Money is essential to live in this world. Maybe you have enough and are comfortable where you are at right now. Or perhaps you are on a mission to find smart ways to increase your funds or at least avoid spending more than you need. There are things you can do to become wiser with your money today. Continue reading for some easy-to-incorporate tips that anyone can embrace.
Improve Your Investment Portfolio
If you have a steady history of investing and a growing portfolio to show for it, good for you! Whether you have been in the game for a while or are new to the idea of investing, you can always do more or simply take the first step to begin.
One of the biggest and most buzz-worthy investing options is cryptocurrency. It has been around for a while now and seems to have staying power despite the ups and downs. If you are interested in investing, be mindful of how much you are willing to invest and what your tolerance or risk level is. This amount will and should change over time based on your age and how close you are inching toward retirement.
Consider looking into crypto self-managed super funds as an innovative and out-of-the-box way to invest for the future. When investing through a self-managed super fund, you have more autonomy in how you handle your investment choices and strategy. This is a very risky investment however so only do it with extra money you are willing to lose.
Another unique investment strategy is to invest in stock slices. These are exactly what they sound like, which are slices or small percentage shares of one individual stock. Depending on the value of one full stock portion, you may purchase half a stock or only a minimal fraction. Fractional shares are a good way of stepping softly into the stock market with small dollar stock purchases instead of making a larger investment if you are not financially able to take that step.
Rethink Your Spending Habits
From the moment you open your eyes and look at your phone to the time you turn off the TV and go to bed, there are people trying to get you to spend your hard-earned money on items you really do not need. Advertisements are everywhere. From your social media feeds to pop-up kiosks in the local mall and on streaming services, you cannot get away from someone trying to sell you something.
Beyond the advertisements, there are the influencers who are coming for you. They have made lucrative deals with companies to hock their goods and endorse their products while making it all look natural when in reality, money has exchanged hands for their services. These efforts influence you and make you want more and more material items. After all, your friends and family have those things. They make you feel good once you acquire them, and you will continue to want whatever comes next.
Try to end the cycle by rethinking your spending habits. Look at what you already have and ask yourself the following questions to determine your future relationship with money and spending.
- Do the things you own make you happy?
- Does acquiring the latest item bring you joy?
- Do you have a cycle of selling or donating your things because you get sick of them every few months?
- Do you really need more than one reusable water bottle (or insert another item here)?
Depending on your answers to these questions, you may want to change your approach to spending money. By minimizing what you spend your hard-earned money on, you will have more funds to spend on something else that will bring more value to your life or save it for the future.
Watch this video to learn about one accountant’s approach to changing the way she spends money.
Create a Food Exchange Group
You can call it whatever you like, but a cooking club, food exchange group, or baking group is essentially a group of people who agree to get together once per week to help prepare meals. Once the preparation is over, everyone takes home an equal portion of the food and has prepared meals for the week.
Alternatively, each member of the group can make one part of a whole meal, such as a large-batch pasta dish that they portion out for everyone. Another person chops vegetables for a salad. And someone else makes a dessert. The possibilities are endless, but the goal is to meet at a designated location each week to exchange the food so that everyone has an equal amount for the following week.
You can arrange your group in whatever manner works best for your unique member’s logistical and dietary needs. Meet up in advance to discuss portion amounts, meeting times, food preferences, and to share recipes. Determine if you will cook together each week as a social gathering or only come together to transfer the food. Make sure you trade off the responsibility among the members for who makes the main dish each week, as that usually takes longer than the other parts of a meal.
The idea behind a food exchange group is that you are finding ways to eat good food that costs less than daily trips to a restaurant or through a fast food drive-thru. This effort will help you to reduce food waste while still eating well. When everyone takes part in the preparation, the task is easier because it either becomes a social event instead of another task on your to-do list, or the process is easier because you only need to prepare one thing, such as chopping vegetables or making the main dish.
Go ahead and make your relationship with money better than ever by adding to your investment portfolio with creative and innovative investment strategies. Take some time rethinking how you use your money. Look at what you spend money on and whether those purchases were good ones. Find ways to save money when you work with a group to make healthy and inexpensive meals. This tactic will save you both time and money, which is always a good thing.
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