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	<title>Money Smart Moms</title>
	<link>http://moneysmartmoms.com/blog</link>
	<description>Family, Leisure &#038; Lifestyle</description>
	<pubDate>Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:02:11 +0000</pubDate>
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		<title>Term Life Insurance</title>
		<link>http://moneysmartmoms.com/blog/2008/06/04/term-life-insurance/</link>
		<comments>http://moneysmartmoms.com/blog/2008/06/04/term-life-insurance/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 04 Jun 2008 12:21:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Deb</dc:creator>
		
	<category>Money</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://moneysmartmoms.com/blog/2008/06/04/term-life-insurance/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Term life insurance is basically a “no frills” type of life insurance. It is a life insurance for a specified duration limit, or time. You buy a specific amount of coverage for a specific time period by signing a contract. You pay for that coverage period and at the end of the term the policy [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Term life insurance is basically a “no frills” type of life insurance. It is a life insurance for a specified duration limit, or time. You buy a specific amount of coverage for a specific time period by signing a contract. You pay for that coverage period and at the end of the term the policy expires. For example, the term might be until retirement, or until children are grown, or until college is paid for. </p>
<p>Term life insurance is the least expensive available insurance policy and allows you to spend a lot less and use the extra money in a better investment. It does not build up cash value and the premium normally increases as the policy owner gets older. Usually term life insurance covers a specific term such as term of 1year, term of 20 years or term of 30 years.</p>
<p>If you die while the policy is active, term life insurance provides a stated benefit for it; and your survivors will be paid the agreed upon amount. However, the policy does not provide any returns beyond the stated benefit and once the policy expires, the insurance coverage ceases and the insurance company keeps the money. Some term insurance policies give you the right to renew at the same rate for multiple years, while others do not. The former are generally a bit more expensive.</p>
<p>Term life insurance is most suitable for you, if you are:<br />
•	in need of coverage for a limited period of time,<br />
•	young and looking for lower premiums,<br />
•	buying a home or car, where the financial burden of a loan will disappear in time.</p>
<p>Term life insurance policies must be renewed when each term ends. Before buying a term life insurance policy, you should ask about the renewal provisions for the protection of your future insurability. There are some typical choices:<br />
•	Annual Renewable&#8212;&#8211;the premium go up each year.<br />
•	Level Term&#8212;&#8211;the premium stays the same for specific period like 5, 10, 15, or 20 years, then increases sharply.<br />
•	Automatic Renewable&#8212;&#8211;you&#8217;ll have to pay more for this feature.</p>
<p>Some other options on term life insurance policies may include:<br />
•	Re-Entry&#8212;&#8212;it requires a lower premium than an automatically renewable policy. You can renew at the same low rate offers to new customer; but you&#8217;ll have to pass a physical examination. If you&#8217;ve developed any health problems, your premium could go up and cost more than an automatic-renewable policy.<br />
•	Convert-able term&#8212;&#8212;you’ll have the option to convert to a whole life insurance policy in later years.</p>
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		<item>
		<title>Creating a Budget</title>
		<link>http://moneysmartmoms.com/blog/2008/05/27/creating-a-budget/</link>
		<comments>http://moneysmartmoms.com/blog/2008/05/27/creating-a-budget/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 27 May 2008 09:20:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Deb</dc:creator>
		
	<category>Money</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://moneysmartmoms.com/blog/2008/05/27/creating-a-budget/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The first step to avoiding the troubles of financial debt is to create and maintain a budget.  It’s not as intimidating as it sounds, don’t worry.
First off,  create a list of all your monthly income and also a list of your monthly expenses.  When determining income, list all sources including alimony, child [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The first step to avoiding the troubles of financial debt is to create and maintain a budget.  It’s not as intimidating as it sounds, don’t worry.</p>
<p>First off,  create a list of all your monthly income and also a list of your monthly expenses.  When determining income, list all sources including alimony, child support, side jobs, etc.  In calculating expenses, be sure to include housing, food, transportation, utilities, entertainment, etc.  To gain an accurate reflection of actual expenses, sit down each night and write down expenses, just make sure to save receipts.  Determine if your income covers all of your expenses.  If the answer is no, then some expenses need to be reduced.  </p>
<p>Adjust expenses.  If it is a small discrepancy, it may mean reducing some minor expenses like entertainment or cell phone plan.  If the deficit is larger, you may need to downsize your vehicle or living arrangements.  If your income covers all of your expenses, you still may want to trim some of the excess fat off your spending habits.  This can free up extra money for things such as vacations or college funds for your children.  </p>
<p>Additionally, consider if you need to add new categories.  Some areas that are often overlooked are debt reduction, emergency savings funds, and retirement savings.  An emergency fund ensures there is an adequate amount available to cover unforeseen events (car emergency, etc), should it arise.  This will eliminate the need for using credit which can quickly damage your budget.  </p>
<p>There are several advantages to sticking to your budget.  Firstly, most people have set financial goals that they would like to reach in the future.  Sometimes it may be a trip, a brand new car, or a college education, or even a <a href="http://www.capella.edu">degree online</a>.  A budget can help people save money to make these goals a reality.  Additionally, many people are crushed under heavy consumer debt.  Without a disciplined pattern of spending, it is virtually impossible to make much headway in reducing debt.  A personal budget will provide the necessary framework to begin eliminating these inflated account balances.  </p>
<p>If executed properly, a budget will allow a person to simultaneously meet their expenses, place money into savings, and pay back outstanding debts.  Therefore, it is anyone’s best interest to create and implement a budget.  </p>
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		<title>Debt Consolidation</title>
		<link>http://moneysmartmoms.com/blog/2008/05/23/debt-consolidation/</link>
		<comments>http://moneysmartmoms.com/blog/2008/05/23/debt-consolidation/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 23 May 2008 10:16:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Deb</dc:creator>
		
