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I am quite serious! now, I am not talking about Sotherby’s or Van Gogh’s but if you can afford to spare between, say, £50 and £1000 you can pick up a piece of work by an up and coming artist at this weekend’s Affordable Art Fair  and you never know - some time in the future it could be worth a lot of money.

A bit skeptical? well, consider the master himself, Van Gogh. He sat around the market squares of Arles in France just sketching and painting people he saw sitting in cafes or just standing by. No-one took any notice of him as he was a known eccentric yet he never sold a painting. He simply gave them away, and sometimes, people did not want them! imagine if those folk were alive today and knew the value of the paintings that strange little man tried to fob off to them…

Okay, whilst the artists at this Fair will not being toting their art for free all the same there are bound to be some famous names of the future there. And it is not a bad idea to pick up a nice work and sit on it for a few years, many have and found that their few dollars/pounds was the best investment they ever made.

This weekend the Fair is at London Battersea Park, so if you can get there and want something interesting to put in the house take some spare cash and take advantage of the 120 Galleries that will be exhibiting all kinds of painting, sculptures and photography. If you cannot get to this event still keep this in mind and check out any art exhibitions that are within reach of you.

You never know, it just might make a handy investment some day.

Pictured above: ‘The Yellow House’ - Van Gogh 1888, Arles. Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam.

Popularity: 14% [?]

Many grandparents like to establish a small trust fund for their wee grandchildren and that’s wonderful. But doing so these days can be a bit confusing given the number of options available. I have a suggestion that might be the one you are looking for, especially if you like the idea of a passbook rather than a card/statement account. They are so impersonal aren’t they?

Pop along to your local post office and ask to open a National Savings and Investment Account (NS&I). All you need to do so is £20 and you can ask to be issued with a passbook (remember those?) . Many people, like my Mum…and me even, like the old ‘book’ because we can see our balance in writing.

And as children don’t pay tax then effectively the account is tax-free. There are post offices everywhere and they are guaranteed safe.

Popularity: 18% [?]

I recently spoke about the need for women to really concentrate their efforts on building their savings for their future - retirement in particular. Here is a fantastic option I have come upon and you only need £20 a month!… that’s right. Now I am sure that anyone can find £20 a month to set aside, of course, if you can spare a bit more all the better.

It’s called Halifax ShareBuilder and is aimed at those who are looking for easy and uncomplicated access to stockmarket investing. Ideal for newcomers and experienced investors alike it will automatically purchase, on a set day each month, your own chosen specifically chosen investments.

If you are new to all this the best way to start off would be to select one of their investment trusts, instruct which particular share you wish to purchase each month and run with it for about 4/5 years. After 3 years you should find that your investment is going up more each year than what you are adding. This is the time to consider selecting another share to purchase with the money that is coming in. But stick with the original investment - you will want to - and now run with your new investment.

This is how to do it! as you watch your investments grow add to them new shares every few years, until you have yourself a nice portfolio.  This is a long term investment plan so don’t approach it as way to save for a holiday in two years time…all being well you will find this a lucrative way of saving for the future.

Popularity: 9% [?]