2023 was the year I had a baby. 2024 was the year that I finished my maternity leave so all my routines around baby and side hustles went straight out the window and yet another new way of doing things had to be worked out.

In my 2023 side hustle totals post I said that I wanted to see how close I could get to £600 but I thought it might be a bit unrealistic. Well once you scroll down you'll see that actually I didn't have too much to worry about!

The totals

Talks - £331.65

Cashback - £109.08

Selling - £79.34

Surveys - £72.29

Other- £19.52

Total - £611.88

Sources

Talks

As you can see, this year my talks have brought in just over £100 more than last year! Partly because I managed to do 8 talks this year, compared to 6 in 2023. But also because in the last part of the year my fees increased from £25 to £35 per talk, and mileage costs have gone up a bit too.

No one likes putting up their fees but with the cost of everything else going up £25 really did feel silly cheap. I'm not making a living from it but that doesn't mean I need to undercut everyone in order to be booked. I have still been told that £35 is a bit on the low end but once mileage is taken into account I tend to come home with £50 or close to it anyway.

Cashback

I was a bit more determined to make more from cashback sources this year. I have found Greenjinn to have more offers that I like this year so they became a good little bonus, and I was better at remembering to check TCB for insurance quotes when I needed them.

Selling

I said I would take this out as a separate category this year, and it's been nice to track how much I've made just from getting things out of the house. Most of it is from eBay as I've been a bit more focused on listing things on there, but there were also one or two sales through a group mailing list at my workplace.

Surveys

This has dropped a bit compared to last year and that's primarily because I've returned to work. I was getting a good number of surveys on Prolific during daytime naps, when a lot of people weren't checking the website. Obviously this has now had to end because I can't check and do surveys in the office. I have tried to focus a bit more in the evenings and had some luck with some higher paying ones, but you really do lose opportunities if you're unavailable during the day.

Other

Taking "Selling" out of this category has led to a big drop in the totals, which is probably how it should be as a dominant source should have its own category. The bulk of this (£15 to be exact) came from the receipt scanning app Shoppix (the only receipt app I do nowadays) and the rest was a small payout from Redbubble. I didn't earn enough for a payout from Zazzle and this is the first year that no one has bought my ebooks, so no pennies (literally) from there this year.

Next year

At the moment I feel like £600 is a total that I'm happy to maintain. Given the cost of everything has gone up recently it's nice to have a bit extra to pop into various pots and accounts. This year my earnings have been used to overpay the mortgage, as well as top-up my S&S ISA, and my holiday fund.

Mortgage overpayments 2024

If you have been a long time reader of this little blog then 1) congratulations and 2) are you mad or just a bit nosy about other people's mortgages?

Sadly 2024 is the year that we have finally been hit by the new interest rates. The annoying thing about it is that our first mortgage deal was a 5 year fixed one and we got it shortly before rates started their slow descent. Since it was fixed for 5 years we couldn't really benefit from the dip.

When that deal was coming to an end I suggested that our next one just be a 2 year fixed rate one. It was hard to tell what was going to happen to rates anyway and we weren't sure we were going to stay in the house for much longer so being locked in for 5 years sounded like too much of a risk.

More fool me as rates have now bounced back up to far higher than they were when we got our first mortgage deal. Am I annoyed? Yes. Have I stopped overpaying as a result? Of course not!

The overpayments

Jan - £153.79

Feb - £180.84

Mar - £143.58

Apr - £140.38

May - £57.64

Jun - £32.55

Jul - £25.33

Aug - £22.17

Sept - £24.84

Oct - £36.75

Nov - £34.80

Dec - £45.69

Total - £898.36

Thoughts

Can you spot the point where our 2 year fix ended and our new deal (another 5 year fixed because to hell with that uncertainty) began? Yes, April saw us waving goodbye to 1.71% interest rate and in May we welcomed a whopping great 4.57% (and by "welcomed" I mean cursed at).

This means that our monthly repayment is now bigger than it was when we first bought our house even though our LTV has naturally improved through increasing house prices and paying down the mortgage. It's terribly depressing but at least we're lucky to still be able to overpay at all. I'm very aware that similar increases are having a negative impact on other home owners.

Our plans for next year are minimal. We'll need to start paying for childcare (my husband is currently on a career break), neither of us are expecting good pay rises as we don't work in the private sector, and the cost of everything else is going up. I'd love to hit £500 overpayments next year, but I'll be amazed if we manage it.

Side hustle total for 2023

Much like the mortgage overpayments for this year, having a baby naturally meant that side hustles had to take a bit of a back seat.

As you'll see below, in the end I wasn't too far off last years total! I'm quite surprised but one good thing about being on maternity leave with a good sleeper is that I had a bit of time to do extra random money-making tasks during naps, and that had a bigger impact than I realised.

