6 Money Secrets to Paying off Debt and Building Wealth

Stop worrying about money — it’s bad for you.

Studies show that financial stress can aggravate all kinds of health issues, like migraines, insomnia, heart disease and weight gain — not to mention our old pals anxiety and depression!

Money worries can rip apart relationships and ruin your peace of mind. If you want to stop worrying, what you need to do is take action. That’s right, TAKE. ACTION. And we’ve got an action plan for you.

You’ll feel better once you take these seven simple, strategic steps. They’ll give you a real financial edge, and you’ll be on your way to paying off your debts and building your wealth for real.

1. Stop Paying Your Credit Card Company

A big part of this is forming new habits and thinking of new ways to do things.

For instance: Credit card debt is the most expensive kind of debt, and your credit card company is just getting rich by ripping you off with high interest rates. But a website called Fiona can help you fight back.

If you owe your credit card companies $250,000 or less, Fiona will match you with a low-interest loan you can use to pay off every single one of your balances.

The benefit? You’ll be left with one bill to pay each month. And because personal loans have lower interest rates (Fiona rates start at 2.49% APR), you’ll get out of debt that much faster. Plus: No credit card payment this month.

It takes two minutes to see if you qualify for up to $250,000 online. You do need to give Fiona a real phone number in order to qualify, but don’t worry — they won’t spam you with phone calls.

2. Stop Overpaying for Stuff Online

Wouldn’t it be nice if you got an alert any time you’re shopping on Amazon or Walmart.com and you’re about to get ripped off?

That’s exactly what this free service does.

Just add it to your browser for free, and before you check out, it’ll check other websites, including Walmart, eBay and others to see if your item is available for cheaper. Plus, you can get coupon codes, set up price-drop alerts and even see the item’s price history.

Let’s say you’re shopping for a new pair of shoes, and you assume you’ve found the best price. Here’s when you’ll get a pop up letting you know if that exact pair of shoes is available elsewhere for cheaper.

In the last year, this has saved people $160 million. You can get started in just a few clicks to see if you’re overpaying online.

3. Cancel Your Car Insurance

When was the last time you compared car insurance rates? Chances are you’re seriously overpaying with your current policy.

If it’s been more than six months since your last car insurance quote, you should look again.

And if you look through a digital marketplace called SmartFinancial, you could be getting rates as low as $22 a month — and saving yourself more than $700 a year by canceling with your current provider.

It takes one minute to get quotes from multiple insurers, so you can see all the best rates side-by-side. Yep — in just one minute you could save yourself $715 this year. That’s some major cash back in your pocket.

So if you haven’t checked car insurance rates in a while, see how much you can save with a new policy.

4. Leave Your Family up to $1M

There’s been a surge of interest in life insurance during the pandemic, as more Americans are realizing they probably need it.

Overall, Americans purchased about 10% more life insurance policies in 2020 than they did in 2019. That may not seem like a lot, but it’s actually the biggest increase in nearly two decades.

Also, more people are seeking out no-exam life insurance because they don’t want to go to a doctor’s office for an in-person exam. Companies like Bestow use algorithms instead of medical exams to evaluate applicants.

Rates start at just $16 a month. You could leave your family up to $1 million. The peace of mind knowing your family is taken care of is priceless.

If you’re under the age of 54 and want to get a fast life insurance quote without leaving your home, get a free quote from Bestow.

5. Get Paid up to $80/Month — Just for Sharing Your Opinion 

Taking surveys might not sound like the best way to make money, but if you’re just vegging out on the couch — or pretending to be interested in your partner’s new favorite show — why not click a couple buttons? It could earn you up to $80 a month. Seriously.

There are a bunch of paid survey sites out there, but one of the best we’ve found is Survey Junkie.

They’ll ask you questions about things like, what kind of laundry detergent you use, or if you prefer Pepsi or Coke. You get points for answering, and many people accumulate enough points to request a check within a few hours.

More than 10 million people already use Survey Junkie, and it has 4.5/5 stars on TrustPilot.

Join for free and take your first survey to start earning points — you could cash out as soon as today.

6. 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.

A company called Fundrise 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. Fundrise does all the heavy lifting.

Fundrise’s Starter Portfolio has a minimum of only $10 and is geared toward first-time real estate investors. Your money will be invested in the company’s Flagship Fund, which already owns more than $250 million worth of real estate around the country, from apartment complexes to the red-hot housing rental market to larger last-mile e-commerce logistics centers.

As tenants pay their rent, you could earn money through quarterly dividend payments, and over time, you could earn money off the potential appreciation of the property. Since 2014, Fundrise investors have earned roughly $100 million in dividends alone.

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 Fundrise.

Mike Brassfield (mike@thepennyhoarder.com) is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder. He tries not to worry too much about money — aside from writing about it, of course.

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.