How I made an extra £740.13 in February
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.
February being the shortest month of the year would usually signal slightly lower earnings, but even after taking a week away I am exceptionally pleased with how well I got on last month in terms of my extra earnings.
Here’s how I got on:
Mystery Shopping: £294.55
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:
15 x Poundland Shelf Tasks (receive shelf labels by post, visit stores and stick on the shelf): £186.00
2 x Little Moons Checks (visit store, check stock levels and ask store to put out more): £21.00
5 x Hair Care Checks (visit store, capture images of hair care items): £17.00
5 x R&Rs (visit store, purchase item and review it online, also reimbursed): £10.00
2 x Pet Food Checks (visit store, capture images and purchase items, also reimbursed): £4.00
You will notice that the bulk of my income this month came from "Merchandiser" tasks where I had to actually engage with staff and whilst these may seem daunting at first, they are actually quite easy and pay really well if you can build the confidence to do them!
I anticipate more tasks that don't involve interaction to be available in March.
4 x M&S Mystery Shops (visit store, capture images and answer questions): £44.00
4 x Tesco Audits (visit store, capture images and answer questions): £20.50
2 x Currys Mystery Shops (visit store, capture images and answer questions): £14.00
1 x Boots Promo Check (visit store, answer questions, ask staff for missing items): £10.00
1 x Poundland Mystery Shop (visit store, capture images and answer questions): £9.00
1 x Tesco Mobile Mystery Shop (visit store, capture images and answer questions): £7.00
1 x Superdrug Promo Check (visit store, answer questions, ask staff for missing items): £6.00
2 x Amazon Delivery Tasks (order "prohibited item" and answer questions on delivery): £60.00
These can be performed by anyone aged 18-24.5 years old and is to ensure that Amazon are checking for ID when you order age-restricted items off of Amazon.
BeMyEye (ref code: v1znkgq for £1 bonus on completion of first task)
1 x Currys Computer Check (visit store, capture images and ask staff for a recommendation): £11.20
LISA Bonus: £250
After months of not being able to contribute to my Lifetime ISA due to other commitments and plans, I was able to contribute £1,000 into my LISA in February which returned me a £250 bonus from the Government.
I am hoping to be able to also do this in March and April (pre tax year end) to max out my Lifetime ISA for the 2023/24 tax year.
Not sure how LISAs work? Check out my page on ISAs here.
The Bank Engine: £94.19
As a business, I am beyond happy that The Bank Engine is consistently making a profit each month and whilst it may not be at the levels I was seeing towards the end of last year I am very much in the process of rebuilding the strategy behind the page.
Since launching the Pound to £5k Challenge at the start of the year, I have seen the number of mailing list subscribers increase exponentially and the feedback from you all has been fantastic which is my number one priority. Of course, this also goes hand-in-hand with my income as that is mostly driven from this mailing list now as I share less offers on Instagram but I believe this is the way forward and hope to keep growing the mailing list throughout 2024.
Bank Interest: £59.32
This seems to be staying quite consistent now that the only cash I’m holding is my cash Lifetime ISA and a small amount for an emergency fund. Passive income continues to be my favourite kind!
Dividends: £22.09
My investment portfolio has continued to grow in size due to recent market upturns but also continues to provide me with a regular income that is growing slowly over time. Of course, I am re-investing any income back into my portfolio.
I have recently re-shaped my investment portfolio with some change that I’ll share in due course, but if you are interested in starting investing I’d highly recommend checking out my free investing guide here.
Cashback: £11.22
1 x Experian Free Account bonus: £6.00
JamDoughnut (use code 5ZNC for a £2 bonus)
I use JamDoughnut to purchase gift cards for groceries each week and it is well worthwhile as the small amounts add up quite quickly!
Cheddar (use code DCZPAMO for a £2 bonus)
After the recent revamp of the Cheddar app earlier in February, I linked my cards and was able to earn some cashback on an auto-tracked purchase last month. I'm also keeping an eye on their rates for gift cards in case they beat JamDoughnut at any point.
Other: £8.76
Back in September, I joined an online community through this platform and earned a £5 voucher for my opinions on drinks. I was offered another short task in February which has also paid me £5 in vouchers which was super easy!
This is a bit of a different one that I have been testing out recently but seems somewhat decent. NielsenIQ are all about collecting data and are interested in your data from grocery shopping.
When I get home from doing the groceries, I snap a picture of the receipt and scan the barcodes on the items purchased and that's it really!
Someone recommended this last month and after trying it recently I can confirm it's well worthwhile - surveys will appear based on recent visits to stores and they take seconds to fill in and pay between £0.08 - £0.25 in Google Play Rewards credit.