Bank Rewards & Interests: £19

• Santander Lite Bank Account: £5
• Barclays Blue Rewards: £3
• RBS My Rewards: £3
• Natwest My Rewards: £3
• Halifax Rewards Account: £5

Cashback: £14

• Casual purchases: £11
• Courier Services: £3

eBay Sales: £36

• Glasses: £31
• School shoes: £5

Freebies: £330

• Council Rebate: £150.
• Double billing refund: £180.

May 2022 Total: £399 (+£299 above £100 monthly target);

£280 to £1,200 year target.

Bank Rewards		Cashback		Sales		Freebies		Total
£19	5%	£14	4%	£36	9%	£330	82%	£399

Month	Free Cash Earnings	+/- Monthly Target (£100)	Accumulative	to Year End Objective (£1,200)
January	£132	+£32	£132	£1,068
February	£139	+£39	£271	£929
March	£100	–	£371	£829
April	£150	+£50	£521	£679
May	£399	+£299	£920	£280

Just one pound short of £400 in Free Money Earnings accrued in May 2022. The bulk of it coming from totally unexpected freebies landing on my lap. £920 Free Money Total so far this year and just £280 away from my annual £1,200 Objective. Three quarters made. Just a little push to get there.

No shakers and no movers in the bank rewards department. The fact that I am paying three times as much as what I used to just one month ago for my monthly energy bill has a direct effect on the cashback collected from my utilities direct debit. I need to find a reason to smile because this scenario is anything but amusing to me. In short, I am collecting £5 in cashback from my Santander Account direct debits as opposed to the £2 I was pocketing in the previous months. That is increasing my bank rewards lump sum to £19 for the month which can be seen as a positive I suppose.

£14 additional pounds became payable at my TopCashback account. We had a family break a few weeks back and I booked the accommodation via the TopCashback link. These transactions have now matured and as a result, I am £11 pounds better-off cashback wise. The other £3 came from my courier services side hustle.

£36 from two items sold on eBay. I am not breaking any records here but on the other hand, I have not listed any additional personal items for months. Just do not seem to find the time and I am not putting pressure on myself. Yet. I had a pair of designer glasses which lost their appealing to me. Nice and relatively costly at the time of purchase but not for me anymore. I have had them for sale for a few months but they were not shifting. I gradually reduced the price and they eventually went to a happy buyer in Belgium. They netted £31 after fees and advertising costs. The remaining £5 came from a hardly used pair of school shoes in more than decent shape. Gosh. Kids grow out of clothes and shoes so fast.

I pocketed £330 from two freebies. It is the same situation year after year. I do not know when and I do not know where from but they always materialize. In this particular case, I happened to receive £150 from my local council and £180 as a refund from my solicitor. The £150 was credited in my account as a result of our property qualifying for the council tax rebate issued due to the rising energy costs. I had my doubts and I did not hold any expectations as to our house meeting the criteria, but one happy morning, I checked my bank account and found more money than I initially assumed. The discrepancy was quickly found to be coming from my Local Council. I rubbed my eyes for a few minutes and also pinched myself to make sure that I was fully awake. Amazing event this one is. Anyhow, not a life changing sum but it could very well have been nothing. I do not complain. I will take it. Many thanks.

Around the same time, a letter from my solicitor arrived on the post. First thoughts weren’t good. I got apprehensive as to why I would be receiving it and it crossed my mind that trouble might be coming my way. I needed to put myself out of my misery so I swiftly opened the envelope to find out. It was nothing else than an apology letter with a £180 check to my name attached to it. Apparently, I have been billed twice and their accountants noticed a couple of years down the line. I most certainly did not notice from my end. In any event, I am not going to argue and I have no intention of suing them for damages. Happy with the settlement. A nice addition to the Free Money Pot. Cheers.

May is gone and it tallied the highest earnings for the year. Even though I might be closer to my minimum Free Money Target, I still have work to do as regards to the individual goals I set for each of my income streams. I am closer with every month passing by but not quite there yet. Game on.