2020 End of Year Side Income Report

December 15, 2020

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Side income. Side job. Side hustle. Whatever you call it, it’s money not from my main, 9-5 job. And, now that it’s the last month of 2020, it’s time for my annual end-of-year side income report.

This is the fifth year I’ve been writing these income reports. The previous four reports are:

I’ve grouped my side income into four categories: cash back & receipt apps, credit card rewards, interest-bearing accounts, print-on-demand sites, blogging, and miscellaneous.

I’ve also included a cryptocurrency section for any earnings in cryptocurrency.

Cash Back & Receipt Apps

Receipt Hog → $40.00
eBates/Rakuten → $17.09
Bumped → $130.14 $330 - $14.07 - $185.79
Bits of Stock → $47.22
Total → $234.45

I’m not sure Bits of Stock will ever payout, but supposedly I have almost fifty dollars in stock with that app.

Bumped significantly changed their earnings method, which made them effectively dead. I’m in the process of moving my stock choices from them to another provider - which, unfortunately involves selling my assets in Bumped and rebuying them elsewhere.

I also have Dosh and Drop, but I haven’t made anything of substance with those two yet.

Credit Card Rewards

Chase Freedom Unlimited → $289.25
Chase Freedom Flex → $284.38
Chase Freedom → $326.46
US Bank Cash+ → $67.57
Capital One Quicksilver → $14.40
Citi Double Cash → $564.40 + ?
Total → $1546.46

New this year is my Chase Freedom Flex, meaning I earned $300 from opening that card. $200 was from the card itself, and the other $100 was from the referral bonus my wife earned. You too can earn an extra $200 by signing up for either the Chase Freedom Flex or Chase Freedom Unlimited using one of the links.

The Chase Freedom (which I often called “Chase Freedom Regular”) is no longer available - however since I still have the card, it still works and earns 5% on rotating categories.

My Citi Double Cash - which earns an effective 2% - has been used less since the Chase cards now earn 3% on restaurants, and my Chase Freedom Flex is earning 5% on grocery (for the first year anyway). Also, the Double Cash requires at least $25 before I can cash out, so I still have $12.93 in unclaimed cash back. That balance will be added to next month’s balance, so I’m not losing it.

The Chase cards have no such minimum. There have been many times where I redeemed less than a dollar into my bank account.

Interest-Bearing Accounts

Robinhood → $14.53
WeBull → $1.23
Worthy Bonds → $2.24
Credit Union Interest → $98.11
Ally Interest → $162.51
Total → $278.62

For the purpose of this section, interest-bearing accounts include dividend earnings along with more traditional savings accounts.

My credit union savings account earns 6% on the first $500. It used to earn 3%, but they doubled that almost two years ago amidst rising interest rates.

Thankfully they haven’t lowered it back down, even as interest rates lower, including on my Ally account.

Print-On-Demand Sites

Merch by Amazon → $974.71
Kindle Direct Publishing → $0.00
Redbubble → $69.80
TeePublic → $115.75
Teespring → $12.00
Total → $1172.25

Since I have one payment left this year for Merch by Amazon, and perhaps one from RedBubble, this section doesn’t include everything.

The Amazon payment isn’t until the 29th, so I wouldn’t have time to do this post after that payment hits my bank account.

I do know what my December payment will be, so I could add that, but it includes £2.22 and €19.43 and I don’t know what the conversion will be. (The dollar amount is $56.59.)

My November 2020 earnings, which will be paid on December 29th.

Blogging

Amazon Associates → $218.06
Square Cash Referrals → $1,060.00
Google AdSense → $121.48
Worthy Bond Referral → $10.00
WeBull Bonuses & Referrals → $166.02
Total → $1,575.56

The Square Cash Referrals came from an odd occurrence where I received over 1,600 referrals in one weekend. At ten bucks a referral, that means I received $16,000 in referrals, but I was only able to withdrawal $1,060 before they closed my account. If they send me a 1099 tax form, hopefully they only put the amount I actually got.

I received my first AdSense payment this year. Amazingly enough, my balance is already at seventy-some dollars, so it shouldn’t take as long to get my next payment.

Similar to Merch by Amazon, Amazon Associates pays out on the 29th. I have a balance somewhere around $20 right now, but I won’t know for certain how much I get paid until I get paid.