How to Save Your Money Earned from InboxDollars

This is a guest post by Financial Wolves, a blog about making money with side hustles to help you achieve financial freedom.

In this ever-challenging economy, more and more people are finding it necessary to have a new gig that adds some cash to their wallets. InboxDollars is just but one of the many avenues that people are using to earn online. With this platform, you can earn some extra cash online by performing various tasks on your computer, smartphone, or tablet. 

Although numerous illegitimate online sites may purport to pay for various activities, InboxDollars is one of the legitimate ones. By just signing up, you earn $5 entry bonus, cash that you will withdraw after you reach the required threshold. Getting to add an extra $40 or more to your income is a good thing but, how do you use this additional cash? 

Many articles have been written to enlighten people on the various ways they can use to earn that extra money. In this article, however, we will look at how you can save the money you earn from InboxDollars instead of just using it. 

Sometimes, making money is not an issue; knowing how to save or invest the money you receive is the challenge.

Top Ways to Save Money You’ve Earned on InboxDollars

There are various ways you can spend or save the money you earn from InboxDollars, and although the funds may not be much, it can make a big difference. Here are some steps and methods that can help ensure that you don’t spend all the money you earn from InboxDollars.

 1. Make a Budget

The first and most crucial step is to make a budget based on the income you will get and the expenses you anticipate. Creating a budget helps you to put a limit on how much you want to spend and allows you to avoid overspending. Even though you might not earn that much from InboxDollars, if the income is consistent, it can be used to cater to some expenses. 

For example, if you get $40 from the site, it is wise to decide how much of this money you will spend and how much you will save. Since this is cash that was not in your monthly income, you might end up spending all of it without doing anything tangible or beneficial.

A budget will guide you and make sure you don’t spend it all. Things like finding ways to get free electricity can go a long way in helping you improve your personal finances

2. Plan to Save and Choose Something to Save For

After you have made your budget, the next step will be to plan what to save and for what purpose. In most cases, it is wise to save 10-15% of the income, but in the case of InboxDollars income, you can increase the percentage as it's extra cash. If you are having a hard time saving, you should try considering the saving amount as if it was another regular expense like buying groceries. This will help to enhance your saving habits. 

Deciding on what you are saving for may also help you get serious on it. You should have a clear goal of what you want, after how long and how much it will cost. This way, you will be able to stick to your plan in anticipation of achieving your goal. There are numerous things you can save for, including vacation, retirement, your dream nerd wedding, your kid's college education, and many others. 

Tools like Picture My Goals can help you greatly in tracking your progress towards achieving your goals using your mobile phone.

3. Saving Account

Opening a saving account can be a significant step towards saving the money earned from InboxDollars. The account will help you accumulate some good cash which you can even use later to invest in larger investment projects. Banks saving accounts will surely not earn you huge returns as they give a low rate of return, but it’s a good start to ensure you don’t misuse your money.

The significant advantage of savings accounts is that you can invest with very little money and still earn some interest, which also comes with zero risks of loss. Although they are not high making investment plans, saving accounts can lead you there.

 4. Use the Income to Pay for Debt

Another great way to save the money you earn from InboxDollars is using it to pay down your debt faster. If for example, you have a monthly loan of like $300, using an extra $30 per month from your InboxDollars income will go a long way in reducing your loan. $30 every month will amount to $360 in a year.

Reducing your loan by $360 per year will significantly reduce the repayment period, which means that you will finish earlier. This is an excellent way of making sure that your income goes to a right course instead of just spending it. Fully repaying your loan will guarantee you a chance of taking another loan which you even use to invest and improve your finances.

Since InboxDollars is a source of extra income which was not planned for in your monthly income plans, using the income to repay a loan is a prudent idea. Many may think that the money earned from this site is insignificant, but making it regularly for an extended period can have a significant difference in your finances.

If for instance, you have a credit card balance of $800 with an annual interest rate of 15.99%, paying off that card will help you lock a rate of return on your money of almost 16% virtually forever. Reducing the $800 by $360 in a year from the InboxDollars income will ensure you clear your card balance on time.

5. Investing 

Not all investments require vast sums of money to start. Some investments will need just some few bucks, and you are good to start. Seeing that InboxDollars may not be a source of vast amounts of money, you can look out for investment plans that suit the much you can get. 

