I’ve talked about matched betting on various occasions on this blog. To recap, it’s a way of making risk-free (and tax-free) cash by taking advantage of bookmaker special offers and promotions, in conjunction with the facility to ‘lay’ bets offered by betting exchanges.
I am writing about it again now because in a few weeks (12-15 March 2019) the Cheltenham Festival will be upon us. This is arguably the best week for matched betting in the entire year. Last year I made around £500 profit taking advantage of bookmaker offers. Others I know made thousands.
For those who don’t know, the Cheltenham Festival is one of the highlights of the racing calendar, with large, top-quality fields competing for some of the biggest prizes in racing, culminating in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. And the bookmakers pull out all the stops at this time to attract new clients and get current and former clients fully involved. I expect to see a stream of offers in the coming weeks, increasing to a torrent during the Festival itself. This gives us the potential to make substantial tax-free profits by applying matched betting principles.
If you’re already a matched bettor, therefore, now is the time to ensure you have plenty of money in your exchanges (I mostly use Smarkets for its low commission fees but others prefer Betfair). And keep watching your email for offers sent by bookmakers you have accounts with.
If you’re new to matched betting, I strongly recommend joining up with a matched betting advisory service. As well as providing tutorials to get you up to speed, these services provide essential online tools, including odds-matching software and calculators. They will also alert you to a wide range of money-making opportunities, and offer support and advice if needed.
There are various advisory services you can use. I cut my teeth with Profit Accumulator and still recommend this very popular service. It’s suitable both for those brand new to matched betting and for experienced matched bettors. You can join PA free initially and they will provide details of two bookmaker offers you can take advantage of. These should make you around £45 in net profit. If you wish to proceed further, you can then pay to become a Platinum member and get access to the full range of offers and services. Platinum membership currently costs £17.99 a month, with the first month half-price.
Joining MatchedBets.com currently costs £18 a month or a best value £99 a year. You can also sign up for a 14-day trial for £1, which gives complete access to all tools and information on the site during that time..
If you think matched betting may be for you, I highly recommend that you sign up with either of these services today. You will then be perfectly placed to take advantage of the many money-making opportunities the Cheltenham Festival 2019 presents.
As ever, if you have any questions or comments about matched betting, Profit Accumulator or MatchedBets.com, please do post them below.
Disclosure: As well as being a member of Matchedbets.com and former member of Profit Accumulator I am also an affiliate for them. If you join and become a paying member after following any of the links in this post, I will receive a commission for introducing you. This does not affect in any way the cost of the service to you or the benefits you receive.
Note: this is an updated repost from 2018.
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Turn Your Dreams Into Money is an online course for anyone who would like to make money as a blogger. It is sub-titled ‘How to build a six-figure blog and live the life you want’.
The course has been created by my colleague Emma Drew, one of the UK’s most successful bloggers. In a few years Emma went from being homeless and penniless to being a six-figure blogger. She now blogs full time at EmmaDrew.info and employs her husband in the business.
The course is hosted on the popular Teachable platform.
Before You Start – Tutorials for Brand New Bloggers
Laying the Foundations For A WILDLY Successful Blog
Protecting Your Blog
Writing Kick-Ass Blog Posts
Images For Your Blog
How to Get Traffic to Your Blog
Becoming a Social Media Whizz
Pinterest
Growing & Serving Your Tribe
The Money Is In The List
The Business of Blogging
Making Money With Affiliate Marketing
Make Money With Sponsored Posts
Make Money With Adverts
Products to Sell
Make Money as a Brand Ambassador
Improving Your Top Ten Posts
Dealing With Trolls
How to Continue Growing Your Business
Blogging Hacks
Affiliate Section for Turn Your Dreams Into Money
Each section is further divided into anywhere from one to thirteen parts. Each part contains instructional text (with graphics where relevant), and in some cases a PDF and/or a video.
As an example, the section titled ‘Improving Your Top Ten Posts’ is in five parts, starting with ‘Why You Should Improve Your Top Ten Posts’ and finishing with ‘Improving Your Top Ten Posts Checklist’. There are also two instructional videos. One of these explains how to identify your top ten posts, while in the other we watch Emma as she goes about improving one of her own top posts. I thought both the written content and the videos were of a high professional standard.
Another feature I particularly liked is the PDF workbook for students to print out and complete. The workbook is referred to throughout the course, and is a great way to ensure you take on board Emma’s advice and apply it to your own blog.
As you will gather, Turn Your Dreams Into Money is a comprehensive guide to every aspect of setting up and running a money-making blog. Emma strongly recommends creating a self-hosted blog using the popular WordPress platform, which I agree with (my blogs Pounds and Sense and Entrepreneur Writer are both hosted this way).
There is a section about setting up a self-hosted WordPress blog which covers the essentials, including recommended plug-ins, how many (and what) categories to have, legal requirements, and so on. If you are brand new to WordPress, however, you might want to do some additional studying on the technical aspects yourself. Of course, there is lots of information about this available free online, and I also recommend this regularly updated ebook by Dr Andy Williams about setting up a WordPress site, which I found very helpful myself when starting out.
