[ ! ] The Sugarbuzz Project

I’ve spent the last couple of months dabbling in the stock market. So far, I’ve had some fun with it.

Have I made any money? Pfft. No.

Actually, I’ve lost money. I’m not really worried about that though, because rule number one of the stock market is never invest more than you can afford to lose. You hear a lot of horror stories of people losing their homes, savings and other stuff because of stocks crashing. Truth be told, if you don’t invest with credit, you won’t lose everything.

Basically, I’m doing the whole ‘stock market investing for beginners’ thing. I’m not throwing huge wads of cash into this. I don’t have any credit cards attached to my brokerage account, and I’m certainly not taking out loans to throw into things. What I do is I take a few bucks at a time and toss it in…but only what I can afford to risk…so maybe $20 here and there (which honestly is better than just blowing it on stuff that has no real upside). It’s a small start, but it’s a good place to start for anyone.

But what about brokerage accounts that require minimum amounts to open?

Same principal applies. Take $20 from each paycheck and throw it in a place where you won’t spend it. Repeat. After a few checks, you’ve probably got enough to get started. I recommend stashing it in an online savings account…you’re going to need a bank anyway if you plan to cash out, might as well get one that works well. I personally use Ally Bank. I’ve got no complaints about them.

So with that low entry cost, it’s easier than most people think to start investing in the stock market. It’s also not nearly as painful to lose money, since you aren’t really putting your life savings into it.

I’m still working on putting together a small portfolio…I won’t go into what I have yet because I’m still trying to fumble my way around the market. On that note…what the crap, Facebook?