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You just found out you’re pregnant and you can’t wait to start building a family and loving new room for your baby. You might be thinking about putting together a baby registry at Babies R Us, Target, Walmart or another department store so friends and family can help celebrate your new baby. Thoughts of the many outfits you need for a newborn, crib, and changing table might give you images of excitement as you imaging caring for little junior. Maybe you’ve helped a friend shop before and the thought of picking out everything from newborn bottles to a new car seat make you lie awake at night with excitement. Have you thought to add a savings account or stock investment to your baby registry?

Picking out newborn outfits and infant bottles can be exciting for new parents, but so is the prospect of starting your child off with a solid financial footing. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could simply sign-up for an investment account the same way you purchase baby clothes or baby toys? Well, it basically is that simple. Many companies like Sharebuilder offer the ability to start an investment account for your child. You can open up a custodial account for your child in a few minutes and get them started investing earlier than you did.

The baby registry is a way for friends and family to celebrate the birth of your new baby. Parents, grandparents, and friends review your baby registry and buy items that will help you build a secure and safe environment for your little one. It’s been a few years, but here’s some of the items I remember from our baby registry:

1. Car Seat
2. Changing table
3. Crib
4. Baby bottles
5. Newborn clothes
6. Diaper champ
7. Diapers
8. Baby monitor
9. Blankets
10. Baby toys

I’ve probably missed at least 20 items, but thought I would highlight some of the most important above. All of these items are so important for a baby to prosper and thrive, so shouldn’t we also consider adding a savings account to the gift list? Imagine what this passive income opportunity could do for your new child.

With the help of my parents, I opened a 529 college saving account within a few months of my first child’s birth. Number two took a few years later, although I have since made up for delay and added additional funds. Any future cash gifts can be added directly to the 529 accounts. Having your bank account information added to your 529 account can also make the process so much easier. Automate your investments and you’ll find one less excuse to start investing as it will allow you to focus your efforts on building wealth and playing with your family.

If you don’t have the funds available to invest in stocks, consider opening up a savings account for your child so friends and family can help them save money. You might be surprised to find out that grandparents, aunts and uncles, and even friends would be interested in helping your baby start a savings account. Even an ING savings account will allow compound interest to grow over time. Imagine how much money your child could earn if you opened a new savings account within the first few months of birth. The point is to get started early and help them save money on a regular basis. Once your child’s savings account is established you can deposit any future birthday checks into the account and watch them get excited with they see the earnings grow.

What was your favorite gift from your baby registry?

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Rolling coins with your kids is a great way to deposit loose change into your savings account and it can be an opportunity to teach kids about managing money. Take the time to involve your children in this simple process and discuss what money represents and how it can be used to build savings. If you are looking for a great rainy day project, you can bring out a coin jar and get the entire family working together for a common savings goal. Many families have “vacation jars”, “pizza jars”, “clothes jar”, or even an “new furnace jar” for long term savings goals. Next time you have some loose change, get a jar and start a savings fund with your family. Once the coins are spilling over the jar, roll the coins and deposit them at your local bank branch.

Some reasons rolling coins can be valuable for yourself and your family:

1. Saving the 10% fee that Coinstar charges is another huge incentive. I made the mistake once of using a Coinstar at Safeway and the machine stopped working. I estimated I had deposited over $50 in coins and Safeway wanted me to prove that amount. How do I prove that the machine ate my coins? I had to deal with 2 managers before I was finally given credit.

2. Teach your kids to sort and count. Help your children sort the coins based on color and shape and educate them on the different coin values.

3. Treasure hunt. Finding Canadian Pennies or old silver coins can be exciting. Find a silver nickel or dime and you can take your kids to the local coin shop to find out the value.

4. Compound interest. Deposit those coins in your local bank and educate your children on the power of compound interest. Those coins aren’t earning anything when they are stuck in a jar. Deposit them in the bank and your money starts working for you. Compound interest is a source of passive income.

