexpensive to install when the electrician is putting in the main panel. Make sure each 240 volt outlet has it’s own breaker in your main panel. The 240 volt outlet can fast charge any electric car, versus trickle charging with 120 volts.

If your home is “electric car ready” you are far more likely to buy a plug-in electric vehicle, which will save you thousands of dollars per year in gasoline costs, especially when gas is at $6 per gallon by 2025…

#4. Don’t go with darker shingles on your roof.

Dark colors absorb MORE radiant heat from the sun, lighter colored roofs reflect heat away. I’ve seen homes with black shingle roofs and $400 electric bills. A dark roof is a huge mistake, your house will heat up like a microwave oven every time the Florida sun comes out. Hot roof = hot house = AC working all the time = crazy high energy usage.

#5. If less than 4 people live in your home install an instant-on or a hybrid water heater.

These are highly efficient for a house with fewer people. If you have a large family (5+ kids…) a solar water heater makes more sense. I have a solar water heater on my home, along with 34 electric solar panels and they work great together. I don’t have 5 kids… but I wanted to use solar to heat my water.

That pic below is my roof in Pasco County:

My system was installed 5 years ago, the long panel in the middle heats my water, the other panels surrounding it generate electricity. My solar paid for itself in less than 4 years!

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Building a new home from scratch gives you a great opportunity to plan for the future and make your new home really energy efficient. This means you can meet your total energy needs with LESS solar panels on the roof, which means LESS cost to install the system.

Yes, I might make a smaller commission, but I’d rather do the right thing here.

Powering an electric car off the solar array on your roof will also save you $100 or more per MONTH in gasoline cost (hence the 240 volt outlet recommendation).

If you’re smart about your new home in the construction phase you’ll save thousands of dollars in energy costs after you move in!

Hope that helps!

Ben Alexander

http://www.TampaBaySolar.com

Take a second to listen and watch:

We were going to do this song for the Easter Cantata at my church in 2020… and then church stopped for the next year or so…

I had not heard this song in a long time, until I clicked on the video this morning.

Andrew Peterson is a really cool composer / performer / human being.

Really a lovely song, I hope you enjoy it.

Ben Alexander

Jan 2 ::: 2022

A picture is worth a thousand words.

That’s Marcus in the pic, for scale.

The flames must have been 40 feet high… we chucked some fireworks into the fiery maul of the beast, just for fun. You gotta love a huge intentional fire. It was still going this morning, Marcus used wooden pallets on the outside, huge pine logs in the middle to keep it burning.

I got to drive a tractor:

This was at Marcus’s 5 acre spread up in Dade City, lotsa folks showed up and we went through a couple cases of beer… I fell asleep on a chair by the pool.

A few drinks puts me to sleep, especially as I get older.

2022 is here. I’m a Pisces so the zodiac says I’m going to have an amazing year, let’s see if that comes true. I’ve been dating a lovely gal for the last few weeks, but I’m not going to write about it until we’re further along in the process.

Being single is just plain sucky. Meeting someone you can have a blast with? That’s really the best.

Happy New Year y’all!

Ben Alexander

January 1 :: 2022

I have a degree in quantitative economics and I’m still lost when it comes to crypto currency.

If you have an hour to kill watch this:

I’m wary of anything that takes hours to explain. Crypto currency is more complicated than the compensation structure for a mult-level marketing scheme.

For instance, if I describe what we do at Tampa Bay Solar; “We put solar panels on your roof, they generate electricity and lower your electric bill.”

I just explained my basic business in 15 words, in just one compound sentence.

You can ask some follow up questions, but those 15 words clearly communicate what we do.

The promoters of Bitcoin will try to convince you that their virtual currency will replace money backed by national governments like the US dollar, the Japanese Yen, etc.

I’m not buying it. Until Bitcoin can be explained in a way that everyone can understand it all crypto currency will be problematic at best, fraudulent at the worst.

Yesterday I dropped Grace at the airport, she has a full time job now, with limited time off.

Grace had only been here a grand total of 6 days before she had to go back north to Pittsburgh… this was her first Christmas home AFTER college, and her college breaks the last few years would give her a very casual 3 weeks back in Florida.

This past Sunday Grace and I went to the beach, then had a nice lunch in Tarpon Springs… we also stopped at a nursery to look at plants, at Grace’s behest. Grace is really into plants.. on past trips home she went around to neighbors, asked them for tropical plant clippings, then took the clippings north to Pittsburgh and sold them for hundreds of dollars!

Grace always plants stuff in my gardens, everytime she comes home, and gets mad at me if anything dies in the months she’s gone. This kid!

Grace was home for 2 months in the Spring of 2020, when Covid shut down Carnegie Mellon and the entire planet hit the PAUSE button. Grace helped me repaint the living room, we went to St. Pete to look at murals… it was a weird time, even a turtle wandering across the street was exciting:

After I dropped Grace at the airport yesterday I realized how little time we really have with our kids once they become adults, and that’s when time really starts to accelerate… I know that when I was in my 30’s and lived 1,000 miles away from my parents I only saw them twice a year.

Mom and Dad live here in Wesley Chapel now, so I see them all the time. We go to the same wild ‘n crazy Methodist church… which is full of folks in Mom and Dad’s generation. Church for them is also their social circle.

Grace just turned 22 this week, so Mom and Dad were there to celebrate with me, Claire and Grace.

I know that Pittsburgh is where Grace needs to be right now, she has a great job up there, she just moved into a nicer place with better roomies… and her degree from Carnegie Mellon will open doors for her, especially in the Northeast.

There are cheap flights from Tampa to Pittsburgh on Spirit, so Grace comes homes every three months or so, especially during the winter months!

She’ll probably buy some plants next time she comes home.

Ben Alexander

December 29 ::: 2021