I’m knee-deep in wedding details this weekend, but I wanted to give you an idea of what I’m reading this week.

• Sun’s Financial Diary tells us how to pick stocks like a guru. This looks like a great tool, and though I’m not ready to invest in individual stocks, I’ll have to keep it bookmarked.
• Generation X Finance gives you an opportunity to ask two Harvard MBAs financial questions. For many people this is a rare chance to get some questions answered by some knowledgeable people – as opposed to answers from a Lazy Man on the web.
• The Digerati Life turned $80 into $5,000, by simply adding a tree to their home. I don’t have a place where I could do this, but if I did, I might plant 30 trees. Seems like starting a nursery could be a good business.
• Money Smart Life asks if real estate agents are worth the money. I’ve long said no, but some would argue yes. When it’s time for me to sell my property, I’ll look at Iggy’s House to get on MLS and go from there. There are some great comments and predictably some from real estate agents giving the pro-real estate agent argument. My argument is always to let me post on MLS and at least try to do it myself. If I need human help, I’ll throw in the towel and pay the fee for the help.
• Money, Matter, and More Musings asks what we have against credit cards. He got an interesting comment from a reader about how they cause consumers to overspend. I’ve read this one that I’ve seen many, many times. The flip side is that there are people (like my fiancee) who will spend whatever cash that it’s in their wallet. By not carrying cash, there’s no spending of cash. Carrying credit cards is a tool against this. The key is to know what type of person you are and act accordingly from there.
• Henry from Binary Dollar writes that Fidelity has age-based college plans. It seems like a very good idea to me and I’ll look at in a few months when I look towards what I can do for my nephew.
• Free Money Finance gives some suggestions on how to invest only with ETFs. In the past, I’ve talked about my hypothetical asset allocation which uses all ETFs. I’ve changed my thoughts a bit since that time. The Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US (VEU) didn’t exist then, so I’d include it now.
• Mighty Bargain Hunter suggests Eight ways to buy someone out. He bought some huge collections at a yard-sale at a bargain and could actually make money reselling them. While I didn’t buy a whole collection out, I bought a PDA earlier this week on Craigslist at a price that I considered way below average (more on that later on this week).
• Jim at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity details how he scored a Wii. I had been thinking about getting one for some time, but I’m now sure how much use it will get with our pretty busy schedules now. It’s a cost that we’ll be happy to avoid in the short term.
• Five Cent Nickel notes that Honda is going to discontinue the Accord Hybrid. I had a friend look into getting one a year or so and he decided that for a very small upgrade in miles per gallon, it wasn’t worth the extra cost.
• Consumerism Commentary found a great price on a hard drive, but he’s weary that he’ll get what he pays for. I’ve never had a problem with Maxtor in the past, but it’s a smart plan to not risk it here. It can be a lot more expensive to recover your data if there’s a problem.

Here are some articles that I liked from around the personal finance blogosphere:

– Golbguru from Money, Matter, and More Musings took a trip. He came back with lots of pictures of New York City. I’ve paid those prices for parking on the Upper East Side before.

– Silicon Valley Blogger writes about the first virtual millionaire. Anshe Chung has amassed what amounts to 1 million dollars when translated from Second Life currency to US dollars. I was watching a Red Sox game and started chatting it up with another Red Sox fan. It turns out that he works for Second Life – and he refused to code me a few million of American dollars – the nerve.

– Generation X Finance says to that oil changes every 3,000 miles can be unnecessary. I stretch mine to at least 4,000 miles, but usually get them before 5,000. I like all the extra checks that they do in addition to the oil change.

– Sun’s Financial Diary notes that Zecco really IS cheap – and he’s not talking about the commissions. I’ve never seen a company take back the verifying deposits, but I guess Zecco needs those pennies.

– Henry from Binary Dollar explains why you need to budget. I just liked the photo to be honest. Remember that packing tape can be used for practical jokes, just avoid the painful ones.

– Money Smart Life says that credit cards can simply your finances. They can be helpful budgeting tools, but I find Money and Quicken too difficult… I’ll be going with Mint when it’s ready.

