[cometbus]

Someone told me if your money is not working for you, I might as well stuff it under my mattress.

I know nothing about investing. I am looking for general advice, low or high risk, just some place to start my research process.

Here is where I stand:
Outright own my home, last year, appraised at 470K, probably could sell for 400K now, nothing owed.

50K HELOC to my bank, at prime.

10K owed to another HELOC, at prime, but 40K available.

10K owed to a past mortgage that was not closed

Wife has 80K in mutual funds, it moves around a bit, but generally grows every year.

I work as little as possible, my month to month is about 5K, which I barely scrape together. This pays for bills, car, food, etc.

Property tax is low, a few grand a year due to the way it was set up.

1.5K every quarter as part of an inheritance.

Thats where I stand, what should I do?

I should note, the 10K I took out of the HELOC, was to put into the stock market, I was up to 15K on some good buys, but some bad news came out and I lost, I am down to 6K, so I am 4K in the hole on that one.

One thing I am thinking, is if Apple drops to 160, I will buy 200 shares, wait for it to return to 190+ and make a quick few grand, but that is not much. It is also risky. I also am not sure pulling that out of a mutual fund, plus the c-gains on it, as well as the short term on the stock itself, would not wash any profits away.

Simple links, simple terms, I am not afraid to spend hours researching, I just do not know where to begin.

thanks.