Where the course is especially strong is about marketing and monetizing your blog. Although I am a fairly experienced blogger myself, I found this a real eye-opener. There are some great resources listed, some of which I hadn’t come across before. It is very informative to see which ones Emma uses herself and have proved to be successful (and profitable) for her.
A further benefit of signing up is that you get access to Emma’s private Facebook group for students on the course, where you can discuss all aspects of blogging with fellow students (and Emma herself).
Turn Your Dreams Into Money costs £197 at the time of writing. Obviously that’s not cheap, but if it helps you set up a profitable blog that generates a growing monthly income, then it will clearly be money very well spent.
For a limited period, I can also offer readers of my blog a £50 discount if they enter the coupon code POUNDS when ordering. This should change the price showing to £147 (if it doesn’t work, please get back to me). And as an extra bonus for anyone buying via my link, I am giving away not one but two mini-reports by yours truly. One is titled ‘50 Niche Blog Topics With Big Earning Potential’ and the other ‘How to Write Irresistible Titles for Blog Posts‘. To get your hands on both of these valuable resources for bloggers, just message me with your receipt/order number for Turn Your Dreams Into Money. I will then send you the reports by email 🙂
As always, if you have any comments or questions about Turn Your Dreams Into Money, please do post them below.
Disclosure: This post includes affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I may receive a commission for introducing you. This will not affect the terms you are offered or the price you are charged.
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Today I want to bring to your attention a new opportunity to earn a sideline income, from a company called Maru Voice UK.
Maru has been running successfully for some time in the United States and Canada, and has just opened its online community and survey panel to UK residents.
Members can join Maru Voice UK for free and are then able to earn points by completing consumer surveys and taking part in online discussions. You get between 50 and 500 points per survey, and once you have accrued 1000 points can redeem them for a £10 gift card from Amazon, iTunes or a range of other retailers.
In addition to earning points and vouchers, members can also earn prize draw entries. Just for registering with Maru Voice UK you will be entered into a draw to win a £1000 cash prize.
To be clear, nobody is going to make a fortune from Maru Voice UK or any other survey site. It is, however, a genuine, easy way to make a bit extra every month (Amazon vouchers in particular are as good as cash, bearing in mind the huge range of things you can buy there!).
In addition, your opinions will reach the companies and policymakers who will shape the UK’s future, so they really will be heard and make a difference.
If you have any comments or questions about Maru Voice UK, please do post them below. Otherwise, you can click through this link or any of the others in this post to sign up.
Disclosure: I am an affiliate for Maru Voice UK, so if you click through and join the panel via my link I will receive a small commission for introducing you. This will not affect the terms and conditions you are offered in any way.
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Today I am pleased to bring you a guest post from my money blogging colleague Jennifer Kempson. Jennifer blogs at https://mamafurfur.com.
In her article Jennifer sets out some strategies to ensure you have enough money to enjoy your retirement, even if it’s not too far away!
Over to Jennifer, then…
They say hindsight is a wonderful thing, and truly as we reach the later years of working life and approach retirement, we may secretly wish we had made our retirement resources a priority and regarded them as a key resource to help fulfil our passions and achieve our long-term ambitions.
Money, much like health and energy, is one resource that we will look back on and wish we had taken better care of during our younger days, so we can look forward with pleasure and excitement to when the time-freedom of retirement allows us to do whatever we dream of.
Reading this right now you may feel that it is too late for you to recover your potential financial security for your retirement, but I’m excited to share with you a few ways that you can invest in your future even when retirement is on the horizon in the next 10-15 years.
Make a plan and start seeing it happen!
Firstly, I will say that I am a firm believer in “putting your own oxygen mask on before anyone else”. And the very best investment financially or otherwise you can make for your future is to sort your own financial security as a top priority.
You absolutely need to write down your financial goals and desired experiences for your retirement, and start getting excited about this and be as specific as possible, so that you know exactly how much money you will require to make it happen.
Like time spent with our children and loved ones, if we master our relationship with money and the way we feel about it today, this will have a huge compounding effect on our short- and long-term happiness in future. I talk more about the habits and thoughts that can reshape your relationship with money in my new book, The Master Money Blueprint, which sets out the 26 timeless money principles and habits that I believe can change your financial future.
Pay off your liabilities as soon as possible
One of the most beneficial things you can do for your financial future is to become as debt-free as possible.
Make better money relationship habits starting today and commit to overpaying on everything you have as a liability against your name.
This could include your mortgage or car payments, and is especially crucial if you have credit card debts or loans. Commit to paying these down as quickly as possible and never returning to debt again.
A home with its mortgage completely paid off will provide you with safety and security in future, and when the time comes can be left to loved ones. But more important than that would be the mindset that your home is secure and safe for your happiness both now and in the future.
I like to use a great principle called The 10% Rule, mentioned in more detail in my book and on my blog at www.mamafurfur.com. This can and should be applied to every debt you have – any outstanding mortgage, car payments, loans, etc.
