Skip to main content

Being Innovative Can Be Costly

Before you think about doing something that is innovative or frugal or environmentally friendly, you might want to think twice. According to this article, the guy that has done amazing things for both the environment (in terms of reusing) and also for issues when it comes to our dependence on foreign oil is being asked to post bond. He has been using vegetable oil as a fuel source for his deisel vehicle and it has served him well for many years. The full article explains it in more detail:

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/03/illinois_man_fi.php

The first comment that I read for the article seems to get it spot on: "I don't believe this had anything to do with oil companies. The state probably relies on those taxes for transportation costs, and is afraid of what will happen if everyone moves outside of the normal (taxed) supply chain to get their fuel." - Old Wolf

But now this guy is into it with the government. Regardless of your feelings on taxation/double taxation etc, I can only imagine that most people don't like to tangle with the government unless they have to. So the question now becomes for me, was it worth it for this guy to do what he did? Did he save enough money?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Do Better With Your Time

Recently, I've been extremely busy with some work commitments. The interesting thing for me is that this increased work activity has really helped crystallize some of my feelings with regard to time. And these ideas are a critical part about my view on personal finance. I'm curious to know if others feel similarly. Time is money. That is, Time, in some way, contains energy. Money, is also energy. In the act of working, I am able to compound and increase the amount of money that I have. I am exchanging my time and effort and thought which are components of my work, for the productivity that I produce. And this production gets me money from my employer. However, the first dollars that I make each day, week, or month are the most valuable. Then the ones that I make at the end are the most valuable. (Forget about taxes for a minute.) The reason is, the first ones help me have a place to live and food to eat. And the last ones are the ones that I can use to really improve my life lo...

Awkward Family Money Situations

I was about to write this as a comment, but its quite long and brings up a ton of issues so here goes. First, check out  <a href=" http://hereverycentcounts.blogspot.com/2007/06/money-and-etiquette-why-are-important.html ">this story at here every cent counts</a>. Now on to my response. I am just mortified by this story. I cannot even imagine that people with kids would expect someone in college to pay for their own dinner. I'm assuming that this is an aunt/uncle/great aunt/great uncle situation and that you are a young college student in late teens, early twenties with no full time job. All of my answers below are based on those assumptions. If that is the case, they should *splurge* the 20 bucks for dinner. They are an adult here and as much as I believe that you should be independent, while you are in college and struggling for money, you should be treated on an occasion like this. Big Question: How do your mom and/or dad and/or other immediate family ...

Suze Orman Goes Too Far!

I've been a fan of Suze Orman for years. When I first started working after graduating college and then I started to make some money, my experience with other members of my family, mostly my grandparents, showed me that I needed to figure this money thing out. So, I set out to understand how money works and I found Suze. Many financial gurus are out there and for the most part, much of the advice overlaps, but Suze really seemed to be right along my line of thinking.  I bought the books, watched the show, and despite the fact that I feel like I've largely outgrown it so long as I follow the lessons, I really wanted to check up on how things were going. I went to the CNBC website and found an interview where she said this: "I do really live within my means. I have absolutely no debt. If I don't have the money to write a check, then I can't afford it. I never, ever, ever spend old money, so I'm only allowed by my own standards to buy something new with new mone...