No Need to Eat Roaches: Here’s a Simpler Way to Make Money Without Work

Someone says you can have $1,000 right now.

The only catch is you have to throw it back to “Fear Factor” style and eat roaches. Or give up La Croix (gasp) for a year. Nope, nope, nope.

But seriously: What would you do for $1,000? And once that mysterious, magical entity wired that $1,000 to your bank account, what would you do with it?

A study from Acorns, a micro-investing and savings app, recently posed this question to 3,010 people. What it found was, well, interesting.

Let’s Discuss the Value of $1,000

How far would you go for $1,000?

In Acorns’ recent survey, it found:

• 41% of respondents said they’d give up coffee for a year.
• 38% said they’d go without internet for a week.
• 24% said they’d skip the final season of “Game of Thrones.”
• 13% said they’d work an extra 100 hours earning $10 an hour.
• 8% said they’d sit in jail for a week.

OK, so you sit in jail for a week and get $1,000 (or give up coffee for a year… that’d be a tough one to swallow), what do you do with that $1,000?

Here’s what folks said:

• 38% said they’d pay down debt.
• 27% said they’d open a traditional savings account.
• 15% said they’d start a business or donate it to charity (We’re not clear why the study lumped those two together…).
• 10% said they’d invest in the stock market.
• 10% said they’d plan a trip.

And when given the choice between buying the newest smartphone or investing that $1,000? More than 85% of people said they’d invest it, which is a great Penny Hoarder answer. And a great way to get that $1,000 to work for you.

Here’s a Better Way to Stash $1,000

If you’re like most of us and aren’t willing to do anything too crazy for $1,000, consider starting an investment account through Acorns.

You can start small — with $5 — and stack up change over time with its “round-up” feature. That means if you spend $10.23 at the grocery store, 77 cents gets dropped into your Acorns account.

Then, the app does the whole investing thing for you.

The idea is you won’t miss the digital pocket change, and the automatic savings stack up faster than you’d think. For example, Penny Hoarder Dana Sitar was able to stash $420 away per year.

At that rate, you could set aside $1,000 in about two and a half years — without trying.

But the beauty is you can set your own pace with Acorns’ features, so if you want — and can afford — to invest $1,000 faster, go for it.

The app is $1 a month for balances under $5,000, and you’ll get a $10 bonus when you sign up through us.

And an even bigger bonus? You don’t have to leave your couch or miss the latest season of “Game of Thrones.”

Carson Kohler (@CarsonKohler) is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She’s not so sure she could give up coffee an entire year for $1,000. For $10,000? Heck yeah!

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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