The economy sucks and everyone is looking for ways to save and make some extra money. We can all use an increase in cash flow. Some of us are scratching our heads wondering how others seem to keep a steady cash flow. I’ve learned a few cash flow secrets that just might help you or someone you know in the living life abundantly department.
Among West Indians it’s known as susu,
Chinese say hu chu hui,
Latinos refer to it as tandas,
and Koreans call it keh…
These are all terms for money pools. The concept of pooling financial resources to purchase homes, start businesses, buy cars, pay for weddings, fund college educations, go on vacations etc…is widely practiced throughout the Unites States, and especially in immigrant communities.
According to Ari Rabinovitch, “A minimum of 20 people participate, and the cost is $100 a week. Every week the players pay their share until the susu organizer collects a stack of bills totaling $2,000. And every week, one player takes home all the cash. The rotation ends 20 weeks later after everybody has had a payday.”
I first learned about this from one of my best friends a year or two ago. I found the concept fascinating as I had never heard of it before. She’s Mexican American and says that this has always been one of her ways of saving money! How cool is that? None of my family members or other friends knew anything about this type of money pooling. I made a mental note of it and filed it in my mental rolodex for future use and I’m glad that I did… I’m certain that this information comes in handy and right on time for someone reading this blog.
My friend says you can’t just do this with anyone, it must be with people you know and trust. She said that even with people you know and trust there are some risks, which makes sense. What happens if someone in the Tandas doesn’t pay their portion or runs off with all of the money or gets robbed? Everyone participating in it is just out of luck. I guess thats the risk you take but apparently its worth the risk because so many people do it. My friend hasn’t had any problems.
Having a trustworthy group of people that you can pool your resources with might enable you to achieve your financial objectives at an accelerated pace. You know I’m a firm believer in Team Work Makes the Dream Work.
Here’s how you can set up a money pool.
- Get a group of like minded people you trust together that are interested and understand money pooling.
- Set up rules on how to run the pool that everyone agrees on.
- Select someone to be in charge. (This person collects and holds the $$$)
- Decide how much everyone must contribute to the pool.
- Decide how often contributions are to be made (weekly/biweekly)
- Select a start date.
- Draw numbers from a hat (bag) to determine the order.
Another outside the box method for generating large sums of money is through cash gifting. Similar to money pools, cash gifting involves a group of individuals but instead of everyone contributing money to a growing pot, the individuals give directly to an individual through an automated tracking system. The cash gifting activities are based on the U.S. gifting rules in the IRS Tax Code=Title 26 (sections 2501-2504 and 2511), the universal law of reaping and sowing, and the 1up system. Watch this video.
Cash gifting is another concept that is totally new to me and it was brought to my attention by another close friend. Yes, most of my friends are outside the box thinkers. This particular friend wants to pay off some hefty duty student loans and believes that cash gifting is the best and quickest way to achieve the goal… I was skeptical at first, but 50 youtube videos later I’m interested in seeing how it works! I have some pretty ambitious and very expensive goals, maybe cash gifting is an option. I’ll see how it goes for my friend
A slow steady safe but still outside the box way to increase cash flow is by becoming an affiliate or independent representative in an industry you patronize frequently. For example, I know an RTA (referring travel agent) that enhances her cash flow by offering travel services online and she also gets paid by sharing the RTA business opportunity with others. One of my other close friends travels extensively for both work and pleasure. This friend is responsible for booking all of her travel arrangments. I suggested she speak with my friend who is an RTA about becoming an RTA… that way she makes commissions on her travel if she books it directly from herself…(make sense?)…
I buy concert tickets, books, and make other random purchases online often. I am an affiliate with several programs so I make a small commission (or some would consider it a savings) on what I purchase. It works for me.
There are many ways to increase cash flow. For more methods see: Ways to Make Money Online
