Finish Rich Series

I'm a huge fan of David Bach, the money guy.  He's written books such as "Start Late, Finish Rich" (my personal favourite, as I'm starting late!) and "The Automatic Millionaire".  His books are an easy read and if you want good, conservative advice about your money, these are a worthwhile investment.  His most current book is "Go Green, Live Rich".  I haven't picked it up yet, but am going to buy it this afternoon.

He has a simple unique theory: that you can actually save money by saving the planet.  His book offers 50 Simple Ways to Save the Earth (and Get Rich Trying)  Just some ideas follow:

1.  Energy Audits:  call your electricity provider and ask whether they offer a free energy audit. They come to your home with high tech equipment and see if there is energy coming out of your windows, under your door sills.  If you seal these up, you could save up to 30 per cent on your utility bill.

2.  Fix your phantom load:  Canadians spend $400 million per year on excess electricity on appliances they don't use simply by being plugged in.  For example, if your toaster is plugged into the wall when not in use, it still sucks energy out of it.  It's called the phantom load.

3.  The Latte Factor" and reusable water containers:  In the U.S. and Canada, Bach said, the coffee industry produces millions of mostly non-recyclable containers every single day.

By using a plastic or stainless steel travel mug, we can significantly reduce our trash.  By brewing our own coffee, we can save 4-5$ a day.  When it comes to water, we need to break our dependency on bottled H20.  By reusing plastic or stainless containers, it will reduce the moutain of plastic bottle that end up in the trash each year in North America.

It's a good thing!