Commit to paying 10% over the monthly repayment required each month as a default. That small action will do two things. Firstly, you will not really notice too much discomfort. For a mortgage of, say, £400 a month, finding a further £40 could be as simple as giving up that gym membership and going for walk with friends, getting some free weights in the house, learning yoga from YouTube, and so on. It could be giving up all the unused packages from cable TV for a few months to see if you really miss it. It could be starting a small sideline business at home to make some extra money, or saving on your food and shopping purchases by eating one less takeaway a week. The choices are limitless.
That action of paying 10% more each month means you will make the equivalent of 1.2 extra payments towards reducing your debts per year. For a 25-year mortgage, for example, this could result in the debt being fully paid off in just over 22 years instead. That is a nearly three years off your home loan from a small change without causing too much stress to your day-to-day living. The second benefit is to your mindset, which is priceless – you will quickly see that money really is a resource to deploy based on your goals and long-term plans. Overpaying then becomes a joy, as much as it might be difficult to see that at the start, but the smallest actions usually do change us for the better when we let them.
An investment ISA (Individual Savings Account) allows you to save up to £20k tax free in stocks and shares every year. This type of savings account could allow you to create a passive income to supplement a pension. You can have a cash ISA and an investment ISA if you wish, as long as you don’t exceed the £20k annual total contributions allowance.
Investments in ISAs are not liable for income tax or dividends tax. Neither do you have to pay capital gains tax when you sell them. They are available from most banks and investment companies.
Like any type of investing, we need to purchase funds based on our goals, requirements for the money long term, and our tolerance for risk.
Investment returns are not guaranteed. However, generally you can expect to see a 4% return on your investments if you pick solid mutual funds (collections of stocks purchased together, spreading your money across a wide range of similar companies) such as Vanguard’s LifeStrategy 100% Equity Fund or reliable low-cost index funds such as the S&P 500. It is also not uncommon to see growth rates of an average of 9.5-10%.
At the later part of your life, if you are hoping to use the power of compound interest and the stock market to gain higher returns than a normal savings account, then I strongly advise doing as much research as you can into the funds you decide to pick.
With investments, we need to assume we are leaving them a minimum of 5-10 years before withdrawing the money, and must not let the ups and downs of the stock market test our emotions.
The value of the stocks once we purchase them is only relevant once we need to sell them, so best mindset practices say to ignore the current day value until you absolutely need them.
Another benefit of using an investment ISA is that you will have access within a few days to your money should your circumstances change and you find you need the money sooner.
I strongly recommend every adult has an investment ISA, as it is currently one of the few ways to get high-interest returns on your long-term savings. It could even allow you to build a substantial ‘pot’ that allows you to achieve complete financial freedom for you and your family in future.
I call an investment ISA a passive income source, as the money generated is created by companies returning some of their profits in dividends, and/or the value of the stocks and shares purchased going up.
We do not have to exchange our time for this income, therefore it is completely passive and grows without any effort from ourselves. The beauty of the stock market is that our money will remain active until we choose to sell our stocks, so it will continue to create more income for us in the background. We can simply withdraw a small portion of it each year to live off, and some of the increase will still remain, adding to our wealth total despite the withdrawn money.
Let’s look at some examples of what we could potentially end up with if we took out an investment ISA even with a short-term goal of accessing the money within 10 years. I will use a withdrawal rate (how much we draw from our account every year as a source of income) of 3.75%. This is regarded as a good average by most financial advisors and institutions.
Starting with no savings at all at age 50, if we contributed the maximum of £20k a year to an Investment ISA with a withdrawal rate of 3.75% a year on average and saw only a 4% return on investment, then using the power of compound interest and reinvesting any dividends or growth, we would have at age 60 a total investment pot of around £246k. If we withdraw 3.75% of this a year, as stated above, after 10 years we could withdraw £9.2k a year of interest (tax free). That would mean an extra £800+ in your pocket every month through your investment ISA savings alone.
Leave the amount until you are officially retiring at age 65, after 15 years of consistent effort and contributions, we could see approximately £411k with an income of £15k a year or £1200 in our pocket every month.
If we were to see a 10% return on investment each year, the total fund within 15 years of maxing out our contributions would be approximately £696k and an income of £65k a year tax free! That is probably more than any retirement could use up, and of course this is purely using our investments as a source of income and not including a state or employer pension. That means you could end up being able to use the interest generated from your investments each year to live off indefinitely!
Another great point to remember is that an ISA is per individual, so if you are a couple you can open one each and double your achievements together.
What better gift than your time and freedom back to use as you wish could you give yourself and your loved ones?!
If you would like to know more about the basics of the stock market, or how to use an investment ISA to retire earlier than planned, please check out my blog posts here:
Master your money and create your best life – your greatest investment in your future!
Make it a priority to learn how to master your money and use it to direct and create your best life.
Successful people in every walk of life leave clues along the way, so however you feel inspired to live your life, do it with style and use money as the tool to get there, taking your loved ones along with you for the ride.