	<category>Money</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://moneysmartmoms.com/blog/2008/05/23/debt-consolidation/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Debt Consolidation is the process of bringing together ones debts from various sources, amalgamating or consolidating them into one single debt usually at a lower rate of interest. The resultant single debt is also known as a debt consolidation loan.
This process of debt consolidation has become very popular in the recent times because of the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Debt Consolidation is the process of bringing together ones debts from various sources, amalgamating or consolidating them into one single debt usually at a lower rate of interest. The resultant single debt is also known as a debt consolidation loan.</p>
<p>This process of debt consolidation has become very popular in the recent times because of the flexibility and simplicity it offers to the takers. Debt consolidation becomes an irreplaceable tool when an individual or business is indebted by high interest loans and is interested in replacing them with a debt consolidation loan that carries a lower interest rate. Debt consolidation has also become popular because of the ease in making one payout instead of many which can again be negotiated to be weekly, fortnightly or monthly.</p>
<p>Debt consolidation involves very common debts like credit cards, mortgages, student loans etc. The most common of these is credit card debt since this debt carries a very prohibitive rate of interest usually nearing 20%. </p>
<p>Debt consolidation has become popular. An person holding two or three credit cards being charged at about 20%., would only be happy to manage and consolidate his owing at 7-10% interest bearing debt consolidation loan.  Not only, would he would save a lot of money in the process, he will have lesser monthly payments to bother about.</p>
<p>Debt consolidation works with almost all kinds of loans available today. Another reason why debt consolidation has caught on is because of the highly competitive marketplace with products having extremely higher rates of interest.</p>
<p>Debt consolidation is still growing in popularity, since the number of lenders is on the rise. People with loans taken at higher rates of interest are replacing them with lower interest ones making use of the “honey-moon period” bearing further lower interest rates to pay off the old debts.</p>
<p>The awareness of the advantages of debt consolidation has become wide-spread especially in regard to:</p>
<p>Negotiating with their creditors for paying less,<br />
Getting a debt Consolidation Loan,<br />
Going through the debt agreement with a magnifying glass in case of trouble</p>
<p>Debt Consolidation loans available are of various kinds and are widely classified as per objectives. They are debt consolidation, mortgage consolidation and bill consolidation. As the types signify a normal debt consolidation loan is used to pay off personal debts like personal loans and credit cards. A mortgage consolidation deals with getting all your housing debt under one loan thereby reducing mortgage payouts and offering flexibility of a negotiated and single payment. Bill consolidation on the other hand deals with a loan that amalgamates all due bills into one single loan and again offers the flexibility of negotiated and lesser payouts.</p>
<p>In case of need, the advice is to do your calculations and shop for the best debt consolidation loan and options in the market before deciding on one. Various lenders offer various sops from time to time. It is up to you how you can turn them to your advantage.</p>
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		<item>
		<title>Cash Back Credit Cards</title>
		<link>http://moneysmartmoms.com/blog/2008/05/22/cash-back-credit-cards/</link>
		<comments>http://moneysmartmoms.com/blog/2008/05/22/cash-back-credit-cards/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 22 May 2008 12:16:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Deb</dc:creator>
		
	<category>Money</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://moneysmartmoms.com/blog/2008/05/22/cash-back-credit-cards/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Getting a credit card that offers cash back always sounds like a good idea.  What could be better than getting cash back on all the purchases that you make with your credit card?  It sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it?   
Well, there are cards that give you free cash, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Getting a credit card that offers cash back always sounds like a good idea.  What could be better than getting cash back on all the purchases that you make with your credit card?  It sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it?   </p>
<p>Well, there are cards that give you free cash, but it is usually only around 1% cash back.  However, free money is free money, right?  Well, sometimes.  </p>
<p>If you like to buy a lot of things in one month, this kind of credit card probably sounds great to you.  However, you need to keep in mind that they are not going to give you cash back on every purchase that you make.  Even if they claim to give you cash back on every purchase, they will only give you up to a certain amount per transaction.  The company also has a strict limit on the amount that they will give back to their customers.  If you read the little, bitty print on the form that you signed, you will see a paragraph with their limits in the terms and agreements.  </p>
<p>This is another way to try to draw in new customers for these companies.  It is a good credit card to have and sounds great in theory, but they will have to check your credit rating before they will give you their card.  </p>
<p>Research different credit card companies to see what they are offering.  You may be surprised to find a cash back credit card that offers you just what you need and want with a high cash back percentage, few limits on the amount they will give you back, and instant cash deposits when you make each purchase with their card.  </p>
<p>Although these credit cards seem like a great thing to have, some companies will need your credit rating to be great too.  However, there are credit card companies that offer these cards to people with a low credit rating to help them rebuild their credit.  Research all of your options.  </p>
<p>What should your decision be?  If you have a good credit rating, then this card is a great option for you.  Research different card companies – there are cards out there that offer you up to 3% cash back and impose very few limits.  If, however, you have a bad credit rating, you may want to find a credit card that will help you rebuild your credit.  </p>
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