You want to start investing but can’t find the time for investment research and education. If you want to start investing, you should certainly find some time, but in the meantime, here’s what you could do right now.

1. Eliminate your debt

Eliminating debt is not a classic example of investing. But I think that should be seen in paying down credit card debt as a kind of investment. The reason for this is the fact that average credit rates are 14% per year. You’ll have to work really hard to get above 14%, and not to mention it can be much higher, up to 20 percent or more. Keep in mind that the average rate of return on the US stock market is approximately 10.5%. So, if you have $100 in your pocket and you don’t need that money too much, go right now and pay off your debt, even if it’s a small part.

If you have multiple credit cards, you should pay the one with the highest rate. For example, suppose you have three credit cards: Credit Card A with a debt of $1,000 and a fee of 15%, Credit Card B with a debt of $3,000 and a fee of 16%, and Credit Card credit C with a debt of $200 and a rate of 18%. . You must first pay off the debt on credit card C, and then start paying off the debt on credit card B.

There is another track that is general in life: simplify. That means you should tend to eliminate the number of credit cards in the game. The reason is that you can’t keep a long list of credit cards. If you have ten credit cards, then there are 10 different debts, 10 different rates, and every factor that could be specific is multiplied by 10. So, to keep track of what’s going on with your credit cards, you need to check at least 30 and more parameters. It takes time to find all the necessary data. Also, if something is too complicated that would lead you not to do it. And not tracking your credit cards is very dangerous.

Does it mean you shouldn’t have any credit card? Yes, almost any credit card generates some expenses even if you don’t have any debt with it. It is much better to have cash instead of debt. On the other hand, life is full of unexpected events, so some kind of cushion is certainly necessary in an emergency. So what should I do? Eliminate all your credit cards and take one with the lowest rate and the lowest annual fee. And don’t use it.

2. Quit smoking and junk food

What does smoking have in common with investing? First of all, smoking costs you. You can calculate how much money you smoke each year relatively easily. Determine how many packs you smoke each month, multiply by 12 and the price of a single pack. And that’s not all. If you smoke there is a greater chance that you will contract some type of disease in your life, and any disease, even if it is not that dangerous, will take money out of your pockets in the form of medicines and in the form of less income. And there’s more. If you want to buy some insurance, smokers tend to pay more for it.

What does junk food have in common with investing? More than you think. Junk food is almost as dangerous as smoking. Eating a lot of junk food leads to poor health and the same problem with money as smoking.

3. Control your expenses

Use your favorite spreadsheet program and start tracking your expenses. Keep it simple so you can do it regularly. Quantity, date and category is enough for the start. The category is your expense classification. For example, gas, tires, broken windshield, you could put it in the car category. One category could be junk food, eating out, or something like that. For some time do nothing, just control the expenses. After several months you will notice if you need more categories or adjust your system. Anyway, after several months, you could start with the analysis of the recorded expenses, that is, add them up using their categories. Then you could act accordingly. For example, you could trade in your car, as it might be cheaper than using an existing one.

4. Find a blue chip that allows drip investment

What are you talking about? First, blue chips are very large and stable companies. Drip investing is a type of investment where one might invest a small amount of money on a regular basis. For example, you could invest in Coca Cola as low as $10 per month. Ten dollars a month is certainly doable for anyone. Don’t you like Coca-Cola? Try Pepsi! Or try Google with “drip stock list”.