HispanicBusiness

The economic stimulus checks have been trickling in since last month. The temptations are plenty. Do you resurface your driveway or blow it on a weekend getaway to Las Vegas? Do you pressure-clean your roof or spring for a Sony PS3?

If you're still considering the possibilities, allow me to present a novel choice: Invest it.

Yes, it's called a stimulus check because it's supposed to stimulate the economy. You're supposed to spend it. However, as long as you don't have any high-interest loans or credit card bills pending, your best bet may be to use the government's rebate check as the start of a new investment.

Your check may not be for much. It may be as little as $300 to $600 for single filers with no dependents to a couple thousand dollars for large families. That is not enough to buy yourself a handful of stocks through a conventional brokerage transaction, but it's enough for a Drip.

What? Drips are dividend reinvestment plans, company-funded programs that allow investors to gradually build up positions after buying as little as a single share. More than 1,000 companies offer Drips, and Web sites like DRIPCentral.com and DripInvestor.com can help you explore the possibilities.

Once you buy an initial share and enroll in a stock's Drip program, you can elect to have your dividend payments be automatically invested into buying more shares. You can subsequently contribute as little as $10 to add to your position. If that isn't enough to buy an additional share, the Drip will set you up with fractional shares.

The biggest benefit of gradually accumulating a larger position is known as "dollar-cost averaging." Investing regular sums means that you will buy more shares when the stock goes down, so it's a win-win situation. If the stock falls in price, you buy more shares with the same amount of money. If the stock rises, you are ahead on paper.

"Great long-term investors use the market's darkest hours to buy more shares of the world's brightest companies," explains Jeff Fischer, author of the How to Invest Without a Silver Spoon guide for Drip investors.

Drips aren't for everyone. There are taxable implications and some plans aren't entirely free. However, if you are a patient investor that wants to make big things out of small investments, putting that stimulus check into a Drip may be better than that trek to Sin City.

Rick Munarriz is a personal finance columnist for HispanicBusiness.com. He has written for sites such as The Motley Fool and Citysearch, with appearances on NPR, TechTV, Sirius, and CNN en Espaņol. He can be reached through http://www.Reportedly.com where he discusses his latest articles.