Think of your upcoming retirement as an opportunity to explore new opportunities and even business ideas. Learn as many new skills as you can in areas that make your future life seem exciting, and watch as the world really opens up to you to design the life you always wanted in your retirement.
Here’s to a great future ahead on your terms, with money as an abundant resource to fuel it!
About the author
Jennifer Kempson, aka Mamafurfur, is a 30-something Scottish working mum with a passion to help others create the work-life balance and lifestyle they desire with time and financial freedom, sharing smarter spending, saving and lifestyle strategies.
Outside of her blog, she recently released her first book titled The Master Money Mindset: How to Master Your Money and Create a Powerful Money Mindset, sharing 26 timeless money principles that will allow you to design and shape your future using money as the resource it should be. The book is available on Amazon Kindle and as a paperback now.
Currently voted UK Money Vlogger (Youtube Creator) 2018, and finalist for the UK Blog Awards Finance Blog of the Year 2019.
Many thanks to Jennifer (right) for a valuable and thought-provoking guest post. Please do check out her blog at www.mamafurfur.com and her YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/c/mamafurfur.
I do agree with Jennifer about the value and importance of paying down your debts. Not only will this reduce the capital outstanding, even more importantly it will reduce the interest you have to pay on that capital in future. Other things being equal it’s best to pay off high-interest loans first (though check whether there are any penalties for doing this). Mortgage rates are historically low at the moment so paying extra every month won’t have as big a benefit, but of course there is still much to be said for going mortgage-free as early as possible.
I also agree with Jennifer about the value of saving as much as possible using ISAs. And for long-term saving especially, you are likely to get much better returns from investment (stocks and shares) ISAs than cash ISAs. Do just bear in mind that pension contributions are another great way of saving for retirement, and you get tax relief from the government up front on them.
Finally, I do of course appreciate that not everyone is going to be able to save £20,000 a year into their ISAs. Whatever you can find, however, putting it into ISAs (and pensions) will ensure you get the maximum benefit in years to come. And the earlier you start, the more time your savings and investments will have to weather any ups and downs in the financial markets and grow. You can read some ideas for boosting your income so you can afford to save more for retirement in the Making Money category on my blog.
As always, if you have any comments or questions about this post, please do leave them below.
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I thought today I’d share some of my favourite ways of making a bit of extra cash.
These are methods I have discussed previously on Pounds and Sense, so I have linked to some other relevant posts from the blog where appropriate.
1. Prolific Academic
Prolific Academic is a platform used by academic researchers world-wide to recruit participants for online studies and surveys. These are varied and interesting, and I’ve earned almost £300 to date by doing them. For more information, see my blog post Make Money and Help Academic Researchers With Prolific Academic.
2. Matched Betting
Don’t be put off by the name. Matched betting isn’t gambling. Rather, it’s a way of taking advantage of bookmaker special offers (mostly online) to generate a risk-free profit. I’ve made about £2,000 (tax-free) from matched betting, and know of other people who have made five-figure sums.
I’ve written about matched betting on various occasions on Pounds and Sense. You can read my introductory article Can You Make Money From Matched Betting? here. Note that for beginners I highly recommend subscribing to the Profit Accumulator advisory service, which has in-depth video tutorials and valuable (arguably essential) online tools for matched bettors, such as calculators and odds-matchers.
3. Online Auction Selling
There are lots of ways to make money from online auctions, generally using the world’s favourite online auction site eBay. The simplest method is to sell items from around the house you no longer need, from children’s toys and games to clothing and collectables. If you want to go beyond this, though, you can buy items cheaply from wholesalers or other sources and sell them on for profit (note that income generated this way is potentially taxable). Check out this guest post Twelve Top Tips for Selling on eBay by my fellow money blogger Luci Oliver.
4. Renting Out a Room
This is undoubtedly an old-school method, but if you have a room in your home you’re not currently using, you could make steady money from it by taking in a lodger. The government encourages this through its Rent a Room Scheme, which lets you make up to £7,500 a year tax-free by renting out a room in your home. If you don’t want a full-time lodger, another option is to take people on short stays using the well-known Airbnb platform or one of its rivals. See my blog post Boost Your Income by Renting Out a Room for more information.
5. Blogging
Could 2019 be the year you start your own money-making blog? I do, and there’s no reason you couldn’t as well!
If you’re not quite sure what to blog about, ask yourself the following two questions:
1) Are you at least curious about the topic?
You don’t have to be an expert or 100% passionate about your blog topic to generate income. But you do need to be at least curious to learn, because if you don’t enjoy learning about your blogging topic, it’ll show in your writing, and you’ll run out of ideas. Nobody reads blogs that have no character or point of view.
2) Are other bloggers already making money in your niche?
It’s important to pick a niche that is proven to make money. The easiest way to see which blog niches are profitable is to see how many other bloggers are active in the niche in question. If nobody is competing in your space, there’s a very good chance the market is too small or unprofitable. Don’t be afraid of competition. Your experiences and distinct voice will make your blog unique. You can stand out even in a saturated market.
