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When I wrote my last quarterly review of my finances the FTSE100 stood at close to 5000 points, little did I know within a matter of weeks it would drop by 24% as the world came to terms with a global recession. But closer to home, how did my own finances fare during this period of economic turmoil?
As we enter the new year millions of people will be making their new years resolutions and for many top of the list will be to lose weight, get fit and atone for the excesses of the festive season. This explains why January is the busiest time of year for Gyms up and down the country, with over 3.5 million people signing up in the first two weeks of January according to research by Sainsburys Bank.
As I wrote at the start of last year, typically many people have a blitz in the first fortnight, attend once a week in February, and by Easter are rarely making an appearance on the treadmill. Meanwhile, the direct debits continue to be paid and with the average gym membership costing £372 it will be peoples pocket rather than their physique that will be shedding the pounds.
So this year I am going against the crowd and giving up the gym for my new years resolution. Well actually not quite, when I told Fitness First that I wanted to cancel my gym membership they offered to reduce my monthly fee to £7.95 for 3 months which is a substantial saving on the £31.25 I currently pay.
I might still give the gym up altogether come April when the weather is nicer and I can get out on my bike, but for now I’ll keep dragging myself and the extra pounds to the gym. To be precise I’m £69.90 better off over the 3 months.
£69.90
Back in May I wrote about receiving a £100 cash incentive for signing up to something. I was deliberately vague back then about what I signed up for as it was actually a bank account and I’m a bit paranoid when it comes to my personal finances so didn’t want to give away too many details.
Well now I am pleased to report that the same well known bank account has paid me another £100 for closing their account as part of their service guarantee if I’m not happy with the account after 6 months. That makes it £200 just for opening a single bank account, paying in my salary every month and then closing the account. Now that’s my kind of banking!
£100
It may have been Christmas last week but I have continued matched betting taking advantage of three £50 matched bets on offer from one of the accounts I opened earlier in the month. It was simply a case of wagering £50 five times to unlock each free bet and over two weeks I turned this into £86.42 profit.
£86.46
I received an email from GreasyPalm today offering me £50 cashback if I signed up with an online games site and played through £10 worth of games. If that wasn’t tempting enough they even offered to match my deposit with a £10 bonus.
The games kept me entertained for a couple of hours with me playing ‘Deal or No Deal’ followed by a few games of ‘Higher or Lower’. The wagering requirements were £80 before I could make a withdrawal, but I didn’t get that far as I swiftly lost all of the money.
The only problem now is the cashback is only showing as £20 in my GreasyPalm account which is a bit disappointing as they had promised £50 in their email. Plus it will be a couple of months before I get my cashback so fingers crossed they pay up.
*** Feb-09 Update ***
I have now recieved the full £50 cashback.
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