• Tweet ^[1]
• Email ^[2]

• Tweet ^[1]
• Email ^[2]

It’s been a while since Bargaineering has been in a somewhat active “blog network” but I’m happy to announce that we’ve joined the Yakezie ^[3], an informal group of personal finance bloggers looking to help each other out. I sometimes miss the camaraderie of the blog networks in the past so I hope will bring some of that back. If nothing else, it’ll be fun!

Also, if you’re an aficionado of home remodeling, you need to check out my friend Fred’s Home Renovation Before and After Contest ^[4]. You need to share your home renovation project story, submit some pictures, and starting June 20th they’ll select one winner each Sunday. Winner gets a $50 gift card to Lowes, Home Depot, or Amazon and they make a $100 donation to Habitat for Humanity. If you did a renovation, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t enter this contest.

• Last year (May 2009), Warren Buffett and Bill Gates organized a dinner of billionaires in New York City. There was much speculation but the discussions were never disclosed, until now ^[5]. They were trying to get billionaires to donate or commit to donating half their net worth during their lifetimes or at their death. Amazing.
• Finally… Starbucks will be offering free Wi-Fi ^[6] in all Starbucks locations starting July 1st.
• One determined scavenger scoured the streets of New York City ^[7] on moving day and picked up a lot of great stuff for free. I used to do this on moving days at college and still use some of that stuff to this day. I had friends who picked up small dorm fridges, stored it in their house for the summer, and sold it to students in the fall. We had a lot of international students, who weren’t going to take their stuff back to their home countries, so there was always quite a bounty.
• We’ll be pressure washing the path and steps in front of our townhouse this week and I’m frequently remembered how it’s better to borrow tools than buy them ^[8] (some of them anyway). I’m fortunate, my neighbor has a gas-powered pressure washer that will definitely do the trick… all it costs me is gas!
• Martha and I enjoy watching House, a fantastic hospital drama staring Hugh Laurie as a rude, inconsiderate savant of a diagnostic physician. If you’ve ever watched the show, you’ll know that the team always runs a battery of tests on the patient. And, if you’re like me, you’ve probably wondered how much all that stuff costs… fortunately NPR asked Andrew Holtz, author of The Medical Science of House, M.D., and found out ^[9].
• Jeremy at GenXFinance goes over the basics of health savings accounts ^[10]. I’ve never had one and with the new health care law, it’ll be interesting to see how these will change in the coming years.
• Lastly, did you know that you can get onboard credit on Carnival cruises ^[11] if you are a Carnival shareholder? In an age of diminishing shareholder benefits, this is a nice perk.

Have a great weekend!