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[Solmyr]

Another related question, is there a way to set up your default starting skills and items for every game? Otherwise it takes me 30 minutes just to select all the stuff I want.

[Skanky]

http://www.dwarffortresswiki.net/index.php/Utilities#StartProfile

Only for skills, AFAIK.

[LeoLeonardoIII]

I always keep my starting anvil, but I don't buy picks or axes. I just grab 8 copper and 2 stone instead.

1: Deconstruct wagon. Gain 3 wood.
2: Set up a wood burner with one stone and a forge with the other stone and  your anvil.
3: Burn 2 wood into charcoal.
4: Forge an axe and seven picks.
5: Designate tree choppy.
6: As soon as you forge that axe, your woodcutter dwarf will run off and chop more wood. By the time you finish your third wood burn, you should be getting wood from trees.
7: Keep chopping, since you won't get attacked this early. Move everything inside, deconstruct the workshops and reconstruct them inside. At Spring of the next year, un-designate your trees, and once the chopper is inside remove his woodcutting job so he drops his axe inside.
8: Weapon traps from stone short swords, or if you have no obsidian use spiked wooden balls.

My starting skills are like this:

Mayor: Miner 5, Appraisal 1, Organization 1, Recordkeeping 1, Liar 1, Judge of Intent 1
Mason: Miner 5, Mason 5
Carpenter: Miner 5, Carpentry 5
Mechanic: Miner 5, Mechanic 5
Planter: Miner 5, Planting 5
Brewer: Miner 5, Brewing 5
Smith: Miner 5, Armorer 5

I have them all mine, which means I have my entire fort comfortably mined out for 7-30 dwarves almost right away. I typically find my mechanic slacking off, so he becomes a furnace operator and engraver. After a short while my cerpanter is often idle, so I make him a furnace operator as well. My single smith works on all the metal even though he starts out with no skill in 3 of them.

Newcomers are worthwhile dwarves if they have the following (I keep one of each):

Stonecrafter
Butcher
Tanner
Clothesmaker
Weaver (only if I have cave spiders)
Jeweler
Gem Setter

I let my Jeweler and Gem Setter become glassmakers if I have sand. A random cheesemaker typically becomes the Record Keeper.

Anything else gets turned into a Scrub - they have all the Hauling jobs, architecture, plant gathering, woodcutting, and fishing. After my first immigration wave, I turn off hauling jobs for all my useful dwarves.

If I get a strange mood craftsdwarf, I keep him and turn off his Scrub tasks. I find that I don't get a ton of stonecarvers because I don't make everyone an engraver.

I like to smooth everything in rooms other than dining room, offices and bedrooms first. Once he's a Legendary engraver, he smoothes and engraves everything in those important rooms.

The trick to trading is to give them a lot of value. I like to ask for lots of wood, because it weighs a lot and they thus can take on a lot of weight. I sell off whatever it takes to buy what I want, then I add on non-masterwork furniture and doors to fill up their weight. This way I clear out the clutter, build only masterwork stuff for my fort, and give them a little extra value to take home.
When they get extra value, they bring more goodies next time. Up to eight or so wagons I hear.