This is another thing I do myself – indeed, for many years I was a full-time freelance writer (I’m semi-retired now). It’s a competitive field, but there is still plenty of money to be made. You don’t need to be Shakespeare either, just have a reasonable grasp of written English and be willing and able to write what the market wants. Check out My Top Ten Tips for Making Money as a Freelance Writer here. You can also read my posts Should You Write a Book? and How to Publish Your Own E-book on Kindle.
7. MobileXpression App
If you have a smartphone, this is a really easy way to make money from it. Just install this app (which tracks your browsing anonymously) and every few weeks you will receive a £20 Amazon voucher for your trouble (Amazon vouchers are pretty much as good as money, as you can buy almost anything there!). You can read my full review of the MobileXpression app in this post.
8. Become a Viewing Agent with Viewber
If you have a bit of time available in the day and/or at weekends, you could earn a sideline income as a viewing agent for Viewber. This company recruits freelance viewing agents to conduct property viewings on behalf of local estate agents who don’t have the staff available to do it themselves. As a Viewber (the name is also used by the company to describe its viewing agents) you will be asked to attend a property at a specified date and time to show a potential buyer or tenant round. You will receive a set fee and travel expenses for doing this. This opportunity is open to anyone and you don’t need any experience in estate agency. For full details, see my post Earn a Sideline Income as a Viewing Agent With Viewber.
9. Be a TV or Movie Extra
This is another opportunity that won’t make you rich but can certainly generate a useful sideline income and provide a lot of fun into the bargain. As an extra, you’ll make some money, get a chance to see how movies and TV shows are made, and even become immortalized on screen. For more information (including my own experiences!) see my post Earn a Sideline Income as a TV or Movie Extra.
10. Offer Your Home as a TV or Movie Location
If you don’t fancy appearing in films or TV shows yourself, maybe your home could do the job for you? Obviously this opportunity won’t be suitable for everyone. You need to live somewhere with characteristics or features that might be in demand by a production company. You definitely don’t need to live in a stately home, though. A huge range of properties is required, so wherever you live there’s a chance it could be the perfect location for an upcoming project. Read my blog post Lights! Camera! Action! How to Make Money Offering Your Home as a TV or Film Location for the full scoop!
So there you are – twelve great ways you can generate a sideline income in 2019. For many other sideline (or in some cases full-time) earning opportunities, just click through this link to the Making Money category on Pounds and Sense.
Good luck, and as always if you have any comments or questions about this post, please do leave them below.
Disclosure: This post (and others on Pounds and Sense) includes affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase at the website in question, I may receive a commission for introducing you. This has no effect whatsoever on the terms or benefits you will receive.
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Today I’m featuring an ‘old school’ money-making method that nonetheless can be lucrative if it suits your personal circumstances.
There is nothing complicated about this opportunity – it simply involves renting out a room (or more) in your home, either long-term or short-term.
There’s a long-running government scheme to encourage home-owners to do this. It’s called the Rent a Room Scheme. Until April 2016 you were allowed to earn up to £4,250 a year doing this. But in that year’s budget this limit was unexpectedly raised to an even more generous £7,500, which still applies now.
The Rent a Room Scheme
Anyone with space in their own home is allowed to use the scheme. You can let a single room or an entire floor.
You don’t even have to be the home-owner yourself. If you’re a tenant, you can sub-let a room, as long as your own lease allows you to do this.
There are some restrictions to the scheme, though. Most importantly, the accommodation must be furnished and it must be within your main residence. And you can’t claim under the scheme for self-contained flats even if they are in your own home.
If your gross rental income is under the £7,500 annual limit you don’t have to take any other action and can keep all of the money tax-free. You don’t even have to tell the taxman unless you fill in a self-assessment form already (in that case you’ll need to enter the rental income on your return but won’t have to pay any tax on it).
One important thing to note is that the £7,500 a year tax-free allowance is for total rental income. You aren’t allowed to deduct any expenses from this, e.g. repairs or redecoration.
If you earn over £7,500 a year from renting you have two choices. One is that you can keep the first £7,500 tax tree under the Rent a Room scheme and pay tax at your highest marginal rate on the balance above this (that’s 20% for standard rate taxpayers). This will probably be the best option for most people letting rooms at home.
Alternatively, you can opt out of the scheme altogether. In that case you will be treated like any other small business. You will be taxed on your entire rental income, but allowed to deduct all reasonable expenses before tax is charged on what is left. This will be advantageous if you have major expenses to cover. You can choose which option will be best for you each year, so it’s important to keep detailed financial records. More information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/rent-room-in-your-home.
Short Term Letting
If you don’t want a permanent – or semi-permanent – lodger, another option that has become hugely popular in recent years is short-term letting to budget travellers and people who prefer a more personal alternative to hotels.
At the forefront of this trend has been Airbnb. This site lets you offer anything from a sofa in your living room to your whole house. You can set your own rent, and decide which would-be guests you want to accept.
Airbnb charges you 3% of whatever you charge your guests (they also charge guests a fee of between 6% and 12% of whatever you charge). You get paid via Airbnb approximately 24 hours after your guest checks in.
