It is not what you earn that makes you rich or poor; it is what you spend. Ive seen this theme repeated in million dollar consulting its not what you make, its what you keep. But Go Green, Live Rich makes bold claims about living rich which is then defined as save ten dollars a day for thirty years at ten percent interest and youll have $678,146. The problem with this approach is that Ive never seen an author or financial experts bank statement and audited financial documents that prove the person has ever saved their way to wealth. They just like to print numbers in books. Here is what you can expect as great green ideas that save you money (most of them are not particularly intriguing):
Avoid buying bottled water (save $500 a year, based on $1.39 for a 20-fl-oz. container)Increase your fuel economyGo biodiesel (save five cents for every mile you drive; save 750 gallons)Maintenance matters (save up to $798 in gas every year and keep 5,800 pounds of CO2 out of the air every year)Get rid of the car or if thats not an option skip a trip once a week (40 percent of car trips in the U.S. are less than two miles)Public transit (if one driver switched full-time in New York the subway system isnt a bargain in terms of time and price service has been reduced, not improved and when money is spent it seems to go on remodeling the look of the station rather than on air conditioning and running more trains at all hours the author missed that but did bring up a good point about getting more people to bike to work)Get an energy audit. Roughly half our energy expenditures are from heating and cooling. Wrap/sealing ducts can result in a twenty percent efficiency increase. Adjust the thermostat by three degrees. Every degree you turn it down in the winter saves you five percent. Every degree you turn it up in the summer saves you three percent. A programmable thermostat could save you $150.Unplug it: phantom load costs Americans $4 billion. Phantom load could be twenty-five percent of your electric bill (Source: sciencedaily.com)Use energy star appliances, run the washer full, plasma vs. LCD LCD screens use less electricity so they cost less to run.Switch to CFLs, the bulbs use seventy-five percent less electricity and last ten times longer than regular light bulbs. Save $45 over the lifetime of the bulb.Plant trees; they can reduce wall and roof temperature in the summer by twenty to forty degrees. This can save you $100 to $250 over a year.