Breakdown and total

Talks- £215.30

Other- £127.32

Surveys- £115.18

Cashback - £32.33

Receipts - £20.00

Total - £510.13

Sources

Talks

Another year in which talks are my most profitable side hustle. This is also where my maternity leave lost me the most money. I did have two talks booked for early in the year but my Mum gently persuaded me to cancel them as there was a chance I'd be too tired for them. I'm glad she did as my iron levels were quite low at the beginning of the year and I felt wiped out by the early afternoon. I definitely couldn't have done a good job with low energy levels.

Other

This is a category that I think I'll change a bit next year. "Other" is all the things that tend to come in with minimal effort on my part, or that I don't really participate in regularly enough to consider as a separate category.

This year it has covered some ebook money (my ebooks were published nearly 10 years ago but I still get the occasional purchase or KENP read), some sales on eBay, and a payout from Zazzle. I think for 2024 I'll try tracking "sales" as a separate category in its own right. The eBay sales have actually been more consistant this year and I'd like to try and increase them next year, as well as try selling outgrown baby things on FBMP.

Surveys

Being on maternity leave really helped with this. During naps I could pop on to Prolific and do a few quick tasks. Prolific has always paid well due to their rules around minimum amount per hour, and doing 50 pence here and 20 pence there, for tasks taking less than 10 minutes, meant that I could build up a decent chunk each month.

I also finally had a Yougov payout of £50. I have been doing it for years (literally) and while the £50 is a big chunk in one go it simply is not worth all the time and effort I put into it. This is one I am not going to be returning to.

Cashback

This continues to be a bit of a slow burner but it's worth it for the occasional payout. I've had payments from Shopmium, Greenjinn, TopCashback, and Hashting. In some cases the cashback has been the amount I've spent on a grocery item so we've effectively got something for free.

Receipts

If "Sales" are going to get their own category next year then I'll lump "receipts" into "other". This used to be a bigger earner but with the closure of ReceiptHog and some difficulties I've had with SnapMyEats, I've given up and just stuck to Shoppix. I always cash out an Amazon voucher as it can just sit in my account and cover the occasional ebook purchase.

Next year

For 2024 I'd like to try and see how close I can get to £600. I'll be going back to work next year so we'll see how much time I have between that and the baby, but I'd certainly like to increase the amount. Perhaps £550 would be more realistic?

Mortgage overpayments 2023

I am honestly a little amazed that I managed to get any overpayments done after March. I had a baby at the end of the month so remembering to knock extra chunks off the mortgage wasn't exactly top of my list of things to do each month.

But extra payments were made. Not too much more than the standard overpayment we make every month but there were a few account sweeps and side hustles here and there.

The overpayments

Jan - £168.68

Feb - £137.27

Mar - £135.52

Apr - £128.70

May - £130.99

Jun - £127.48

Jul - £134.69

Aug - £143.32

Sept - £196.48

Oct - £196.21

Nov - £149.61

Dec - £162.69

Total - £1,811.64

Thoughts

I must confess that if I'd totalled this up a bit sooner and seen how close we were to £2000 I would definitely have found £190 from a savings account and chucked it at the mortgage. Just for the satisfaction of rounding it up and the psychological boost of tipping into £2k territory.

But even without reaching the giddy heights of £2000 I'm still really pleased with how much we overpaid this year. This is definitely the best year we've had for mortgage overpayments since we started back in 2017, and we've done it while I've been on maternity leave and had a baby to look over so the attention of finances has dipped quite a bit this year.

I wish I could say we'll take it forward next year and push for a big target. But our mortgage deal with it's low interest rate ends in the spring and we simply can't get the kind of rate we got a few years ago. We're also not likely to get big promotions, bonuses or new jobs next year, in fact we're looking at my husband taking a career break so he can have time with the baby as well. We'll still make some overpayments but circumstances will significantly curtail them.

30 books for Women's History Month

Please note that the links posted here are affiliate links. If you purchase something through them it does not cost you extra, but I get a few pennies as a thank you for referring you!

March is Women's History Month, and if you're like me you'll be thrilled with how women's history has exploded as a subject over the past few years.

I'm not even that old, I was born in 1985! But I remember how much history at school was focused on men and their achievements. The change has been very welcome, for me at least.

Side hustle total for 2022

This post contains some referral links. If you sign up after clicking a link then it won't cost you anything, but means I get a few extra pennies as a thank you for referring you.

As with my recent look back at my mortgage overpayments, now that we're in 2023 (well into it, it's February!) I can look back at my spread sheets and see what the impact last years side hustling was.

This is the first year that I've properly tracked my side hustle money. Most of it tended to go into my Paypal and then just sit there until I bought something off eBay. But with more of a focus on FIRE in the past few years I realised I needed to be a bit more sensible about this as well.

And I'm very glad I did, as I can now see the impact of all those little sums from various sources, that just come drifting in throughout the year.

