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.
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