Starting From Scratch with No Knowledge, No Skills, & No Ideas

Okay, so I wanted to start making money passively. I also wanted to make enough money that I could live comfortably if ever I was out of work or in need of a vacation. I was pretty sure I could make a passive income through the Stock Market, but I had no idea where to begin with that. Did I just like, give my money to someone? Or did I have to like, join some kind of club? How do you even get your money into the market? And how does the market make money anyway?

{Bear with me here. My process for starting this whole investing thing was rough to say the least. I was homeschooled okay. Twenty-two years of life, and nobody had ever explained the Stock Market to me. Or maybe they had, and I just never cared to listen. Regardless, I was very incompetent, and very naive. We got there eventually though. Even late bloomers blossom eventually, sometimes they just need to be nudged with a very pointy stick. I apparently needed a very pointy stick.}

To find these answers, I did what any other Gen Z-er would do in a crisis. I made a cup of coffee, I settled down at my IKEA desk, and I Googled “how to make a passive income.”

Man, I love the internet! She had so many solutions for me, and all I had to do was type in one measly sentence! After about thirty minutes of scrolling through a slew of overly optimistic articles, I comprised a list of my favorite passive income ideas. They were:

• Real Estate Investing
• Write an E-Book
• Ride-Sharing
• Selling Stuff on eBay
• Dividend Stocks
• Index Investing

Great! Somewhere to start!

So, I know that I said I wanted to make money investing in the Stock Market, but that just seemed like such a big, scary, confusing world that I had no business exploring. I’m just a girl after all! I don’t know anything about nothing, especially not the Stock Market! And what if I could make money doing something easier like joining Uber or starting an online store? That was probably a much safer option anyway. I mean, come on! The Stock Market? What was I thinking?

So, I made another cup of coffee, shuffled back to my IKEA desk, and put my caffeinated brain to work starting with real estate investing.

Write an E-Book

Hey, I could write an e-book! I knew how to write, and how to use a computer. Writing also required no money which was a plus given I didn’t have any. I envisioned myself sitting at my IKEA desk all day just tip-tapping away about dragons and wizards and aliens…

Honestly, I bet I could make tons of money writing down my brilliant ideas! I would be investing my time and creative abilities for cold hard cash! Sounded like a deal to me!

… Yeah, the internet knocked this idea to the ground too. Turns out writing a book takes a long time, and it’s not easy. Most people never finish, and the few that do often can’t make a cent from their creations. Plus, self-marketing is hard, time-consuming, and expensive. I also had no ideas worth writing about, and given my feeble attention span, I’m not sure writing a book is something I would have the patience for anyway.

Alright, so authoring an e-book was off the list. What about ride-sharing?

Ride-Sharing

I have a car which is a good start, and I have the time, two things that are necessary in this potentially lucrative line of work. I then did some research on Uber and Lyft to determine how much those companies pay their drivers, and unfortunately, I was disappointed to find out that the answer is… not enough. Sure, if I spent all day everyday picking strangers up from the airport, I could probably make a livable wage, but what about the wear and tear on my car, or the incredibly high gas prices? Also, do I really want complete strangers sitting in the back of my car as I hurdle down the freeway going 80 mph? (Did I mention I’m just a girl!)

Begrudgingly, I took ride-sharing off the list. If it paid more, and if gas were cheaper, and if I wasn’t worried for my safety, I might have considered giving this a try, but I feel like I could probably do better than giving people rides to the airport.

So, on to the next idea!

Selling On eBay

This one, I was excited about. I could envision myself dressing up with my boots and my canvas bag, picking up a double shot, lavender blueberry espresso at my local coffee shop, and then spending everyday exploring antique markets in search of that perfect, one-of-a-kind piece of crap that I could sell for double the price online! I could be like one of those Instagram girlies, just out for a stroll making money like it’s nobody’s business!

Some tappy tappy on my computer told me that making money selling stuff online was actually pretty darn lucrative if you knew what you were looking for. Things like cameras, antiques, and specialty items sold especially well. Or, if I invested in something cheap today, like a Beanie Baby, and held onto it for a long time, it had the potential to explode in price! All I had to do was learn what items were sell-able, buy them, and then post them online! Easy peasy!

This one I actually attempted for awhile. I went though my closet and pulled out all of my old clothes and toys and silly stuff I didn’t use anymore, and I posted the bulk of it to eBay. The process was relatively easy, and I made a few bucks on a few things, but I got sick of it pretty quickly. It was tedious work, taking all those pictures, thinking up descriptions, answering stupid questions about my stupid stuff. Plus the money I spent on boxes, tape, and trips to the Post Office pretty much negated all the money I was making anyway.

Long story short, I soon gave up on my online selling career.

Dividend Stocks & Index Investing

Remember how I said I was clueless when it came to the Stock Market? How I had no sense of how much I didn’t know? How I needed a few strong pokes with a very pointy stick? Well, in my hunt for passive income ideas, I came across several inspiring articles about investing in dividend stocks and index’s. Listen, when I say “inspiring,” I mean WOW were these articles illuminating! I can make 6%-20% a year without doing a thing? All I had to do was put some money into this dividend thing or that index thing and they gave you money? Sign me up!

I’m not kidding when I say I had no idea these articles were talking about investing in the Stock Market. The very thing I had grown afraid of, the whole reason why I was researching other forms of passive income. My one big avoidance had come back to poke me with a very sharp and pointy stick!

Rest assured, I eventually caught on. While I was somewhat hurt none of these inspirational articles had explained to me how to put money in these dividend, indexy things, I was forced to resign myself to the fact that stock investing might just be the perfect solution to my money problem. It didn’t take much cash to start, I could invest from anywhere, no excessive time commitments were required, and I wouldn’t have to learn a new skill, or talk to strangers.

The only caveat? I had to learn how the stock market worked, and how to make it make me money. Well, after all this pointless research, I suppose I could figure that out. Hell, what did I have to lose anyway?

All this rambling to say, investing in the Stock Market is a fantastic source of income if you know how to invest like one of the pro’s. However, it takes a bit of confidence and know-how to get started. Needless to say, it took me awhile to get there, but eventually, I settled into the necessity of learning how the stock market worked, what was involved in researching public companies, and what I would need to learn to invest like a true value investor. I’m sure I’ll ramble more about that later, but for now, the best advice I can give?

Stay away from pointy sticks!