Mortgage overpayments 2022

Now that we've waved goodbye to 2022 and can look forward to 2023, it's time to reflect on some of the finances over the past year.

To start with I've had a look back at our mortgage overpayments for 2022! I know there's some debate among personal finance bloggers over whether it's best to overpay the mortgage or invest the money instead. For me and my husband overpaying works for us, but I'm very aware that it's not for everyone.

Last year our total was just over £900. My target had been £1000 a year. And this year we managed it!

Birthday freebies

I recently celebrated my *whisper* 37th birthday! And naturally that meant that I could load up a few apps and loyalty cards and get a few freebies and money off vouchers.

This might be one of my favourite rewards in recent years. Birthday rewards for loyalty cards and apps only started up a few years ago, but they do seem to be a slowly growing trend. I don't like things to go to waste so I've only signed up to things I know I want, there are more offers beyond the four I've listed here.

Paperchase - £5 off with Treat Me card

If you're signed up to the Paperchase "Treat Me" card and you've given them your date of birth, then around your birthday you'll get an email saying you have a £5 voucher ready to spend. They give you a code to use online or if you're in the shop just hand over the card and it will be assigned to your purchase.

I used it to reduce the cost of my 2023 diary. For the past few years I've been keeping a daily hand written diary and I generally purchase them from Paperchase as I'm left handed and find their diaries are quite easy to write on both sides of the page.

Although the code is emailed to you close to your birthday, it generally has an expiry date set 30 days later. If you time it well you could combine it with a sale to get a real bargain!

Greggs app - Free sweet treat

If you download the Greggs app and add your date of birth then you'll find it automatically gives you a free sweet treat voucher on the app! I got this delicious sprinkle doughnut but other options include yumyums, gingerbread biscuits, and chocolate chip cookies.

The offer was added to my app on my birthday itself and was valid for 7 days, if you don't have a huge amount of time to use it. In my case though I was going into town to do some Christmas shopping so I just made sure I stopped by Greggs on my way back to the car. If you don't have a Greggs nearby then you might want to decide if it's worth the cost of a trip.

You also need to have had the Greggs app for a few weeks before your birthday, if you download it on the day then I don't think it will work.

Hotel Chocolat - £5 off with VIP Me card

Like Paperchase, if you have the Hotel Chocolat VIP Me card then you'll get an email confirming you have a £5 voucher on your VIP Me card, or a code to use online.

Back when you could get three selectors for £10 this was a fantastic bargain, as you could get great chocolate for half off. Sadly though inflation now means that it's £12 for three selectors and it doesn't feel like quite as good a deal (to me at least, but I understand why the prices went up).

Instead I got one selector and one milk chocolate "tiddly pot", with the voucher I paid less than £2 for the pair of them. It's still a really nice offer though and if your birthday falls just after a holiday like Halloween, Christmas, or Valentines, then you can use the voucher to get some already discounted chocolate.

My birthday falls in the middle of November and the email normally arrives in my inbox right at the end of October, valid until the end of November, so I think it mostly covers your birthday month.

Costa Coffee - Free cake with the app

If you have downloaded the Costa Coffee app and filled in your details, including your birthday, then you can get a free cake for your birthday. Like the Greggs app this is automatically added to the app on your birthday, and you need to use it within the week.

I chose the millionaire slice but I don’t think it limits what you can buy. I was very tempted by the lemon muffin as I really like them, and they had also released their festive menu so there were also Toblerone muffins, large mince pies, and a cake with a reindeer face.

If you want to download the Costa app then you can use my referral code (8XQ6D), and we will both get 5 free beans, which will put you halfway towards a free drink.

Overall a nice little haul that just required me to pop into a few shops, I had a week off work anyway so I was going to a few places with the relevant shops. It's a nice way to get a few treats for free or very reduced.

Books I read in May 2022

This post contains affiliate links. These links do not cost you money, but if you purchase something after clicking them I get a small fee for sending you there. The information below is an honest review, if I don't like something I will tell you!

As you'll see from the books this month, I've been on a bit of a Second World War kick.

I can't really explain why, I'm not normally much of a recent history fan. And actually the second one, about the Home Guard, was read this month because I borrowed it from my local library so needed to read it before returning it. Had it been a book I'd bought it would no doubt still be sitting unread on the bookcase.

I did cheat a tiny bit and still write it in my "to be read" section in my planner, just so I could have the pleasure of ticking it off. I also returned it to the library before taking a photo for the blog.

Becoming a Women's Institute Speaker

In a recent post about my side hustles I mentioned that one of my main earning streams was doing talks for the Women's Institute.

I really enjoy my talks as an alternative side hustle, and I know that WIs need a good diversity of speakers. So I thought I would write a little guide on how I became a speaker, and a few things you need to keep in mind if you want to become one yourself.