How I made an extra £582.02 in January 2024
For those who have been following my personal finance journey for a number of months (or years!) you will know that I am keen to share my full journey which includes a breakdown of my extra earnings.
So with the first month of 2024 coming to a close recently, I wanted to share a more detailed account of my extra earnings for last month. Typically, the first month of the year has been quite slow for me in terms of extra earnings but I’m really pleased with how much I’ve managed to make at the start of this year!
Without further ado, here’s how I got on in January…
Mystery Shopping: £251.20
This has been my best performing side hustle over the last year by far, and for this exact reason I recently launched my free mini-guide on how I’ve made £1,000s from doing this.
When I initially started, I really had no clue what it entailed but I am now regularly making £100s every month alongside getting lots of free products and building my confidence at the same time!
For info, here’s a breakdown of the tasks I carried out last month spread over the various apps that I use:
Shepper
6 x M&S Mystery Shops (capture images in-store and answer questions): £69.00
6 x National Lottery Checks (capture images in-store): £21.00
2 x Electrical Store Mystery Shops (capture images in-store and answer questions): £14.00
1 x Poundland Mystery Shop (capture images in-store and answer questions): £12.00
1 x PG Tips Check (check advertising board and capture images in-store): £6.00
1 x Boots Promo Stand Check (capture images of a unit in store): £5.00
1 x Sainsbury's GetPro Check (capture images in-store): £5.00
Roamler I do have some invite codes if you would like to help me out!
8 x Hair Care Checks (capture images in-store): £28.00
12 x Rate & Review Tasks (capture images in-store, buy product and review it): £18.00
15 x Review Tasks (capture images in-store, buy product and review it): £15.00
6 x Pet Food Checks (capture images in-store and buy products): £12.00
1 x LuckySaint Check (capture images in-store checking unit is present): £12.00
1 x Air Fryer & Coffee Machine Check (capture images in-store and answer questions): £6.00
1 x Vacuum & Coffee Machine Check (capture images in-store and answer questions): £6.00
1 x Steamer & Coffee Machine Check (capture images in-store and answer questions): £6.00
1 x Boots Compliance Check (capture images in-store): £3.00
1 x Online Search Check (capture screenshots of product searches): £1.50
IShopForIpsos
2 x Amazon Home Delivery tasks (order items with age verification checks from Amazon and answer questions when delivered as to whether your ID was checked - available for anyone aged between 18 and 24.5 years old)
BeMyEye (code for £1 bonus: v1znkgq)
1 x Computer Check (capture images of computers in Currys): £4.60
1 x Store check (reduced fee as store not present): £1.50
After this, I have deducted my mileage at a rate of 45p per mile (in line with HMRC’s guidance) and any costs for parking to complete jobs where there is no other option! There is also a £21 deduction for purchasing two cases of Kopparberg cider to complete the IShopForIpsos tasks (but we all know I always have an Amazon credit balance due to using it is the workaround to get lots of sign-up offers!)
The Bank Engine: £139.62
I have been exceptionally pleased with the result of The Bank Engine as we enter 2024 which has been particularly helped out by the strong growth in the Pound to £5k Challenge which is simultaneously helping our community increase their income but also providing a good income basis for the business.
It has been a pretty busy month with work so I haven’t been able to put in as much time as I had hoped into growing but am very pleased to have signed a partnership contract with Trading 212 who are an investing apps I have used since starting my investing journey.
The vast majority of the profits in January came from the referral and affiliate income made as a result of the first four emails in the Challenge, and I am hoping this will continue through 2024 as it will ensure The Bank Engine remains profitable enough to re-invest continuously.
Matched Betting: £34.00
This is my original side hustle that I started back in early 2020 as my first dive into the idea of earning extra income outside of my 9-5 role as an accountant. To date, I have made £3,000+ in tax-free cash from this side hustle and helped hundreds of others make money from it too.
If you haven’t heard of it, the idea is that you use betting sites’ promotional offers to make a profit by using online calculators to win regardless of the outcome of a sporting event. At first, this probably does sound quite complicated but that is why I have written a comprehensive free guide that has helped people make £1,000s from this side hustle.
I am happy to answer any questions on this side hustle, but I would highly recommend checking this free guide out here.
Market Research: £25.00
During January, Askable had a market research call that I was able to take part in for £20 for 30 minutes, spending the time to look at a budgeting app and give feedback on the usability of it. I also was able to complete a quick 5 minute survey which I was paid £5 for as well.
Cashback: £24.97
During January, we booked an upcoming trip where I was keen to save as much as possible without compromising the quality whilst away. Luckily, we were able to get 8% cashback on Expedia by going through TopCashback totalling £19.18 which will pay for some food whilst we are away!
Additionally, I continued to use JamDoughnut to buy gift cards to use when buying our groceries which gave me cashback at 5.5% at Marks & Spencers which totalled £5.79 during the month. This is lower than usual as I also used my new American Express card to pay for some groceries to push me towards the £3,000 spend limit to get the bonuses. More on this coming soon!
Receipt Scanning: £4.41
Following some confusion over how this side hustle has worked for a number of months, I finally signed up to the NeilsenIQ Consumer Panel in June, which allows you to earn rewards for scanning your receipts from grocery shopping and then scanning the barcodes.
This isn’t going to make you a millionaire by any means, but by my calculations you can make an extra ~£40 per year just from scanning your weekly groceries that you would have bought anyway.
During November, I scanned our shopping every week and managed to get bonuses for using the app for 4 weeks straight - I don’t have a referral link, but this is the website (I know, it looks ancient but it does the job!)
Points can be exchanged for vouchers once you reach thresholds in £25 multiples depending on the type of voucher you would like! I would recommend this as a slow burner side hustle that adds up over the long-term.
Dividends: £29.09
This one is obviously a bit different, as it is the income earned by my investment portfolio during the month. I am not invested in dividend stocks and am mostly invested in accumulation funds where the purpose is to growth my investment pot over time rather than to provide me an income.
I am, however, paid dividends from a number of investments that I hold in platforms like Nutmeg and Trading212. I re-invest these dividends to ensure that my money is working hard for me.
If you are keen to learn more about investing, you can check out my free investing guide here, and I am always happy to answer questions that you may have.
Bank Interest: £73.79
Similar to the one above, this is “passive income” that I earn without lifting a finger and has been earned on my savings (being my emergency fund and my Cash Lifetime ISA).
Whilst this is a large amount of bank interest to be earning every month, the cash I have sat in these accounts is actually losing value as a result of inflation, which is frustrating but is part of the deal when you are looking to keep cash in the short-term.