Acorn Investment App A Novel Idea

I have written previously on matters and importance of early investing.
Check out the link below at Cool Campus Living on yet another option to begin the magic of compounding!

Dream Big! Start Early!

Acorn Investment App A Novel Idea For Spare Change

Double A Penny

Wanna make a quick $10,000,000? Just start with a penny and double the amount each day for 31 days!

I stumbled across this incredible calculation in an article by one of my favorite finance bloggers: BudgetsAreSexy.com.  

Plug it into a spreadsheet.  

See for yourself

>$10,000,000 MILLION

Wow! Incredible!

Personally, I would hit a wall mid-month with my ability to double the previous amount.  Where would your path to $10,000,000 end?? 
Do you even have a savings account? 
Or is your income fixed?  Maybe unpredictable? 
Do you want to save, but have nothing left at the end of the month? 

Where could I find extra cash without busting my budget? 
What's out there right now that could help people on a 'fixed budget', ie college students sock away a few extra bucks?  
Maybe you can't get to $10M in a month, but with a little (untouched) savings in your twenties, time could transform even a small amount into a tidy sum without much more effort on your part--just like that little penny, doubling it's way to $10,000,000!  

Well, there's a whole world out there! 
ThePennyHoarder.com has been a tremendous resource on tips and ideas to raise extra cash for savings without sacrificing your budget.  

1. Open a savings account

--deposit anything--$2, $3, $4, or $5

--set a reminder to make a deposit, any amount, monthly

--compare rates, deals and incentives for college students

--just get started!

2. Make a budget

--look at your spending over the next 30 days

--a rough outline of your major necessities (ie clothing, food, bills, supplies)

--deposit another $2, $3, $4, or $5

--need help? www.budgetsaresexy.com  

3. Raising Cash--In Small Measures

(Adapted (and supplemented) from ThePennyHoarder.com)

a. Coupons: The key to coupons is only buying what you actually use and need.

coupons.com  

inboxdollars.com  
couponinsanity.com 
ebates.com (some of these give you bonus, but only after a purchase)

'Deals' Smartphone App (lists local restaurant, retail offers)
'SnipSnap' Smartphone App

b. Surveys: These come in a variety of options.  Why not? If you commute, have downtime, easy way to add a few dollars to the bottom line.

inboxdollars.com 

mysurvey.com 

--downside to these surveys: endless data entry on your name, address, date of birth
--increased amounts of spam / junk email
--tedious

c. Scan: Scan your grocery receipts instead of clipping coupons.  

Checkout51.com (not store-specific)

Ibotta.com (store-specific)

d. Memberships: If you shop frequently at a grocery or drug store get the membership for discounts.  This can be especially effective if your coupons are featured at your store--double score!

--Walgreens

--CVS

--Grocery stores

--Sports Authority / Dick's 

e. Testing / Tasks / Trials: Sign up to test apps, ads, review various things for different sponsors, even head into McDonald's / Chipotle to document price listings!

--'Rewardable' Smartphone App

f. Gift Cards: If you are disciplined and have a good sense of your budget, purchase discounted gift cards for all your necessities, i.e. like groceries, clothing, supplies, toiletries. 

--Your $100 grocery budget may just cost $86. $14 to save right there.
--Your $50 clothing budget may cost $45. Shop at a discount retailer and save more.  

Raise.com  (great site) allows you to buy and sell gift cards.  

g. Cash Back Credit Cards: If you have any trouble with discipline, do not go here. You must be disciplined to consider this option.  If you don't know or trust your spending habits, skip this suggestion!

Disclaimer:
I only recommend this if you have the cash in your account, understand how credit cards work, and are 100% committed to immediately paying off the credit card after purchase.

--Get your cash-back reward. Log-in. Pay off. Do not delay!

--multiple cards exist with cash-back awards. Make sure it is 'NO-FEE'.

--buy your discounted gift cards with your cash back credit card--2x savings

--use those discounted gift cards with coupons--triple savings
--use at your discount retailers (like Marshalls / TJMaxx)--triple savings

h. Purge

--get rid of stuff. Say NO to hoarding!

--Ebay
--Craigslist
--Alibris.com

--bookscouter.com

4. How Far Can You Double Your Penny?

--try your luck

--what's to lose by trying?
--you'll just have more money?

