October 2016 Income/Expenses

October 2016 Income/Expenses

It was payday on yesterday so time for the Income/Expenses!

I don’t know what it is about 2016 but the months seem to be flying past quicker and quicker. Perhaps its the combination of work and stress of getting everything ready for the wedding next year that means the days just don’t seem to have enough hours in them? I’m disappointed in myself that I’ve neglected this blog somewhat over the past few months and, if it hadnt have been for the monthly income/expenses reports, may well have just ditched it all together. I’ve noticed that most personal finance blogs tend to die out after a couple of years. Perhaps people just run out of things to say once they’ve managed to turn their finances around? Or perhaps no-one wants to read about people who have their finances on auto-pilot and everything just chugging along nicely? Either way, it’s given me some food for thought about what (if) I’d like to write about in the future on here and ultimately about whether anyone would want to keep reading it. If nothing else; I’ll aim to keep doing the income/expenses reports so I can look back on them for my own records.

From Matched Betting I made £2,966.46 in October. I smashed through the £20,000 mark in just under 1 year of full Matched-Betting. There are some more details and a log of my first 12 month’s worth of profits over on Matched Betting Guy. Needless to say my betting earnings have been way beyond what I expected when I first started this journey and I hope next year will continue to grow.

Amazon really is the gift that keeps on giving. I was again amazed to receive another payment from them this month despite not touching any of my books since around March time. From Kindle I received £374.59.

I’ve also started building up an affiliate income stream from the Matched Betting guide sites I recommend. I personally use a couple of guide sites and truly believe they are well worth the investment. Affiliate income paid at the end of October was £355.21.

On to the report:

Income

Salary: £2,110.29

Pension Contributions: £600

Matched Betting: £2,966.46

Kindle Publishing: £374.59

Affiliates: £355.21

Total: £6,406.55  (-8.1%)

Expenses

Mortgage/Bills: £918

Groceries: £207.67

Petrol (Gas):  £19.71

Maintainance/DIY: £60

Eating out: £131.39

Healthcare: £0

Entertainment: £121.39

Wedding: £500

Business: £213.64

Other: £71.13

Total: £2242.93 (-44.7%)

A savings difference of £4,163.62 which is 65%.

Networth

House Equity:  £37,800

Cash in bank: £21,396.39

Cash in betting accounts: £13,713.78

ISA Investments: £10,690.75

Pension 1: £18,149.37

Pension 2: £10,832.09

Pension 3: £1,832.61

Total Networth: £114,415 (+4.9%)

 

Another good month with income staying roughly the same and expenses on track including the normal £500 per month wedding saving. Happy to see all 3 pension schemes and ISA increases as the economy hasnt yet died following brexit declaration. I think cash in bank and in betting accounts has reached comfortable levels and so I’ll probably look to begin mortgage overpayments again soon to keep both at a level amount.

10 thoughts on “October 2016 Income/Expenses

  1. Hi Guy,

    Thanks again for the update – and congratulations on another superb month on the Matched Betting side – it shows what can be done with some hard work! Keep up the path and you will be at FI soon – although I am surprised at the amount you have in cash compared to investments, is there a particular reason for that (other than the wedding!).
    Cheers,
    London Rob

    1. Thanks Rob. Main reason for the high cash reserve is to cover any last minute wedding expenses and pay for the honeymoon. We’re asking for contributions towards the holiday as wedding gifts but have no idea how much (if any) we might get. I’ll probably reduce the cash back down to £10k after all these expenses and go back to making regular mortgage overpayments. The ‘Cash in betting accounts’ has to stay high as it allows me to place a high volume of matched-bets all at the same time.

  2. Wowaa weeewaa!

    You certainly are smashing it on the income front! And from multiple sources as well. Nice work my friend.

    Obviously the Matched Betting earnings are tax free but do you report the amazon and affiliate earnings net of tax? If so how do you calculate that? Do you just calculate it at your marginal rate?

    I’ve set up a Ltd company to stick all my “other” earnings under and probably not going to report it for blog purposes (anything that is taxable that is) until maybe end of the (tax) year (it’s no where near what you have been getting though!). I find it’s a grey area as well as I have some earnings from Ratesetter but that is down as a “Recommend a friend” type of thing which I am pretty sure is not taxable income, but I am pretty sure affiliate income is.

    Be good to hear your thoughts on it, cheers!

    1. Thanks mate.

      I calculate everything with my marginal tax rate. I initially set everything up to go through a family member’s already established company using their accountant but will eventually set up my own Ltd when I get round to it. Very happy that the matched betting is exempt from tax!

  3. Hi Guy

    I hope your blog doesn’t fall by the wayside like some others – appreciate there’s a lot going on in your life with the new job, the wedding plans and the matched betting but I really enjoy reading and following your journey.

    I like reading about people who have their finances on auto-pilot because that’s what I’m aiming for myself and there’s the incentive of ‘if they can do it, so can I!’ :-) Since life throws up all kinds of obstacles, the auto-pilot thing is not to be sniffed at as it takes effort and focus.

    congrats on another great month of matched betting – your October figure is about the same as my entire 2016 figure, haha!

    1. Thank you Weenie. I think it demonstrates the issue by taking almost 3 weeks just to reply to this!

      I used to write alot of my posts on the quiet afternoons in the office where I was literally just sat around waiting “just in case” something broke. Now with the new role its far more proactive and so I just dont have the time during office hours to write any content. Then when I get home each evening its a rush to get the bets placed before football kick offs at 7:30, followed by dinner.. bit of Tv and then bed. Such is life at the moment!

  4. Another cracking week Guy!

    Do you plan to have investments outside of your tax-advantaged retirement accounts?

    Just wondering if there are any restrictions on accessing the funds?

    Do you have number in mind for non-mortgage saying that would make you FI in your eyes? Would love to know as enjoy watching your progress and would be excited for you as you drew closer to your goal.

    Regards,

    Massive

    1. Thanks Massive. No plans to invest outside of Pension + ISA. I’m nowhere near using up my full ISA allowances yet and am a big fan of salary sacrifice pension scheme which saves a huge chunk. I’ll start overpaying the mortgage again soon which I guess could be considered an investment if only at a return rate of that of the mortgage interest.

      I worked out my annual non-mortgage expenses awhile ago and came up with a figure of £10k per year. So with the 25x rule I’d need £250k in revenue generating funds to cover living expenses.

  5. What are your MB/Kindle secrets? :o
    My online MBing is pretty much gone (dependent on sharbing) and all the bloggers seem to have some kindle hack on the go
    Your new role is on the development side? :o

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