DINC MONEY SAVING TIPS

Growing a vegetable garden falls right into line with the DINC way of thinking.  By growing your own favorite vegetables, not only can you save money to invest in yourself, you increase your confidence in food safety and even help the climate – not bad for getting your hands dirty.  Efficiency is the key to saving money so here are four tips: Select vegetables you like to eat, says Mr.Obvious Grow produce that can be saved and or preserved Harvest the more expensive vegetables Finally, like the investors we are… have a plan and do a little research Whether it is money or a vegetable – Green is Green  

It is easy to fall into the trap of trying to live up to other peoples standards, which by definition is their standards, not yours.  By simply choosing where you want to live, what gadgets you need, and what you want to wear without worrying about your friends choices is not only liberating, but a great way to save a ton of money. “Take your life to another level by ignoring the Joneses altogether.” — Richie Norton, Author.  

We are in the subscription economy, where businesses, or nearly all businesses, are eager to bill you directly either monthly or yearly.  According to West Monroe Partners, the average American pays $237 per month for subscription services. Here are four steps to reduce your monthly charges from a recent Wall Street journal article…one, do at least a yearly audit of what you are buying.  Two, cross check and consolidate to eliminate duplicates with your significant other. Three, cancel anything that is not a priority and finally, put on your calendar in 2020 today, to do the same thing a year from now. Audit, cross, cancel, repeat.  

Bang! Slam the snooze on every morning like clockwork to get that extra 10 minutes of sleep.  Imagine if you did the opposite, and set your alarm ahead by 10 minutes each day? That extra time works out to well more than a full week of work or for those making $50k per year that is almost $1,000 in earnings power by simply not snoozing and not losing.  

It may be cool for Don Draper on Madmen, but smoking is one of the worst ways to spend money in several obvious ways.  While we will never judge, here is the deal, 2 packs a week costs about $117 per month and about 30 hours in time.  Invested at 8%, this habit could be worth well over $100,000 in future assets over 20 years.