There are multiple online investment options offered by various platforms that require small amounts. These platforms may include:

•   Betterment

Betterment is among the best small investors with whom you can invest the few bucks from InboxDollars income. The platform will offer professional management on your portfolio and at significantly low fees. Betterment platform does not require any minimum account deposit for the initial deposits. 

You can start investing with as low as $100 with an annual maintenance fee of 0.35% of your account balance. This management fee reduces as your account balance increases. With Betterment platform, you can comfortably invest the little money you get from InboxDollars to earn more money in the future.

•   Lending Club

This is an online peer-to-peer lending platform which connects borrowers and lenders. The lenders/investors offer cash for the borrowers to get loans. You, as the investor, will receive returns for your investment. The reward rates are, and you can earn a significant amount of money through this method.

With as little as $25, you can invest in a single loan, also known as a note. This means that since the initial investment minimum is $1,000, you can allocate your portfolio between 40 different notes. The major setback of Lending Club is that some states will require you to have a particular minimum net worth for you to invest.

•   M1 Finance

Similar to Betterment, M1 Finance allows an investor to invest in multiple verticals, although also, it enables the investor to trade for free both in stocks and EFTs. The platform has introduced a new and high perspective on investing. M1 Finance brokerage has the most significant number of investments with zero fees available in any brokerage.

The platform allows the investor to buy fractional shares and therefore reducing the required amount for investment. For example, if a Microsoft stock costs $400 a share, you as the investor can buy a $50 stock to own 12.5% of the share. The best thing with M1 Finance is that you will receive free financial analysis before you make any investment with them.

With M1 Finance, you can easily invest the little you get from InboxDollars and get higher future returns.

•   Invest with Prosper

Prosper is almost similar to Lending Club, and they operate in much the same way. With as little as $25, you can invest with Prosper and spread several hundred dollars across multiple loans. You don’t need to have thousands of dollars to start investing with Prosper, and therefore, it makes good sense to use InboxDollars income to do so. Prosper states that their average annual return on the notes is around 16%, which indeed is an excellent rate of return.

Although just like Lending Club, it is affected by the minimum net worth requirement in some states, this type of investing is worth your while. A significant drawback for Prosper is that you can incur losses if several borrowers on the loans you are holding defaults on their repayments. It is not like in banks where the FDIC insurance protects your investments.

•   Fundrise

Fundrise is an online investment platform that has transformed real estate investing and made it easy. Think of it as a real estate crowdfunding site with options for non-accredited investors. Traditionally, real estate investing was left to the big players in the economy with the average citizen standing no chance of investing. Fundrise investing platform has completely changed this norm, allowing the average earner to get a share in the real estate investing cake.

With Fundrise, you can invest in real estate with as little as $500 and get a good investment portfolio. Through the platform, investors can invest in real estate even without becoming a landlord or flipping houses. The platform relies on crowdfunding approach to get enough capital to invest in real estate developments. 

Related: Make 500 Dollars Fast Using Swagbucks, the free rewards app. 

Whenever the real estate developments earn money, you also make money. Fundrise, therefore, is an incredible platform you can use to invest the little income you get from InboxDollars. This will help you to make a significant change in your financial future. Don’t misuse that money just because you consider it little, invest it, and earn big in the future.

 6. Save for your Retirement 

Income from InboxDollars can form a great source of money for your retirement plan. Since this is extra money which is not on your paycheck, using it for the long-term retirement plan can be very wise. You can use this income to contribute to your retirement plan and get good cash when you retire. Don’t let retirement become a dull and pathetic stage of your life; use these little amounts to make it better.

For example, if you inject $360 every year for 30 years, you will have put aside $10,800 at the end of the period. The advantage of retirement plans, especially the traditional IRA is that they are fully tax-deductible. Also, any returns that you will earn on the investment are tax-deferred up until you start withdrawing your funds after retirement.

For the retirement plans, you can choose to go with either a traditional IRA or use Roth IRA. Although in Roth IRA the contributions are not tax-deductible, they still have the advantage of being tax-deferred until you retire.

Conclusion on Saving Your Money

Most people may view InboxDollars as just another additional source of money for spending. But, there are numerous ways you can ensure that the income you get from the platform benefits you even more. 

I believe this article offers you great insights on how to best save the money you earn from InboxDollars.

Are you ready to save your hard-earned money? 

Author Bio: Financial Wolves is a blog focused on helping you make more money to achieve financial freedom. After repaying student loans, I’ve shifted my focus to make more money from side hustles, real estate, freelancing and the online economy. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook. 

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