Save More With Less If You Start Early

This weekend I will be posting several things on cooking and finance--what a great combination, right?
But today, I wanted to encourage everyone reading this blog whether parent or child,  high school or college student, or graduate and employed to investigate opening one of the best savings tools available at a young age:  The Roth IRA!

Don't lose out on one of your most valuable assets when it comes to making money: TIME.

If you qualify for a Roth IRA (which you most likely do if you are young and employed) and you contribute the maximum allowed dollar amount to your Roth IRA between 20 to 30 years of age,  you will likely have more money by the time you hit 65 years of age, than those contributing thousands upon thousands of dollars to their retirement funds later in life--even if they are contributing twice as much as you did when you were 20.

If you can do this one thing for your future for as long as you qualify for a ROTH IRA, assuming an expected and historical average 8% compounding return on your money--the numbers are simply staggering in terms of what awaits you down the road.  Everything you contribute, up to a limit of $5000  per year, can grow tax-free until you start withdrawing later in life.  Run the calculations yourself at www.bankrate.com with one of their calculators.

Some institutions and banks will require a minimum deposit to open the account.  Other institutions may require a lower opening deposit, but require that you contribute on a regular, automated basis each month until you reach that minimum deposit.

This article from Kiplinger does a great job explaining the perks and qualifications of having a ROTH IRA from now onward.  See for yourself:

http://www.kiplinger.com/article/retirement/T046-C006-S001-why-you-need-a-roth-ira.html 



Want more info?
See some of the resources below:

www.fidelity.com
www.vanguard.com
www.sharebuilder.com
www.scottrade.com

Case For Cooking

Through the years I have been a huge believer in teaching kids about finance well before they hit college.  We started our kids off in their pre-teens with envelopes and budgeting their meager allowance into Spending, Charity, and Savings.  As they grew up into high school, allowance went away at age 16, but they were allowed to start a job.  During their senior year in high school each of the boys received a weekly budget for bus fare, school lunches, necessities, haircuts, school supplies--you get the point!

The goal of this process was to accustom them to being responsible and getting a taste of managing their money, even if only a small amount--they were encouraged to set aside automatic debits to their stock accounts--one son did well turning 300 investment in Dicks Sporting into a 700 dollar return that he promptly put in 6 shares of Apple that netted him a total amount of approx 3000 when all was said and done.

The other son burns holes in his pockets with cash--but even his limited saving paid for his volunteer trip to save the Sea Turtles last year with Rustic Pathways--so as to the success of our feeble financial education, I'm not 100% sure; but they did get the message that money should not control you.

Rather "your hard-earned money needs to be working for you" at all times--in a stock account, investing in property, passive income, developing your talents, getting better interest rates, Roth IRA, etc.--and the more your money works for you, the less you will be working for money.
We will see how successful we were when our last son embarks on his own next year June 2014.

As college begins, having these habits in place--paying yourself first, thinking about your expenses (most of which are dependent on you and your spending) in terms of wants vs. necessities, and living frugally (but not miserly) becomes critical if you are branching out on your own.

As in the previous financial link I provided from The Empowered Dollar and the blog I posted...take charge of your budget--start learning, start planning and thinking of ways to improve your cash-flow, even if it is meager at this point--developing those habits with little income will be the foundation of continuing those habits with a bigger paycheck.

As for the link that I am sharing today discusses, one of the first places to look for hidden expenses is FOOD costs!  This is where cooking skills, even if only a few, will stretch your budget a long way, and help you avoid the unnecessary costs of pre-made, pre-packaged, processed foods or eating out when you really can't afford to.

I know I have stated this before, but it is nice to see that others in the financial blogging sector think similarly!  Next to housing expenses, food costs, either groceries or eating out, is the second largest expense for most Americans.

Be curious and check out this blog snippet from www.20somethingfinance.com; and, if you have the time, I would encourage you to systematically read his entire "summer" project titled 'Summer of Savings'.  Great advice from someone in your shoes!

http://20somethingfinance.com/save-money-on-food-groceries/

Other bloggers worth looking at

---- www.budgetsaresexy.com
---- www.financialsamurai.com

Eat Well. Stay Hungry. Dream big. Don't Settle.

Your money could be doing a whole lot more for than going down the toilet!