That’s right, you don’t need six figures to get your slice of investment pie. You don’t even need five figures. Or four. Three is nice. Two, doable. One, umm, make sure you feed yourself first.

So if you feel like an L-7 wienie when it comes to investing, just remember, there’s an app for that.

It really can be that simple. I’m all about the automatic payment, direct deposit, set it and forget it kind of life. So with the following resources, I set off like Frodo in to foreign lands.

Investmentshiphood

All hieroglyphs aside, investing can be pretty straight forward. All you really need is a bank account, credit or debit card, a few apps, and a yearning for some learning.

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is NOW.

Chinese proverb

Let’s get to planting and start with a free small scale investment app, Acorns.

This app is great for that set and forget style. Link a credit or debit card to your account and the app will round up every single transaction you make. Those round ups get deposited into an investment portfolio that you can set from conservative to aggressive.

Depending on how aggressive you set your portfolio, your investments will get split between large company stocks, corporate bonds, real estate stocks, government bonds, and more.

You can also add monthly deposits on top of your round ups to add to your investment base. So far so good, right? This is a super simple way to put those pennies into something that can grow over time. Those of you who keep change jars know just how much they can add up. Check out this link and get $5 for signing up! (look at you go)

Buying Stock

Next, let’s dive into more of a heavy hitter. If you keep your eyes on the market (or don’t) and have ideas/hunches/a single economic bone that interests you in a specific, publicly traded company, you may want to look at the app Robinhood.

Again, free, this app made me feel like I knew exactly what I was doing (fake it till you make it). Everything is super straight forward and there is plenty of information and resources to help you along. Linking a bank account is all it takes to start buying stock.

There are real time analyst ratings, recent news regarding your watchlist of companies, statistics, history, and more. After my first few hours on Robinhood, I felt more confident (and grown up) about making my first stock purchases.

There are other apps like this, but an article from nerdwallet narrowed my top two choices to one.

Signing up using this link (is free) and gets you free stock (think Apple, Microsoft, Berkshire Hathaway).

Lastly, now that you’re taking your first steps in a financially savvy direction, I’ll leave you with one more tool to gain even more confidence.

Mint is a super simple app that keeps track of all your credit cards, bank accounts, loans, payments, and more. You can set yourself budgets and get notifications when you go overboard. Access to your free credit score, helpful articles, and spending habits are all on one simple platform.

I hope this was helpful, friends. Don’t go growing up too fast, but get out there and get investing!