It’s that time again for my monthly income report and oh what a month it’s been! I’ve had my best income month yet, bringing home a whopping £2,288. Unfortunately I will have to pay tax on a chunk of this income when I come to do my self-assessment, but it’s still an amount I’m really proud of!
Here’s how I did it…
Freelance Writing - £225
Back in August, I pitched an idea to the editor of one of my favourite websites and she agreed to commission me for the piece. She offered me £225 for 900 words. I submitted the piece on the 1st September and got paid for it on the 13th October. This might seem like a long time to wait to get paid but trust me - in the journalism world this was FAST. Freelance writers often find themselves chasing unpaid invoices for months after their article was published. I felt almost grateful to get paid 6 weeks after doing the work.
October was an exciting month because I landed myself the role of Finance Editor for The Modern Go-Getter, a new website created by Unsah Malik to inspire and educate young people with big dreams for the future. I’ve already made a start on articles for this but my first full month of the role begins in November.
Can’t Swing a Cat - £660
Woweee! This was a fantastic month for blogging income. With the help of affiliate links on cantswingacat.co.uk and my Instagram account, I made a decent £660. I just hope I can sustain it! The affiliate schemes that made me money this month were Trading 212 (an investment app I talk about here), Profit Accumulator (which I talked about here) and Habito (a mortgage broker I talked about here).
I’d like to branch out and find more affiliate schemes to join but it’s hard to find products/services that I genuinely believe in enough to promote them to my followers.
Supermarket - £853
I earned around £853 from working in the supermarket in October, before National Insurance, pension and union contributions were deducted.
I haven’t been paying tax on my supermarket income and I think that’s because as far as HMRC is probably concerned, I earn less than £12,500 a year and therefore my income is tax-free. I expect that when I submit my tax return and they realise that I’ve been making good money from freelancing on top of my supermarket income, I’ll start getting taxed.
Renting out my spare room to a lodger - £550
Renting out my spare room has been a great way to make money over the pandemic and I would recommend it to others with a spare room in their home.
Having a lodger has reminded me that I’m not the best at living with other people, but I’ve gotten through it partly because I managed to find a lodger with a very different schedule to my own. When I’m at home, she’s usually at work. When she’s at work, I’m usually at home. We each have the place to ourselves a lot and so that’s nice.
Despite our ability to give one another space at a time when many are trapped indoors with people they wouldn’t ordinarily choose to hang out with, the process hasn’t been smooth sailing and for quite a while now I’ve dreaded coming home. I’ve asked her to move out and she should be gone by mid-December.
Click the links below to read previous income reports:
April 2020 income report - £1,928
May 2020 income report - £1,596
June 2020 income report - £1,733
July 2020 income report - £1,566
August 2020 income report - £1,724
I chose not to do an income report in September
