Weekend Personal Finance Review

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.