Income from Airbnb rentals can also be claimed under the Rent a Room scheme, so long as you meet the general requirements mentioned above. This applies even if you rent out your whole house for a short period, as long as it clearly remains your main residence.
Short-term letting can obviously work well in holiday areas, but it can be done elsewhere too. For example, my sister Annie lives near Oxford and sometimes offers accommodation in her home through Airbnb to visiting academics and people coming to business meetings and conferences in the city.
There are other, similar options to Airbnb you may like to check out as well. They include HomeAway, VRBO, Couchsurfing, and more. They all operate a bit differently and offer a different range of accommodation and services (e.g. HomeAway is specifically for holiday rentals). This article on the Huffington Post site lists ten alternatives to Airbnb with basic descriptions of each one.
If you have any comments or questions on this post – or any experiences of your own to share – please do post them below.
If you enjoyed this post, please link to it on your own blog or social media:
Blogging Secrets is an online course for anyone who would like to earn money as a blogger.
It has been created by UK blogger Jenny Lord, who runs a blog called Midwife and Life. The course is hosted on the Teachable platform.
Jenny was kind enough to allow me reviewer access to Blogging Secrets, so here’s what I found…
Blogging Secrets is a multimedia course organized in 12 main sections, as follows:
Welcome and Introduction
My Blogging Story
Before You Start
Setting Up Your Website with WordPress (.org)
The Business and Legal Side of Blogging
Blog Writing Secrets
Social Media Secrets
Where to Find Paid Blogging and Writing Work
Affiliate Marketing Secrets
Hosting and Running Giveaways
Scaling Up Your Blog Business
Bonus Section
Each section is further divided into anywhere from one to seven parts. Each part contains instructional text and/or a video lecture from Jenny.
As an example, the section titled Affiliate Marketing Secrets is in three parts: Affiliate Marketing and Affiliate Networks to Join, which are in written form, and a 16-minute video lecture titled The Secret of Making Affiliate Links Work for You in Your Sleep. I thought all the course content was very well written and presented. There is also a downloadable workbook to print out and fill in.
As you will gather, Blogging Secrets takes you through every aspect of setting up and running a money-making blog. Jenny recommends creating a self-hosted blog using the popular WordPress platform, which I would agree with (my blogs Pounds and Sense and Entrepreneur Writer are both hosted this way).
Be aware that the course doesn’t go into great detail about WordPress itself, though. The section about this includes a recommended list of WordPress plug-ins, but if you are brand new to WordPress you may need to do some additional studying on the technical aspects yourself (see below).
Where the course is particularly strong is about marketing and monetizing your blog. Although I am an experienced blogger myself, I still picked up some valuable tips and discovered a range of free and low-cost resources I hadn’t come across before. I found the sections about affiliate marketing and hosting and running giveaways especially eye-opening. Expect to see more of these on Pounds and Sense soon!
There is also a bonus section containing a variety of useful resources. I have listed these below, although as the course is constantly being revised and updated new ones may well have been added by the time you read this.
Pinterest Magic Ebook
Editorial Calendar
Email Template Swipe File
Blog Checklist
Weekly Blogging Sample Schedule
Pinterest Group Board List
Facebook Mastermind Group
There are some great resources here. I especially liked the Pinterest Magic ebook, which you can download and print out if you like. This explains how you can use this popular social bookmarking service to boost traffic to your blog. I have never entirely got my head around Pinterest , so I found this particularly helpful. Blogging Secrets costs £118.80 at the time of writing. Obviously that’s not cheap, but if it helps you set up a profitable blog that generates a growing monthly income, then it will clearly be money well spent. There is lots of great content on the business and creative aspects of running your blog. Personally I would like to have seen a little more on the technical side, but of course there is plenty of advice about this on the internet. I also recommend this regularly updated ebook by Dr Andy Williams about setting up a WordPress site, which I found very helpful personally when starting out.
As always, if you have any comments or questions about Blogging Secrets, please do post them below.
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RESET is book aimed at mid-life professionals who feel as if they are in a rut and and want to get their lives back under control. I was kindly offered a review copy by the author, David Sawyer, so here are my thoughts about it…
The full title of the book is RESET: How to Restart Your Life and Get F.U. Money. By the latter, David means enough money so that you can say – er – “So long” to your employer if your job is causing you undue stress. The book does, though, emphasize that RESET doesn’t necessarily involve quitting your job, if you enjoy it and it is aligned with your personal goals and values.
RESET is available from Amazon in both hard copy and Kindle e-book versions. The printed version – which I received – amounts to quite a substantial 337 pages (plus a further 34 pages of preliminaries with Roman numbering!). The bulk of the book is arranged in six main sections, as follows:
1. What Matters to You?
2. Going Digital: How to Future-Proof Your Career
3. De-Clutter Your Life
4. Getting F.U. Money – a Plan
5. 11 Core Principles to Guide You in Work and in Life
6. 12 Do’s and Don’ts
Each section is divided into chapters. Part 4, Getting F.U. Money – a Plan, is the longest by some way and divided into 17 chapters. David is a PR professional, and as you might expect his book (which is published under the imprint of his PR company) is well written and presented.
