How To Invest If You Don't Have Much Money

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If you're sitting on at least $1,000 and it's scratching an itch in your pocket, consider investing it rather than spending it on something frivolous. But the question that then beckons us is: Can you really make money quickly investing with just $1,000?

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The answer to that is a resounding, "Yes."

While there are plenty of ways you can make money fast by doing odd jobs or generating it through things like affiliate marketing or email marketing, actually making money by investing with just $1,000 might present more challenges, and frankly, more risks. That is, of course, unless you know what you're doing.

However, all risks aside, even if you're living paycheck-to-paycheck, you still may be able to conjure up $1,000 to put towards an investment if you're creative.

Before you dive in, there are some mindset principles that you need to adhere to. Moving beyond the scarcity mentality is crucial. Too many of us live our lives with the notion that there's never enough of things to go around -- that we don't have enough time, money, connections or opportunities to grow and live life at a higher level.

That's just a belief system. Think and you shall become. If you think you can't get rich or even make a sizable amount of money by investing it into lucrative short-term investment vehicles, then it's much more of a mindset issue than anything else. You don't need to invest a lot of money with any of the following strategies.

Sure, having more money to invest would be ideal. But it's not necessary. As long as you can identify the right strategy that works for you, all you need to do is scale. It's similar to building an offer online, identifying the right conversion rate through optimization, then scaling that out. If you know you can invest a dollar and make two dollars, you'll continue to invest a dollar.

Start small. Try different methods. Track and analyze your results. Don't get so caught up on how you're going to get wildly rich overnight. That won't happen. But if you can leverage one of the following methods to make money by investing small, short bursts of capital, then all you have to do is scale -- plain and simple. You don't have to overthink it.

Related: 13 Easy Investing Apps and Websites for Millennials

How to invest $1,000 to make money fast

If you have $1,000 to invest, you can make money a variety of ways. But there are some methods that trump others. The play here is speed. We're not talking about long-term, buy-hold strategies. Those are terrific if you're looking to invest your capital over at least a two- to five-year period. We're talking about ways you can make money fast.

Even when it comes to markets that might take time to move or have longer cycles, investments can often turn into realized profits and quick gains by leveraging the right strategies. What's the right strategy? Sure, long-term works. Real estate and other time-intensive strategies will eventually get you there.

Raghee Horner of Simpler Futures says that "long-term interest rates are the next big trade," while Jim Cramer of Mad Money says that "there are tons of people who are late to trends by nature and adopt a trend after it's no longer in fashion." By jumping in and out of long-term investments like that, you're far more likely to lose your shirt than if you time your short-term plays just right.

It's not so much about trying to catch the latest trend. It's not about becoming a webinar guru like Jason Fladlien or Liz Benny -- or even building out sales funnels or optimizing your conversions. Investing your money is more about paying careful attention to indicators that can really move the needle in the short-term as opposed to the longer term. It's also about leveraging and hedging your investments the right way without putting too much risk on the line.

That doesn't mean that you don't need a long-term strategy. You definitely do. But if you're looking to create some momentum and generate some capital quickly, in the near-term, then the following investment strategies might help you do just that.

1. Play the stock market.

Day trading is not for the faint of heart. It takes grit and determination. It takes understanding the different market forces at play. This isn't something intended for amateurs. But, if learned and learned well, it is a way where you can quickly -- within the span of hours -- make a significant amount of money with a relatively small investment.

There are also ways to hedge your bets when it comes to playing the stock market. Whether you play the general market or you trade penny stocks, ensure that you set stop-loss limits to cut any potential for significant depreciations. Now, if you're an advanced trader, you likely understand that market makers often move stocks to play into either our fear of failure or our greed. And they'll often push a stock down to a certain price to enhance that fear and play right into their pockets.

When it comes to penny stocks, this is further exaggerated. So you have to understand what you're doing and be able to analyze the market forces and make significant gains. Pay attention to moving averages. Often, when stocks break through 200-day moving averages, there's potential for either large upside or big downside.

Related: What's a Cause of Stock Market Crashes? Too Much Testosterone, Science Says.

2. Invest in a money-making course.

Investing in yourself is one of the best possible investments you can make. While you might not be able to pinpoint an actualized return on investment, there's no money that's better spent. Invest in yourself. Invest in your education. Learn. Adapt. Grow. Discover what you're passionate about.

