Your Financial Guide

With so many homes on the market, many buyers house hunt for months, even years before hitting property pay-dirt.  Even for the savvy buyers who have narrowed their house hunt to an affordable price range, the condition issues so common in distressed homes can make choosing a home difficult.

And on the flip side, some subdivisions have scads of similar homes, all of which are in good shape, all listed at a similar price, making it nearly impossible to choose just one.

Here are five indicators that a particular home you’re viewing might be “The One” – the property on which you’ll want to place an offer:

You feel possessive about it, instantly. I once showed a less-than-fabulous home to a buyer who stepped in the front door, opened her eyes wide, and uttered in a much-quieter-than-normal voice, “I would cry.” We got a good laugh out of this later, after she found and bought a home that made her feel virtually the opposite.

Not only did the winning home bring a smile to her face, it also made her instantly possessive. She didn’t j

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Atmos Energy Corporation (NYSE: ATO) said today it has promoted Edward Pace McDonald IV to vice president of tax.

“Pace McDonald is a proven leader who has contributed exceptional expertise to our corporate tax functions and has helped ensure the highest level of accuracy and integrity in all our tax matters,” said Fred E. Meisenheimer, senior vice president and chief financial officer of Atmos Energy Corporation.

McDonald, 41, heads a department of more than 20 tax professionals who support Atmos Energy’s regulated and nonregulated operations.

He joined Atmos Energy as director, tax, in April 2002 to in-source the company’s income tax function and to consolidate into one department most of the company’s transaction tax functions, including sales and use tax, property tax and franchise tax.

McDonald began his career at Deloitte & Touche and later moved to Ernst & Young in 1997. He earned

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Proper planning and financial management can lead to a successful financial future. Everyone who seems to be always short in cash must have a financial advisor to help them figure out how to balance their income against their debt while saving up for future financial stability. It may sound absurd considering that you will be paying these people for their services, which some people consider unnecessary expenses. The truth is this is not the case. Financial advisors will go through the underlying issues that cause your budget to crash. Their services include cash flow management, retirement plans, risk management, education planning, tax planning and investment planning. Hiring a financial advisor will help you get out of debt. Read more…

If you like to shop, you can find nearly anything and everything on Amazon with its enormous selection of items to choose from and its easy-to-use checkout, its no surprise that it has gained a huge following of loyal customers.

Not only is Amazon a convenient place to shop online, it also is a great place to both save money and make money. Amazon offers incredible savings on many popular items and products, and it also allows private sellers to broadcast their own new and used items to millions of people in hopes of selling them for profit.

If youd like to know more about how to save and make money with Amazon, read onhere are some tips to get you started.

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Shop the Friday Sales

If you really want to find some good deals on Amazon, Friday is the best day of the week to find them.

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Readers Question: What does the Government spend its money on?

The government spends money for a variety of reasons:

• Reduce inequality (welfare payments like unemployment benefit).
• Provide public goods (fire, police, national defence)
• Provide important public services like education and health (merit Goods)
• Debt interest payments.
• Transport

In the UK, the biggest department for public money is social security. This takes  almost a quarter of all public spending.

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Here are some firewood tips to consider as you begin stockpiling wood for your fireplace or stove this heating season:

To help avoid insect or pests, never store firewood on the ground or touching your house.

Burn only dry, seasoned and clean natural wood. Wood should be cut, split and stacked in a covered area for about six months before burning. Well-seasoned logs will seem lighter in weight and have dark cut ends with cracks or splits.

Some of the wood with the most heat value includes American beech, apple, ironwood, red oak, shagbark hickory, sugar maple, white ash, white oak, and yellow birch.

Wood is often sold by the cord or 1/2 cord. A cord of wood is a pile of logs 4 feet wide by 4 feet high by 8 feet long and weighs about 2 tons.

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WeiserMazars LLP has announced that Thomas Barber has joined the firm as a partner in its Financial Services Group. Mr. Barber, who will be based in the firm’s Horsham, Pennsylvania office, has 27 years of experience dealing with the taxation of property and casualty, life, health, mortgage, financial guaranty and captive and insurance companies.

With the addition of Mr. Barber, WeiserMazars’ Financial Services Group, already highly regarded for its insurance audit and consulting services, will be able to expand the suite of services offered to clients operating in the insurance space.

“The Mid-Atlantic region continues to be a strong growth market for WeiserMazars and Tom’s addition will greatly benefit us, particularly as we seek business from the large population of top tier property and casualty insurance companies located in this region,” said Douglas A. Phillips,

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