A question that comes up over and over again is “what money?” Meaning “yeah, I get it. I should be saving money and investing in the stock market, but I just don’t have any “extra” money. I just barely get by as it is. I can’t very well invest what I don’t have.”
It all adds up
It’s true that your budget may be tight. We all have our ‘must have’ items in addition to the mortgage, food and utilities, but where can you either cut corners, or how can you add to your income?
The best way to invest is on an ongoing basis of contributions. This is the selling point of 401K’s and the like. I recommend the same thing with your private investment account. Open a new account which will be the revolving door of your portfolio, the temporary refuge for your ongoing seed money. Even if it is only five of ten dollars per check, talk to your HR department about a payroll deduction/automatic deposit. Even small amounts add up.
Second thought, and this is a common one, but really, how can you trim a bit of money out of your daily expense, and then (the crucial step) actually take that ’saved money’ and put into into your seed account. This is where a lot of people miss the boat. The skip the daily latte, or pack their lunch, but the money saved doesn’t go into the investment account. I read an interesting story of a woman who used to bank all the money she saved by using coupons at the grocery store, and that money paid for the family vacations. (Don’t get the idea I am sexist, I do most of the grocery shopping around our house)
So if you pack a lunch, take the money you saved and deposit it. Simple enough.
Here’s the third one, and this one is really for the internet savvy folks. If you have a blog or a website, monetize it. Start getting some income from something you are doing anyway. Look for a few affiliate products on Click Bank or other places and maybe add an adsense account from Google. Adsense puts content related ads on your website and then pays you when people click through and buy products.
This is for the more artsy folks, Cafe Press. Here’s a link to my offbeat humor on Cafe Press, this site is great. We get a check month in and month out from designs done years ago. True passive income.
And more traditionally, get a part time job. Maybe just for a few months work a Saturday or two. The long term gain from short term pain can really pay off.
Hopefully out of all of those there is something you can embrace.
