One of the best ways to grow your money is to start investing in the stock market. Here at Sprout Wealth, we want to show you different ways to make more money , and the stock market is an obvious part of that.

A common question I have received over the years is, “How I can start investing with $1,000 or less?” Many believe that because they don’t have what would be considered a lot of money then they simply have to wait. Having more money to invest in the stock market is obviously better, but that doesn’t mean you have to wait by any means. It just means that you have to find the options which work best for you and your given situation. That being said, we’re going to show you how you can start investing in the stock market with as little as $250.

Pick the Right Discount Brokerage

As I shared in my initial post on investing in the stock market . deciding on an online brokerage is a key part to investing. The problem is that not all brokerages have the same minimum balance requirements, not to mention the fact that the number of options can be overwhelming.

If you’re wanting to start investing with $1,000 or less you will be somewhat limited, but not as much as you think. In fact, you can even invest at several of the three more well- known online brokerages. Below are their minimum requirements:

• Vanguard – you’re subject to their fund minimums, of which some are $1,000
• Schwab – you can open most accounts for $1,000
• Fidelity – you need to have $2,500 to open an account with Fidelity

Outside of those major brokerages . there are still many others that will allow you to open an account with under $1,000. Many of the more well-known ones, such as Scottrade , E-Trade , OptionsXpress, and OptionsHouse ,  all allow you to open accounts with less than $1,000. Point being, you do have viable options when you start investing with $1,000 or less. I will give the disclaimer though that you want to be very mindful of fees when you have little money to start investing. Fees can be a drain on an investment portfolio, and this is even more so when starting out with a small amount.

Start Investing by Buying Fractional Shares

When you first start investing you may be overwhelmed when you look at certain stocks which trade at hundreds of dollars per share. You may think it’s impossible for you to invest, but that’s a myth. What many don’t know is there are ways to buy fractional shares of stocks.

While this will not make you a millionaire overnight, the point is that it allows you access to start investing in the stock market so you can grow your money. The two main options to choose from if this is the direction you want to take is Sharebuilder and Motif Investing.

Sharebuilder is the better known of the two options and with them there is no account minimum to start investing. After opening an account with Sharebuilder, you set up what’s called an Automatic Investment Plan. This plan allows you to set up an interval for your investing – weekly, monthly, etc. You establish how much you want to spend with each interval and what stocks, ETFs or Mutual Funds and it invests the money in those, even buying fractional shares if need be.

With Motif Investing . you set up what’s called a Motif for as little as $250. This can be a grouping of up to 30 stocks or funds you like and they also have pre-made ones. This essentially allows you to create your own ETF and invests in fractional shares.

What I like about both of these options is they allow you to start investing in the stock market with $1,000 and make it fairly easy to do so. The beauty is that you can start with something like this and use it as a base to get more serious with your investing as time and finances allow.

Buy Direct from the Company

The final main way to start investing with $1,000 or less is to buy shares directly from the given company. I will say that there are a few drawbacks to this, mainly that not every company sells its shares directly and that it can lead to having shares that are too spread out. That said, it still is a viable option, especially if you’re a more long-term investor.

In most cases, you won’t be buying directly from the company but through a Transfer Agent – usually through ComputerShare . Most companies have a minimum of either $100 or $500 and some will allow you to buy shares for free, though some will charge a nominal fee.

I personally wouldn’t choose to go with this route, as I’d rather not have different investments all over the place. That said, it is a viable option for those looking to invest with $1,000 or less.

What challenges did you face as you started investing in the stock market? How would you start investing if you were starting with $1,000 or less?

Additional resource: If youre looking for an online broker to start investing but have limited funds check out our favorite brokerage Motif Investing. You can open an account for as little as $250 and both Grayson and I invest with them as they provide instant diversification and make it easy to invest in what you know.

Open an account with Motif Investing today and get up to $150 cash back!

Photo courtesy of: 401(k)2012