Home Based Enterprises & Interest Beater Challenge.
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INTEREST BEATER MINI-CHALLENGE
After searching through these forums, I was unable to find a thread dealing exclusively for those of us wanting to earn extra income and discuss our methods (without advertising), share tips and incorporate the entire topic into a mini enterprise challenge. If this is the wrong place to post, please accept my apologies and point me in the right direction.
When considering such things as tax free interest and year on year savings, we instantly lose out on a chunk of interest because we are spending our money to cover the cost of living. There are many people who simply cannot afford to set aside £3,600 per year in an ISA, for example. So, we decided it would be more fun NOT to miss out on that money.
This is a mini-challenge about earning a few pounds extra from home. We've called it the 'Interest Beater' because that's the target - to beat the amount of interest we could have earned from our cost of living for a year.
To make it simple, we have not counted in mortgage/rent or council tax/water as these are too variable. We have allowed a generous fixed rate of 6.5% tax free (equivalent to approximately 8.13% less basic rate tax) as our base figure for comparison and the object is to earn more than that amount during the 2008/9 tax year. End result - we are still benefitting from the equivalent amount that interest our living expenses could have earned.
TARGETS
Cost of living/Amount to beat
£2,000 - £130
£3,000 - £195
£3,600 - £234 - equivalent to ISA allowance
£4,000 - £260
£5,000 - £325
£6,000 - £390
£10,000 - £650
Challenge shall run from now until 5th April 2009.
CHALLENGERS
001. NYKMEDIA - £260
002. SOPHIESMUM - £845
003. JUMBLE_BEE - £440.03
004. MOLLYMOP5 - £325
005. BROKE MUM OF THREE - £325
006. MARRU - £260
007. NOGGIN - £390
008. BAILS - £235
009. TAKA - £260
010. LILACPIXIE - £235
011. KASHTON - £500
012. DDRAIGGOCH - £?
013. SILVERCHARMER - £234
014. SAMMY452 - £260
015. PIRATEGIRL - £450
Amounts shown equate to the interest that could have been earned had the cost of living been left in the bank.
After searching through these forums, I was unable to find a thread dealing exclusively for those of us wanting to earn extra income and discuss our methods (without advertising), share tips and incorporate the entire topic into a mini enterprise challenge. If this is the wrong place to post, please accept my apologies and point me in the right direction.
When considering such things as tax free interest and year on year savings, we instantly lose out on a chunk of interest because we are spending our money to cover the cost of living. There are many people who simply cannot afford to set aside £3,600 per year in an ISA, for example. So, we decided it would be more fun NOT to miss out on that money.
This is a mini-challenge about earning a few pounds extra from home. We've called it the 'Interest Beater' because that's the target - to beat the amount of interest we could have earned from our cost of living for a year.
To make it simple, we have not counted in mortgage/rent or council tax/water as these are too variable. We have allowed a generous fixed rate of 6.5% tax free (equivalent to approximately 8.13% less basic rate tax) as our base figure for comparison and the object is to earn more than that amount during the 2008/9 tax year. End result - we are still benefitting from the equivalent amount that interest our living expenses could have earned.
TARGETS
Cost of living/Amount to beat
£2,000 - £130
£3,000 - £195
£3,600 - £234 - equivalent to ISA allowance
£4,000 - £260
£5,000 - £325
£6,000 - £390
£10,000 - £650
Challenge shall run from now until 5th April 2009.
CHALLENGERS
001. NYKMEDIA - £260
002. SOPHIESMUM - £845
003. JUMBLE_BEE - £440.03
004. MOLLYMOP5 - £325
005. BROKE MUM OF THREE - £325
006. MARRU - £260
007. NOGGIN - £390
008. BAILS - £235
009. TAKA - £260
010. LILACPIXIE - £235
011. KASHTON - £500
012. DDRAIGGOCH - £?
013. SILVERCHARMER - £234
014. SAMMY452 - £260
015. PIRATEGIRL - £450
Amounts shown equate to the interest that could have been earned had the cost of living been left in the bank.
I reserve the right not to spend.
The less I spend, the more I can afford.
Frugal living challenge - living on £4000 in 2024
The less I spend, the more I can afford.
Frugal living challenge - living on £4000 in 2024
0
Comments
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Hi Nyk,
Thank you for starting this thread. The timing is perfect as I just got an email saying that my ISA application has been approved. So - whatever I can earn through this challenge will go into that account. I am on DMP and didn't think that something like ISA would be applicable to me for next 20 or so years but I have decided to try to squirrel away as much as possible into ISA, my F&F fund if I am ever in a position to use it. Otherwise it will be my emergency fund.
Marru"Everything will be alright in the end. If it's not alright, it's not the end."
0 -
hmmm... this sounds really interesting and id like to join up, but am a bit confused about it.
I dont really understand interest rates etc etc, so can someone explain in (very) simple terms, what is it that im supposed to be doing in order to join the challenge?!
xx0 -
Easy description - It's about earning the equivalent of bank or building society interest without having any savings in an account.
