Its amazing you have so much insight into my life. Its almost like you live next door. Maybe we should meet sometime:-)

I guess he has to spend it somewhere and (work with me here) buy services and products with it and pay taxes on it . (Unless he funnels it into a banana-growing, hashish-smoking, long-green-eared, slave trader involved in interplanetary conflict 100 light years from here…)

My understanding is that Corporations(big, evil or small, hopeless) all have to pay some taxes, pay competitive wages(ummm I think the wages in china are lower because stuff is cheaper in china) and follow standard accounting practices.

And if they make a whole lot of money, they share the wealth with Shareholders.

Organic Farming: Last time I checked, the farmers in developing countries were all using pesticides and fertilizers to grow food. Now if the “Organic” method really meant more output per square mile, then why would the poor farmer(in some third world country) switch from organic farming to inorganic methods? I mean if its so good why did everybody on the planet move to in-organic?

And now if you excuse me, I will go back to my chemically induced–I mean back to watching TV.

Your problem is you stereotype a certain group of people as all having the same beliefs.

Yes, international trade is good in meeting comparative advantages. However, in the current system, most of this good is gobbled up by the largest corporations. This is neither good nor bad, it is just the way it is, but if you spend $1,000 on a new laptop, it is unlikely that more than $5 of that, and probably less, actually goes into the pockets of poor laborers in China. Don’t be fooled. Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy the laptop..but if you had the option of buying an equal laptop that gave $200 to a U.S. worker (or $200 to a third world worker..hahaha!) I would certainly take it.

It gets down to free market capitalism vs. corporatism – I’m all for capitalism, where people interact to meet each others’ desires. I despise the corporatism we have now, where huge multinationals influence governments for their own benefit and squeeze small competitors out.

The United States is in the process of spending itself into oblivion. This debt based lifestyle will cause real economic contraction when the bills come due. The economic growth of Asia over the last couple decades has been based on an extremely high savings rate. We have had a negative savings rate for some time, and it can’t continue indefinitely. The best entrepreneurs meet the needs of others, not just create frivolous desires.

And finally, as for organic produce – have you ever eaten an organic apple? I mean, even a single one? Because if you have, it is hard to ever eat a conventional apple again. They taste like cardboard in comparison. Of course, “conventional” is a strange word, because all farming the world over was “organic” until 1950.

If you buy from a local farmer, you know that you are giving them near 100% of your money, supporting them doing what they love. Remember, farmers are the original entrepreneurs.

If you buy conventional, you are supporting shareholders, giving a couple pennies to a couple working stiffs and exploited immigrant labor here and there. I guess you’re helping keep the share price of ADM high, if that’s more important to you than helping to sustain the livelihood of someone you can look in the eye and smile at, then go for it.

Conventional farming only gains economies of scale in distribution and labor – studies have shown wise organic methods to be MORE productive per acre, and to produce much more nutritionally dense food as well because the soil is kept healthy. When the laborers are people who love to be out getting their hands dirty in the soil, I’m not going to cry that about this inefficiency.

I would guess from the inarticulateness of your arguments that you eat a lot of processed foods and/or pharmaceuticals and/or watch a lot of TV. Best of luck to you.

He also has never claimed to have “THE” answer, but possible answers. He demonstrates this in the post by stating that his book is more of a menu.

Comparing Ferris to Kiyosaki…Ferris is Mother Teresa.

As for Tim’s character flaws – I think everyone of us has flaws if you look hard enough. Eat the fish and spit out the bones, I say.

Here’s the thing: if you earn $1,000 a week and save 15% of it, then that is $150 a week working for you.

If you double that savings rate to 30%, then that is $300 a week working for you.

But, if you then double your income and save 50% of the increase as well, that is $800 a week working for you …

… sounds like the “Frugal Entrepreneur” rulez!

JD-Thanks for setting up the interview with Tim. It is interesting to hear things from his fresh perspective. I like how he looks at a business and it’s ability to “scale.” This is something often forgotten by entrepreneurs. They wind up building themselves a job when the goal should be to maximize your income and minimize the effort.

@RK-Just because people become more frugal doesn’t mean the economy will tank. As good as JD’s blog is I don’t see him crashing the stock market!

We are actually in a cycle where we have swung too far into spending. We now spend more than we make (I believe the last figure I saw was a -1.5% saving rate). This is not sustainable and will correct. Like everything else in the economy it is a cycle.

Also, after you learn to control your spending and eliminate debt an amazing thing happens. You suddenly have money available to do the things you want. You no longer need to be cheap, just responsible!

“There are whole networks of people who are impacted when a large group of people begin to save money and not buy vegetables from the supermarket.”

True and there are large groups affected when people lose their jobs in the US because it can be done cheaper (and possibly better) elsewhere. If corporations are allowed to save money to improve their health as an organization and their balance sheets, why can’t an individual? In many ways a household functions as a corporation too. Except in the example you give of people shifting to buying from local producers vs. the grocery store – at least it’s local. The money is being spent here. And the person receiving that money is here. I’m not saying I’m against global trade – not at all. What I don’t like is exploitation to make an extra buck. And ignorance.

The goal of a corporation is to improve shareholder wealth. The consumer doesn’t really factor in to this equation. I don’t see gas prices going down, but hey, those guys are getting wealthy. I don’t see organizations who outsource lowering the price on their products. If they know that we are willing to spend X amount on something, they will continue to sell at X until something shifts. The shift that’s occuring now is in some ways a response to these corporations taking and not giving back to the consumer. (I’m generalizing as I’m sure there are corporations that are community conscious.)

The world is not perfect. We have no idea of knowing who went through what to produce the product that we are purchasing. But if paying $1 dollar more provides some transparency as to where this product came from and how it was made, etc. – I’m game.

I’m Indian, so I can tell you first hand, that when I buy a product that is Made in India, it’s not benefiting the person who sat behind the machine and made it. It’s benefiting the corporation. When I buy a product that promotes sustainable living and is from a reputable organization, THEN I know that my dollar is in fact benefiting that small time person in India.

If I choose to purchase locally grown produce (and actually it is quite affordable) I am making a choice – not an anti global trade choice because I purchase fair trade tea and coffee from South America and India – but a pro-planet choice. A humanitarian choice.

I work hard for my dollar. I want to know that it’s going to work hard for someone else too.

People in America today LOVE to gripe about mass producers – that’s very “in” right now — but very, very, very few people can afford the idealistic type of locally sourced, all-organic stuff that makes their consciences feel good.

Most people lack a basic understanding of macro- and micro-economics. That’s where a lot of the griping and whining today stems from…..

Why do you think that becoming more entrepenurial
would eliminate economies of scale or world trade?

Entrepenurial types move us forward finding new solutions and products. Microsoft started in a garage, Starbucks, Walmart and McDonald’s all started with a single storefront. I didn’t need any of their products initially, but I am an consumer at all of these national companies because they offer what I need on occasion. An idea grew into a product line that became a business. Economies of scale came after.

Thrifty, frugal people all have different interests and passions and have varying degrees of income to pursue those passions so I don’t think audience for new products and services is really an issue.

Personally I think frugal living and entrepenurial opportunities creates a more thoughtful examination of what we need as individuals. My mother in law in her 80′s has been extraordinarily thrifty with her resources, but equally passionate in her interests: kayaking, skiing, painting, swimming, music, baking to name a few. She simply finds people with like interests and cheaper ways to do what she loves. She’s incredibly self reliant.I think entrepenurial living and frugality multiplied her enjoyment and appreciation of what she does have.