5. Saving money. Use this time you are rolling coins with your family as an opportunity to talk about saving money. Why do you need to save these coins and what can you purchase with them? Get your children involved in the savings process and start a family “savings jar” that will be for a common goal. Maybe you want to save for a family vacation or start a college 529 savings account for you kids.

Have you started a savings jar with your family?

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Sometimes a passive income idea is looking at you and asking to make you some extra money. In this case we’ll look at taking ordinary items at your local store and turning them into cash for your family. You might look at your next shopping trip a little differently and you probably will be smiling the entire time you’re out hunting for passive income. Just to be clear, this will require your time to buy the items and also some up front cash. If you don’t have a savings account or emergency account established, I wouldn’t suggest you try this passive income idea. You can start out small until you have amassed a nice little savings account to use for this new source of extra income.

So what is it? It’s not as glamorous as investing in stocks for passive income and it doesn’t require you to spend hours writing an ebook. You will visit the same stores you normally visit during the week, but now you’ll add some items to your shopping list. The Sunday paper or your weekly ads from major retailers will provide all the necessary information you need for this passive income idea. This weekend I found a name brand flash drive that retailed for $19.99 that had a manufacturer rebate check for $19.99. Total cost for the flash drive was $1.70 to cover the 8.5% sales tax here in California. I then fill out the manufacturer rebate to receive my check in the mail for $19.99. At this point the flash drive has only cost $1.70 and I can list the item on ebay. Name brand items sell wonderfully on ebay and look for tech gadgets and software. I have been able to pickup copies of anti virus software and resell it on ebay for a nice $30 profit. Again, make sure you have funds to cover the time it takes to receive the manufacturer rebate check. You don’t want to be paying 19.99% interest on a credit card balance while you are waiting for your item to sell on ebay.

Look for ads in your local newspaper and circle items that have rebate checks from the manufacturer. Best Buy, Radio Shack, Rite Aid, and Walgreens all offer rebate checks. This weekend I even found a blood pressure kit that was free after a rebate at Rite Aid. This could be a great source of extra income to cover some of your household groceries or even a meal out once a week.

You will need to be organized and timely with your rebate check submissions. Don’t forget to read all of the fine print and what is needed for the rebate process. Do you need the UPC code and a copy of your sales receipt for the rebate? Some retailers offer electronic checks so that the process is much more automated. You might want to start with a Walgreeens or Rite Aid and research what they offer first.

How much can you realistically make doing this? We have an electronics retailer called Fry’s that has numerous manufacturer rebate offers during the week. The retail value for this weekend at Fry’s would equal between $100-$200. Rebates were offered on hard drives, anti virus software, books, and flash drives. See if you can find some passive income ideas in your newspaper.

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photo credit: HarshLight

Countless hours were spent as a kid playing my favorite board game, collecting rent on apartments and hotels while negotiating for Park Place and Boardwalk. What type of Monopoly player are you? Do you play with the properties you land on or do you like to barter and make deals? Playing Monopoly might seem like a childish game, but it definitely has some sound money managing principles that teaches you to stay within a budget and not stretch yourself thin. In Monopoly if you can’t pay your rent, you must declare bankruptcy. In the end the bank forecloses on your property and the other players can pay off the liens.

The game of Monopoly may have been the first time that you learned some basics about budgeting your money. The rules are easy to follow, but how you play the game is up to you. You can simply roll the dice and pay rent or you can build up a vast wealth of apartments and hotels.

Even though Monopoly is just a game, what are some money management tips we can learn from it?

1. Cash is king. The bank in Monopoly only accepts cash. Building up passive income through property rentals can help you achieve your goal of building apartments or hotels. Today, you are payed by your employer in cash and it’s up to you on whether you invest the money or just pay your landlord rent.

2. Negotiate. You won’t get anything unless you ask. That goes for a raise from your boss or Board Walk that your friend currently owns. Will they sell it for $300 or $1,000? It probably depends on how they are doing in the game at the time. If you don’t attempt to negotiate and make a deal, you might not win the game. If the asking price is $2,000 for your future wife’s diamond ring, will you ask to negotiate? Did you?

3. Pay your bills on time. It’s funny how Monopoly imitates life. When you land on luxury tax, you must pay it or start selling off properties. The game comes to a stop until you take action. You don’t have a chance to pay the minimum on a credit card and move money towards another debt.

4. Being a landlord can be fun. Owning hotels on Park Place or Boardwalk can be very lucrative when a fellow player stops on your property. Owning property can create a passive income stream that can pay for your retirement or children’s college. In real life you obviously want to charge a market rate and not something expensive like Boardwalk that has the potential to put your tenant into bankruptcy.

5. An emergency fund is always needed. One roll of the dice and you could wind up in jail or owing a huge luxury tax. If you’ve overextended yourself and purchased property without an adequate emergency fund, you’ll wind up having to sell something. Having an emergency cash fund or rainy day fund can help you navigate through tough times. Having an emergency account in real life can help you fix a flat tire or purchase a new washing machine.

Do you have a favorite game you played that taught you money management skill?

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If you work as a team, can you build more passive income with family and friends? Passive income by definition requires an upfront investment and little to no time requirements spent managing the project. The pure example would be stock dividends, the passive income is not actively managed by the investor and no time commitment is required. Sure, you might spend time researching the stocks, but your are not actively managing the day to day operations of the company. What are some ways that you can pool resources and work together with friends or family to make passive income investments?

1. Real Estate. Investment in real estate requires a significant cash down payment and pooling resources with friends or family could offer you an opportunity you normally wouldn’t have. Coming up with 20% down payment might seem impossible, but if several people pooled resources together, it wouldn’t be as overwhelming to invest in real estate. Consider whether or not you could work together with family and who would manage the property. Could you afford to hire a property management firm to oversee the tenant relationship and maintenance?

2. Book. Do you have a friend that has talked about writing a book for years, but never got around to it? Maybe a parent or brother that has a buried passion, but needs a little help. You can work and create a book together and also help market the published product. Maybe the book would be better suited for an ebook or electronic book format. If the book has instructional material or is a “how to”, an ebook might be the perfect opportunity. Is an ebook passive income? Well, it’s not like stocks or real estate, but after you have written the book the royalties are passive for life.

3. Blog. You’ve read this blog post and are wondering if this blog medium is considered passive income. Well, it’s not. It is writing income and it requires large amounts of time to write, network, and market your blog. Is it fun? It certainly is and can be very rewarding to meet new people who comment and ask questions. Do you make money while your sleeping with a blog? Yes, but you still wake up the next morning and write another blog post for the following day. I wouldn’t start a blog with the thought that you will make consistent passive income day after day writing just one post a week. Most bloggers write daily content and also contribute to other communities throughout the week. You can make a good income blogging, but I would still consider it writing income.

4. ehow. You may enjoy writing, but don’t think you have enough material for a novel or ebook. How can you get friends and family involved in a writing project and create passive income. ehow offers writers the ability to create articles and earn passive income through ads clicked on the site. Say you write an article about “How to make homemade grape jam”, you will earn income each time someone reads your article and clicks on an ad. ehow is perfect if you enjoy many hobbies or have experienced life to the fullest. Maybe you raised 4 boys or climbed Half Dome in Yosemite, you can probably think of at least 10 articles about these topics. The best part about ehow is it’s free to join and you can probably write your first article in under 20 minutes. Be sure to add me as a friend when you join. How do you get your friends and family involved in ehow? Maybe you have a parent or grandparent that experienced the depression or a recession. Call them on the phone and ask detailed questions and start writing posts about what they experienced. How did they earn money in the depression? Did they make clothes? Did they learn how to stretch a grocery budget even further? Did they raise chickens? Offer to split your income with your source and have fun creating articles.

Are you currently making passive income through any of these methods above? Have you ever worked with friends or family to create a passive income stream?

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