Here are a few articles that I liked this week:

• The Binary Dollar asks the age old question, is it better to Rent or Own. Matt mentions that owning a home is part of the “American Dream.” Makes me wonder if terminology like that is leading people to take mortgages that they can’t afford.
• Sun is a half millionaire. How he got there is a very uplifting story.
• Ben at MoneySmartLife has developed another business selling bargains that he’s found on Ebay. I had never heard of Tuesday Morning, but there’s one right down the street from me. I may stop by today.
• Jeremy at Generation X Finance finishes up his 24 Signs you Could be in Financial Trouble series.
• The Digerati Life has 5 interesting money facts. I probably would have turned down $500, $1000, $10,000, and $100,000 bills as counterfeit if I were offered them.
• Golbguru gets more than twice as much junk mail from Chase than other places. In just a few weeks they sent him 27 pieces of mail. Environmentalists should take it to Chase.
• I didn’t realize that I missed Tax Freedom Day. Thanks to Five Cent Nickel for reminding me. It’s all gravy from here on out – after rent, and car, and food… ugh.
• Mighty Bargain Hunter is thinking about getting a GPS system. I covered buying a GPS unit previously – it’s one of the better purchases I’ve made.
• Blueprint for Financial Prosperity has a Devil’s Advocate post on why Adjustable Rate Mortgages are Awesome. I wouldn’t get one or recommend one, but I know some people who did and actually did well before refinancing or moving.
• Free Money Finance asks whether it’s better to spend your career at one place or whether it’s best to switch jobs regularly. I think it depends on the career choice. As a software engineer, I think it’s looked at as a good thing if you move around to different companies. It exposes you to new technologies making you more valuable.

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

Binary Dollar gives some basics of Home Equity Line of Credits (HELOCs) and Taxes. I have a HELOC and I didn’t know half of these things.

Ben at Money Smart Life is starting a point-counterpoint series on personal finance. Bonus points to Ben for the link to the Lazy Man.

Jeremy gives a first quarter financial review. I was surprised to see the S&P 500 didn’t do as well as I thought. I also enjoy following oil prices as it tells me which way gas prices are going. I use this to fill up my car more during cheap gas times and less during expensive gas times. Yes, I’m weird.

Five Cent Nickel asks, “Is $4/Gallon Gas in Our Near Future?” My answer to that is simply yes. I saw it last week around San Francisco – the price for the cheapest gas was $4.09 at one station. Of course, literally across the street it was $3.59, so go figure.

The Sun’s Financial Diary gives a run-down Vanguard’s new reduced fees. I’d stick to low cost ETFs still. I don’t think they are better than Vanguard funds just different.

Free Money Finance reviews some statistics about working. It looks like my commute time is normal as it usually takes me 20 minutes or so. The vacation time average of 14 days was kind of painful to read. Until very recently, I had only been getting 10 which is hardly enough to have a wedding, much less plan any trips to see family. Happily it was raised to 15 days and will be 20 for me come October. I value vacation time greatly in a job.

Silicon Valley Blogger gives a whimsical look at two stock trading methods: Technical and Fundamental.

GolbGuru may have found my solution to go from San Francisco to Boston and back cheap. The whole trip could cost around $80 on the new Skybus service. Sadly, it’s requires hitting everything exactly right and with a lay-over in Ohio. The worst part is that you can’t book directly through, you have to make a series of one way flights.

Blueprint to Financial Prosperity writes what a high school personal finance curriculum might look like. I don’t need to tell you that the United States is sorely lacking in this area. I’d like to see it started much, much before high school.

Mighty Bargain Hunter has a story that Foreclosuers are up 47%. It’s a sad, sad situation, but I wonder if it opens up the door for myself to pick up a home at a bargain price – probably not.

I’m getting ready to watch the Red Sox attempt to sweep the Yankees tonight. I’m so excited about watching Daisuke Matsuzaka pitch that I headed out to get some Kirin Ichiban to watch the game with. At the local Japanese-themed store, it’s $6.50 for a 12-pack – a pretty good price for any kind of beer, but an amazing price for an import. Here are some money articles from around the web that I liked this week:

• Ben at MoneySmartLife gives a life cycle of financial learning. Congrats to Ben’s little one in taking that big step. I can’t imagine what he’s feeling
• Money, Matter, and More Musings shows off a pair of YouTube videos. If you carry credit card debt then you must watch.
• Sun’s Financial Diary asks is it okay to get a business card when you don’t run a business. It may not be ethical, but I go by the rule that if they send me an offer, I’m within my rights to take them up on it. In the case of this card, I had ignored for a couple of months even though I got the offer every week. Eventually, I figured I’d do it, because 3% off at restaurants, office stores, and home improvement stores add up. Plus, I consider Lazy Man and Money a business now that I accept sponsorship.
• Silicon Valley Blogger talks about how to finance a start up. My last two jobs have been at start-ups, but I don’t do the 24-hour working thing. I’m much too Lazy for that. Each of the two companies I have worked for have gone though the venture capital method. I’m still waiting to strike it rich though.
• Generation X Finance says that with LifeStyle funds, you should look, but not touch. By the title, I thought he was going to advocate not using them, but it’s more about not misusing them. I prefer to allocate assets myself using low cost mutual funds and ETFs. Even for a man as lazy as myself, this is pretty easy. However, I can definitely see the appeal of LifeCycle funds.
• The Binary Dollar writes about a new car in India that is going to retail for $2,500. Sure some corners are going to be cut – like all of them, but picking up one of these used in a few years should provide cheap transportation available to many, many people.

Here are a few articles that I thought were interesting reads this week:

• Henry from Binary Dollar reminds us to wait 30 days before making any big purchases. I couldn’t agree with this more. My friend and I often joke about things we are going to buy 4 years in advance. For instance, I have a 2001 car now. In about 3 years, I’ll mention that it may be time for me to start to look for a new car, and then purchase it about 4 years later. I never said it was a funny joke between my friend and I.
• The Sun’s Financial Diary asks if you have a will. Sadly, I do not. The paperwork is sitting on the dinning room table though. It looks like I’m not alone as over 80% of people in the poll don’t have one either. Do I get points if my fiancee does?
• Money Smart Life has a question about Deal or No Deal. He presents a few situations and then asks if you’d go or not go. I spent a few minutes thinking of what I’d do mathematically, and I realized that I’m probably better off with a coin flip. I didn’t see a big enough statistical advantage to lead me one way or the other.
• Consumerism Commentary reviews a New York Times article about renting vs. buying. There’s a really nice calculator with the article. A lot of people believe that renting is just “throwing your money away”, but I don’t buy it. There’s obviously a price (pretend $1 for sake of argument) where it would allow you invest more money in other places getting a big gain.
• Generation X Finance found a cartoon titled The Stock Market is the Engine of America’s Prosperity. Since it’s from the 1950’s, it’s hilariously out-dated in some cases, but the main principles still hold true.
• The Digerati Life shows why buying a home in some markets is not realistic. Interestingly she says that median home prices of 850K are not that far away. Yet by this account it’s already upon the two of us in Silicon Valley.
• Golbguru of Money, Matter, and More Musings had a couple of eye-opening conversations with some friends. I could probably be the 2nd friend. I know I have a vision plan, but the red tape around finding doctors, getting check-ups, understanding the 100 pages of what is covered and what isn’t is beyond me. I think I’d have to make a choice – devote my life to reading documents such as these or live my life. I don’t see a lot of middle ground.
• Blueprint for Financial Prosperity says the Chase Freedom $250 deal is no good. I had applied in hopes of getting that $250. I never activated the card and now I’m not sure if I should. I hate to cancel credit cards as doing so could hurt your credit score a tiny bit, but I’d never use it. I wonder how it counts against my credit score in this “pending activation” state.

It’s time for another review of articles that I liked this past week. Unfortunately, I’m about two weeks behind in my feed reader, so I’m going to have to go off of memory of sites that I visit often enough.

• My first favorite article is a compilation of the best frugal financial advice. It’s an ambitious article, but it succeeds.
• Binary Dollar has an article about Lowering student loans, but saving interest using automatic payments. I lucked myself into a sweet scholarship, avoiding student loans, but if I hadn’t I would be doing this.
• Generation X Finance writes about misrepresenting purchases with your spouse. I misrepresent purchases with Energi Gal all the time. It’s a fun game we play ;-).
• Money Smart Life has an article reminding us to always ask for a discount. I have used the business discount in the past. I’m not sure it’s altogether honest, but my company was partially owned by AOL, so I tossed the name out there. I don’t stay in hotels that often, but it’s probably worked more than 50% of the time in a very small sample size.
• Money, Matter, and more Musings details all the tricks of the Milk Bottle Carnival game. I was at the Santa Cruz boardwalk yesterday and of course they had the milk bottle game. I didn’t play realizing that it was rigged against me. Plus, my little league coached told me that I don’t have the best control.
• The Sun’s Financial Diary has an article about taxes. I was a little surprised not to find Nevada in the least taxes rate. I hadn’t done a lot of research there, but there’s no state tax and I hear that property tax is low. The casino’s must not be paying high wages. I also expected to see Massachusetts and California in the most taxed places, but since the average person makes more maybe it doesn’t show up.