It’s inevitable. Everyone fails at something. But thankfully, most of those failures won’t show up on your permanent record. We fail at things so often and so grandly that many of us routinely label big-picture victories as losses, by mistake.
Wringing ringless fingers? Expecting to be expectant? Working hard to finally work for yourself?
Your failure to reach some of life’s most heralded milestones, or even basic self-sufficiency, may leave you feeling as if you just can’t keep pace with the pack. Chin up — you’re probably doing better than you think. Find out if any of these seven “failures” could actually put you on the inside track to getting ahead in life and reaching your full potential.
‘Failure’ No. 1: Not Having a Picture-Perfect Wedding
Trust us — you’re not a failure if you lack the resources to pour into pulling off a picture-perfect wedding.
The most important thing is that you’ve found someone to spend the rest of your life with. You can make up for a lack of funds with a little creativity and technology.
If there’s one thing the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us, it’s that just about any event can be conducted completely online. Adding a virtual component to your wedding festivities could help you afford to include everyone on your guest list, if you just don’t have the budget for a blockbuster wedding.
About 43% of newlyweds added a virtual option to their wedding last year, according to the 2021 WeddingWire Newlywed Report.
Along with scaling back the ceremony and accommodating virtual guests, you could also earn a little extra cash on the side to help offset costs. If you don’t have the time or energy for another job, we found a more effortless way to earn some extra cash.
A research company called InboxDollars will pay you to watch short video clips online. All you have to do is choose which videos you want to watch and answer a few quick questions about them afterward.
It’s possible to earn up to $225 a month without having to get another job.
Unlike other sites, InboxDollars pays you in cash — no points or gift cards. It’s already paid its users more than $56 million.
It takes about one minute to sign up, and you’ll immediately get a $5 bonus to get you started.
‘Failure’ No. 2: Not Buying a Brand New Car
If you want to feel like you’re on top of the world, finance as nice of a car as you can afford. And if you want to feel the weight of the world, watch how fast it depreciates.
Yes, driving a brand new car is one of those conventional signs of success, but the average person can’t tell the difference between model years, if the cars are part of the same generation. The average car generation contains about five to seven model years.
Buying a “like new” instead of “brand new” can help keep your budget intact and goals in sight. And you could spend even less on your new car by reviewing your credit scores before you buy.
If you have an error on your credit report (one out of five reports do), you could end up paying more for a car than you should.
Thankfully, a website called Credit Sesame will help you detect any errors — for free. It’ll even help you dispute them.
Salome Buitureria, a working mom in Louisiana, found a major error on her report this way. Using Credit Sesame, she was able to fix the mistake and take additional steps to raise her credit score from 524 to nearly 700.
Now she and her husband feel like they’re in a better position for their biggest goal — purchasing a house.
It only takes about 90 seconds to sign up.
‘Failure’ No. 3. Not Buying a House Before a Certain Age
Is it ever worth it to be “house poor” — that is, you dump so much money into your house (downpayment, mortgage, closing costs, moving expenses) that you have little to no cash on hand?
It might be a safer, less stressful venture to get more aggressive in saving to bolster your retirement accounts to their full potential. But if you’re hellbent on investing in real estate, there are more attainable avenues you can venture down.
If you don’t have the time or money to buy a house yet, you may want to look into real estate investment trusts (REITs). These are funds pooled together from thousands of investors to invest in one property, like a mutual fund.
There are several ways you can invest in REITs, but perhaps the easiest is through an app called Stash. You might have heard of it. It helps folks invest and save small amounts of change. It also helps us invest small amounts into real estate.
If you don’t already use Stash, sign up here.
When you invest your first $5, you’ll get another $5 bonus to invest.* Now, you’ll have access to all of Stash’s tools, including its real estate investments. The app costs $1 a month.
‘Failure’ No. 4: Not Being Out of Debt Yet
Debt isn’t always a bad thing, especially when there’s not a lot of interest attached to it and it gives you the flexibility to address other financial issues. Yet, you might feel like you’re failing if you can’t seem to make any meaningful dents in your debt.
Imagine waking up with no credit card debt. Whether you’re stressed about being in debt forever or you’re just sick of the extra monthly bill, this would be a huge relief.
Impossible, right? But with help from a free website called AmOne, you could wipe out all of your credit card debt by the end of the week.
It will match you with a low-interest loan to pay off all your credit cards at once. Its interest rates start at 3.49% — way lower than the 20% or more you’re probably paying your credit card company. That could save you thousands in the long run.
Plus, you’ll be debt-free that much faster.
AmOne keeps your information confidential and secure, which is probably why after 20 years in business, it still has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.
It takes two minutes to see if you qualify for up to $50,000 online.
‘Failure’ No. 5: Not Getting That Big Promotion
You might feel like you’re failing or falling short of your full potential if you just can’t ever get a hold of that promotion your job has been dangling on a stick in front of you.
While you might not ever get that particular title you’ve been grooming yourself to earn, you can give yourself a promotion and even get a new title: bookkeeper.
You don’t have to be an accountant or good at math to start your own bookkeeping business. As long as you’re motivated, a company called Bookkeepers.com will teach you everything you need to know. It’s one of the leading training courses in the field, and it’ll even give you the first three classes for free.
It’s helped thousands of people launch their own businesses, including Daniel Honan, a military veteran in his 30s. He never considered starting his own company, but he signed up for Bookkeepers.com, and now he’s making around $50,000 a year keeping track of business expenses for his 10 clients.
It only took him three months to get started, taking one class a week. Oh, and he makes his own schedule and is able to spend more time with his wife than ever.
If you’re just a little curious, you just have to submit your email address here to take the first free classes. If you stick with it, you could be running your own business in just a few months.
Quinten Plummer is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder.
*Offer is subject to Promotion Terms and Conditions. To be eligible to participate in this Promotion and receive the bonus, you must successfully open an individual brokerage account in good standing, link a funding account to your Invest account AND deposit $5.00 into your Invest account.
The Penny Hoarder is a Paid Affiliate/partner of Stash.
Investment advisory services offered by Stash Investments LLC, an SEC registered investment adviser. This material has been distributed for informational and educational purposes only, and is not intended as investment, legal, accounting, or tax advice. Investing involves risk.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
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