Spend, spend, and then spend some more. We all spend money, but what if we looked at spending money in specific ways to earn more money and improve our lives at the same time? Although not usually considered investments, there are ways to spend money to earn more.
College Education: The cost of college has steadily increased over the years, but it is still a good investment. Typically, people with college degrees earn more money and have lower rates of unemployment then those without a college degree. The same is true for advanced degrees. Even if you have to take out student loans, you usually are able to pay them off over a very long period of time, which provides you the opportunity to pay off the balance in small increments, while increasing your earnings at the same time. Beware that you must carefully choose a major, the appropriate school to attend, and make the right career moves.
Training & Education: While this may not entail going back to college, you always need to update your skillset and knowledge. It can be training seminars, classes, courses, and even self-study materials and books. This will make you more valuable to your employer, or to your customers if you are self-employed.
Business Spending/Investments: As a business owner, if you wisely spend money on productive employees, equipment, and marketing, then this will increase your chances of higher profits. Consider this: if you hire a salesman and pay him/her $50,000, and they increase sales by $350,000, then that is a seven-fold return on sales. If your profit margin is 20% before the cost of the salesman, then your return on your investment is 40%. Try to achieve a return like that in the stock market!
It’s easy to get wrapped up into spending your money on the wrong things, while spending money on the right things will greatly help you out financially and otherwise.