It was always going to be tough to follow last month’s excellent savings rate but how did I do in April?
Three birthdays this month meant that my savings rate dropped down to 43.6%!
A rather significant fall from last month but in line with my usual and it means my average savings rate now stands at 51.9%, so still on target.
This month’s income was boosted by £50 from rent received, £100 gambling winnings (my horse won in the Grand National!) and £41.92 from TopCashback*.
Future FundÂ
Rising markets plus new capital means that this now stands at £66,386.77.
Dividends and Other Income
Dividends received this month (which will be reinvested):
So a total of £94.90, a record breaking month for me and oh so close to £100, which I hope to hit at some point this year. A massive year on year increase, compared to last April’s £18.60 – much of the income has come from my ETFs, which I purchased when I transferred my Scottish Widows personal pension into a SIPP.
Total dividends received this year now stand at £173.51, still quite a bit away from my goal of £720, with 3/4 of the year to go. Average dividend income so far is £43.38 per month, average over 12 months now at £14.46.
I also received £13.01 interest from my P2P investments.  Oh, and also £50 P2P referral from LandBay* (thanks Mark!)
Matched Betting
I think I’ve gotten to grips with this, although I’m probably not doing quite as much as I could/should to make the most of the offers available.
That said however, I managed to make £409 profit this month, making my total earned from matched betting £766 since I started in March.
I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m not going to make huge amounts from this but it earns far far more than any other ‘hobby’ of mine so I shall persevere.  I know the potential is £1k-£2k a month (which is what Guy is raking in), but I’m quite happy making a few hundred to be honest.
I will try to see if I can earn £500 profit in May though, especially as I’m likely to be limited in my matched betting antics in June and July.
One interesting note is that last month, my earnings were pretty much entirely from new account sign up bonuses. This month, I only received bonuses from opening two new accounts, the rest of my income came from reload/repeatable offers with existing accounts, so I guess this shows that beyond new account sign ups, there is still money to be made.
Matched Betting Don’ts
Most of my matched betting is on football (99%); my forays into horse-racing haven’t been so successful so I don’t do too many of those – I did make a bit of a profit on the Grand National but actually made more via normal gambling!
When I was reading up on matched betting a few months back, I came across a comment from someone who said that one of their big ‘don’ts’ was “Don’t do matched betting whilst drunk“. Good advice, I thought!
However, as mentioned in M’s recent post on the subject, I also learnt that hangovers don’t mix with matched betting either!
You know the score – out after work with colleagues…yes, it was a pub crawl but my plan had been to have a few to show my face/network and then sensibly head off home early.
As it was, I lost all sense and didn’t roll home til around 2am and was consequently too hungover to get out of bed to put my free bets on for the early kick-off on Saturday afternoon! When I did eventually crawl out of my pit, I made a mess of a lay bet but was saved when the result went my way – phew! So…I’ll not be out late on a Friday night in a hurry, not when it’s effectively losing me money!
Anyway, as I continue to build up my matched betting pot, I won’t take any profit out just yet.
Shares and Investment Trusts
Just the one investment this month, in Legal & General Group plc. My ISA for this year will be with AJ Bell YouInvest so I won’t be investing in any funds, just ETFs, shares and investment trusts, all of which should help increase my dividend income.
Current portfolio can be found here.
Non-Financial Goals Update
Here’s how things look on the goals front in brief:
It looks like I may have to dip into the emergency fund again soon (possibly another dental expense…yikes!) but I’m well on track to reaching my goal by the end of the year.
Still no progress on the reading front as I’m still wading through (again) the Game of Thrones books (halfway through book 4 now!). It’s looking like a very ambitious goal right now but I’ll see how I get on – less TV watching should lead to more reading!
Anyway for those of us who don’t have to work on Monday, hope you enjoy the long weekend!
[*referral]
Hell yeah! £409 TAX FREE profit! Nice one weenie 🙂
Cheers Guy – only a fraction of what you managed to amass this month but yep, tax free! 🙂
Great stuff Weenie – well done with the matched betting. I’m following your approach and not expecting to go for the mega bucks but £500 is a fantastic target and is what I am aiming for in May too, good luck :). I hear Euro 2016 and Olympics will be a gold mine so try and make the most of those if you can.
Cheers BloodBuzz – I didn’t have any targets for March and April so I’m wondering if setting myself a target for May will change anything, ie whether I will spend more time on it etc. We’ll see anyway and yes, I am looking forward to Euro 2016 (watching as well as matched betting!), although that’s when I have family over so I’ll have to try to squeeze as much time in as I can!
Good luck with your matched betting and thanks for stopping by!
Hey Weenie, thanks for the mention. Well done on your goals for this month, especially well done on the savings rate still being so high, despite the fact that you had higher expenses.
Also, great profits on the matched betting! I’ve not done much this week due to Edward’s hospitalisation, but did put a few bets on last night for today’s football, so will check later to see if they (hopefully) won on the lay side!
Cheers (not too much of that, remember!)
Hey M
Hope all’s well with Edward and good luck with the matched betting!
Great stuff here weenie. A slight lower savings rate in April but overall you’re still above 50%, which is worth celebrating. Keep up the great stuff.
Thanks Tawcan.
The 50% goal is a tough one for me to keep to but if I can get close or thereabouts, then I’m on track with my savings/investments! Thanks for stopping by.
Smashing the savings rate again, above the point of savings parity for the year so far:)
A hangover and staring at numbers is never good, they just don’t mix.
You must be pleased with the increasing dividend income!
Mr Z
Cheers Mr Z. Yes, I’m very pleased with the increasing dividend income – last year, it was just a few quid a month but now, I’m close to getting £100 a month – that’s serious money to me, haha!
Too right! That’s like…your groceries paid for…forever!
Weenie, that matched betting return is still pretty awesome! Are you able to estimate how much time you invested over the month?
Hi Mrs ETT
I can’t say that I’ve really kept track of the time I’ve spent on matched betting. I do a bit most evenings after work which can range from 15 mins up to 40 mins. At weekends, I would probably spend a couple of hours on Saturday and about 30 mins – one hour on Sunday.
It really depends on what other plans I have, or what sporting events are on.
However, if I were to guess based on the above, then probably in total around 6 hours last month, so it’s pretty good hourly rate!
Great going weenie especially on the extra income front.
Lol @ Hangovers + Matched betting, I wouldn’t want to be laying a horse at 10/1 or something for say £100 in case I got that wrong!
I haven’t even had time to do my April update! Will have to try to knock something up now I think… 🙂
Cheers TFS! Yeah, I’ve made a few cock-ups, nothing too drastic so far though! Looking forward to reading your April update!
Hey Weenie,
Great to read your April update, and well done for keeping your average savings rate over your 50% goal. I have been so busy the last few weeks sorting house moves that I’ve had no time to update my blog. I’m looking forward to when we’re in the new house and I have some time to sit down and play serious catch up!
I listened to Huw and Guy’s live YouTube broadcast the other weekend on matched betting and have finally been persuaded to give it a go! Hopefully will have some results to report in future updates. It’s great to hear of your success with this. Although we shouldn’t mix drinking (or hangover) with matched betting, I’d be tempted to have a drink or two afterward while watching the game/race as for some reason sport and beer seem to go hand in hand for me! Just no drinking while dealing with the financial transactions!
OR
Hey OR
All the best with your matched betting. Things are likely to be a little quieter for me now that the domestic football season is over but I believe there will be plenty of offers on when Euro 2016 kicks off in a couple of weeks’ time.
Heh, you’re right – drinking while watching the matches is fine!