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Remember my fascination with Bacon Salt? Well, I’ve been e-mailing the Bacon Salt guys, and they’ve agreed to answer questions from GRS readers. Many of you have expressed an interest in entrepreneurship — now is your chance to interview two guys who are staking their future on a dream:
At one point, I walked into Starbucks, Microsoft and two other companies that I was doing consulting with and told them that I couldn’t finish their projects because I invented a bacon-flavored seasoning that was taking over my life (consulting and figuring out how to ship a box of Bacon Salt to Namibia at 2am in my pajamas wasn’t really working for me anymore).
Speaking of bacon, one excellent GRS reader sent me a link to these bacon-flavored lollipops: “The salty chunks of bacon make a delicious and unique counterpoint to the subtle sweetness of the maple.” Yum.
Enough about bacon. How about some personal finance links?
Another reader recently sent me an article from The New Atlantis about the decline of manual labor. This is a l-o-n-g piece, but it’s fascinating. This bit from the end is an apt summary of the author’s point:
The physical circumstances of the jobs performed by carpenters, plumbers, and auto mechanics vary too much for them to be executed by idiots; they require circumspection and adaptability. One feels like a man, not a cog in a machine. The trades are then a natural home for anyone who would live by his own powers, free not only of deadening abstraction, but also of the insidious hopes and rising insecurities that seem to be endemic in our current economic life. This is the stoic ideal.
At All Financial Matters, Meg ponders modern day food shortages and apparent investment opportunities. This reminds me of an article I read about a month ago about the end of cheap food. I want to believe this is simply alarmism, but I’m glad that Kris and I grow and can a small portion of our food supply, anyhow.
Finally, Bob at The Platinum Years Network recently shared his best personal finance tip:
When you feel like you want or need to buy something, put it on a list, but do not buy it right away. When an item has been on the list for a predetermined amount of time, say three or six months, feel free to buy it.
Astute readers will recognize this as a longer-term version of the 30-day rule to control impulse spending. I think it’s a great idea.
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March 20th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
I haven’t really had in issue with buying things I don’t need, but I can see how the list thing would work for a lot of people.
As for the bacon thing… I got nothing.
March 20th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
March 20th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
I use Amazon for the list thing. I add things to my wishlist(even if I’m not going to buy them on amazon) and then wait and get things I really want every so often. It works wonderfully.
March 21st, 2008 at 12:14 am
The list doesn’t work as well for eBay auction items. The time limit on the auction forces a decision.
March 21st, 2008 at 5:07 am
I’ve always valued the skills of manual laborers. My father could fix anything. As a child, he’d let me follow him around while he did electrical or plumbing work. Once I helped him fix a burst frozen pipe. As a ten year old, it was very impressive-
Lisa
March 21st, 2008 at 5:37 am
Re: manual labor, after years of reading excerpts from Studs Terkel’s Working, I’m finally reading it all the way through. The interviews were done in the early 70s, and of course much has changed in terms of technology, but little has changed about how people talk about their jobs and their prospects. The same thing is said many times over about manual labor, except in cases where jobs are replaced by technology… I highly recommend it–GRS book club, perhaps?
March 21st, 2008 at 5:55 am
For the bacon salt guys:
I’d be interested to know the mechanics of getting the product from where it is manufactured to the place where it is packaged. How did they find and price packagers? Do the packagers ship their product for them as well?
Also, where can I buy bacon salt?
March 21st, 2008 at 8:05 am
Bacon salt is on Amazon.com. They are on my wish list, as AB describes, but they have been there long enough that I am going to break down soon.
Bacon lollipops are all sold out.
March 21st, 2008 at 8:14 am
re: manual labor…
i have much to say on this topic but to be concise, profit has taken far too much of a motive in the repair industry. the author clearly has fond memories of owning a bike shop, and that’s great. but today, the pressures of ethically bringing home any kind of reasonable commissioned income vs the potential to injure oneself in the process (and the fact that nobody wants to provide disability insurance to people like that) really destroy the enjoyment that was once present in repairing cars.
March 21st, 2008 at 12:12 pm
leigh
You will only injure yourself if; 1)you’re an idiot. 2) you don’t know what you’re doing and therefor shouldn’t be doing the work anyways or 3) you do not have the proper tools, materials, and personal protective equipment. “accidents” in construction or physical labor almost ALWAYS have a cause.
You can very easily get disability insurance if you are a trained professional. I’m an electrician and have some coverage through my union and also have a personal disability policy that is very cheap. Almost every company I called was able to offer insurance.
As far as skilled trades go its a great alternative to office work. It really bugs me that schools only encourage bad students to look at it as an option. Doing that type of work safely, quickly and professionally is not as easy as some people think. Do you really want idiots building your hospitals and installing the equipment that will possibly one day save your life? Do you want an idiot trying to fix a problem at your house while you’re paying him by the hour?
March 21st, 2008 at 3:51 pm
baker-
it is well known that repetitive motion causes injury over time. some manual labor jobs absolutely require this. very heavy lifting over extended time periods also does damage.
despite him being an experienced professional with every certification the field had to offer, we were unable to find disability for someone who admitted he once had “back pain” by checking the box on the applications.
maybe we should have lied. i dunno.
March 21st, 2008 at 6:58 pm
J.D. thank you for finding bacon salt. It’s almost like finding El Dorado or something. I spread the “good news” around work, and all who heard it salivated. Yay, with much yumming did they salivate. I expect this company will do quite well.
I’d like to hear the answer to: “What was the dumbest mistake you’ve made trying to get started?”
As far as not buying things, well, that technique can work, but I just try to spend a little time every day thinking about how much my debt is crushing me.
I may have to go to the list once I get out of this pit of debt.
March 22nd, 2008 at 11:33 am
I have a question!
Since it sounds like a partnership that created Bacon Salt, I’m wondering how you decided to team up, and how you divvied up the work (and consequently the profits). Also, what types of paperwork did you feel were necessary to put into place as you were setting up the business?
March 23rd, 2008 at 9:13 am
OK, I bought this stuff. I was very disappointed that there was not an honest bit of pork in the product. For God’s sake guys, couldn’t you have crumbled up a little bit of bacon? As someone who loves bacon, I’m calling BS on your love for it!
March 23rd, 2008 at 9:27 am
April 2nd, 2008 at 8:46 pm
Could you ask J&D whether they’d be interested in an Australian distributor for the phenomenon that is Bacon Salt?