– Free Money Finance talks about a $200 wedding, and says that he doesn’t know anyone spending $27,000 on a wedding. Does my $23,000 wedding come close enough? I guess that’s what you get when you have 200 people and play in Vanderbilt’s backyard. Three dinners doesn’t make things much cheaper. It’s a bargain for what we are getting – and people in my social circle have paid 4-5 times as much.

– Blueprint for Financial Prosperity has saved $71,000 in his 401K plan I’m very close with $74,000. I’m a year or two older I think, but I also was unemployed for two years. Come to think of it, I rolled over about $5K from my first job’s 401K to an IRA.

– Did you know that Ikea now charges for plastic bags? Mighty Bargain Hunter calculates a 400% mark-up. I think it could be more. It’s a nice thing for the environment, as MBH points out, but how does Ikea stand to gain? Click through to find out.

– Flexo from Consumerism Commentary notes that New Jersey is hiking public transportation 10%. Boston had done that a few times before I left for San Francisco. I found Boston’s public transportation to be an excellent value. I feel the exact opposite about San Francisco’s.

– Five Cent Nickel asks if you are a 0% balance transfer daredevil. I tried to be, but it was much more complicated (for my situation) than it appeared.

I want to wish everyone a happy Memorial Day weekend. I’m going to use the extra day to catch up on some things I’ve been procrastinating on. In fact that will be a theme for some links that I liked this week, including:

• Money, Matter, and More Musings says that procrastination can save money. I’ve found that the longer I wait on a purchase, the less I want it which does save me money.
• Generation X Finance notes that eliminating unused subscriptions can save money. I once subscribed to XM Radio for 2 years and then proceeded to use it for about 2 months.
• Ben at Money Smart Life has three tips for lower your heating & cooling expenses. My Laziness rears it’s ugly head and I don’t do this often enough.
• Sun’s Financial Diary notes that a mortgage company is taking American Express cards now. I would have loved to have paid my mortgage with my credit card. Even if it costs nearly $400, I’d make it back in reward points in just a couple of years.
• Binary Dollar says always apply for financial aid, even if you think you won’t get any. When I was going to college, I didn’t know anything about how financial aid worked and my mother said that we wouldn’t get any money, so it wasn’t worth applying. I lucked out with a full scholarship, but I’m thinking I should have applied.
• Silicon Valley Blogger from The Digerati Life gives some tops on how to save on a wedding cake. Where was she last year when my fiancee and I planned our wedding? We went for the fake bottom and have separate sheet cake at a reduced cost. It looks and tastes the same to everyone else and we save money. We managed to get the cost down to $2.50 a slice, which is bargain next to the other places that wanted $7 a slice to start.
• Free Money Finance found that there are almost 1 million “accidental” millionaires in the US. An accidental millionaire is someone whose home has appreciated to the point of making them millionaires. I almost feel that it has to be a low end estimate. The median home price in San Mateo County is around $870K, so that has to be a pile of them right there.
• Jim at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity has signed up for Zecco, a company that let’s you trade stocks for free. I keep thinking that I should do that, but I’m focusing on paying off my HELOC and investing in Prosper.
• Five Cent Nickel writes about the difference between net worth and net investable assets. It’s a good read and I’d say more here, but I’ve got enough for a full article in the future. You’ll have to wait for that.
• Mighty Bargain Hunter asks, “Would gas prices have to go up another dollar” for America to change their travel habits? The short answer is that I think it would some time for the pricing to get through the market. Click through to read the article and the rest my comments.

Here are some thoughts I had while watching the Red Sox extend their lead over the Yankees to 10.5 games yesterday. I won’t feel comfortable until that’s at least 25 games.

