<prompt> Human: Ive always been broke, and lived paycheck to paycheck. I finally have some financial stability and want to start saving. I have about 1000 saved and from here on out am going to be adding 300 per month. What would be a good way to get some return on this money?  <response>: This is going to sound like a kick in the teeth, but please dont be discouraged. Right now the only thing that 1000 will be good at is keeping you from sliding back into being broke or being in debt. And, though I hope it goes unsaid, this should be in an FDIC insured bank account, not your back pocket or a mattress. Once youve got more like 3 months expenses saved, you can start considering where best to put the extra ball of savings to use. Is that paying down debt? Saving for retirement? Saving for a home? But please keep at it! Really, in lots of ways, the system is designed to keep people in your situation from breaking out by getting discouraged. You can fight against it! Plugs for rfrugal and reatcheapandhealthy too. Right now saving money will be more useful than investing. 