If You Have More Than $1,000 in Your Checking Account, Make These 8 Moves

You’ve done it. You’ve built up a little cushion in your bank account — $1,000! It feels good, right? Those days of checking your account balance in a panic are behind you.

Congrats! You’re on the right path. Now it’s time to think about some longer-term goals. What do you want to accomplish next with your money? Do you need to save more? Do you want to buy a home someday? Invest?

What’s the next step to take? What are some specific things you can do to elevate your finances?

We’ve got some ideas for you:

1. Invest in Real Estate Without the Volatility — You Only Need $500

You’re not the only one who daydreams about making money in your sleep. Investing in real estate is one of the best ways to earn passive income. The only problem? You need to have lots of money.

Well, you used to.

With a company called Connect Invest you can get your foot in the door for just $500, investing in what are called short notes. And, if you make your first investment within 40 days of signing up, you can earn a $50 bonus.

Basically, you’re buying the debt that wealthy developers take on to fund their real estate projects — and they have to pay you back, with up to 9% (annualized rate) in interest… while you sleep.

With Connect Invest, you’ll invest for terms of 6, 12, or 24 months, during which you’ll receive monthly fixed-interest payments between 7.5% and 9% (annualized rate). You could earn a legit passive income with those rates — and it’s way higher than what you’d earn with your savings account!

Connect Invest carefully vets each real estate project and borrower. And don’t worry, all loans are backed by real estate collateral. In the rare event of a default, Connect Invest’s sister company will foreclose on the property with the investors’ approval and sell it to recover your investment.

Set up your free account, and start investing today.

2. Cancel Your Car Insurance

You might not even realize it, but your car insurance company is probably overcharging you. In fact, they’re kind of counting on you not noticing. Luckily, this problem is easy to fix.

Don’t waste your time browsing insurance sites for a better deal. A company called Insurify shows you all your options at once — people who do this save up to $996 per year.

If you tell them a bit about yourself and your vehicle, they’ll send you personalized quotes so you can compare them and find the best one for you.

Tired of overpaying for car insurance? It takes just five minutes to compare your options with Insurify and see how much you could save on car insurance.

3. Get Up to 3.90% APY With This High-Yield Cash Account​

It’s hard not to cringe when you see a bank statement full of fees. With Wealthfront, you can forget those annoying bank fees and earn a whopping 3.25% APY through partner banks on your cash — nearly 8x the national average savings rate.

Enjoy unlimited transfers, same-day withdrawals, zero account fees, and no minimum balance requirements to earn 3.25% APY¹. Right now, Wealthfront is giving your savings a little boost with an extra 0.65% APY for three months on up to $150,000. That brings your total to 3.90% variable APY when you open your first Cash Account as a Wealthfront client.

And, you can get started with Wealthfront with only a $1 (terms and conditions apply).

Join Wealthfront today and make your money work for you— not your bank.

4. You Can Become a Real Estate Investor for as Little as $10

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. 

An investment called the Fundrise Flagship Fund 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. The Flagship Fund does all the heavy lifting.

With an initial investment as low as $10, your money will be invested in the Fund, which already owns more than $1 billion worth of real estate around the country, from apartment complexes to the thriving housing rental market to larger last-mile e-commerce logistics centers.

Want to invest more? Many investors choose to invest $1,000 or more. This is a Fund that can fit any type of investor’s needs. Once invested, you can track your performance from your phone and watch as properties are acquired, improved, and operated. As properties generate cash flow, you could earn money through quarterly dividend payments. And over time, you could earn money off the potential appreciation of the properties. 

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 the Fundrise Flagship Fund.

This is a paid advertisement. Carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the Fundrise Flagship Fund before investing. This and other information can be found in the Fund’s prospectus. Read them carefully before investing.

5. Get up to $100,000 From This Company

Every month, you make payments toward your credit card debt. But you never seem to make a dent. It’s because of those sky-high interest rates — as much as 24% interest. It can feel impossible to get ahead.

But MoneyLion could help you find offers to cut your interest rate by 70% as soon as tomorrow. 

Here’s how it works: MoneyLion can match you with new loan offers at a lower interest rate — as low as 5.99% APR*. That’s 70%* lower than the average credit card interest rate. And it’s the key to finally getting ahead.

You can use this new loan to pay off all your existing credit card debt, leaving you with one (cheaper) monthly payment that will help you get out of debt faster. If you have a credit score of at least 620, you could get up to $100,000 with no collateral. Terms go up to 240 months.

Worried you won’t qualify? Take two minutes to check online and see if you could cut your credit card interest rate by 70%.

*Based on creditworthiness. Average credit card interest rate is 24.72% as of 8/14/24, according to Forbes Advisor’s weekly credit card rates report.

6. Get a Month of Internet Covered and Up to $300 Back

What if your internet bill started with an actual win for once? With T-Mobile 5G Home Internet, get a month on them via bill credit. That is real, instant savings before you even plug anything in, and there are no hidden fees lurking in the background ready to ruin the mood.

And here is the part your budget will high-five you for. When you switch, you can get up to $300 back. Getting a month on T-Mobile and bonus cash after you join is basically the internet version of finding money in an old coat pocket.

You also get a 15-day worry-free test drive, so you can try it out with no stress and no commitment.

Want to see if this savings combo works at your address? Enter your info and get your answer in seconds.

7. Cancel Your Interest Until 2027 and Get a $300 Bonus

If your credit card balance won’t budge, it’s probably not you — it’s the interest.

The Citi Strata® Card gives you a simple way to catch your breath. You get 0% intro APR for 15 months on purchases and balance transfers (18.49% – 28.49% Variable after into, based on credit worthiness), which means more than a year where your payments actually do something instead of getting swallowed by interest. Just keep in mind there’s a 3% balance transfer fee in the first four months (then 5% after).

But you also get a nice little bonus: earn 30,000 ThankYou® Points after spending $1,000 in the first three months of account opening. That’s $300 in value, basically for buying the stuff you were already planning to buy.

And the rewards stack up:

• 3x points in your Self-Select Category
• 5x on hotels, car rentals and attractions through Citi Travel
• 3x at supermarkets, select transit and gas/EV charging
• 2x at restaurants
• 1x on everything else
• No annual fee

If you’re ready to stop letting interest win, check out the Citi Strata® Card and start making real progress.

Rates and Fees

8. Get Paid $225/Month While Watching Movie Previews

If we told you that you could get paid while watching videos on your computer, you’d probably laugh. But we’re serious.

By signing up for a free account with InboxDollars, you could add up to $225 a month to your pocket.

Unlike other sites, InboxDollars pays you in cash — no points or gift cards. It’s already paid its users more than $56 million.

Signing up takes about one minute, and you’ll immediately receive a $5 bonus to get you started.