This week’s guest is Gemma of Help Save Money, an Instagram channel and blog approaching 50,000 followers built entirely around side hustles: surveys, mystery shopping, market research and crafting. In this episode she explains how those side hustles gradually became a full-time freelance income, why she registered as a sole trader, and how to work out which side hustle actually suits you.
Gemma runs Help Save Money from York, North Yorkshire, documenting the side hustles she does day to day rather than just talking about them in theory. She has lived with illness since she was 16, which meant traditional full-time employment never really worked for her, so she built an income out of flexible, stackable side hustles instead: paid surveys, mystery shopping, market research, website testing and a handmade crafting business selling cushions on Etsy and through a shop in York.
Over the course of this conversation Gemma walks through how each of those side hustles started, how she turned them into a genuine freelance income as a sole trader, and how Help Save Money grew from a personal Instagram account into a resource with tens of thousands of followers, almost entirely through word of mouth. It’s a practical, honest episode for anyone wondering whether a side hustle could realistically become their main income.
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Key takeaways
- Gemma built Help Save Money from a personal Instagram account to close to 50,000 followers by posting about real side hustles, without ever chasing follower numbers as the goal.
- She has lived with illness since she was 16, which is why her income was built from several flexible side hustles rather than one traditional job.
- Her first side hustles were paid surveys, followed by mystery shopping and market research, before user testing (paid per short website test) became one of her steadiest earners.
- She registered as a sole trader, keeps a separate business bank account, and uses an accountancy app to handle her tax return because tracking several income streams in a spreadsheet got too overwhelming.
- Her advice for choosing a side hustle is to work out what you actually enjoy first, because the side hustles people stick with long enough to see results are the ones they don’t dread doing.
Timestamps
- [0:00] Introducing Gemma From Help Save Money
- [8:22] Living With Illness and Why Work Was Always “Broken Up”
- [10:22] How Gemma Started Her Crafting Business on Etsy
- [14:53] From Surveys to Mystery Shopping: Gemma’s First Side Hustles
- [19:01] Growing Help Save Money to Nearly 50k Followers
- [21:28] Why Passion Matters More Than Chasing Followers
- [26:15] Investing in Wine, Whisky and Stocks and Shares ISAs
- [33:17] Sole Trader Life: Freelancing, Tax and Business Banking
- [36:28] Bank Switching for Free Cash: Up To £1,000 a Year
- [38:18] Gemma’s Advice for Picking Your First Side Hustle
Why Gemma built an income out of side hustles, not one job
Gemma’s relationship with work has never followed a straight line. She has struggled with illness since she was 16 and has spent a lot of her life in and out of hospital, which meant her work history was, in her words, “always kind of broken up.” Full-time careers didn’t fit around that, so instead of forcing one, she built her income from a collection of flexible side hustles she could pick up and put down as her health allowed: surveys, mystery shopping, market research, website testing and, later, a handmade crafting business. If you’re weighing up your own options for building a flexible income around work or health constraints, our guide to <a href=”https://upthegains.co.uk/blog/top-ways-to-earn-a-side-income”>top ways to earn a side income</a> covers a similar spread of ideas.
She briefly tried university at 25 through the Open University, studying product design and engineering, but left after around three months. It wasn’t the right fit, and it left her with debt she still mentions on the podcast. That experience pushed her further towards self-directed, flexible income rather than a conventional career path, which is ultimately how Help Save Money came to exist.
From surveys to mystery shopping: Gemma's first side hustles
Gemma’s first side hustle was paid surveys, which she started around age 20 while spending time in hospital, since it was something she could do from a laptop without needing to be anywhere in particular. From there she moved into mystery shopping, which she says suited her because she already liked browsing shops. As phones and apps improved, mystery shopping became easier to fit around her day. She later branched into market research and focus groups, and into website and app user testing, where she is paid a small fee, around ten dollars, for testing a website for a few minutes. She estimates she has made around two thousand pounds from user testing alone over time.
She was doing so much market research and mystery shopping at one point that she was contacted and told to slow down, which she found genuinely upsetting given how much she enjoyed it. She has since written two ebooks, one on mystery shopping and one on market research, listing the companies worth signing up to and how to get started, sold through her own website rather than social media.
