I don’t have much knowledge about finance and I really want to do better with my life. I’m currently searching for college courses to help me get better jobs but in the mean time what can I do to invest or save my money wisely?
Some details
I don’t have to pay rent, utility etc.
I only have to pay for my dog and any extra expenses (eating out, shopping, entertainment etc.)
I keep $150 per month for expenses mostly on my dog (her medication, food, grooming etc.) I use the remaining money on my Etsy shop if I need any supplies.
The rest of the money I put in savings. I’ve saved about $2000 over the past few months.
Honestly not much – continue saving and learning. Graduate with as little debt as possible and get a good job
You need more income. You can put what you have in an online savings account (e.g. with Ally) to accrue a few bucks of interest if you’d like, but any return you see will be totally insignificant.
Have you looked at the [PRIME DIRECTIVE]
(https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics)?
Especially check out the flowchart. In fact, you might want to print off a copy and put it where you can study it.
Invest in your company’s 401K especially if it has a matching contribution. That’s free money you can’t pass up. Invest in a fund that tracks the SP500. Just set it and forget it even during market corrections until you retire.
Open up a Roth IRA and max it out at $6k. There is a book you can borrow from your local library. The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John Bogle. This book was written for beginner investors emphasizing investing in broad market ETFs like VTI or VOO for their simplicity. Just set it and forget it. Broad market ETFs for the win!
Use the money and low overhead to further grow you economic potential.
30% of your income is going to your dog. How much would you save doing the grooming?
Ultimately, get in the habit of balancing your book, buy assets, buy minimal liabilities, trim the fat in the budget, and grow your income
Best way for you to grow your money is to actually make some money first
Just keep saving so you have don’t have pay interest in any debt. Most people aren’t going to have any significant passive income. Even a 8% return is basically another month saved.
Start reading about the stock market and investing long term. Do not do ootions trading. Invest in high quality stocks like microsoft. They tend to pretty safe and offer dividends. You will earn more from high quality dividend stock then you will putting it in a savings account
Starting over is tough–so good for you for looking at the best ways to improve your future. I would suggest putting together 6 months-a year of your current expenses as an emergency fund. Once you’ve got that, then look at bond funds and once you have a year or two worth of expenses there, then think about stock funds. Basically, you’re trying to give yourself a base of what are hopefully more stable funds before going after higher/riskier returns.
Jesus Christ how do you possibly make 500 a month? The lowest Minimum wage possible in the us is 7.25 and if you worked even 20 hrs a week you’d make 580 a month. What’s going on?
Google and find a freebie investment or amortization schedule calculator and familiarize yourself with long term (like 10-50 years) earnings using low annually compounded interest rates (like .5, 1%, 3%….) and small principals (like what you have now + $200/mt).
IMO, the amortization schedule is one of the quickest ways to see for yourself a “future total number that I want to hit.” You can fiddle around with the three info pieces to see how it works with different $ amounts, rates, and years.
For example, I just used https://www.investor.gov/financial-tools-calculators/calculators/compound-interest-calculator to figure out that your $2k invested + $200 monthly at 2% for 20 years is about $60k. Without any interest, it would only be $50k so that’s a bonus $10k.
Even small amounts, invested early, pay off in the long run. Don’t worry about the haters on here. You have your own financial journey ahead. Congrats on walking, for now. You’ll be running one day.
Whatvdobyoubthink youbwant to do for a long term job. Make a list and narrow it down..that said, I’m not anywhere near the career I “wanted”. Fell into one I like.
Obviously you aren’t doing bad with no expenses but what do you do that makes $500 a month? Idk what state but that’s like minimum wage 15 hours a week?
Top site ,.. amazaing post ! Just keep the work on !