People often say, “I don’t make enough to save.” If you’re struggling with your finances, it’s easy to get into this mindset. The truth is, though, you’re never too small an investor to save your money. It’s taking the right approach that makes a difference.

I’ll admit that my own finances go up and down, and when they’re down, I’m less likely to save. At least until I remember a lesson that my mother taught me when I was a 12 year-old delivering backbreakingly thick Saturday newspapers on my bike: save a little money where you cannot get it at. Or at least not get at it easily.

Of course, there are several ways you can do this: a CD (Certificate of Deposit), GIC (Guaranteed Investment Certificate; Canadian), T-bills, bonds, etc., depending on which country you live in. But these sometimes have early-withdrawal penalties. So while they are fairly conservative investments, they are not fully liquid.

You could also put your money in a tin can or give it to a relative. Obviously, that will not give you much in the way of interest. There are, of course, a lot of options for high-interest online savings accounts (aka, OSAs), or money market funds. Sometimes market trading accounts pay you the equivalent of money market fund gains (often 4-6%) when you park your money between stock trades.

Of course, you have to choose what’s best for you, but try by all means to earn interest. When you do start seeing the interest you’ve gained, that’ll be motivation enough. Because that’s when you start to see that, regardless of what you earn, your gains do not have to be linear.

Interest compounds, and that often further motivates people to save even more. A small good habit grows. You’ll see that it’s not how much you earn, but that you’re spending less than you’re making - the simple but crucial step to saving and, later, investing.