What can I do with £100 that does not involve 'treating myself' or shopping?

UniversalAutocrat

So, I have £100. What are the best possible ways that I can make good use of it, like making it grow? Ideally, I would like something that would guarantee some good returns before uni begins in two months.

Cheers in advance.

grey_gym_sock

you want guaranteed good returns in 2 months?

the best guaranteed return for that timescale is a high interest deposit account, or cash ISA. but you will only get about 50p interest in so short a time.

EDIT: but it's not pointless to save small amounts. everybody has to start somewhere.

UniversalAutocrat

grey_gym_sock wrote: »

you want guaranteed good returns in 2 months?

the best guaranteed return for that timescale is a high interest deposit account, or cash ISA. but you will only get about 50p interest in so short a time.

EDIT: but it's not pointless to save small amounts. everybody has to start somewhere.

Cheers. And there's nothing else productive (in terms of investing) that I can do with it?

grey_gym_sock

in 2 months, no.

if you can tie it up for 5 or 10 years, yes. £100 is very small for investments, but 1 thing you might be able to do is buy shares in 1 investment trust, through an investment trust savings scheme, by setting up a regular monthly investment of £100 per month, and then canceling it after the first payment. (because the minimum 1-off investment is probably more than £100, but the minimum monthly investment is probably £25 or £50.)

Porcupine

Traditional forms of 'investment' are generally over a much longer timescales.

But you can 'invest' in a business. For example, buy some widgets, maybe clean them up/make something out of them, sell them on eBay. That takes time and effort as well as your capital, and nothing's guaranteed.

Or 'invest' in yourself. Get a qualification that will pay dividends later. You don't get much for £100, but something like driving lessons might mean you can get a job in the future that you might not otherwise be able to take. But the payback time is much longer.

And then there's something like premium bonds. A very small chance of a prize, but most likely you'll just have the same cash at the end. Maybe a tiny chance of £50 or £1million is better to you than the certainty of 50p? They're better than gambling (where you're unlikely to preserve your cash).

cte1111

People in the Guardian did this and became: music promoter, poker player, chef, poetry writer or money market trader. Looks like they all made a few quid.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/jul/21/100-challenge-how-to-make-a-profit

We could all do with some extra cash, so maybe it's time to branch out and try something new. From playing poker to playing the markets, five writers set out to make a small fortune.

gadgetmind

I like the suggestion to invest in yourself.

I like to learn from books, so how about a new thread to ask for suggestions regards the best 10-15 books you should buy and read in the next two months that will change your long-term financial outcome the most?

Spamfree_2

I joined a cashback site.

I then joined 2 well know bingo places through them.

I deposited £10 with one and won £30 on the slot machines
I depostited £5 with the other and won £15 on the slot machines

I've written it off as nothing but beginner's luck(but the cynic in me thinks they might let all new sign ups win to lure them back).

oldvicar

£100 is just enough to buy Premium Bonds. 2 months is just long enough to be in for one draw .... and win £1million, or your money back.

innovate

With £100 and 2 months, plus investment of some of your time, you can reasonably expect to make quite a bit of extra money from Matched Betting. Despite the name, it's nothing to do with gambling, provided you follow the guidance given.

It's all described over on the Matched Betting board on MSE - start with this thread:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2658533

There's a finite amount of money you can make from it, and the offers are getting meaner as time goes by, but I reckon it should still possible to make about £1K from it over a period of 6 months. You can do it faster if you have a larger bank roll but the very minimum you need to allow to work through all the offers is 2 -3 months elapsed.
When I did it back in 2007, I spent a month getting my head round the concept (I am a bit slow!!), and made over £400 in the second month, from just a couple of hours here and there.

sabretoothtigger

One idea prior to april was buy stamps..

Which company did you start with first innovate