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Original poster

£30k in 2019

116 replies

Jazzybeats · 29/12/2018 15:54

I’ve set myself the bold goal of overpaying my mortgage by 30k next year and looking for ideas for generating a bit of cash to do that.

So far I am:

  • eBaying everything and anything
  • starting an Amazon Merch business
  • cutting any die t debits
  • switching bank accts for the sign on bonus
  • banking any “savings” I make day to day (eg buying a cheaper brand or on deal and bank the difference v full price)

Any other ideas? Ideally I am looking for passive income streams so something like matched betting is too involved.

OP posts:
Coppermine · 30/12/2018 09:01

Designing T-shirt's and selling online sounds more time consuming (and less guarantee of sales) than matched betting. I found the first week of MB took a little time to make sure I was entering the details right, but I've gone days without doing any MB yet a few days away from making £300 in my first month. I do most of it on my phone too. I'm also a solo parent to a 1 year old so I don't have a massive amount of time either but I've found it easier than selling stuff on eBay/Facebook.

Original poster
Jazzybeats · 30/12/2018 10:40

Hum I think I am going to reconsider the matched betting thing then. A lot of success stories I am hearing.

The t shirt thing is essentially “one and done” - once you’ve designed it, they handle everything else.... costs nothing aside from an initial 1 hour to set it all up.

Another idea overnight: proofreading? PowerPoint making? I guess what I think I need is more side hustles!

OP posts:
rabbitfoodadvocate · 30/12/2018 12:43

You need to be qualified for things like proofreading. I say that as a professional editor and writer, not to rain on your parade.

TalkinPeace · 30/12/2018 14:30

Speaking as an accountant.

Lots of the people who reckon they are making a living with these sideline activities are not earning much above NMW once you take into account the amount of time spent.
Turnover is not income. Only net profit after tax is income.

If you have two small kids, your best bet is to focus on spending time with them while you can,
live frugally
manage your money carefully
and know that by the time they are 11 your childcare costs will be pretty much over.

Ollivander84 · 30/12/2018 15:00

I do matched betting in front of the TV on my phone. The sign up offers are the best but most involved as you need to register with each bookie. Best tip is keep a separate bank account (I use starling) so you can track it easier
I see it as effectively free money while I'm at home anyway. Once I've backed and lay the bet, that's it really

Ollivander84 · 30/12/2018 15:00

Oh and no tax on matched betting Wink

Ta1kinPeace · 30/12/2018 15:41

Ollivander
I know there is no tax on betting - as the debts are unenforceable if the bookie refuses to pay out.

How much banked profit do you make per ten hours a week of time spent ?

Ollivander84 · 30/12/2018 15:49

I've only just started. £150 so far in 2 weeks and I've spent probably an hour doing the sign ups but I'm doing them slowly so not to make any errors
I enjoy it and it uses my brain, plus I can't take on another job so any money made is good for me

Ta1kinPeace · 30/12/2018 17:28

Cool, but it will be worth tightly tracking time expended v. cash return
and clearly record all losses against gains to reach the true net figure

Frouby · 30/12/2018 17:38

ta1king I make plenty matched betting. Once you are up and running it's easy to make £100 a week with probably 3/4 hours work tops.

I personally know people who make 30/40k a year doing it full time. And it's very, very rare for a bookie to not pay out. You just need to stick to the rules. There are regulations in place which means the bookie has to pay out if you stick to the rules and they don't like the negative publicity. All uk bookies are licensed and in the event of an issue you can raise it with the licencing authority.

Ollivander84 · 30/12/2018 17:47

@Ta1kinPeace the only losses are on qualifying bets so around 50p ish. Or if I make a mistake!

nannynick · 30/12/2018 18:20

Spend money on experiences not stuff - your children don't need lots of stuff, they need time spent with you.

Use tax efficient childcare schemes: Tax Free Childcare (both parents must earn under £100,000 each), Childcare vouchers (only some employers offer these and you must already be in a scheme as schemes are now closed to new entrants).

Nursery education funding kicks in the term following your child's 3rd Birthday, talk to nursery about how this changes your nursery fees closer to that time.

shpoot · 30/12/2018 18:55

Check that you are allowed to overpay by 30000. A lot will only allow 10000 a year overpayments without a penalty. Put the rest aside if so and pay that over 3 years

shpoot · 30/12/2018 18:55

And write a list of all bdays etc you'll have to buy for through the year and buy now in the sales

flamingofridays · 30/12/2018 21:01

I want to make and sell or order in bulk and re sell but not sure where to start / what to buy/make and how not to waste money!

Were getting married and there seems to be a big market for personalised wedding crap stuff. I do like a craft but im not sure where to start / whether its worth it!

