Before you go investing your hard-earned $200, you should look at ways to leverage that money to save you money. This will provide a much greater and GUARANTEED financial return, as compared to trying something risky like stocks. Pay attention to that word GUARANTEED.
One of the great things about the ideas I’ve listed below is that they are GUARANTEED money-savers. Investments always have risks associated with them. You might earn extra money, but you might lose money.
Here are ways that people who have money are able to save money. You should explore these ideas before doing anything else.
1. Pay credit balances to zero. If you have anything on a generic credit card or a store credit card, use the $200 to draw down the balance. Your interest rate on the card is 15% to 22%, which is far more than you gain make in any legitimate investment.
2. Get a no-fee checking account. If you don’t have a checking account, open it now. You have been wasting time and money on things like money orders – think about those fees. But here’s the even better news. If you maintain a minimum in your checking account, your bank won’t charge you monthly fees on the account. Given that these fees are typically about $10 per month, merely leaving your $200 in the bank is worth $120/year to you! That’s an interest rate of 60%.
3. Pay off a bad debt. Did you forget about bad debt that’s been sitting there for 3 years? Pay it off. Because once you do, you can start strengthening your credit rating. And this is crucial, because a better credit rating will get you a lower interest rate on other debt, lower car insurance payments (seriously!), and can even affect your ability to get a job (many employers check credit ratings before hiring).
4. Improve your energy efficiency. There’s got to be something that is very energy inefficient in your home. Light bulbs? Hot water heater? Windows? Put that $200 and whatever else you can scrape together to make the switch to something more energy efficient today. Maybe even buy a bike so that you don’t drive on your commute. You will save tons of money in the long run, which you can then put into various investment schemes.
I hope these ideas have been helpful.