RESET promotes, broadly speaking, the philosophy advocated by the FIRE movement. FIRE stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early. FIRE has been largely driven by some influential (mainly US-based) online bloggers.
The general idea of FIRE is that you seek to achieve financial independence at as early an age as possible, by simplifying your life, living more frugally, saving money and investing. The aim is to build up a substantial ‘pot’ of money that you can then use to buy yourself time and freedom. The ultimate aim – in many cases anyway – is to give up your job and retire early.
That doesn’t mean just joining the pipe and slippers brigade, though. It will typically involve spending more time enjoying life with loved ones, and working on projects that you enjoy and are important to you. These might involve anything from starting your own business to pursuing a hobby or interest, learning a new skill to doing voluntary work for a cause close to your heart.
As a money blogger myself I was familiar with quite a few of the concepts set out in the book, but David has done an impressive job of researching them and bringing them together in a highly accessible (and entertaining) way. As a semi-retired 62-year-old freelance writer I am not really in David’s main target readership, but I did still pick up some valuable tips and resources that I shall be using in my own life.
If you are a mid-career professional (roughly speaking between 35 and 60) and feeling stuck in a rut, this book will open your eyes to a range of strategies for regaining control of your life. You may not agree with every piece of advice David offers (I don’t share all his views about investment, for example) but you will almost certainly gain a lot of valuable, actionable tips and ideas. At the very least, it will open your eyes to a method that is increasingly being adopted by people on both sides of the Atlantic to take back control of their lives and achieve their long-term goals.
As always, if you have any questions or comments about RESET, please do post them below.
Disclosure: This post includes affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I may receive a commission for introducing you. This will not affect the price you are charged or the terms you are offered.
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Today I am pleased to bring you a guest post from my fellow UK money blogger (and freelance writer) Ruth Hinds, who blogs at Ruth Makes Money.
Ruth’s post is about blogging, a subject I haven’t previously got around to covering on Pounds and Sense. But, of course, it’s a major way I make money myself these days, and it’s also an option that is both accessible and appealing to many older people.
Over to Ruth then…
Have you ever thought about starting a blog as a way to create an extra online income stream? Or do you have an existing blog that you write just for pleasure, and sometimes toy with the idea of turning it into a money-making machine?
Though I’ve been a freelance writer for the past seven years, it’s only around 12 months since I took the leap and created my own blog, dedicated to documenting my journey towards creating a full-time income online, and what’s worked for me along the way.
Whilst it’s relatively early in my blogging journey, I’m happy to admit that monetization was on my agenda from day one. As well as help people to create their own freedom away from the constraints of a traditional job, I was eager to learn the ropes quickly and add another income stream to my box of tricks.
It’s safe to say that I’ve reached that goal, and I’ve also learned a ton of valuable lessons along the way when it comes to creating a profitable blog. Here’s what you really need to know if you’re thinking about taking a similar path…
1. It’s a steep learning curve, and it pays to get started ASAP
I often see people saying that they intend to monetize their blog one day in the future, but they don’t yet feel ready to make that leap. They feel that there’s more to learn, or more experience they need to get under their belts, or they just find it all a little overwhelming. Though I completely understand – because there’s certainly a lot to get your head around – I do also disagree with waiting.
You see, making money from your blog takes trial and error. There are strategies to become familiar with, tactics to master, and you’ll undoubtedly get plenty of things wrong along the way. This is why I believe that it pays to start that learning journey sooner rather than later.
There’s also a valid point here that as you build your audience, it makes sense that they’ve seen your monetization efforts from the beginning. This way, you’re being transparent from the start, and there’s not a point where your readers can suddenly bring your integrity into question.
2. You don’t need a gigantic audience to start making money
We’ve all heard about the big name bloggers who are pulling in hundreds of thousands of pounds every year, and of course, these people often have millions of followers. It’s important to recognise though that there are plenty more bloggers with relatively small readerships who are earning a decent chunk of cash along the way.
What it really comes down to is the methods that you use. I personally decided to really drill down on affiliate marketing, and put my efforts into promoting my favourite matched betting software. By creating content that explained the matched betting process, answered common questions, and gave an insight into my own successes with leveraging free bets from online bookies, I started earning commissions within my first few months as a blogger, and they’ve continued to grow throughout the year.
3. Though some monetization tactics are definitely more realistic than others!
Though I’ve had great results from affiliate marketing, there are still some blog monetization techniques that my readership is simply too small to tap into effectively. A great example of this is running adverts in the sidebar. These typically earn me about $15 per month. They’re never going to make me rich, though they do cover my hosting and domain costs.
When you’re blogging, it can seem like your to do list is never ending. There are posts to write, content to promote, social media channels to keep on top of, and the reality is that you need to selective about what you do and don’t dip your toes into. Based on my experiences, I’d definitely suggest that new bloggers get super focused, and really run with just a couple monetization techniques so they can see the best possible returns.