The new Government figures say you can save a maximum of £3,600 per year into an ISA account and earn interest without paying any tax on it. Basically, it means that the bank or building society will pay you around £234 for a full year of NOT SPENDING your money. If, like many people, you need to spend your money to live then you'll never earn that interest. So this challenge is about earning the equivalent amount without having the cash in the bank.
Example - My basic cost of living amounts to £4000 for the year (I hope!). If I could live for free, then that £4000 could be saved in the bank and would earn me around £260 for the year, but only if I don't spend any of it.
How difficult can it be to earn an extra £260+ over the space of a year?
That's my mini-challenge. I reserve the right not to spend.
The less I spend, the more I can afford.
Frugal living challenge - living on £4000 in 20240 -
so, through extra bits and pieces of money making, aside from our current work commitments, we have to earn the £X amount over the year that equals our cost of living?
RIGHT... I think i get it! Thanks for explaining it in thick terms, am i allowed to join now- or do I have to sit with the "D" hat on for a while first?!
xx nog xx
ps My cost of living it around the £6000 mark, so I'll be going for the £390 figure. 0 -
Hi Nyk,
I started the month doing the £10 a day challenge but think this will be better for me as it lasts the whole year:D , so if it is okay with you I am going to transfer my allegiance (and my money made;) ) to this challenge. So far I am at £212.85
£20.00 from pigsback
£20.00 from babysitting
£132.85 profit from grand national bets:D
£40.00 from bonus ball wins at work.
I am going to open another savings account just to put this money in and see how much I can make by the end of the tax year, and also try and get a bit of interest on my "interest beater " money:D0 -
hello interest beater challenge!
my aim is to make £440.03, of which i already have £70 from temping one weekend and £102.04 from the grand national which will be coming in in dribs and drabs as i get it
oh, and £1 i prised from a terramundi pot my friend gave me ages ago.... :rotfl:
I hope i don't confuse anyone, but my challenge is a bit different to the main ISA beating one (this mini-challenge, along with me, came off of the 'live off 4 thousand a year' challenge)
I am going back to uni to do a post grad in september, and im trying to save up enough money to be able to save all of my my student loan in a high interest account, and thus make a small profit off it (so i will be beating the student loan interst rates) and when i can alter my mortgage I will use the loan money reduce my mortgage (so i will be beating the higher mortgage interest rates)
anyhoo if i stick to my budget I will still be short by £440.03, so I am going to try and make this money during the year
i have started a money box with money i find in the street, and I am going to start selling on ebay and playing free bingo sites, and anything else I can think of...
let the challenge begin!0 -
Jumble-Bee wrote: »hello interest beater challenge!
i have started a money box with money i find in the street, and I am going to start selling on ebay and playing free bingo sites, and anything else I can think of...
let the challenge begin!
had to chuckle, im at an instant disadvantage as i live in Rotherham and there is no money on the streets round here! As soon as it hits concrete its up and off in someones pocket quicker than a flash :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:
he he, no offence to any fellow south yorkshire'ers...
xx nog xx0 -
Hello to all, I'm glad there's going to be some support for this as it seems there aren't that many places to actually compare notes on home-based enterprises for such small amounts (no offence meant, I mean small amount compared to starting a business or starting a new job).
My cottage-style industry idea was aimed at earning a living but, to be honest, I haven't exactly thrown myself into it as work and housekeeping seem to get in the way. Hopefully, aiming to earn an extra few hundred pounds will be a good start and if it looks like a viable earning opportunity then I have plenty of time to develop it for next year. Right now, I'm still working out the finer points of where to start. I do own a glue gun and I do have loads of scraps lying around that should have been used by now. I attempted the free bingo on Thursday without luck and I did make a small profit from the Grand National free bets. But I am not going to count anything before today. So, it's a completely fresh start for me and I really need to do something constructive and productive.
Good luck to all who choose to take part. I have just added the figures for this challenge into my signature, but if anyone feels it would be easier to include a list of challengers on post one then let me know.I reserve the right not to spend.
The less I spend, the more I can afford.
Frugal living challenge - living on £4000 in 20240 -
nyk, would it be possible to do a list on post 1, and update it every month or so? like 7th of every month starting in may? might help us keep track of our targets as well as us writing it in our signitures (btw, why does it keep telling me its more then 5 lines when it clearly isnt whenever i try to update sig?!) back to the point, a list might help keep the focus a bit for the ones of us (me!) that are likely to flag a bit. Just help motivate us thats all me thinks
I've been contemplating for a long while, the possibility of starting a small ironing business... would this be the sort of thing that I could include in the challenge please?
xx nog xx0 -
I've been contemplating for a long while, the possibility of starting a small ironing business... would this be the sort of thing that I could include in the challenge please?
xx nog xx
That would certainly qualify as a home based enterprise in my book! It's a great idea and I'd work overtime just to afford to pay someone to do my ironing! :rotfl:
I'll start a list of names tomorrow for this, so if anyone wants to leave a note of their minimum amount needed to beat the interest rate, I'll pick it up from here.I reserve the right not to spend.
The less I spend, the more I can afford.
Frugal living challenge - living on £4000 in 20240
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