So that is what I'm doing now: watching for opportunities. I don't need to make a lot of money. I just need to make more money than it costs me to do the side hustle. An older friend once told me you don't need money to make money like rich people do. You just need a rich person's golden opportunities. They cut deals with their friends and business partners. So you need more friends and business partners. My friends don't run any side businesses but I can always look for business partners.
The best part of that plan is anyone can do this despite how little they earn. Let's start with playing the stock market. Can you do that if you earn less than $30,000 a year? Yes you can. According to the Low Income Aid site anyone can invest in the stock market with only a few dollars. They recommend you sign up with Robinhood, which doesn't charge any trading fees. They make their money on interest and selling extra services to their customers. You don't have to buy the extra services. Just drop $10 into the app whenever you can and keep an eye out for a stock, mutual fund, or something else you can buy. Give yourself time to learn about basic investing.
How likely are you to make money from a small investment? Well, according to the Knowicles Website, you can turn $5 into a pretty nice profit. I like their example of buying a case of water bottles for just a few dollars and then selling the individual bottles at a big event in the summer where people are thirsty. You know someone is making a lot of money off water and soft drinks when you pay $1-2 for them.
A lot of people start making money by saving it first. The idea is to cut back on your unnecessary spending. That way you'll borrow less money over time, save up money for emergencies, and have money left over to invest. Fifth Third Bank offers sign up bonuses to people who can maintain minimum balances. I guess the way to do that is to save up for the minimum daily balance and then use your savings to open a Fifth Third Bank account. The sign up bonus may change over time but you'll still be saving money.
They're not the only bank that offers sign up bonuses. I found a list of banks offering sign up bonuses on this site. I guess they're making money on referral fees but that's okay. It doesn't cost you any more money and at least they did the research. I checked out some of their other bank sign up offers and a few of them are out of my league. But if you save enough money you can move it around after you get your first sign up bonus. Just don't spend the money. Let it build up over time.
Here is another cool way to make money. Like Robinhood you don't need a lot to start with. They'll let you invest just $10. The company is called Worthy Bonds. You're lending money to businesses at 5% interest (or whatever the going rate is). This is a crowd-funded loan business. So you "Buy Worthy Bonds" and they pay you 5% interest every year. I haven't tried this company yet so I don't know how you get your capital back. You can reinvest the interest or withdraw it so you must be able to sell your bonds back and cash out at some point.
Here is another app I haven't tried yet. Call me skeptical but it kind of looks legit. It's called Long Game and it's a combination savings account and free sweepstakes app. Is this legal? Yes because you're not risking your own money. You deposit money into an FDIC-insured savings account. They earn interest on the account and use some of that interest to award prizes in games. They "pay" you in a cryptocurrency or something and you use that money to play in games. If you win a prize in one of the games it's just like winning a sweepstakes.
I don't know how much money you'll make from Long Game. I'd be more inclined to invest in Worthy Bonds first. But I kind of like the idea of Long Game and thought it was worth sharing.