There are loads of money-making courses on the internet. The hard part is choosing the right one. From ebooks to social media marketing, search engine optimization and beyond, the possibilities are endless. While many money-making gurus might pop up on social media, not all courses are created alike. Spend time doing your due diligence and research to choose the one that's right for you.

Related: Mark Cuban's 3 'Smart Money Moves Everyone Should Make'

3. Trade commodities.

Trading commodities like gold and silver present a rare opportunity, especially when they're trading at the lower end of their five-year range. Metrics like that give a strong indication on where commodities might be heading. Carolyn Boroden of Fibonacci Queen says, "I have long-term support and timing in the silver markets because silver is a solid hedge on inflation. Plus, commodities like silver are tangible assets that people can hold onto."

The fundamentals of economics drives the price of commodities. As supply dips, demand increases and prices rise. Any disruption to a supply chain has a severe impact on prices. For example, a health scare to livestock can significantly alter prices as scarcity reins free. However, livestock and meat are just one form of commodities.

Metals, energy and agriculture are other types of commodities. To invest, you can use an exchange like the London Metal Exchange or the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, as well as many others. Often, investing in commodities means investing in futures contracts. Effectively, that's a pre-arranged agreement to buy a specific quantity at a specific price in the future. These are leveraged contracts, providing both big upside and a potential for large downside, so exercise caution.

Related: What Starbucks Teaches About Marketing Commodity Products

4. Trade cryptocurrencies.

Cryptocurrencies are on the rise. While trading them might seem risky, if you hedge your bets here as well, you could limit some fallout from a poorly-timed trade. There are plenty of platforms for trading cryptocurrencies as well. But before you dive in, educate yourself. Find courses on platforms like Udemy, Kajabi or Teachable. And learn the intricacies of trading things like Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin and others.

While there are over 3,000 cryptocurrencies in existence, only a handful really matter today. Find an exchange, research the trading patterns, look for breakouts of long-term moving averages and get busy trading. You can use exchanges like Coinbase, Kraken or Cex.io, along with many others, to make the actual trades.

Related: 6 Cryptocurrencies You Should Know About (and None of Them Are Bitcoin)

5. Use peer-to-peer lending.

Peer-to-peer lending is a hot investment vehicle these days. While you might not get rich investing in a peer-to-peer lending network, you could definitely make a bit of coin. Which lending platform do you use? Today, there are many to choose from, but the most popular ones include Lending Club, Peer Form and Prosper.

How does this work? Peer-to-peer lending platforms allow you to give small bursts of capital to businesses or individuals while collecting an interest rate on the return. You get more money than you would if you placed it in a savings account, plus your risk is limited because the algorithms are doing much of the work for you.

Once you identify the offer, you can dig in and do some research -- then, you can either take the deal or not. You'll have your risk evaluated based on a proprietary algorithm that includes employment and credit history, and you'll be able to make the decision to invest based on a variety of well-thought-out data.

Related: Why Peer-to-Peer Lending Could Be a Good Investment Choice

6. Trade options.

When it comes to options, Tom Sosnoff at Tastyworks says, "Trade small and trade often." What type should you trade? There are loads of vehicles, such as FOREX and stocks. The best way to make money by investing when it comes to options is to jump in at around 15 days before corporate earnings are released. What type should you buy? Money calls.

The optimal time to sell those money calls is the day before the company releases its earnings. There's just so much excitement and anticipation around earnings that it typically drives up the price, giving you a consistent winner. But don't hold through the earnings. That's a gamble you don't want to take if you're not a seasoned investor, says John Carter from Simpler Trading.

Related: 2 Strategies for Making Money Day Trading With a Bit Less Risk

7. Flip real estate contracts.

Making money with real estate might seem like a long-term prospect, but it's not. There are ways you can take as little as $500 to $1,000 and invest it in flipping real estate contracts to make money fast. How? Use a system like Kent Clothier's REWW to first understand how the market works. It'll then provide you with the data and tools to identify vacant homes, distressed sellers and cash buyers.

While most people think that real estate is won by flipping traditional homes and doing the renovations yourself, the fastest money you can make in real estate involves flipping the actual contract itself. It's arbitrage. Identify the motivated sellers and cash buyers, bring them together and effectively broker the deal. It might seem odd on the first go, but once you get the hang of it, you can become a mini-mogul in the real estate industry by simply scaling out this one single strategy. It works, and it's touted by some of the world's most successful real estate investors.