I find The simple dollar interesting and that is why I am along for the ride (so to speak), but what I am fundamentally asking is maybe. Is there a limit to growth?

Growing dynamically and having lofty goals is good. Getting more and more subscribers is good. Trent has some goal for 2009, but I cannot remember them at the moment, and reaching those goals would be a great accomplishment of him. But as this site grows, he is also loosing that personal touch with each and every reader.

I would like everyone to stay small and personal, and a slow rate of posting, but the blogs I read are among the most commonly read on the net, and are spewing out 10′s of postings each day. So I am not following my own preferences, and I am happy for The simple dollar posting this much. It is many because of the many thoughtful posts here, that I would like more time to digest them before skipping to the next post.

So back to the limit of growth. There is a limit to the amount of subscribers you can have before you loose that personal touch. Getting rich slowly is looking for an extra writer, with half the number of posts. Boingboing and slashdot have a whole crew of people working on the site and are more like an normal magazine than a blog.

So my question then becomes: Trent, in what time frame (given the current rate of growth) will the simple dollar need more people to manage it. When will it go from a one-man show to a group of people managing the site? And what is your thoughts on this topic? How will you accomplish this transition?

(No need to answer, just food for thoughts. You are writing a great blog and I see no reason to change anything in the short run).

I have one and have used both the bags and the roll. I prefer the roll because you can make it any size you want.

My girlfirend and I have a semi annual ‘pack the freezer day’ and I usually use it at this time. We will cook multiple recipes for our family and freeze them. Since her kids are bigger than mine, she will use the food saver on the meat and marinades while I prefer the Ziplock Freezer Bags…sucking the air out with a straw (as previously mentioned) works great and is much quicker and less of a mess for me.

I have also made casseroles and frozen them in a Ziplock Freezer Bag as well. Just place something (usually a duplicate of the recipe) on top of the pan and suck the air out with a straw. Works great.

I use the Food Saver for dry items – cookies, crackers, anything else I can suck the air out of without destroying the contents.

I file my cards by category since I can’t remember names due to brain damage. All cards from a given conference go into an index card file with the conference AFTER I do what is required from the cards in the special place. Other cards go into the file by category, music, merchants, places (travel instructions), friends, etc.

Re: vacuum sealer. I often see these in thrift shops. Usually they are brand new, as they were a well-meant gift never used and donated later.

Re: bicycling. People in many areas simply can’t bicycle with any reasonable safety. Using a bike to commute in an urban area is a recipe for disaster. A cheap used car is almost always less expensive than the emergency room visit. And if anyone is riding a bike without the best available helmet, they are idiots. A head injury kills the person you are, and you may or may not want to be the person who survives. If you survive. Bottom line: if you insist on riding a bike to commute, be sure you have great disability insurance and at least enough life insurance to get your kids through college.

Re: buying a used car and when to give up on the old one. Don’t forget to factor in registration fees and taxes. That newer car may cost way more than what putting a new or rebuilt engine into the old car would.

Re: listening to podcasts while writing: those great ideas that pop into your head after not really listening could become a big problem if someone goes after you for plagiarism. You can borrow ideas pretty freely as long as you give appropriate credit. If you don’t know where it came from, that is difficult. There is nothing intentional about the plagiarism in this case, but intent doesn’t really matter when it is your integrity being questioned. Since Trent’s integrity is a large part of what keeps most of us reading, that is something that could be very expensive to destroy by accident.

Right now I’m working as a social networking intern for http://giftcardrescue.com and my main job is just to utilize these social networking sites and respond to people out there.

I’ve had a lot of success, and it’s so inexpensive to buy that I don’t worry about a bad bag here or there.

It’s really great at keeping the freezer burn off. Foods keep much better than in freezer bags.

The bags are way too expensive; the point of bulk-buying on sale is to save money and the bags defeat the purpose. I buy the rolls. The manufacturer sometimes has them on sale, or they are offered at a good price on Amazon. I haven’t tried Freecycle, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that were not a possible source for both the equipment and the rolls.

Marsha, I would definitely follow up with the manufacturer or your store with your lemon of a sealer. The fix might be very easy. If it seals but won’t vacuum, it might be a damaged gasket, which are cheap to replace.

We use paper plates for lunch, snacks, etc. I’ve always assumed that the cost of washing our regular plates (plus the time to do it) was probably equal to the cost of the paper plates. Also I assumed the same for paper vs. cloth napkins.

Do you have any thoughts on this?

Ann

In your situation, I would decide what I am expecting my two cars to cost, total. Then, based on the cash on-hand, I would explore my financing options of the remaining total before heading to any dealers, to get some financing numbers independent of the dealers.

Next, at BOTH dealers, when shopping, they will ask what you are thinking, and you can say “this will be a cash purchase.” This keeps the advantage in your hand, because the dealer can expect you to walk away if he won’t come down to the number you offer on the used car. Then, after getting the salesman down and locked in to a price you are comfortable with, you can say “You know what, why don’t we check out the financing anyway.” Then, you’ve got your bank/credit union numbers to negotiate with. If the financing can’t match or isn’t worthwhile, you can use your cash on hand. Or you may get a better offer, and decide to finance it all.

I’ve done the same “larger bag” idea for frozen meats and I’ve stored a bag of corn tortillas bought at costco for 4 years. They don’t mold, spoil or turn rancid. I just use what I need and reseal that bag.

I bought the kind of machine that has cannisters or a jar setting – salad stays good for days, plus I don’t waste money on bags unless I absolutely have to use one.

Re:Vacuum Sealing. It’s the best! Since my husband & I don’t have children, we’d never be able to purchase meat at Costco if we couldn’t split up the portions, vacuum seal and freeze. Yes, it really works. No freezer burn. BTW, to the person whose vacuum sealer broke, we have the one that Costco sells and it’s lasted for years (at least 6) without any problems.

Further, I consider TSD a portal into an improved world. I have been “cheerfully living on less” (to borrow from Kristin at The Frugal Girl whom I “met” via TSD), my whole life. I’ve been an Amy D. fan since her first book. She taught me enough to feel as though I’d earned my Master’s in Frugal Living. I celebrated her success and lamented her retirement.
Since finding The Simple Dollar, I have learned so much more. I must be close to a PhD in Frugality. Using a combination of reading articles, scanning the comments, following interesting references and links, I have expanded my knowledge base exponentially.
I heartily thank you, Trent, for The Simple Dollar.