Original poster
Jazzybeats · 30/12/2018 21:30

Childcare is difficult even with those bits of support. We have 2 under 4 so it’s 2 lots of nursery fees.

Can definitely over pay by 30k so no worries there.

Like the idea of experiences rather than stuff. Especially if they are free or really low cost.

I understand the point made above about profit v turnover. I’m doing this in addition to my day job not instead of... if I could save 30k in my current salary I’d be laughing!

OP posts:
BarbaraofSevillle · 31/12/2018 03:31

Do the Moneysavingexpert money makeover if you haven't already fine tuned your budget to work out if the £30k plan is feasible.

Maximise your income and minimise your expenses, and see what your theoretical excess available money is. Also sign up to their weekly newsletter for ongoing tips and tricks on savings and/or extra income.

Big ideas to look at would be food and drink, holidays and days out.

Set a budget for food, drink and eating out including snacks, coffees, lunches out of the house etc. Spend as little as possible on those bought out of the house.

Do you still plan to go on holiday? Depending on what type of holiday, obviously potential cost is thousands of pounds.

Are there any local attractions you could get a season pass for so you can go regularly with your own food and drink of course for very cheap days out?

BarbaraofSevillle · 31/12/2018 03:40

Babysitting would be a possible extra income stream if your partner is also at home in the evenings for your own DCs, however you should pay tax on the income, which would reduce the profit, and more so if you are a higher rate taxpayer, which I'm assuming you must be to have potentially £30k excess income.

What effect does this plan have on your lifestyle and what does your partner think? Will you also still have some nice things or will it be a very tight year if you over pay so much?

Can either of you earn more in your main professions, either by doing bank work, consultancy, overtime or similar? If you are on professional salaries, that would seem most lucrative per hour long term.

Cornishclio · 31/12/2018 04:16

Doesn't one of your children qualify for the 30 free hours childcare if over 3?

Original poster
Jazzybeats · 31/12/2018 09:32

Ooh lots of comments to respond to...

Holiday this year will be Center Parcs in off season and self catered, so hopefully cost is limited there.

We don’t get free childcare hours for youngest as he’s 1 year old.

Partner is supportive but eye rolling - thinks it’s a pipe dream challenge but wants the freedom paying the mortgage so fast will bring so will give it a shot.

I can’t do 30k just with making savings on spending. In fact, I reckon cutting back will be only c5k... the trick is going to be getting some additional income.

Consultancy is a good idea however is against my contract.

Yes there will be an impact on our life but to be honest it’s a sacrifice that needs to be made to make this kind of goal doable...

OP posts:
GoldenWonderwall · 31/12/2018 09:49

This is really interesting op. I don’t want to piss on your chips but if you estimate you can only cut back £5k, do you seriously think it’s feasible to make an additional £25k in your spare time? How about £10k altogether? This would be challenging but potentially achievable. Best of luck

Auntiepatricia · 31/12/2018 09:51

Saving more takes 10 times the effort compared to earning more. So you’d be better to slightly bust your ass to find new revenue rather than massively busy your ass to save pennies.

BarbaraofSevillle · 31/12/2018 10:22

Your goal is admirable but very challenging. Might it be better to have a 'soft start' to the project by getting into the habit of living frugally now, but really ramp up the overpayments plan when DC start school and your childcare costs drop?

You could vow to use the money 'saved' by paying less in childcare to overpay your mortgage instead? Interest rates are so low at the moment that the overall cost might not be that great and much better for your sanity.

Original poster
Jazzybeats · 31/12/2018 11:06

In the last 3 days since my OP I’ve:

  • cancelled £1k of direct debits (gym, Spotify, etc)
  • eBay or trade in on about £200 of stuff
  • switched bank accounts and saving accounts
  • started the Amazon Merch business
  • made 3 meals using whatever is in the house.

I am currently:

  • searching gumtree for a cheap bike
  • meal planning - we have 8 veggie dinners in next 2 weeks
  • staying in tonight and drinking leftover alcohol with DP
  • battling to cancel Amazon prime (DP thinks that’s going too far...)
  • working on an idea to coach people who want to enter my profession for £...

This is going to be very tough, so far I have got all the easy stuff done and now need to be radical to get to the big goal....

I’m going to stick to the hairy goal. I really believe in “aim for the stars and if you fail you might get to the moon”. If I don’t hit 30k but hit 20, that would be incredible still...

OP posts:
MarchSurprise · 31/12/2018 16:49

Good luck with your goal! Following with interest as I plan to make some changes and hopefully save £12-15k this year. I'm currently looking in to expanding my current business and launching another, need to pull a plan together ASAP. I also need to sit down and look at our outgoings and where we can make cutbacks.