From Etsy cushions to a proper crafting business
Alongside the surveys and mystery shopping, Gemma built a genuine crafting business. She taught herself to sew at around 22 and started selling handmade cushions on Etsy under the name Gembob’s Crafts. As Etsy became more crowded and, in her view, less friendly to smaller handmade sellers, she moved some of her stock into Fabrication, a shop in York that sells work from a collective of local makers, where she now gets a monthly payout alongside her seasonal Etsy sales. She still treats her craft income as separate from Help Save Money, describing the crafting business as something she does because she enjoys it as much as for the money.
Growing Help Save Money to nearly 50,000 followers
Gemma started Help Save Money after coming off a previous personal Instagram account that she found exhausting to maintain, and after following finance-focused accounts herself. She built the channel gradually, posting educational content about the side hustles she was actually doing, and now posts around twice a week rather than constantly. By the time of recording the account had grown to around 47,000 followers, largely through people sharing tips that actually worked for them.
She’s candid that the growth has brought pressure too, particularly from followers messaging daily asking how she does things. Her honest answer is that most of it comes down to research: Googling relentlessly, testing things herself, and only recommending brands or products she’d genuinely use, which is also why she turns down partnership offers that don’t fit her own habits, such as car or mortgage-related brands, since she rents and doesn’t drive.
Going freelance: sole trader status, tax and separate banking
As her side hustles multiplied, Gemma made the shift most successful side hustlers eventually face: formalising the income. She registered as a sole trader rather than setting up a limited company, and now uses an accountancy app to manage her tax return because juggling income from crafting, market research, mystery shopping, surveys, website testing and brand partnerships in a spreadsheet became too much to track manually. She also keeps a dedicated business bank account, separate from her personal accounts, to keep that income easier to manage.
Because freelance income from multiple side hustles can be inconsistent month to month, it’s worth having a buffer in place before you rely on it fully. Our piece on <a href=”https://upthegains.co.uk/blog/how-much-should-be-in-my-emergency-fund”>how much should be in your emergency fund</a> is a useful starting point if you’re planning to make a side hustle your main income, and our take-home pay calculator can help you see what a freelance income actually leaves you with once tax is accounted for.
Gemma's advice for picking your first side hustle
Asked what she’d tell someone overwhelmed by the sheer number of side hustles listed online, Gemma’s advice was simple: start with what you actually enjoy, not what looks easiest. If you like being out and about, she suggests mystery shopping. If you’re happier at home and comfortable online, she points to market research, focus groups, surveys or website testing. Her broader point is that side hustles which don’t fit your personality rarely last, because the people who stick with something long enough to see real money from it are the ones who don’t dread doing it.
She also recommends following other side hustle and money creators on social media purely to learn from them, rather than scrolling passively, and keeping a running note of ideas worth trying later. If you’re not sure which type of side hustle or money habit actually suits you, our <a href=”https://upthegains.co.uk/quiz”>money personality quiz</a> is a quick way to get a steer before you commit time to any one option.
This transcript is auto-generated and lightly edited for readability, it may contain errors.
[0:00] Sammie Ellard-King: Hello and welcome to another episode of the Money Gains podcast. This is your host, Sammie Ellard-King, and today I am delighted to be joined by Gemma from Help Save Money, which is an Instagram channel and blog, which is absolutely killing it right now. Gemma is an absolute side hustle queen. Her channel is all about helping you start your own side hustles while documenting her journey as well, how much money she’s making through surveys, which ones to look out for. And this chat today, we really go deep into all of the side hustles that she covers. So if you’re joining us on YouTube, please do whack the subscribe button. It really does help the show. And the same goes for Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Please do drop us a review. But for now, let’s get started on the Money Gains Podcast. So hey Gemma, welcome to the Money Gains Podcast.
[1:10] Gemma: Hello. How are you doing? You okay? Yeah, I’m good, thank you. I’m really good. Brilliant. Well, thanks for joining us today. Yeah, I’m very well. Yeah, I’m really looking forward to this conversation. Um I uh whereabouts are you in the world, so our listeners know. I’m in York, in North Yorkshire. Ah, lovely. We were just chatting offline about York and I I’m I’m coming up there in May. I can’t I can’t wait actually. I’ve never been. Yeah, it’s really nice. I like living here. It’s a bit cold. Well, that’s just the UK in general, isn’t it? Yeah, no, no. Well, um, yeah, I think it’s gonna be a really cool chat today. It’s a little bit different um from some of our other chats that we’ve had so far, and we’re gonna get sort of into your to help um help save money and some more of the freelancing side of it as well, and the side hustles that you do. I think it’s gonna be a really good chat. But I’m gonna take you back a little bit to start off with. So growing up, like what what was your relationship like with money growing up?
