I only made an extra £64.03 in September 2026
Yes, really. With average monthly additional earnings of £805 per month it took me aback as well but let’s jump into it.
I purchased a new home at the end of August and with trying to work my way through various bits and pieces I had little-to-no time available to put into my efforts to earn extra income during September.
However, there is another clear reason for a drop-off being that my ~£150 of bank interest I had been receiving monthly since the start of the year has reduced to nearly nothing as my cash savings were depleted to fund the deposit on my new home.
Coming Changes
These reports should make better reading from next month onwards as the purchase of my new home means that my credit score is fair game again until I need to re-fix a rate, which means bank switches, matched betting and all that good stuff are back on the agenda!
The Bank Engine: £32.56
Alongside little time to put into other efforts, The Bank Engine has fallen by the wayside but continued to remain (albeit marginally) profitable during September as a result of continued affiliate commissions through Outplayed’s matched betting software and a handful of referral bonuses through Zopa and JamDoughnut.
As always, thank you to everyone who continues to support The Bank Engine through, what frustratingly feels like a continuing pattern of, quietness.
Bank Interest: £9.48
I have taken out a 0% credit card to fund new furniture purchases alongside other items in relation to the new home. I am using this card to “stooze” whereby the cash equivalent of the amount spent on the card is held in a high interest savings account until the 0% term ends where I will then pay the amount across to the credit card company.
This is rather technical but can be profitable if done properly, I am considering doing a more detailed post on my plans with this in the near future.
Cashback: £8.77
Everup: £6.69 cashback when paying with gift cards for groceries
Zopa: £2.08 cashback on direct debits
Market Research: £7.93
I was able to complete two very short studies during September being a survey on Askable for £5.00 and a short usability test via Dscout for £2.93 (US$4)
Mystery Shopping: £4.00
My favourite side hustle netted me four measly pounds during September as I completed just one task on SmartSpotter!
Google Rewards: £1.29
Google Rewards is an app that pays you for answering short surveys on a regular basis. These typically are linked to your Google history and therefore I will receive surveys on shops I have been to and asked if I made a purchase, if the store was accessible, etc. or based on Google searches I have made recently.
From the surveys, I made £1.13 in September with an extra £0.16 from receipt photos.
You can also earn from taking photos of receipts, it will try to figure out if you visited a store based on location history and will ask you for a receipt, you will then get paid roughly 10-20p for each receipt.
If you use an Android this can only be redeemed as Google Play credit, but simply set up a subscription to be paid via this (Disney+, Netflix, etc.) or can be paid via PayPal if on iOS but you will obviously earn more if on Android.