How to Stretch a Dollar in Today's Market Place and Maybe Get Some Back

It's been said by many get rich quick gurus that the secret to success is to make your money work for you. I counter that to be successful you need your money to work with you not just for you. A less financially able person doesn't have three million dollars to just throw into a money market account and earn thirty six thousand a year in interest alone.

For example to get three million dollars in five years you have to put $11,539 into a savings account every week without spending a dime of it. For any working class person that isn't already independently wealthy this is ridiculous. It can't be done flipping burgers. The real secret of the get rich quick gurus is they charge people $39.95 to join their club, get their books, take their class or whatever. Then they rinse and repeat. They are all just consultants of dubious value.

The Rules of Making Your Money Work With You

The first step in being frugal and making your money work is never pay for anything you can get at similar quality for less or for free. Garage sales, friends, family, auctions,

Consider the benefits of multiple streams of income, small or otherwise. Having two or three money market accounts with companies that use different rate structures can help keep the interest rolling in. Find every reputable establishment you can that offers interest bearing accounts and find two or three that have a good track record. Just keep the same balance in each account. Have a few stocks earning dividends. Take up writing freelance online. Sell things that fall into your lap on E-bay or Craig's list. Don't waste money on online gaming unless it's your only source of entertainment. To use my self as an example I have a Chase savings, a PNC savings, A PayPal money market and an ING money market. I also have a small stock portfolio that isn't worth much but because of the number of stocks I have small investments in I get dividends in a couple dozen transactions a year. I also receive online payments occasionally for some of my writing. I pick up soda cans shamelessly including non-refundable cans and bits of aluminum siding to take to the scrap yard for about $.40 a pound and also have a temp job in a factory. These are the multiple streams of income I have so far, there are infinitely more ways to earn money but they haven't all presented themselves to me. I am also extremely cautious about trusting anything on the internet or companies with reputations or business models like Amway.

Don't discount discount stores. The IGA near my house sells cat food at $.69 a can the dollar store sells it a $.45. That $.24 difference per can is enough to fill the gas tank on my moped after buying 20 or 30 cans on my cats monthly food budget. The brand is 9-lives at both stores so I am not buying a lower quality product by going to the dollar store. Dollar stores don't always have the same deals but it doesn't hurt to check them frequently.

Look for fuel cost saving plans and high efficiency vehicles. The Sunoco station in my town gives $.05 off per gallon if you prepay with cash or debit. I own a car for long trips but when I am tooling around town I take my moped which gives me nearly a hundred miles to the gallon. That nickel I save is actually about one to two miles worth of gas with that vehicle. There is an old phrase "Nickel and dimed to death." Which means wasting all your money by paying a little bit extra all over the place. It works the other way too. A penny saved is a penny you don't have to re-earn. I have no qualms about picking up a penny in the parking lot or a $.10 refundable beer can since that is almost five miles worth of fuel for my leisure and exploration vehicle.

Keep ten or fifteen percent of your income in the market with stable companies that have been around at least fifty years. (Coca Cola probably won't ever need a bail out) These companies give dividends and you can invest as little as $2 through ING on their investment site. However investing $2 with a $4.95 commission fee on the free plan is rather wasteful. The free investing plan just means there is no monthly fee there is still the small per transaction charge. (commission) I recommend signing up for their $20 advantage plan when you have $220 dollars to invest and then using the auto investor option to buy $10 of stock in twenty companies. If you can't do this every month you then cancel the advantage plan and go back to the regular plan that is free and save up another $220 dollars. When choosing these companies, research their stability and age as well as their track record for dividends. It's not worth investing for a working class stiff if they don't give dividends. Playing the market with buying and selling volatile stocks is for people that can afford to lose money once in awhile.

Don't overpay your bills. It is nice to have that little buffer on your energy bill but if there is a snafu in their record keeping you may lose that money forever. The utility company is not a bank. Your money also accrues no interest while it is languishing in utility prison before being used up on your next bill. It is better to have it in an interest bearing account.

Don't be ashamed of being frugal. Frugal is not a four letter word, it's six actually. I have been riding a moped for years. One day I was at the gas station and a coworker pulled up in a big Ford pickup and laughed at me asking me how I liked the ride in to work. It was a cold and misty early spring morning but not too bad I just countered by asking him how much he liked paying $80 to fill his gas tank. I had just payed $3 so he stopped laughing at me for my moped after that.

Don't be afraid to plant a garden. Few people are perfect at gardening right off the bat and you may need a little practice. It is quite nice to have fresh carrots and tomatoes and if you manage to do better than I have and actually end up with a surplus there's always the option of scalding the corn and freezing it for the winter and canning the other veggies. Having a decent sized garden can take a small amount off of your grocery bill, especially if you master replanting from seeds from your own plants rather than buying seed. I have a ten foot pumpkin patch grown from a pumpkin I bought and made pies with last year. I just washed the sticky pulp off the seeds and dried them on the window sill over the winter then replanted them in the spring.

Don't give up on finding a job and don't snub a job just because of a personal stigma. Times are tough, few people would fault anyone for taking a job as a bagger while they look for something better. If you aren't already rich you need as many streams of income as you can get.

Set at least three goals, this year, five years, and the ultimate goal. For an example, my ultimate goal is to have three million dollars in an interest bearing account within twenty years so I can retire. It may not be realistic but it's something I can work for. It's realistic enough to me that I can hold out hope. My goal this year is just to get the five thousand down to start the process of buying a house for my wife and I and my five year goal is a hundred thousand and a better understanding of the stock market and investing technique. Maybe not too realistic, but again it's realistic enough that I can try. It isn't going to destroy the para-substance of space-time if I fall short.

Try to quit smoking if you do, This of course is optional (puff puff) but buying cigarettes can get pretty darn expensive and you are all but guaranteed to live longer if you quit.

Don't break the law! speeding, dealing, Insider trading and others things of dubious legality will eventually get you fined, jailed or dead. All three outcomes will tend to hurt your profit margin.

In Summary

To put it as simply as possible, using a very inexpensive means of transportation start shopping around for the stores that charge the least for the things you buy. Start forcing yourself to save even a few pennies as often as you can. Start looking for ways to scrape in a few extra dollars that you can ship off to an interest bearing account. Find legal ways to get things for free like picking up twenty pop cans for gas for a moped. At $3 a gallon and $.10 a can in Michigan that's sixty miles worth of gas. Do invest in stable companies after shopping around for the least expensive investment broker. Try to break wasteful spending habits and keep your eye on your goals.