• Earlier this week Money, Matter, and More Musings asked What Is The Worth Of *Net Worth* If It Is Not Usable? Here’s an example, “… the current value of your car as defined by [Kelley Blue Book] may be $15,000, but when you actually put the car out for sale, it’s very less likely that you will get the full $15,000 for it.” In my opinion, the value is in that you are still are driving a $15,000 car and get that experience. Even if I could only sell it for $10,000, I’d still have to pay $15,000 to have that experience again. It’s the experience that I’m looking for in a car purchase, not the value of it if I was forced to liquidate it.
• The Digerati Life describes the perfect hobby. This hobby of blogging has worked out fairly well for me. One of my other hobbies, a derivative of fantasy baseball, Baseball Mogul, has the following qualities a) it’s free b) teaches me networking skills c) teaches me negotiation skills and d) taught me a lot about budgeting and finances.
• Sun’s Financial Diary has some interesting water indexes. In my area, San Francisco, there is considerable concern about a water shortage this coming summer. It might not be a bad to put some investment in this area.
• Matt from Binary Dollar says you can not effect gasoline prices with a one-day boycott. It’s entirely true – but what you can do is get a fuel efficient car. Or you can buy stocks in gasoline stocks so that you have a sufficient hedge against raising gas prices.
• Ben of Money Smart Life continues to amaze me with his reselling of bargains. I can always spot bargains at the grocery store, but I haven’t trained myself for retail products. I need to work on this.
• Gen X Finance gives some advice about propane. My propane usage doesn’t extend past my grill. After that my propane knowledge comes from Hank Hill.
• Free Money Finance gives some reasons why renting is better than buying. It’s an age-old question, but I think the math is pretty simple in northern California – you are better off renting most of the time.
• Five Cent Nickel reports that Georgia has cracked down on a couple payday loans companies. I think it’s easy to cheer for the justice, but I’m withholding my applause. In my lending with Prosper, I’ve found that there needs to be very high rates for the people with lower credit grades to make it worthwhile for lenders. I suppose the other option is to deny people credit completely, but that seems shortsighted in this society. Lastly, I have to commend the two prosecuted companies for their creativity.
• Might Bargain Hunter asks if strong passwords and virtual keyboards fit the bill. I’ve mentioned it in passing, but all these checks are really getting insane.
• Jim at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity asks if casinos and lotteries should pay for malfunctions. My short opinion is that yes they should pay. Why do I believe that? Click through and read the comment I left on the story.

It’s a sunny day here in Silicon Valley and I should be out picnicing, but I just find myself attached to my computer.

• It seems, from Money, Matter, and More Musings’ questioning, a number of you have problems with personal finance link-fests, like this one. Some of you said that you have feed readers and read all this anyway. I know I can’t keep up with the 500+ personal finance blogs, so I appreciate these lists, bringing the best of the best to me. By the way, if there’s anything that you don’t like about this, please tell me. I can’t improve without feedback.
• Binary Dollar has a post about saving money while driving. I was going to write an article on this myself, because I’m a serial coaster. Rule #1 of coasting is to make sure that you aren’t holding up someone behind you. I also hate breaking on the highway when traffic isn’t heavy. My daily commute has a large stretch of highway and the last mile to work leads to a great coasting experience.
• Generation X Finance wrote a tremendous article on The Top 5 Ways to Become a Millionaire. I linked to this earlier in the week, but it’s good enough to read twice. And of course I didn’t want you to miss it.
• If you’ve been reading Lazy Man and Money long enough, you’ll know that I love passive income. Sun’s Financial Diary loves passive income as well. Here are his top dividend-paying ETFs and stocks
• Ben of MoneySmartLife reports that credit cards are getting kinder. It’s hard to imagine them getting less kind… I’m hoping that universal default is banned – it’s one of my bigger pet peeves.
• The Digerati Life gives 5 tips to evaluate your portfolio performance. I have to admit that I don’t do this often. Much of my stock holdings is in the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index that she mentions. It’s easy to check against the benchmark, when it is the benchmark.
• Mighty Bargain Hunter has a list of Top 5 Ways to Kill Your Retirement Dreams. There are a couple of links of off each step and I found myself drawn to those as much as I was the Top 5 list.
• Free Money Finance has 18 Ways to Save on a Small Income. If you follow all these and aren’t saving money, there’s something definitely wrong.
• Five Cent Nickel tells us why Credit Cards are better than Debit Cards. I almost never use debit cards and try to collect rewards on my credit cards. I even have a few different credit cards to earn the maximum rewards for every type of purchase.