Don't get mad, get better!

Today’s topic isn’t a pleasant trading topic but I felt that it might give you a few good ideas if you are in this situation.

I have never blown out a forex account, but have have gotten close when I used to trade futures.   It is not fun.  So many hopes and dream shattered.  But if you really want to create a significant income from trading, you have to get back up on the horse.

So let’s say you have blown out an account and all your trading capital is gone. What can you do? Well, obviously, if you make more money doing other things like another business or a J.O.B. and can afford to fund another account, then that is the easiest way.

However, if you are like most independent traders trying to get good enough to make a living trading, then risk capital may not be so readily available.  If that is the case, then here are five ways you can raise the money from the comfort of your own home.

1. Play better defense – Are there expenses that you can cut back on?  Maybe the money you need is right in front of you.  Record your expenses for a month and see if there are expenses that you can reduce or eliminate. Can you transfer higher interest rate credit card balances to lower rate cards or credit lines?  Check your credit card and bank statements, are there recurring charges that you forgot about or do not need?  Can you cut down on your car expenses?  Take a few minutes to think about everything and search the internet for ideas.  This blog has some great ideas but there tons of other websites out there.
2. Hold a garage sale – Well, kind of…I’m sure there are things you have lying around your home that you don’t need anymore.   I’m against holding a physical garage sale because it takes too much time and energy and you won’t make as much money as possible, but it may be an option for you.What I would prefer you do is leverage the internet to sell your stuff for top dollar!You may be surprised at what people will pay for stuff you thought was just junk.  I usually try to see if there is any marketable value for something  I want to sell on eBay first.Because of the bidding format and international exposure, you have the best chance of getting top dollar for your stuff on eBay.  The process is pretty simple but there are a lot of little steps involved that you will not learn on the eBay website itself.

   Click here to check out a good course on how to do it.  It costs a couple bucks but it will pay for itself by helping you to get the most money for your stuff.You can also try to sell big bulky stuff on Craigslist for free.  It probably won’t get you as much money as selling on eBay, but at least you will get something.

   If you can’t sell it, you can always give it away for free.  Craigslist has a free giveaway section or you can try Freecycle.  I know that giving stuff away will not help you fund your trading account, but it will help you to reduce the clutter in your home and give you more room to work.  Do not underestimate the value of a clutter free trading room.

3. Blog about a passion – I’m a big fan of blogging (if you didn’t notice already).  Of all of these options, this one may take a little longer to create income but once it gets going, it may provide residual income for a long time.More importantly, it can give you an outlet for your creative energy and help you find others with a common interest.  It doesn’t have to be a trading blog, write about something you love and will be able to keep creating quality content for.  Do something fun!If this appeals to you, click here for a good course on blogging.  It is inexpensive and will get you started right, even if you are not good with computers.Once you have your blog set up, then check out the Warrior Forum for great ideas on marketing your blog on the internet.  It is great free resource with a lot of expert contributors.
4. Create a marketable product – You ARE good at something, even if you don’t think it is anything.  Even if it is something as small as how to unclog a kitchen sink or how to fix a wobbling fan, there is something you know that some people would knock down your door to learn from you.  If it isn’t a skill that people could learn from you, then maybe you have a good story to tell or have a game that you invented.With the power of the internet, you can create informational products and sell them online, spending little or no money on marketing and production costs.Click here to check out a great instructional course on how to get started creating ebooks.  There are other types of products that you can sell online, but I believe that ebooks are a great start.
5. Do consulting – Since you are good at something, maybe you can do it for other people or teach them how to do it.  Figure out a way to get paid for it by consulting with individuals or even companies.Click here for a great list of things to consider when starting a consulting business from Entrepreneur.com.  You can do this in your free time and depending on your service, you may be able to contribute a considerable amount of money to your trading account as a result.

So there you have it, five great ways to make some extra money in your free time to fund your trading account.  Who knows, one of these things could become a significant money maker!

What do you do to put more money into your trading account?  Leave a comment below, we would love to hear about it.

This is kind of a random post but I just thought I would share my recent experience with CashForSilverUSA.com. I guess it is kind of related to trading being that it is silver (big stretch).

Anyway, I had seen their ads on TV where you can get cash for your gold or silver if you just send it in the prepaid envelope.  I checked out the website and

they don’t tell you how much you will get for your broken jewelry, just that you will get quick cash for it. So I knew it was going to be a rip off.

However, I got one of their envelopes in the mail and curiosity got the best of me. If nothing else, I could have material for an article or something.

I had this silver ring that I bought a long time ago that was really scratched up and I didn’t wear anymore so I thought that would be a good test.  I put the ring into the handy dandy plastic ziplock bag and put that into the prepaid envelope which I dropped in the mail.

At this point, I didn’t know how much the ring weighed but I did know that spot silver was trading at about $11 per ounce.  Needless to say, my expectations…well I had no expectations.

About a week later, I go to my PO box and see the check waiting for me.  Here we go…

And the grand total was a whopping $1.03!  The stub said that the total weight was 5 dwt (pennyweight).  A pennyweight is 1/20 of a troy ounce.  If silver is trading at $11 a troy ounce, then one pennyweight of silver is $0.55.  Therefore, the ring was worth $2.75 at market melt value.

The moral of the story is that I got $0.37 on the dollar.  So in conclusion, it WAS easy and they DID pay me promptly but as expected it WAS a rip.  I found out later that the local precious metal buyers usually offer about $0.50 on the dollar. Obviously this was such a small amount that I didn’t care either way but it was an interesting experiment.

How am I supposed to buy quality crack at that rate?!  I’ll stick to forex, haha.