Ryan Workman

...figure out what a $50,000 per ticket PDC looks like.  

That is more than a Permaculture Design Certificate.  I would label that a Bachelor's of Permaculture Design, or even a Master's.  A course of that level deserves something more than a certificate, calling it a degree fits the price point better.  The question that naturally flows from this train of thought is 'Do you call the school PU or UP?'

I wasn't sure which forum to put this in, but this one seems suitable.

I had this idea to stack functions with the phrase "Never Eat Soggy Waffles" that is commonly used to help people remember the four directions.  But what if we could do more than just avoid soggy waffles?  I explored this idea more in my blog post here:


On Soggy Waffles and Stacking Functions

I tried to put intrinsic qualities of the four directions into the phrase.  That didn't work so I came up with a phrase that is at least more useful than soggy waffle avoidance.

Nourish Every Species' Well-being.

I'd love to hear others' ideas.

Thanks everyone.  The grand opening sale weekend was a lot of fun.  I am going to be adding new shirts almost weekly and hope to release the kids shirts and onesies soon.  I'll announce new shirts on the blog www.blog.fourwardco.com

Love your designs Olof!  Have you looked into The Printful or Scalable Press?  Both drop ship in the US and have organic shirts.  I am using the Printful and like the quality.  I haven't tried Scalable Press yet but intend to order some samples soon.

www.fourwardco.com

Hey Permies!

I'm super excited to be posting this today.  I was inspired to start an organic clothing line from all the talk about passive income and multiple income streams about a year ago, but due to life I didn't get it done until now.  But now it is here and I'm throwing a big grand opening to celebrate!

The sale is this weekend, see this blog post for more details.  I'm going to be giving away 5 copies of Masanobu Fukuoka’s The One-Straw Revolution: An Introduction to Natural Farming.
I'm happy to be finally be sharing this, and a little nervous because I've never done anything like this.  Thanks!

Okay I looked at some numbers. If interest rates are low then carrying a mortgage makes sense. You can either choose to stack cash inside your house or outside. Obviously having it outside your home gives you more flexibility on what to do with it. Hopefully you can invest it somewhere at a rate of return higher than your mortgage for a little arbitrage like he is mentioning in reason #10. But it doesn't work if rates go up from today's very low rates. Reasons #2, #3, #6, #7 all assume low interest rates, inflation, and never ending exponential growth in the economy. Rising interest rates are generally deflationary. But since we live in the present and the future is unknowable, lets work with that.

His math given in reason #10 is a slightly rosier picture on Smart Sam's net worth than it actually is, as Dillon noted. He shows that that Smart Sam's investment account is $94k ahead of Nervous Nick's. But that isn't the same as net worth. Nervous Nick's remaining mortgage balance is 150k and Smart Sams is 217k. Nervous Nicks net worth 150k if he sells the house. Smart Sam's is 177k if he sells his house, which he might have to to find a new job anyway. Smart Sam is ahead 27k, although he doesn't have to sell his home right away like Nervous Nick. If they lost their jobs because the economy is tanking and along with it home prices, Smart Sam may be upside down in his mortgage.

I do see the appeal of having cash stacked outside the home and the math works at today's interest rates. Lets assume two scenarios A and B for purchasing a $200k house with 20% down.

Sam the 3rd
30 year mortgage @ 3.5%
Payment: 718

Angie the 2nd
15 year mortgage @ 3.0%
payment: 1105

Sam invests the extra $387 he didn't spend on mortgage @ 5% for 15 years. Investment account $101k
At 15 years Angie now invests her payment @ 5% for 15 years. Sam continues to invest $387. Sam's investment account is $310k after 30 years, Angie's investment account is $288k. Sam has $22k extra at the end of 30 years, equivalent of making an extra $733 a year. Obviously the gap between the two would rise with a higher return on interest. If you raise the return to 7% the difference is $105k or at extra $3500 a year.

I'm in the no mortgage camp. Mr. Edelman's advice sounds good while credit is cheap, but what happens when the music stops playing? Also he seems to be saying that paying off your mortgage is not the key to wealth. I don't see wealth as money. Time is wealth and a mortgage means I have to spend more time making money. If I grow a lot of my food (something I find satisfying) and own my home how much paper do I really need in the bank?

I think Jan and Joseph are pointing out some confounding factors that make a simple carb vs fat study difficult. HCLF is usually HCHF. And when people talk about avoiding carbs they are primarily cutting out wheat, sugar, and processed foods. So was it the carbs or something else that is in those foods? I do wonder what you eat, Jan, if your diet is primarily carbs? Are they processed or whole carbs?
While there are 3 macro nutrients how many nutrients are there in total? We don't really know and we are finding new ones all the time. The new ones subsequently become the craze nutrient of the year. I have some friends that don't worry about macro nutrients at all. Their focus is nutrients and eating vegan nutrient dense food and a lot of herbal tea. Herbs are generally loaded to the gills with nutrients. I haven't tried their diet but it seems to work for them. I was vegetarian for a few years but now I lean towards low carb, high fat, moderate protein and whole foods. But that is where I'm at in my journey now, and the journey hasn't ended.

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