My Path to making £1,500 Free Money in 2025 (plus £1,000 from Capital Gains)

by · January 24, 2025

2024 Free Money Journey Recap

I made nearly £3k in 2024 split up as £2,552 from Free Money Streams and £421 as gains from the Free Cash Fund. Plan last year was to make £1,500 so on the surface, it looks like I am growing my earnings as twice the speed. I wish it was the case but is not as straightforward as that I am afraid. For a detailed analysis of why this difference, please visit posts:

The Blog is expanding in size and alongside with it, the number of contributors bringing additional earnings into the Pots. Just for clarity purposes, let me enumerate them:

“£1,000 Passive Income just from Capital Gains”

So, if I have £10.5k in the Free Cash Fund and I am expecting for it to grow at a 5% per year, I will be £500 better-off by the end of 2025. A similar case with the Stoozing Fund, where I am using money from credit cards to snatch profits by having it deposited in savings accounts. At the time of writing these lines, I have £8k in the Stoozing Fund and my projection shows a £400 profit per year. In other words, I have nearly £20k invested delivering a £1k passive income. Remember: this money came from nowhere and I did not have to work for it. It got to a critical mass now where compound interest is working its magic. Profits will snowball from this moment but I am running off topic. More on this on a future post.

“£1,500 from Free Money Streams”

The task here is to plan exclusively for the first component of my earnings which is the one where I have a more ‘active’ involvement. Time now to elaborate on my objectives for the following 12 months. Let’s touch on every single Free Money Stream available to me to set a realistic Objective for 2025.

Bank Rewards Objective for 2025: £200

Cash rewards offered by banks in exchange of: a minimum deposit per month, a minimum number of direct debits, a minimum debit card expenditure or any combination of them.

I have five bank rewards accounts I collect perks from. I move around a set amount of money from one to the next every month. It is an automated process which works by means of a standing order loop. I lost Barclays Blue Rewards in 2024 but had the chance to opt back into a second Halifax Rewards Account. As it stands, my list is as follows:

  • Santander Lite Bank Account: £3
  • Halifax Reward Account 1: £5
  • Halifax Reward Account 2: £5
  • RBS My Rewards: £3
  • Natwest My Rewards: £3

If nothing changes, £19/month x 12 months = £228. There is always the unexpected factor to consider leading me to not collecting the reward for a host of different reasons (direct debit not going through, debit card payments not made, etc.). There is also the off chance of a reward being discontinued at any time. For this reason, I will adhere to a round safe number of £200.

Interest on Savings Objective for 2025: £100

Any interest payments generated as a direct result of keeping money in a bank or savings account.

I got saved by the bell in 2024. I asked for £150 and it was not until the very last minute that I reached that number. I allocate a certain amount of my income towards saving but my take is always to have a savings goal in mind (ie: holidays, debt repayment, home improvement projects, etc.). That only means that I have no money (again) to start with in 2025 and I am pretty much skint. I do have a clear idea though as to how much and where I will be saving on a monthly basis in 2025. I am not going to be stretching myself because my personal goals have also evolved. I am aiming for £5-£10/month. In round numbers that is £100. No need to stress here.

Cashback Objective for 2025: £400

Money collected from Cashback Websites as a result of an online purchase. Cashback is a commission over a sale that gets reimbursed to the buyer.

I seem to be doing particularly well in this department. I made £985 in 2024 and £987 in 2023. I was asking for £350 so it is time to set the bar a little bit higher. I insist on the fact that all my cashback earnings need to come as a result of unavoidable or casual purchases like car insurance, online buys, holidays and the like. I will not be over spending with the intention of collecting additional cashback.

As explained in different posts in this Blog (see 8 Basic Free Money Streams you should know about), I am collecting cashback from my personal spending, insurance, switching utilities suppliers, opening accounts (ISAs) and using cashback credit cards. Historically, records show that I can gather £100 (at least) for each of them. £900 per year is neither sustainable nor realistic so I am comfortable assigning £400 as a SMART objective.

Bank Switch Promotions Objective for 2025: £200

Not strictly restricted to but mainly bank switch incentives and promotions. Banks will pay hard cash providing a new bank account is opened and a switch tool is used to close an old account in the process.

One bank switch promotion per year is my goal. Why? Because I carry some baggage since I have constrained myself by opening a significant number of bank accounts in the past to collect rewards. It also means that I need to wait for the right offer to come along. £200 is in alignment with the average promotion. I am sticking to this rule of thumb.

Decluttering Sales Objective for 2025: £500

This is Free Money coming from selling personal and household items I will no longer need. I am not buying stuff to resell for a profit. They have to come from a pool of redundant items that I once had a use for.

£611 from decluttering in 2024. That’s more like it because 2023 was a complete disaster with only £190. A £500 profit from selling my personal items is reasonable since I have been doing it for quite a few years now. I can experience a hiccup as in 2023 but I deem it as highly unlikely. Anyway, to make things more interesting, I have created a live page where I post all my sales and my earnings from selling my stuff. Please feel free to visit for the latest updates.

The £500 Decluttering Challenge for 2025

Freebies Objective for 2025: £100

This is unexpected Free Money coming my way from a variety of sources: from items donated that I can sell and cash out from, to a free bet at the bookies, a tax return, a test sample or money left and forgotten about at the bottom of a drawer.

£370 from Freebies in 2024 was just too good of a surprise, particularly when 2023 delivered nowt. I will be cautious and assign a £100 ask on the basis of the randomness inherent to this stream. Asking for more will not have a solid foundation.

2025 Free Money Objectives Summary:

£125 per month or £1,500 Total Free Money in 2025.

Free Money Streams: bank rewards, interests on savings, cashback, decluttering sales, bank switch promotions and freebies.

Free Money Objectives by Source:

  • Banks rewards: £200.
  • Interest on Savings: £100
  • Cashback: £400.
  • Promotions: £200
  • Decluttering sales: £500.
  • Freebies: £100.

Ok. This is the Plan and these are the Objectives. It is down to me to make it happen or,… maybe not so much considering that almost 50% of it is passive or semi-passive revenue. Will I be able to deliver? Stay with me to find out.

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