I agree, I won't take a pawn if they have more than one negative trait. I'll bend that if the negatives are not that bad, like annoying voice and slowpoke, especially if I really need their skills, but things like slothful, wimp, sickly, or non-violent are almost always an instant write-off.
Skills are more important than traits, generally, but even a pawn with no skills or flames can be ok if they're a fast learner or too smart. Jogger and a willingness to clean/haul or even a little handling skill can also salvage an otherwise useless pawn.
Anyway, I always craft whatever I can, for money I sell off whatever extra leather or fur I have laying around, plus art and sometimes yayo. I try to keep no more than 1000 to 3000 silver on hand, depending on the stage of the game, and keep my non-food stockpiles about as low as I can get away with. Whenever I have extra money I'll call in a trader and pick up whatever rockets, artifacts, or bionics (especially archotech) look nice. I'll also buy as many of both types of components basically whenever I can. Components are a great way to level a budding crafter, but they take too long if you have stuff you need to be crafting right now.