If You Make These 4 Moves, It’s Almost Impossible Not to Be Richer Next Year

Picture yourself being richer next year. Go on, picture it. Form an image of yourself in your mind, and then add more money.

What would being richer mean to you? Maybe nicer clothes, a better car or home or simply less stress.

Let’s focus. What are some actions you can take right now to make yourself a little richer by next year?

We’ve got four tips for you to up your investment game, pad your savings and make sure you’re not overpaying. If you do these things, it’s almost impossible not to be richer by this time next year.

1. Become a Real Estate Tycoon

Take a look at some of the world’s wealthiest people. What do they have in common? Many invest in large private real estate deals. And here’s the thing: There’s no reason you can’t, too — for as little as $10. 

A company called Fundrise lets you get started in the world of real estate by giving you access to a low-cost, diversified portfolio of private real estate. The best part? You don’t have to be the landlord. Fundrise does all the heavy lifting.

Fundrise’s Starter Portfolio has a minimum of only $10 and is geared toward first-time real estate investors. Your money will be invested in the company’s Flagship Fund, which already owns more than $250 million worth of real estate around the country, from apartment complexes to the red-hot housing rental market to larger last-mile e-commerce logistics centers.

Want to invest more? Fundrise offers a variety of account levels and features to fit every type of investor’s needs. Once invested, you can track your performance on Fundrise’s website and mobile app, and watch as properties are acquired, improved and operated. As tenants pay their rent, you could earn money through quarterly dividend payments, and over time, you could earn money off the potential appreciation of the property. Since 2014, Fundrise investors have earned roughly $100 million in dividends alone.

So if you want to get started in the world of real-estate investing, it takes just a few minutes to sign up and create an account with Fundrise.

*Past performance is not indicative of future results. The publicly filed offering circulars of the issuers sponsored by Rise Companies Corp., not all of which may be currently qualified by the Securities and Exchange Commission, may be found at www.fundrise.com/oc.

2. Surprise Yourself with an Extra $1,857 in Savings This Year

We could all use some more money in our savings account, right? How about an extra $1,857? Yeah, right, you’re saying. Where am I supposed to get that kind of money?

You might already have it.

Yep. An app called Digit finds money you didn’t even know you had — and automatically tucks it away into your savings.

Using Digit, personal finance editor Matt Wiley was able to save $1,857 in a year without even thinking about it.

“It feels weird saying I saved, because I really didn’t do anything,” he says.

Digit takes a look at your spending patterns and tells you exactly how much you can afford to put away. It knows when to save and when to slow down so your funds don’t get too low. Have rent due soon? It’ll go easy on you. Just got paid? Sweet, let’s tuck some of that away.

To start, download Digit and connect your checking account. From there, it’ll get to work. Your first 30 days are free, then it’s $5 a month. Not bad, considering how much it’ll help you save.

Now all you have to do is sit back, relax and watch that savings account grow.

3. Turn Those Crumpled Receipts Into Free Gift Cards

What do you usually do with your receipts? You check out, they hand you a mile-long piece of paper, and you frantically stuff it to the bottom of a grocery bag. Pretty worthless.

But a free app called Fetch Rewards will turn them into gift cards. It partners with tons of brands to give you points for every grocery receipt you share. Then you can exchange them for gift cards to places like Amazon, Walmart, Chipotle and dozens of other retailers.

And it’s perfect for those of us who don’t want to put a ton of work into this. All you have to do is send Fetch a photo of your receipt, and it does everything for you. No scanning barcodes or searching for offers — and you can use it with any grocery receipt.

When you download the app, use the code PENNY to automatically earn 2,000 points when you scan your first receipt — you’ll be well on your way to your first gift card.

Not so bad for a useless receipt, right?

4. Make Sure You’re Not Overpaying

Unfortunately, there’s no getting around certain expenses — like car insurance.

But one way you could save money is by shopping around and comparing rates at least once a year. Most of us don’t do that, according to numerous studies, although who wouldn’t want to lower their own rates and pay less?

So, just like you compare the prices of flights, shoes and laptops before purchasing, why not compare car insurance?

And if you look through a digital marketplace called SmartFinancial, you could be getting rates as low as $22 a month — and saving yourself more than $700 a year.

It takes one minute to get quotes from multiple insurers, so you can see all the best rates side-by-side. Yep — in just one minute you could save yourself $715 this year. That’s some major cash back in your pocket.

So if you haven’t checked car insurance rates in a while, see how much you can save with a new policy.

Picture It

So, go ahead: Make a few smart moves, and picture yourself richer next year.

You can see it, can’t you?

Mike Brassfield ([email protected]) is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder. He’s picturing himself richer next year.