Times are tough, money is tight and it is about all you can do to make ends meet. Investing for your future is not a priority when you are just concerned about getting by in the present. This situation makes investing feel even more difficult and can abolish any motivation to reach your ultimate goal.

In order to make the act of investing in your future more feasible, and less painful for you financially, consider using resources already available to you that you may not be fully utilizing. This may just involve using current resources in a different way which generates higher returns or moves you towards your ultimate goal in a more obtainable time line. Perhaps thinking outside the box with your investments can provide you more personal gratification, stronger sense of stability, or other aspects you feel you are not currently receiving.

This is not always an easy task though. Figuring out how to use your current resources to secure your future can involve looking beyond traditional views and tools of investing, which mainly includes ideas of CD’s, bonds, & stocks. Note, I am not particularly saying that alternative over traditional investments don’t come without considerations or disadvantages. As with any other investment, or way you choose to spend/save your hard earned money, you will have to weigh this each on a personal basis with the resources and expectations which you have.

One of my personal experiences is a prime example of making an investment by using available resources in order to generate higher returns and provide personal gratification. This example is very personalized and resource specific, and it is definitely not for everyone; however, it is a great example of “thinking outside the box” and using what’s available to you.

Stock to Cattle: 
There were three resources I had readily available to me- land, labor, and capital. The land was available due to property owned by family, the labor from my father who maintains and has built a majority of the structure needed, and the capital in the form of stock left to me by my great grandmother.

After evaluating the financial and personal gratification I was receiving from the current investment, and realizing both were minimal, I decided to sell some shares of stock and began assessing available resources that were not being fully utilized. After the idea was formulated to sell stock and purchase cattle it was thoroughly researched, spreadsheets were created, the numbers were run, and a business plan was developed.

So far, in the third year I have obtained and even exceeded my target goals and projections. This choice of investment has been far more personally fulfilling, and due to the use of available resources, has already generated more income in the first three years than in over a decade of owning a dividend paying stock.

Again, my example is specific to the resources that I had available. If your thinking this wouldn’t work for you it probably wouldn’t. However, it all boils down to this: by thinking outside of the box investing is not as unattainable as you may have previously thought. Consider unconditional investments by utilizing resources already available to you.