How to Save a Small Fortune - And The Planet

Question: If you cut that €1 bottle of drinking water from your daily routine, how much extra money do you have in the bank after 20 years?

Answer: €7300!

And people say it's impossible to save up for a house deposit???

The art of saving is all about being aware of how the small things add up over time. And when it comes to taking care of this fragile earth, it's exactly the same. When you do a tiny thing like switching to tap water, that's also 7300 fewer plastic bottles that end up in the ocean.

This book shows you the effortless ways you can build up the kind of cash that will not only get you through pandemics or unemployment, but set you up for a richer life and a more comfortable retirement – whatever your age. At the same time, it shows you why these habits are sustainable, impactful and better for the planet.

This quick, simple read touches on many of the trends and issues that COVID-19 has brought into sharper focus than ever before:

• Sustainable living
• Sustainable homes
• Minimalism
• Food security
• Pollution
• Zero waste
• Retirement planning
• Budgeting

And if you're thinking all of this sounds like a playbook for killjoys, rest assured that journalist author R.A. Dalkey has put his savings to use racing cars, travelling to over 75 countries and getting the hell out of office life at 40. Because calculated saving doesn't mean you say goodbye to a good life. If you choose your battles (are you seriously going to miss that Evian?), then you can take your pick of indulgences.

R.A. Dalkey was born in Cape Town. After selling hand-written newspapers to classmates in primary school, then winning awards for lucid essays whilst studying journalism at Rhodes University, it was inevitable that he would make a living out of words. Under his real name (Richard Asher) he's been published by GQ, Reader's Digest, The Sunday Times, Australian International Traveller, Reuters, Autosport and Sports Illustrated, to name just a few.

As a sport and travel journalist, he's always favoured an immersive approach. He's driven outback trucks in Australia and crashed racing cars in Europe. He once conducted a two-year experiment trying to be a professional golfer. Having visited 75+ countries, he's slept rough in Jo'burg, been arrested in Mongolia and mugged in Barcelona.

Apart from growing up in the euphoria of post-Apartheid South Africa, he lived in the USA, Australia and the UK before settling in Vienna in 2016. He relished learning German and now speaks four languages.

Dalkey also narrates his own audiobooks.

He's on Twitter @mygreenjacket and Instagram @worldsleeper.