At 3 a.m., the phone screen lights up my face, and the $1,200 in my account feels like a hot potato. Countless times I’ve thought about going all-in, but a voice keeps reminding me—the first iron rule for surviving with small funds is "fight with the little money."

Last October, a fan came to me with an account balance of exactly $1,200, saying he wanted to earn his tuition through trading. Four months later, I checked his account—$38,200, with a maximum drawdown of only 7.4%, never liquidated.

I asked him how he did it, and he just smiled and said, "It’s that 'stupid method' you taught me."

That method isn’t really mysterious; I’ll organize it here today. If you often stay up all night watching K-line charts because of a few hundred dollars’ fluctuation, treating the ups and downs as your heartbeat, it’s worth stopping to think carefully. For small funds, slow is the only truly effective leverage; stability is the sharpest weapon in a poor person’s hand.

**Step 1: Divide the money into three bags**

Once the $1,200 arrives, don’t rush to place orders. I told him to immediately split it into three parts, each $400, and gave each bag a name.

**Food Bag ($400): Daily wages**

This part is only for intraday trading. The rules are fixed: close the position with a 3% profit, cut losses at 2%. When it’s time, close the software—don’t hesitate, don’t look back. Just like going to work from nine to five every day to earn wages.

The biggest mistake small funds make is averaging down and holding on stubbornly, which results in depleting the principal. Strictly executing stop-loss isn’t cowardice; it’s the prerequisite for surviving to see the next opportunity. The market never lacks opportunities, but your principal only gets one chance.

**Big Fish Bag ($400): Patience for the big catch**

This $400 is dedicated to waiting for major breakthroughs on the weekly chart level. If the risk-reward ratio isn’t at least 1:3, don’t open a position. Opening ten trades a year is already a lot.

Like a real hunter, most of the time is spent waiting. Waiting for what? For those prey that can fly away the moment they move. This money is at rest most of the time, but once you take action, the gains are substantial.

**Interest-earning Bag ($400): Living money for retirement**

Finally, this $400 isn’t traded; it’s kept in stablecoins or low-risk assets. This isn’t cowardice; it’s the bottom line. When your intraday or mid-term strategies experience consecutive losses, you won’t be forced to go all-in in desperation. Keeping your psychological bottom line intact allows your strategies to be executed steadily.

**The core logic is simple**

Ordinary people look at the total account balance, fixated on turning $1,200 into $10,000 quickly. But from a different perspective, after dividing into three bags, earning 10-20% daily isn’t a dream; waiting for a wave of market movement to earn 50-100% mid-term is normal. Each bag plays its role, and the combined returns are actually more stable.

This fan later told me that in the first two months, he almost gave up on this method, feeling it was too slow. But by the third month, when he saw his account balance jump from $1,200 to $3,000, then $5,000, he understood— for small funds, slow is fast, stability is profit.

If you’re also feeling lost on the path of crypto trading, try this approach. No need for advanced technical analysis, no need to chase hot topics every day—just split your money into bags, set rules, and stick to discipline. It sounds "stupid," but this "stupid method" might be the shortest route from a small account to a big one.