Say you have 30,000 g's but bad credit... how can you make your money work for you ?

Spend a couple of those g's to improve your credit then buy a cheap house at the bottom of the housing market (it will bottom out in the next 6 months --we may already be at the bottom; my fiance and i lost a house due to 2 bidders participating.) Again, you need your credit regardless of any other factors. I would recommend 2 things: 1) a very low cost (possibly free) credit repair program to try to have the negative items removed. 2) I would add a tradeline program to boost your score quickly (60 days or quite possibly less). A friend in California used this and got a 120 point bump from 560 to 680. My friend in California went through www.totaldebtsolutionsllc.com and called their toll free# or filled out the free evaluation form to get the ball rolling. Good luck.

Do not play the stock market. You can put $20,000 in a high yield money market and $5000 in a saving account for emergency. Get a loan for 3 years for $4000 and use the remaining as collateral for the loan.

You can invest the money, like anyone else. Or of course you could pay off what you owe so your credit rating improves.

You can buy stocks so long as you have cash. Buy dividend paying stocks and get the dividends. Work on improving your credit so you can eventually buy real estate. Check www.daveramsey.com or read "Get out of Debt, Stay out of Debt" for more help.