What to do with the Extra Cash you Make through ParqEx
ParqEx loves featuring guest writers, especially when they have a mission to share strategies for making money and growing your net worth – all from your laptop. If you’re interested in living a financially independent, location free lifestyle, you’ve come to the right place! This week, we’re proud to feature Drew Mentock from Money Nomad. Money Nomad discusses the location independent lifestyle and how to make a living remotely. If you’d like to author a guest piece for ParqEx, let us know at marketing@parqex.com
As a ParqEx owner, at the end of each month, you get a nice chunk of supplementary cash for renting out your unused parking space. Sure, it might be tempting to spend this on a crazy night out, a fancy dinner, weekend getaways or even that pair of shoes you always thought cost too much.
On the other hand, this may not be the smartest way to use your money. If the money you get simply gets transferred into your bank account and is then considered disposable, it won’t really add that much value to your life. Eventually, perhaps at the end of the year, you will look back on all the money you made from ParqEx and wonder where it went.
The best thing to do with this extra cash is to have a plan for it—make sure every cent is allocated in a specific way. In the end, you may still decide to put it towards an out of town vacation, but at least you will have thought about what to do with it as soon as you get it.
Pay Off Debt
A large portion of Americans are in debt. In fact, the average individual owes over $7,000 to credit card companies, so why not use some of the money you make from ParqEx to get your net worth into the positives.
Even paying an extra $20 per month towards what you owe can make a big difference. For example, say you have a $5,000 credit card debt, with an interest rate of 18%, and a minimum payment of $80 per month. By only making the minimum payment, it will take you over 15 years to pay off your debt (provided you’re no longer making purchases with that credit card). By adding an extra $20, which makes your total monthly payment $100, you will be out of debt in less than 8 years and have saved yourself thousands in the long run.
In all actuality, the average ParqEx parking space owner makes about $350 per month — much more than $20 — so they have the potential to get out of debt even quicker.
Invest
People often say “I want to invest but I’m broke—if only I had extra money to put in an investment account.”
Well, the good news is that when you’re renting a parking space with ParqEx, you will no longer have this excuse. The bad news is that now you will have to figure out how to invest.
There are so many different ways to invest and, contrary to what you may think, you can effectively and wisely invest smaller amounts of money.
There are also several apps that allow you to invest a very small amount of money—some that don’t even have a minimum deposit.
What’s important to remember is that you shouldn’t take a bunch of huge risks trying to get rich quick. If you’re patient and willing to learn from your investing mistakes, you’ll eventually learn how to make your money work for you.
Put it Towards one of your Goals
Do you hope to one day own your own business? Go back to school? Or do you need a nest egg to support you while you try your hand at freelancing? Well, why not use what you make from ParqEx to save towards your goals.
You can do this by setting aside a percentage of your total ParqEx earnings at the end of each month. This way, ParqEx will be doing more than giving you some extra cash. It will be actively helping you to pursue your dream, which adds a lot more value to your life than another night out on the town.
Make Sure You’re Putting Money Aside for Taxes
When you make money u
sing ParqEx, you need to be prepared to claim it when you file your taxes at the end of each year. This is really important to keep in mind every time you get paid from ParqEx. If you’re not actively putting a portion of your earnings aside, you’ll end up owing money at the end year that you aren’t prepared for.
How much you owe will depend on the tax bracket you fall in, which is based on your overall household income for that year. Either way, a good rule of thumb is to put aside 30% of what you make. This will likely be more than what’s necessary but at least you’ll know you have enough to cover yourself.
Plus, if you put aside extra m
oney, that will just mean you have more to spend at the end of the year. In a way, it’s kind of like an extra refund.
Use Apps to Help You Save
Now that you have an idea of what you want to do with the money made from ParqEx, you’ll want to figure out how you’re going to allocate money towards each of your financial objectives. Since ParqEx’s is an app that’s helping you make extra money, it makes sense that you also consider using an app to help you save money.
Apps such as Qapital, Acorn, and Digit are designed to help you automatically save money. They all work in their own way, so you should review each and decide which one works best for you.
