Bank Rewards & Interests: £16

• Barclays Blue Rewards: £8
• RBS My Rewards: £3
• Natwest My Rewards: £3
• Santander Lite Bank Account: £2

Interests over Savings: £41

• Moneybox General Investment Account £2,000 Emergency Fund: £41

Cashback: £14

• Courier Services: £14

eBay Sales: £66

• Ceiling Lamp: £20.
• Car Magazine x2: £4.
• Girls Sandals: £8.
• Bicycle Training Roller: £26.
• Kids glasses: £8.

December Total: £137 (+£53 above £84 monthly target);

£2,229 above year target.

Bank Rewards		Interest on Savings		Cashback		Sales		Total
£16	12%	£41	30%	£14	10%	£66	48%	£137

Month	Free Cash Earnings	+/- to Monthly Target (£84)	Accumulative	to Year End Objective (£1,000)
January	£102	+£18	£102	£898
February	£196	+£105	£298	£709
March	£248	+£164	£546	£454
April	£451	+£367	£997	£3
May	£61	-£23	£1,058	+£58
June	£1,096	+£1,012	£2,154	+£1,154
July	£104	+£20	£2,258	+£1,258
August	£147	+£63	£2,405	+£1,405
September	£47	-£37	£2,452	+£1,452
October	£512	+£428	£2,964	+£1,964
November	£128	+£44	£3,092	+£2,092
December	£137	+£53	£3,229	+£2,229

£137 Free Money earnings in December 2021. A Year total of £3,229 which has appreciated in value by £177 (+5.5%) via ISA investments to reach £3,406. That is an average of £284 per month. Not sure about you, but I can cover a few household outgoings with that amount in my pocket every month. But remember, my mindset is that this Money was not even supposed to be there in the first place. I saved it away as soon as it came as if it had never existed. Easy comes easy goes into the Free Cash Fund. By contrast, I did not have to work for it and I did not have to put any money upfront as an investment to obtain it. That is the basic premise.

In some way, it is hard to believe that this time last year I had nought in the Free Cash Pot and I am now looking at £3,400. That is a nice little bonus I am giving to myself. I feel it is long due and very much well deserved. I also hope that you are enjoying this Journey as much as I am.

Other than checking my bank accounts every so often to make sure that deposits are credited and direct debits are deducted, I do not have to do a lot to collect £16+ every month from Bank Rewards. They are not to be taken for granted though since they can change with no warning or abruptly come to an end. That seems to be the case with Barclays Blue Rewards from April 2022. I had an email from them reporting that from that date onwards, the fee will be increased and the rewards will be reduced. As a result, I will not be collecting £8 anymore but only a mere £3. Tough but I am confident I will find a way to make up for it. Until then, £16 seems like a given.

As part of my personal finances and completely unrelated to my Free Money Earnings activities, I keep a £2,000 Emergency Fund saved in my Moneybox General Investment Account (GIA). It appreciated in value by £41 from £2,093 in the first of December 2021 to £2,134 in the first of January 2022. That is a decent gain in one month and I should be expecting a correction in the months to come. For the time being, I will be working towards increasing my Emergency Fund Provisions if I find myself in a position to do so.

I was holding my breath in the hope that some of my cashback transactions would mature and became payable so that they will take me over the finish line to reach the £250 mark Cashback Earnings for the year. This time last month I was £9 away from reaching that objective. Luck was on my side and I received a £14 combined payout: £10 from Quidco and £4 from Topcashback. These cashback gains come mainly from Courier Services I purchase online. I am talking cents each but the main point is that they all add up. At this rate, I can reasonably expect £5 per month. Not a fortune but who really cares as long as it is Free Money coming my way. I picture an image of a fiver I unexpectedly and casually find in my back pocket. I am not sure about you but I love collecting free fivers.

Finally, £66 Free Money from personal items sold on eBay. I wish I could have shifted more items but I am content with the figure. Six sales at an average of £11 per item (£44 per hour of my time). I keep chipping away at my magazine stack. Two of them went in December. A couple of household items cluttering the place, footwear and a pair of kids glasses completed the lot. Always nice to get paid for clutter.

Time flies. I mean, it really does. I set out on a Venture one year ago in the hope to collect £1,000 in Free Money. At that moment in time, I honestly and truly would not be expecting to have made nearly three and a half times that amount a year on. In addition, because I made the decision to place myself under the spot light sharing my Journey with you by virtue of this very Blog, I was in some way dubious at the start as to where this path will take me and whether or not I would be successful in reaching my objectives. Reflecting on it now, I am glad I did. I am not only enjoying every single minute of it but I do like the process of documenting my thoughts and experiences, and more importantly, have the opportunity to look back and revisit them. The point is that this Free Money gathering activity is perfectly doable and achievable with minimum effort. If I can do it, then you certainly can if you apply yourself to it.

A New Year brings a New Challenge. Game on.