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It may be only $50, but WOW,
look what it can turn into!
Bankrate.com
 Is
the glass half full or half empty? Will that 50 bucks you just got
do wonders for your bank balance? Or is it just a drop in the ocean
of your financial troubles?
Fact is, you can do a whole lot of earning with
$50, whether the loot comes from a bonus, a birthday envelope, a
scratch-off lottery ticket or a buddy who paid off a bet. It may
not be a windfall, but it can be a down payment on a better financial
future.
So let's turn that $50 worth of lemons into
lemonade and champagne! Here are 10 brilliant financial moves you
can make with $50, how you do them and how much profit you'll make
after that $50 has left your pocket and gone to to work.
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WHAT YOU CAN DO
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HOW YOU DO IT
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WHAT YOU GAIN
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Cut your credit card debt
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Knocking $50 off a $2,000
credit-card balance (at 16%) will cut your payback time by four
months. That's if you're only paying the $40 minimum right now.
You'll more than double your money by saving $103 in interest. |
$53
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Start playing the market
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A mutual fund indexed
to the Standard & Poor's 500 returned 13.4% annually from
1971 through 1996. If the trend continues, you'll have $176
in 10 years. |
$126
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Slash
your
mortgage
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Use it to start paying
down your mortgage -- then do it every month and that first
$50 will have started down the road to riches! If you have 25
years left on a 30-year, $100,000 mortgage at 8 percent, increasing
your payment from $734 to $784 shortens your payback by four
years and three months. You'll save $25,065 in interest. |
$25,015
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Stop
bouncing checks
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Buy the latest copy
of Quicken or Microsoft Money software and start keeping your
checking account in balance. Let's figure that some careful
bookkeeping can help you avoid four rubber-check charges this
year -- at $29 each. Plus, getting a good look at the rest of
your finances ought to let you find lots of other ways to save
or make money. |
$66+
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Earn
interest
tax-free
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Buy a $50 Series "I"
U.S. Savings bond. "I" bonds are sold at face value
and grow with inflation-indexed earnings for up to 30 years.
You can defer federal taxes on earnings for up to 30 years,
and "I" bonds are exempt from state and local income
taxes. The current rate is 7.49 percent; at that rate, in 10
years, you'd have $102.96. |
$52.96
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Invest
in your relationship
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There's more to life
than money. Buy flowers for your wife, a putter for your husband
or a bottle of single-malt scotch for your boss. In the long
run, this may be the best investment of all. |
Depends. How much do divorce lawyers and
head-hunters charge?
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Spruce
up the
house
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If you're selling soon,
use those five tens to increase the looks of your home. Try
buying new cabinet hardware for the kitchen, flowers for the
garden or a gallon or two of paint for the front door. Increased
curb appeal shows you've taken care of the place, creates the
impression of value -- and gets you closer to your asking price. |
$500
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Save
for the
holidays
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Use that $50 to inspire
yourself to start a holiday account. Follow up with another
$50 every month and in just a year you'll have $600 plus (plus
interest) to pay for vacations or maybe a family reunion wingding.
And you save more by limiting your holiday spending to cash
onlyand cutting out credit card interest charges. |
$600+
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Stop
buying
butts |
Hey, smokers -- use
the money to kick the cigarette habit. Buy a four-week supply
of nicotine patches by using the mail-in rebate. Save what used
to be your cigarette money each day and buy another four weeks
of patches to completely kick the habit. After eight weeks,
you will be able to put aside a minimum of $15 a week -- a lot
more if you smoke heavily. |
$660+
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Don't
stop
here
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You've got the idea
now -- $50 isn't megabucks, but it isn't chump change, either,
if you use it to start incrementally saving or paying down debt.
Whether it's an Education IRA for Junior or a chunk out of the
Visa bill, it's up to you to make it pay off big. |
A lifetime of stronger financial habits.
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-- Posted: Jan. 5, 2000
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