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	<title>BudgetTracker Weblog</title>
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	<link>http://blog.budgettracker.com/blog</link>
	<description>Get financial tips, tricks, and site walk-throughs here on our weblog. This weblog is based around the BudgetTracker site which provides Money Management online for free.</description>
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		<title>Why Long-Term CDs are Great for an Emergency Fund</title>
		<link>http://blog.budgettracker.com/blog/?p=254</link>
		<comments>http://blog.budgettracker.com/blog/?p=254#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 08 May 2010 00:38:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>doughroller</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.budgettracker.com/blog/?p=254</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We all know the value of an emergency fund.  With several months’ worth of expenses in the bank, we get some level of security and can handle unexpected expenses.  In fact, the first step in achieving a higher level of financial freedom is moving away from living paycheck to paycheck.
The big question is [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Can you lower your property taxes?</title>
		<link>http://blog.budgettracker.com/blog/?p=251</link>
		<comments>http://blog.budgettracker.com/blog/?p=251#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 22 Mar 2010 01:05:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark P. Cussen, CFP, CMFC</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[appraisal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[assessment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Property value]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.budgettracker.com/blog/?p=251</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As property values have increased significantly in many areas of the country, some localities have taken steps to increase their tax revenues by increasing their real estate taxes. But take heart: you can take steps to potentially lower these taxes by examining the assessed value of your home.
How could your assessor be wrong? It might [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Consider Preferred Stocks as A Means of Portfolio Diversification</title>
		<link>http://blog.budgettracker.com/blog/?p=250</link>
		<comments>http://blog.budgettracker.com/blog/?p=250#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 16 Mar 2010 02:39:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark P. Cussen, CFP, CMFC</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bond]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[common stock]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[preferred stock]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yield]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.budgettracker.com/blog/?p=250</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Bonds aren’t the only way investors can generate income; stocks can be viable options as well. Some stocks, anyway—such as preferred stocks.
Preferred stock is a class of ownership in a corporation which generally has priority over common stockholders on earnings and assets in the event of liquidation.
Even though preferred stocks are listed as equity on [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Get Life Insurance-No Medical Exam</title>
		<link>http://blog.budgettracker.com/blog/?p=248</link>
		<comments>http://blog.budgettracker.com/blog/?p=248#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 01 Mar 2010 02:34:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark P. Cussen, CFP, CMFC</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[life insurance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medical Exam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Underwriting]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.budgettracker.com/blog/?p=248</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[While it’s possible to get life insurance without a medical exam, let’s deal with four common instances and their tradeoffs.  First, understand that in many cases, the “medical exam” is obtaining a urine and blood sample and that’s it.  The medical professional even comes to your home.  Only at higher amounts of [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Bank-Loan Funds Can Help Provide Income as Interest Rates Rise</title>
		<link>http://blog.budgettracker.com/blog/?p=233</link>
		<comments>http://blog.budgettracker.com/blog/?p=233#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 25 Feb 2010 03:27:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark P. Cussen, CFP, CMFC</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bank loans]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[interest rates]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mutual fund]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.budgettracker.com/blog/?p=233</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When interest rates rise, a bond’s market value often goes down. This is because the bond’s rate can be fixed and can’t compete with the rates offered by newer issued bonds. If this situation arises, the bond might sell at a discount. Such declines can be unsettling for owners of bond mutual funds, since the [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Seriously, do people still use coupons?</title>
		<link>http://blog.budgettracker.com/blog/?p=234</link>
		<comments>http://blog.budgettracker.com/blog/?p=234#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 23 Feb 2010 20:12:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Simple Observer</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bills]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.budgettracker.com/blog/?p=234</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Share
Here’s a blast from the past: coupon clipping has made a strong comeback. Earlier this month, New York Times business blog, Drilling Down, reported that 3.5 billion coupons were redeemed in 2009, a jump of 700 million over 2008’s redemption numbers. The last big year for coupon exchange was apparently in 1992 when 7.9 billion were [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>February 22 &#8211; A red letter day</title>
		<link>http://blog.budgettracker.com/blog/?p=222</link>
		<comments>http://blog.budgettracker.com/blog/?p=222#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Feb 2010 02:07:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Simple Observer</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.budgettracker.com/blog/?p=222</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Next week offers the long-awaited red letter day for consumers frustrated by unexpected interest fee spikes, varying penalties, and moveable Whack-A-Mole due dates on their credit card billing statements. Next Monday, the Credit Card Reform Act of 2009 finally takes effect, forcing some consistency on an industry long known for its inconsistencies.
Ten for &#8216;10
Consumer Reports.org outlined [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://blog.budgettracker.com/blog/?feed=rss2&amp;p=222</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Advantages of Closed-End Funds</title>
		<link>http://blog.budgettracker.com/blog/?p=220</link>
		<comments>http://blog.budgettracker.com/blog/?p=220#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 15 Feb 2010 18:12:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark P. Cussen, CFP, CMFC</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Closed-End Fund]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ETF]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mutual fund]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yield]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.budgettracker.com/blog/?p=220</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you own a bond mutual fund, most likely it’s an open-end version that holds an
assortment of municipal, government, or corporate notes. The price you paid for your
shares was equal to the value of your portion of the bonds in the portfolio. And at the end of any trading day, you can redeem your shares [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://blog.budgettracker.com/blog/?feed=rss2&amp;p=220</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Facebook Budget Busters</title>
		<link>http://blog.budgettracker.com/blog/?p=207</link>
		<comments>http://blog.budgettracker.com/blog/?p=207#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 10 Feb 2010 04:50:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Simple Observer</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bills]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[scams]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.budgettracker.com/blog/?p=207</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We all know the usual budget derailments like car repairs, Starbucks runs, iPhones, and eating out. But what about those not-so-obvious cash drains like Facebook applications? Not so, you say. They’re just fun time wasters on a great social media site and besides, what else am I going to do since I’m still unemployed?
Ok. I [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://blog.budgettracker.com/blog/?feed=rss2&amp;p=207</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Feeling Generous? Donate Your Life Insurance Policy to Charity</title>
		<link>http://blog.budgettracker.com/blog/?p=205</link>
		<comments>http://blog.budgettracker.com/blog/?p=205#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 05 Feb 2010 04:11:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mark P. Cussen, CFP, CMFC</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cash value]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[charity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[donation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[life insurance]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.budgettracker.com/blog/?p=205</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Do you own a cash-value life insurance policy? Have you been thinking about donating the policy to your favorite charity? There are two ways to do this—you could gift the policy outright, making the charity the owner and beneficiary, or you could name the charity as the beneficiary when you die. Which choice makes more [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://blog.budgettracker.com/blog/?feed=rss2&amp;p=205</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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