Extra Income Report – January 2017

Homely Economics' Extra Income Report for January 2017.

Extra Income Report – January 2017

As it’s the first income report of 2017, I decided to do something a bit different. We’ve all heard the saying, “a penny saved is a penny earned”, but how much of our savings could actually be classed as earnings?

Arguably, some of my earnings are already savings – like supermarket cashback which gives me money off of food, and sometimes works out as free food. Yet, although I know that my couponing contributes a lot to our household savings, I’ve never acknowledged it in the income report.

We think it’s time to start keeping track of how much we’re actually saving ourselves through coupons. So welcome to the improved, and probably much bigger, extra income reports for 2017!

 What we’ve earned in January.

  • Interest – £41.91
  • Cashback – £10.65
  • Sales – £7.15
  • Writing – £0.09
  • Coupons -£7.65

Total: £67.45

 

The Rules

So here are my rules for calculating extra income.

What goes in? Cashback, interest, bonuses, competition wins, discounts earned through loyalty points, voucher codes or special activity, found money (substantial amounts), gifts, tax refunds that would otherwise be unclaimed, earnings from online or offline sales, as well as earnings from surveys, apps and freelance writing work.

What doesn’t go in? Our salaries, regular sale refunds (as in buying something and then returning it), discounts on items in store or online that are available to all, general estimates of what we could have spent but didn’t – as in, reducing a bill and calculating what the difference would be.

 

 Here’s our income in detail:

Cashback breakdown –
  • TSB Plus cashback – £2.81
  • TSB credit card cashback – £4.13
  • TopCashback – £2.64
  • Quidco – £1.07 (paid as Amazon gift card)

Coupons

Coupon breakdown – Asda Price Guarantee – £7.65

 

I’ve decided to include the couponing to demonstrate how useful it can be and how saving can contribute to financial health. My focus has always been on saving more than earning, but I want to make sure that comes across in the blog. Some of these APG coupons were mine and some were from wombling – hey, it works!

 

Sales

Our eBay sales started well and then slowed down, mostly because I was so fed up of the confusion around the fees charged. It turns out that because I set up my account years ago when I lived in the USA, I have two currency accounts, each making demands on my profits! I had to contact eBay to figure out what was going on and sort it out, and to be honest, it put me off more than a bit. Once the listings made under my $US account expire, I’ll fire it up again. I’ve been carrying on with selling coins and notes, and although I like it, I think I’ll have to increase my prices slightly to cover all the fees and bump profits up.

 

Writing

Now, don’t laugh at my nine pence from ebooks – I’ve done absolutely no promotion for them! However, I do have a plan to produce a few more based on some old essays, and I’ve fired up an old blog from 2012 to promote them better. That blog should be a billboard for my editing services, like proofreading and blog-to-book editing. Hopefully that will pay off!

 

In all, January has been full of planning and behind-the-scenes work for more long-term gains. I tend to put too many irons in the fire and wear myself out, but I’m hoping to strike a balance this year. Let’s see!

Over to you…

What do you think of my rules for extra income? Tried any side hustles in January?

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