It’s a hard time for Motley Fool investors and Canadian investors in general. There’s a lot of negativity surrounding the stock market, and it’s, of course, warranted. The market dropped by 10.8% between the end of March and mid-May. But now, we’re starting to see a climb in the right direction.

Still, it’s a scary time, so I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t want to invest all that much. If you’re just starting out, you likely don’t have all that much to invest and don’t know where to put it in this uncertain market.

Today, I’m going to help you out by suggesting you put just a small stake aside. Try to do that on a consistent basis, and you can great a $200-per-month passive-income portfolio.

Let’s get it started

First off, let’s start by creating that $500 each year. Not everyone has $500 available all the time, so if you received some cash and are looking to invest, that’s great! But what about next year and the year after that?

I’d start by making a plan for creating savings you’re comfortable with investing. If that’s just $500 per year and that’s good enough for you, then that’s good enough for me. To do that, figure out how much you need to put aside each month, each paycheque, or even each week. In those cases, it would come to $41.67, $20.83, and $8.92, respectively.

Looking at those numbers, see what makes sense to you. Does it mean putting that $8.92 aside by cutting out eating for lunch once a week? Or maybe you get rid of a monthly subscription service. Look over your budget and see where you can afford to find the room and make it work.

Create consistency

Once you’ve identified the cash you can carry forward, set up automated contributions. These can occur as little or as often as you want. So, let’s say you want that $20.83 out of your account each paycheque. You can make an automated contribution in your Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) or whatever account you choose, and the money will go there without you even thinking about it.

Next up, you’ll want to consistently invest in a strong company that provides dividends. Considering this is about earning passive income, you need to create that passive income by investing in a passive-income stock on a regular basis.

Regular could mean again putting that $20.83 in your stock every time you get paid, or once a month, or once a year! Another option is to create alerts for when a share price drops by 5% or something to see quick returns. Whatever your method, make sure you’re consistent.

A stock to consider

If you want long-term passive income, choose a company that’s been around for a long time. You can get that from any of the Big Six banks, but I would choose Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (TSX:CM)(NYSE:CM). The bank has reinvigorated its image, providing more focus to customer satisfaction, its digital presence, and expanding its operations. Furthermore, it has the best dividend of the batch!

If you want to make that $200 per month right away, it would mean investing $50,010 today. But remember, you only have $500. So, today that would give you passive income of $24, which is not that exciting.

Bottom line

But remember, we’re looking at creating a consistent investing strategy. Looking at historical data, we can see that CIBC stock has grown its shares and dividend by a compound annual growth rate of 6.72% and 6.31%, respectively. If you invested $500 each year towards it, you could create a $200-per-month portfolio in under 24 years!

The post Got $500? How to Create a $200/Month Passive-Income Portfolio appeared first on The Motley Fool Canada.

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Fool contributor Amy Legate-Wolfe has positions in CANADIAN IMPERIAL BANK OF COMMERCE. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned.