Wonder how you’ll pay for that ticket to the Space Hotel?
Will you have enough cash to buy that Lunar Estates Time Share when it’s ready?
Need bribe money for the Mars Shuttle before that asteroid hits in 2026?

Then you’re going to need at least $1,000,000.

If you’ve read about my savings for space projects strategy in the Universe Today Forum, you’re probably thinking, this guy is nuts! How can this work for me? Well, here’s how you can try out the strategy in the privacy of your own home. There are no contracts to sign, and all the money you save is yours!

Ever hear of a perky personal financial planner named Suzi Orman? She has appeared on TV(PBS) in the U.S. with great advice on how to save money. Did you know that if you put aside $3.75 to $5.00 per day, and earned simple interest on that money, in 30 years, you would have a total of $1,000,000. But where do I get an extra $120 to $150 per month you might ask. Well, you don’t need extra $ because you already have the money. It’s just getting wasted, tossed out the window, flushed down the loo. All you have to do is recover the money by being efficient and reducing costs.

Here is an example- Your electric bill might total $100 per month. Of that, 10% might go to lighting($10). If you are using incandescent light bulbs and switch to compact flourescents, you will use 1/4th as much energy(a savings of $7.50/month). In addition, incandescent bulbs put off a lot of heat, which can constitute up to 15% to 20% of your total airconditioning costs. AC is typically 50% of the total electric bill. Therefore 20%(heat from lightbulbs) of $50 is $10. That $10 for the AC cost savings plus $7.50 for the lighting costs savings= $17.50 potential savings per month just for changing your light bulbs.

Congratulations, you have just recovered over 10% of the money you need to invest to become a millionaire. Just by changing the lightbulbs. Granted, you have to buy the compact flourescents, but they pay themselves off in a few months, and it’s all gravy from there!

So here’s how this Forum topic will work. I’m going to pop in as frequently as I can and make suggestions on how you can save money to invest in yourself. Start saving, and comment if it works. And if you think of something to suggest which others might try, post it. If you find a great buy on compact flourescents or the like, let the rest of us know about it. And remember, whatever you can do to save money and reinvest is the same strategy which Nasa and other space agencies can use to reduce the costs of space flight. Because all money spent on space is spent right here on Earth, for salaries of people just like you and me. Salaries which go towards electric bills and all the other stuff.

If you can increase efficiency, so can Nasa. And if Nasa won’t learn, in 30 years a bunch of us will each have $1,000,000 to pay for our own spacecraft! Let's go!

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Pre-Quote: 'To survive one has to experiment. When the environment changes, the traditional way of doing things doesn't work.'

Quote:
"It's the outriders, the organisms that seem to be maladjusted before the change, which are the only ones that survive these changes...in that way a species continues."

Carl Sagan

Don't supersize your value meals at McD's <_<

Better yet, don't buy value meals. They don't really have much value anyway.

__________________
The visions we present to our children shape the future. It matters what those visions are. Often they become self-fulfilling prophecies. - Carl Sagan, 1992

Great post, Tom. Keep it up & in 30 years we'll meet somewhere out there in the Cosmos on our very own spaceships! :P

What will we call our expedition - Tom´s Expeditionaries? Fraser´s Universal Corps? :P

Any suggestions anyone?

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Perhaps the Fraser Federation, but l i like your second suggestion!

we could also be called the Spacemad-ness Collective or the Dippy Hippy Dominion...okay enough pepsi...:wacko:

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Damien,
International Baccalaureate Physics teacher
Optics, Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing Instrumentation Major
Admin: Pacific Science and Art

devilmech- So, how many value meal purchases would you save per month?

spacemad- Or, Fraser's Technological Liberators (get it? - FTL). Someone should get in touch with Majel Barrett Rodenberry and let her know we can start the Federation.

dameinpaul- How many pepsi's are you drinking now?

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Pre-Quote: 'To survive one has to experiment. When the environment changes, the traditional way of doing things doesn't work.'

Quote:
&quot;It's the outriders, the organisms that seem to be maladjusted before the change, which are the only ones that survive these changes...in that way a species continues.&quot;

Carl Sagan

none. I eat pizza maybe twice a month, and sometimes I grab fast food, but only at work when I don't have time to eat real food. And I never fall for that upsizing crap.

America has this fixation on having bigger and better and faster, and in this case, it's responsible for millions of dollars a year in medical and health problems resulting from our refusal to take care of our health.

The leading cause of death in this country is cigarettes. It killed 440,000 people in 2001, compared with less than 6,000 for terrorism. I'm currently phasing out my smoking, and I'm saving around $50 a month right now. When I quit completely, I'll save around $90 a month, just because I stopped paying to die. Everyone's gonna die someday, but I'll be damned if I'm gonna pay to do it.

If you smoke, you can possibly save your life, and save money at the same time, just by quitting.

If there's any way possible, use public transit, or carpool. You'll save money on gas and maintenance.

All of this however, is worthless if you blow the money you save on stupid crap like a bigger TV or faster computer. As Sheryl Crow put it, "it's not having what you want, it's wanting what you've got". If you can't trust yourself to save the money, then hire a financial planner. The money you spend on one is nothing compared to how much you'll get back by not buying that bigger TV or faster computer.

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The visions we present to our children shape the future. It matters what those visions are. Often they become self-fulfilling prophecies. - Carl Sagan, 1992

Tom, this isn't anything personal, but you know this is against Rule 6...

Sorry, but I'm gonna have to close it....

__________________
"The stars are my home"
"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe... Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion... I've watched c-beams glitter in the dark, near the Tanhauser Gate... all those moments will be lost, in time... like tears in the rain..."

Dear all

I'll hold my hand up now and will admit that maybe I judged this topic unfairly when I closed it. I'd like to point out that I think the ideas Tom has presented have merit and that my decision was based solely upon my interpretation of the rules. My decision didn't reflect my views or opinions of Tom or the topic in general.

After discussing the situation with both Tom and the other moderators, it's been decided that Tom should be allowed to continue his topic. However, rather than re-open this one, Tom has said he'll start a new one within the next few days, so keep your eyes open for that

__________________
"The stars are my home"
"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe... Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion... I've watched c-beams glitter in the dark, near the Tanhauser Gate... all those moments will be lost, in time... like tears in the rain..."