4. Blogging can be a great way to get started with freelance writing
When it comes to the various money-making methods that go hand in hand with blogging, the possibility of starting a freelance writing business is definitely discussed less often. Perhaps it’s because it’s more hands-on, and couldn’t be classed as passive income. Still though, it’s worth discussing because it can be highly profitable, and also hugely rewarding.
When you’re putting your writing out there online on a regular basis, other bloggers and business owners start to pay attention. They get a feel for your style, your expertise, and the value that you could bring to their own content creation processes. And of course, you’re building a portfolio that you can use to pitch for projects that catch your eye.
I built my freelance writing business without the power of my own blog behind me. With hindsight though, I can tell that I definitely missed a trick. Starting a blog is a legitimate way to start a writing career, whether that be copywriting for businesses, or even feature writing for newspapers and magazines.
5. It won’t make you rich overnight, but building a generous income is very achievable
If you’ve been around the block a few times with side hustles, then you’ll know that things take time. There are no overnight millionaires, and if something sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. And so if you’ve read income reports from big bloggers who claim to be pulling in massive amounts of money, then you may be a little bit skeptical. Is it all smoke and mirrors? Have you missed the chance to do the same? Or did they just get lucky?
What I know for sure from my year as a blogger is that it’s very possible to start earning money within your first few months, and if you commit to being in it for the longer term, the rewards are there for the taking. It takes time, and a dedication to learning the ropes, but I’m pleased to be in a position now where my blog consistently generates in excess of £800 per month. I don’t know about you, but I think that’s not too shabby for something that I only dedicate part-time hours to!
My only regret with blogging is that I didn’t start sooner. It earns me an income, it’s opened up countless opportunities, and knowing that I’m helping other people with their money-making adventures brings me a huge amount of satisfaction.
If you’re thinking about starting a blog, then why not bite the bullet and get stuck in?
Ruth blogs about genuine ways to make money online at RuthMakesMoney.com. She covers blogging, eBay reselling, and freelance writing, and loves helping people to build profitable income streams on their own terms.
Many thanks to Ruth (pictured) for an interesting and inspiring article.
I have been blogging myself for a number of years, both here at Pounds and Sense and at Entrepreneur Writer and the former My Writing Blog (now closed).
Like Ruth, I would never claim that blogging is a get-rich-quick proposition. It takes time and effort to build a successful blog, and only then will the big rewards start to come.
But blogging is also a creative and fulfilling pastime that can help keep your wits sharp and generate at least a useful sideline income. And it’s something you can fit in as and when you have the time (and energy), so again it can work well for many older people. For all these reasons – and more – I plan to cover blogging again on Pounds and Sense before too long.
As always, if you have any comments or questions, for me or for Ruth, please do post them below.
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A few months ago I came across a smartphone app called MobileXpression. It offered the opportunity to generate a sideline income by sharing some details of your mobile phone usage.
The company behind MobileXpression conducts research on mobile internet use. On their website they say:
The goal of MobileXpression is to develop a better understanding of the trends and patterns affecting the mobile Internet. Just as television uses ratings to determine which programs are the highest rated and most watched, MobileXpression uses the knowledge of its members’ mobile Internet habits to determine the popularity and importance of various mobile web sites and applications. Companies can then use this market research to make informed decisions regarding their mobile marketing strategies.
In exchange for letting MobileXpression access your mobile phone data, the company offers incentives. In the US these include a range of vouchers, but as a UK user the only one I have ever been offered is for Amazon UK. Amazon gift vouchers are almost as good as cash, of course, so I am perfectly happy with this 🙂
UK users of MobileXpression receive a £5 Amazon voucher by email after using the app for just one week. After that you are allocated 2 ‘credits’ every week you remain a member. Once you have 20 you can exchange them for a £20 Amazon voucher.
This has been working well for me, and I have now accrued over £100 worth of Amazon vouchers for very little effort. The only problem occurred on one occasion when there was a delay in issuing my voucher. I raised a support ticket about this via the app, and the voucher duly arrived a few days later.
Pros and Cons
Based on my experience using the app, here’s my list of pros and cons for MobileXpression.
PROS
Rewards arrive reliably.
Anyone can join (you don’t have to be a heavy mobile internet user).
Once the app is set up, there is little else to do (just log in occasionally to claim your credits).
Amazon vouchers are a good reward and can be used to fund a huge range of purchases
MobileXpression will have access to data about your smartphone usage, although they say they don’t monitor your calls.
Some people have reported that the app slows down their phone, although I haven’t noticed this myself.
Summing Up
Overall, I have been very happy with MobileXpression. Clearly nobody is going to get rich from it, but based on my experience it can provide a regular source of hassle-free, passive income in the form of Amazon vouchers.
If you have a suitable phone and aren’t too concerned about the privacy aspect of having your usage monitored, I therefore recommend giving it a go. The app is available for both Android (in Google’s Play Store) and iOS for iPhone.
If you have any comments or questions about MobileXpression, as always, please do post them below.
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