5 Ways To Invest $100
So you want to learn how to invest but you think that you don’t have enough money to invest. This is a common situation among many new investors, especially young adults who are just starting out in their careers! You always hear that it takes money to makes money and this is true to a large extent.
However, with the explosion of online markets such as drop shipping, people are able to gain a ton of income from little to no investment! In this article we will be taking a look at a few ways that you can take that spare $100 you have laying around and make it work for you!
Contents
| 1. Yourself | 2. Debt |
| 3. Savings Account | 4. Start A Business |
| 5. Mutual Funds | Summary |
1: Yourself
Books
Books can have a monumental impact on ones life and help them get a different perspective on personal finance. When you look at all of these finance gurus and the richest people in the world, a common trait that all of them share is that they love to read books.
For example, billionaire investor Warren Buffet claims that he reads every single day for hours on end. They use their time in a productive manner, instead of watching television or Youtube videos of randomness.
Invest your time into learning something that may be applicable in their everyday life. Some very popular books that are definitely a good read are: One Up On Wall Street by Peter Lynch, Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill & Way of The Wolf by Jordan Belfort. Although these books do not give an immediate return on investment, the knowledge far out weighs the price of the books. If you’re looking to purchase the books, I’ve provided links to make it easier!
Seminars/Workshops
These can be an extremely useful event to attend because it is typically someone who is extremely successful sharing their ideas and their story. These seminars can act as a sort of motivation where people can get ideas and converse with like minded individuals.
The concept of investing in yourself is to expand your knowledge. Eventually to the point where the information you learn will add some sort of value to your life. From personal experience, going to these seminars has definitely been worth it.
This is because it put me in a mindset to be successful. However, for some the term success is subjective, some people’s idea of success is to have massive amounts of money and others just want to create an idea to help people. Invest in yourself before anything else, it will help build a foundation for future investments.
Gym Membership
This one will cost you more than $100 in the long run but to get started it won’t! This is an integral part of any sort of personal investment because it maintains the upkeep of your body. When your body is functioning properly, so is your mind.
It is true that some gyms can get expensive, some even climbing to $125.00 a MONTH. However, these gyms are essentially the Rolls Royce of gyms, they have all the extras like rock climbing and an Olympic size pool. This is not necessary considering you only have $100.00!
There are cheaper gyms that can be found with a bit of looking like Plant Fitness and Fit 4 Less! Both of these gyms are roughly $10.00 a month and do not require any initial signing bonus. Some places even offer free day passes so you can have your first few days for free.
Working out has many benefits that will aid in having a healthier life which will help you be the best individual you can be. For more information on the benefits of working out, refer to https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-benefits-of-exercise.
2: Debt
Paying off debt can be an excellent investment, but not in the traditional sense. When you but money into any debt you have, you don’t necessarily get any profit from it but there are a few benefits.
Credit Score
Probably the biggest benefits people think of when paying off their debt is the fact that it helps build your credit bureau rating. This is true because it shows how well you manage any risk that you have. Therefore, if you have a lot of debt but are making regular payments, companies are more likely to trust you. This will lead them to give you higher loans, lines of credit, credit limit increases and many more!
There is also the mental factor that paying off debt has. Paying off debt feels like a huge weight is being lifted off your shoulders. Even though $100 is a small amount (to some) it will eventually turn into more payments. This helps pave that path towards debt relief and further investing without worry.
Revolving Credit
Depending on the type of debt you have (for this sake we will use credit card) when you put $100.00 into your credit card, you are helping your credit score (as previously stated) but you will also be able to use that $100.00 again. This means that you can deposit the $100.00, show the credit card companies that you can manage risk by making full, minimum or partial payments (depending on the credit card balance), then go one to use that $100.00 for further investing!
3: Savings Account
The one that your parents and everyone will tell you day in and day out. They aren’t wrong, putting your money into a savings account can be extremely useful, especially if you have money just laying around without any purpose.
High Interest Savings Account
These are very useful and extremely safe choices for those who are looking the place their money in a place where it doesn’t only collect dust. High interest savings accounts are probably the safest form of investment you can have because the money sit in there and gains interest on the amount (interest varies). However, the point of a savings account isn’t just to put money into it and leave it there forever.
Use them as a way to save up money to make higher-yielding investments! An example of a high interest savings account would be the Manulife Advantage Account because it has an interest rate of 1.4% for every dollar and is paid out on a monthly basis.
Tax-Free Savings Account
These account allow you to make to make deposits within a certain amount for the year ($5,500.00) but there is an advantage. Any investments made are not taxed as income if they were to be withdrawn!
For example, Timothy and Timothete both put their money into a an investments account but Timothy does it with a TFSA, any profits that Timothy makes will not be taxed as income, where as Timothete’s will. So whether its $100.00 or $1,000.00, its a great investment!
4: Start A Business
Sounds crazy right? When you see people starting business you’d think that they have tons of disposable income to spend on overhead! However, this couldn’t be further from the truth! With these ideas you can turn your $100.00 into a business!
Use What You Have
When I was looking for my first business, I needed one that was easy and quick to start, that’s why i started my car detailing business, 5 Star Detailing. It was a great idea because all I needed to do was get cleaning supplies. This costed me around $60.00 dollars, $20.00 for brochures and $20.00 for gas. This essentially allowed me to just walk around my neighborhood to hand out flyers, market through social media and friends.
Within a week i had my first client, they needed an interior detail which costed him $150.00. This meant I was able to reinvest into the company with the profits! Your resources and skills are your biggest asset. You may have a talent that can make you some extra money!
Low Start-Up Businesses
We won’t touch too much on this one because it will be in another article. However, they are an excellent way to invest that $100. One way to do it is to find your niche and create a blog about it! Blogs do not cost much money to make.
Domain names are only a few dollars a month and hosting can cost you under $10.00 a month! It’s up to you to put in the time and effort to write about content your audience will find interesting. Therefore, invest into your own mind and learn all you can. That way you can share you wisdom with others!
Dropshipping
This is the act of making a website that sells certain items. When a customer purchases an item through your website, you buy it from a cheaper website and send it to them. This will help you keep the profits and cut out the middle man. The costs you will incur while doing this would mostly go towards marketing your website!
5: Invest In Mutual Funds
Investing in mutual funds can be a great way to use that $100.00 you’ve been eagerly waiting to use! In short, a mutual fund is an investment vehicle where you can invest your into.
They invest their total pool of monies into their portfolio and pay out their investors with their generated income. For more information see the mutual funds page within investments!
Good Start
Mutual funds are a great start because you wont have to worry about which stocks are the best to invest into (to an extent). This is because mutual funds are run by fund managers. Fund managers have a team of analysts that research which stocks and bonds would be the most profitable. Plus, there are mutual funds that have low minimum investment that can range from $100.00 to $1,000.00.
Lastly, there are less fees to worry about. This is because if you were to invest into companies individually, you would have to pay commissions on all trades. Whereas with mutual funds, you pay one their fee and they hand the diversification.
Summary
These have been 5 Ways you can invest your $100.00, we covered everything from investing into yourself to mutual funds! There are many more ways you can invest $100.00 but remember, anything you do (especially points 3 & 4) require copious amounts of work and research. Do your due diligence so that you can make your own decisions!
Shameed is just a man on a mission to help those around him gain financial success. Obsessed with writing about all things finance, this GTA native is constantly learning and sharing his experiences with others.
