2020 Total Passive & Side Income
What a crazy year all around.
Technically, I am still waiting on one final dividend to drop from my Vanguard FTSE100 ETF I could not wait anymore.
Meanwhile, I pulled up the exact amount they paid this quarter and calculated it my self. Vanguard pays differing amounts each quarter. Distributions can be found here.
Firstly, I just want to say thanks for all the support. Secondly, I could not have done it without you, the people who visit my site.
I honestly went into this with pretty low expectations.
I had a random figure of £250 per month in my mind. Did I ever really expect to achieve this? Well, to be honest, no. I thought maybe in 5 years or 10 years.
Honestly, unless you try though, you never know. You loose 100% of the chances you do not take. Or something like that.
During the year it obviously started out slow. However, momentum actually picked up pretty quickly. Before I knew it the money started coming in.
Towards the end of the year, I was really shocked at how much extra I was bringing in each month.
Enough of me rambling on. You all want to see numbers.
Total Passive & Side Income
So, how much did I make?
In short, I decided to skip the December income report and just do a yearly total instead.
A combined total of £4,467
I’m completely blown away. Seriously, at the start of the year if I hit £100 for the entire year I would have been pleased.
Towards the last couple of months, I set myself a personal target of £4,000 but that was only because I was already somewhat close. I happily sailed past that goal by £467.
Here is a breakdown of the Total Passive & Side Income for 2020 – £4,467
- Dividends – £389.68. An average of £32.47. Current expected average is £55 per month.
- Referrals – £1,138.88
- Blog Ad Revenue – £295.01
- Marcus Savings Interest – £13.72
- Cash ISA – £239.30 (Paid In December)
- Spreadsheet – £73.36
- Amazon Affiliate – £12.29
- Matched Betting with OddsMonkey – £2,305.32
Discover Matched Betting really gave a huge boost income, tax free to boot!
Even without it though, I would have been ecstatic with my progress.
What I Have Learnt
Firstly, Have patience.
Secondly, building streams of passive income takes time.
It might take weeks, months or years. You will get there.
Stick with it. Be consistent.
Its a marathon not a sprint. Just as building up a dividend portfolio is.
Previously, I never used to even look at my bank balance because I knew I had enough money in there. Not that I had a large amount of money, you know probably just an average 3-month emergency fund.
Before I would spend somewhat frivolously all to often though.
Little did I realise just how much I have squandered over the years.
What would I do differently is something I often ask myself. Honestly, I am still learning so this is a tough question to answer right now. Maybe in next years round up.
Meanwhile, It is easy to go back 5 years and see what I would do differently, but in regard to 2020, I am not sure. Personally, I’m immensely proud of what I have done in one year.
Passive & Side Income Goals for 2021
To clarify, I am going to set three goals for my self.
- Realistic. To clarify, this is still new to me still, I am still realistic that It all might go away. So I shall say, £3,000. Whilst it may be less, I am just being cautious.
2. Hopeful. I can do this. Therefore, let’s grow last years total to £5,000. It’s only a bit more if you have a positive mindset and I have a few months really as everything is already in place now.
3. Shoot for the stars. £8000. Why not? Not quite double but not far off. This is a long shot for sure. Is it within the realms of possibility? Absolutely.
Seriously, even if I hit the Realistic goal. Even if I hit half of that goal at £1,500 I would be happy.
Firstly, that would still be £1,500 more than before. That is the mindset to have to go into this.
Do not set attainable goals right away. Set smaller miny goals.
Between you and me, however, I can say with an almost certainty I will surpass £1,500 though for the year. Just eleven days into 2021 and I am already at £685.84.
A crazy good start and hopefully a sign of things to come. Passive and Side Income will always be something I work on from now.
Above all, as always thanks for reading.
Do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions or think I can help you. Always happy to try!
Thanks,
Sean
