Seven Money Cheat Codes

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Well folks it’s been a couple weeks since I was fighting for attention in your inbox.

Don’t fear, not much has changed as I’ve been sticking to my usual strategy of dollar cost averaging into ETFs. My most recent purchases were adding to QQQ and QQQJ two weeks ago. If you aren’t familiar with QQQ or QQQJ check out this thread comparing the two.

In other news, Apple unveiled there new M1 chip, gas prices are skyrocketing, and the new Top Gun movie came out (talk to me Goose).

This week’s email is a recap of a question I asked on Twitter asking people their favorite money hack. Below you’ll find the best seven.

Note: If this email is appearing in your spam you can fix that by dragging it to your main inbox.

“You must gain control over your money or the lack of it will forever control you.” - Dave Ramsey

1. Pay Yourself First – Sounds simple? That’s because it is. Paying yourself first can be a major improvement to your finances. The reason this works so well is that it can be automated in a way that money is taken out of your paycheck and sent to your brokerage/savings before the direct deposit comes in. Since you never saw the money hit your account, it’s like you never had it in the first place.

2. Leveraging Your 9-5 Skills – Though Twitter wants you to believe everyone is an entrepreneur, the majority of people work a consistent 9-5. Depending on your day job, you might have learned a few skills that you can leverage even when you are clocked out. Here an example of just this:

3. Not Chasing Material Possessions – Being a recent college graduate I am seeing this one firsthand. Everyone wants to rush out and get a new vehicle, buy that new phone, upgrade their wardrobe, etc. While some “things” are worth spending money on, it’s important not to drag yourself into the infinite loop of chasing material possessions.

4. Cash Back Credit Cards – Credit cards are a double-edged sword. When used correctly they can be a way to earn cash back on routine purchases. When used incorrectly, credit cards are a way to buy something you probably shouldn’t have any business spending money on in the first place.

I recently signed up for my second card, the Chase Freedom Flex, and have earned around $300 cashback so far. The cashback ranges from 1%-5% depending on the category. For example, this month Amazon purchases earn 5% cash back. So for every $100 I spend on Amazon I get $5 back. While my example is on a small scale, I’ve seen businesses earn thousands of dollars in rewards by using a credit card with good rewards to pay for product, services, gas, etc.

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One of my favorite features is the compare tool shown below.

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5. Selling Options – Selling options is a strategy that allows you to collect a premium on a stock of which you either own 100 shares, or have the cash to purchase 100 shares of said stock. While I don’t use this strategy yet, mainly because I don’t own 100 shares of a stock I’m comfortable selling options on, I have friends who use this strategy to generate thousands of dollars a week. If you want to learn for yourself, click HERE for a short guide by my friend Business Famous on selling covered calls.

6. Compound Interest – This one probably isn’t a surprise but it’s extremely relevant. One way I create content for Twitter is by playing around with a compound interest calculator. Using one of these calculators allows you to put in different investment amounts, time frames, and return rates. By changing around these numbers it’s easy to see how compound interest can take over.

For example, check out the chart below. It shows $500 invested per month over 30 years with an average annual return of 9%. Your total after those 30 years would be $825,027 with $644,527 of that being thanks to compound interest.

7. Real Estate – Last but not least is real estate, specifically house hacking. For those who don’t know house hacking is when you buy a house or duplex and rent out the other rooms/units. By renting out the other part of your home you are hoping to essentially “live for free” by using the income from rent to pay the mortgage on your property. A popular strategy is to buy a home, house hack it, and then repeat this every year or two. Do this for a few years and you then have multiple properties under your belt that basically paid for themselves.

Not a meme…but it’s cool.

Resources:

M1 Finance - Open an account and get $50 free when you make a deposit of $100 or more.

Simply Invest With ETFs - Learn the in’s and out’s of ETFs and why they are the simplest and most effective way to invest.

Turbocharge Your Dividends - Generate extra income by selling covered calls on your stocks and ETFs.

Tweet Hunter - Automate your Twitter and build an account that will pay you $100 a week.

Personal Capital - Track all of your investments in one place.

Nothing in this email is intended to serve as financial advice. Do your own research. Thanks for reading, if you have any questions, comments, suggestions, etc. about the email send me a DM on twitter. See you soon!