Have finally recovered from work’s Christmas party/leaving do! Hangovers get so much worse as you get older!
Anyway, it was probably one of the best parties I’ve been to – lots of mixed emotions but what I do recall was a lot of fun and laughter.
Work for me is winding down a little as I begin to hand over the rest of my responsibilities. Not long to go now.
Anyway, how do things look on the numbers front?
So I managed a savings rate of 38.1% – gift-buying has taken its toll a little here but still not too bad. I’ve only a few more items to get now so for me to be able to have a decent savings rate is still a big achievement for this time of year.
My average savings rate however continues its downward trend  –  it’s now at 45.2%. If I can get it to be at least 45% by the end of the year, I’ll be well happy.
This month’s income was boosted by £50 from rent received and £10.36 from TopCashback*.
Future FundÂ
Markets went a little wobbly this month, so my overall portfolio dropped a little and now stands at £86,188.
Dividends and Other Income
Dividends received this month (which will be reinvested):
A nice little sum of £92.33 in dividends hit my accounts. In October 2015, I only received £26.17.
Current total received stands at £862.46.  There is a good chance that I may reach £1000 by the end of the year – wow, I’ll be sooooo chuffed if that happens!
Average dividend income so far is £78.41 per month, average over 12 months now at £71.87.
Anyway, here’s my dividend income progress:
Shares and Investment Trusts
This month, I opened up an investment in Dunedin Income Growth IT.
Current portfolio can be found here.
Matched Betting (MB)
Back to a normal month for me after last month’s disastrous one for MB.
I made £394 in profit, which is slightly above average for me. This was pretty much entirely on football bets only (including accumulators), although there was a bingo offer in there too.
I’ve now made £3,372 so far from MB since I started in March, which I’m really pleased about. I can’t say that it’s ‘easy’ money as you need to put in effort to make the money but I still enjoy it and I don’t have any other hobby which makes me money.
As I’m not going to be about for the last week of December, profits will likely be low so if I can hit a nice round £3.5k by the end of the year, I’ll be happy.
The matched betting guide I subscribe to is OddsMonkey*.  It’s a great website for beginners and seasoned matched bettors alike – for beginners, there are plenty of tutorials which provide you with step-by-step guides on how to make profits and to work through special offers. For the more experienced, the tools offered by OddsMonkey are fantastic, including the Each Way Matcher, Dutch Finder and Acca Matcher, all of which I have used successfully. There’s also a friendly forum for you to ask any questions. Anyway, you can join for free to try it out.
Goals Update
Here’s how things look on the goals front in brief:
Only one more book to go and I achieve my library book goal!
Also, only one more financial related book to go and I bag the other goal – ploughing through that one right now so hopefully a brief review soon.
Anyway, hope you all had a great November!
Awesome! Love the progress
Cheers Mr MB!
Hi Weenie,
Congratulations on another smashing month on the dividend front – its starting to build up nicely. The other way to look at that is that its more than 10% extra from your total monthly savings as well, so that does help!
Looks like the matched betting is also helping, its always good to have a hobby that generates you some good levels of income as well – and tax free as well! I still don’t think I can face it though!
Although the savings rate has dropped from what you targeted its still a huge rate so you should be proud of that in the run up to the Christmas break, and with the buying of presents etc. its good!
Keep up the good work!
FIREin’ London
Hey FiL
If last year is anything to go by, then December’s divis should be on the high side, hence I’m quite confident now about hitting that £1k milestone!
Haha, well MB does require effort and while I’ve the time and inclination, I’ll do it. I do find that a good social life does get in the way of MB – I steered clear over the weekend when I knew I’d be hungover! 😉
When I’m away, I think I will both miss it and be a little relieved that I’m taking a break!
Cheers for the kind wishes and support as always.
Those dividends have really picked up this year, haven’t they? Seeing them in graphical format really emphasises the increases you’ve earned, just by keeping on doing what you are doing. Imagine what they might look like in another 2 years!
Hi Mrs ETT
Yes, they have. They’ve been helped via extra capital in investments producing dividends, a transfer of a small personal pension and also a few fund switches. Next year, the YOY differences won’t be so dramatic but they should continue to go up!
Nice work with the goals progress!
I think I’ve read about 2.4 books this year Haha.
I’m struggling to keep our savings rate above 40% for the year so 45 is not to be sniffed at.
Enjoy the rest of the Christmas run up 🙂
Cheers TFS.
So many books, so little time! If my next job ends up being in city centre, then I’m likely to be taking public transport (oh noes!). However, the small consolation is that I can read on the tram (though not on the bus) so I’ll be able to squeeze in reading travelling to and from work – I’ve always wanted to attempt a ’52 books in a year’ type of goal! 🙂
So glad the work party was good (even a little too good the morning after). It sounds like it will be a decent memory at the end of a time that will have some mixed feelings associated with it.
Hey PWF
I took loads of photos so have many good (and funny) memories. It’s very weird thinking that was our last party but hey ho, next year, it’ll be a different party with different folks!
I’m wondering whether there’s scope for simple no-lose betting on political events. For example, someone might have bet on a Trump win on the logic that if Trump did win our gambler pockets the profits, whereas if Trump lost it wouldn’t much matter since Hillary wanted to provoke Russia into war and we might all have gone up in smoke anyway.
Are there any other bets with this feature?
Hi dearieme
Such bets wouldn’t be available readily on gambling websites, but I’m sure on a case by case (or bet by bet) scenario, it’s possible to contact a bookmaker direct with such bets and if a trader is willing to give the odds, you can place the bet! Although as you say, if we all go up in smoke, the bookie wouldn’t have to pay out…
Hey Weenie,
I think your 45% savings rate is a real accomplishment, good for you. Also impressed you’ve managed 19 books this year. I’m struggling to finish my goal of 6 for the year…still at 4 read with the last 2 both in progress…don’t know whether I’ll finish either unless I indulge in some binge reading!
OR
Hey OR
Thanks. Although it’s a little annoying not to hit the targeted 50%, I am happy to be getting 45%.
I’m actually at book number 29 – the other books I’ve read were NOT from the library (they were on my Kindle), so I didn’t include them in that particular goal.
Good luck with your reading goal – get some binge reading in! 🙂
Nice savings rate of 38%! One tip I employ to “read” more books is to use my old style kindle (the one with the qwerty keyboard on it) to do text-to-speech and listen to it on my commute. You can get through quite a few books this way!
Hi MoneyAhoy
My Kindle is the old style keyboard version but I’ve never used the text to speech function before! That said, I’ve tried audio books while driving and find that I drift off and stop listening properly so I end up missing chunks of the story and have to go back!
Great update for the month of November. Nice year over year increase with your dividends too. That chart really paints a nice picture. I have to say that this is the only blog that I have seen that puts betting income in their monthly totals. As you said it’s a hobby that pays you so that’s cool. Thanks for sharing.
Hi DH
Thanks for stopping by and yes, that chart does paint a nice picture and is a good advert for dividend investing.
Haha yes, well I see the matched betting like any other side hustle really, ie getting income from something other than my main salaried job.
Only one more book to go for a book goal well done. Hope all goes well with new chapter after leaving work. Your blog always keeps me motivated so keep writing even if you are temporary enjoying time of work.
Thanks for the kind words, Maciej and thanks for reading! I certainly intend to keep writing.