[2:08] Gemma: Um, well, I probably didn’t really have one because I didn’t have any money. Me when I was little, when I was a kid. Yeah, so like what you know, how was your parents with money and how does that sort of feed into you today? I didn’t well we grew up on we moved a lot of times. We moved about like ev nearly every year to be honest. My mum and mum and dad weren’t together. Um, but they just had normal jobs at there were three girls, like me included, and then I was a middle one, but we didn’t have like loads of money. We were just my mum struggled a little bit. Um she did really well. Um, you know, but it wasn’t I never thought that I was like without though, but we grew up in like you know, Middlesbrough and places.
[2:55] Gemma: Oh, do you know that? Yeah, yeah. Not the best places really, but they were good. I didn’t when you were a kid you don’t care, do you? No. Um and I went on school trips, I wasn’t like without or anything like that. And then but yeah, we weren’t we weren’t like really rich or anything. Um because obviously everything’s cheaper up here, isn’t it? So it wasn’t, you know. And the people who I mixed with weren’t really rich either, so I didn’t really feel I didn’t really think about it much. Do you know what I mean? No, you don’t it’s it’s just true, like you know, yeah your friends are your friends and they’re they’re their upbringing and y your mates, whatever their status, right? At the end of the day. Exactly. So uh did you have any sort of money education growing up? Did your mum install anything into you?
[3:43] Gemma: Um no, not really. It wasn’t really that good. But I’ve always been quite I don’t know why, I think it is in built in yeah. Like my sisters are they like spending money, and my mum does, and my dad does actually. But I’ve always been completely the opposite. I hate spending money, I’m really frugal, um I hate using things. I’m not like I see it as a waste, even so that spreads out into everything, not just money. So like I hate using energy, like the heating or the washing. Um I’m just really I’m just like that as a person, and I haven’t changed. I try to change, but I can’t. So yeah, I kind of even though mum was a big spender, I didn’t it didn’t play out to me. Um, and then when I became 18, I didn’t go to uni because I didn’t want to go. Um I got a job, like my first full-time job in a prison, in a prison in Varna Castle.
[4:43] Sammie Ellard-King: Oh wow. Yeah, it was really good. When Mum was prison officer, she’d be hard car. Ah wow, cool, that is so cool. Um I was only doing admin, but I had a train and the keys, and I thought it was really cool, you know. And then um and then I saved up that money and I got myself my driving lessons and I got a car and I got it on a loan actually. It was only two grand, but that was the first time I’ve been in control of like money and then things like that, and then but that’s I’ve never that I think that’s the only loan I’ve had actually. I’ve never been in debt or anything like that. Um but yeah, I’ve always been really, really like comp like just careful with all the money I’ve had. Um And that’s that’s that’s so interesting because like you say your sisters like spending, your dad likes spending, so you you could have been a spender, but you weren’t. You were uh more frugal and you thought about things a little bit more. Do you do you have any idea?
[5:38] Gemma: Do you do you think that’s just you or is Yeah, I always thought I was born like do you know in the wart. But then you didn’t have much. Yeah. So I honestly I think that, and I think I’m just really that kind of person that’s you know a scrimper, and I don’t think you can change like when you’re you’re in a it’s like nature or nurture, isn’t it? Yeah. And I think if you are like that as a person, and I know people on Instagram, like there’s a few girls on there who are a bit like me and just that they always look for the deals and they don’t really like spending money and stuff. But obviously, some people have got loads of debt, which is you know on the opposite end, isn’t it? Which is fair enough as well. But I think if you try and change yourself completely, I I don’t think it really works because you’ll always have that like inside you.
[6:27] Sammie Ellard-King: 100%. Um you know it’s it’s how you operate with debt as well. You know, sometimes debt can be used in the right ways, but if you’re struggling with debt because you’ve you know you’ve you’ve maxed out credit cards to buy things that you don’t necessarily need to fund a lifestyle that you don’t necessarily need as well. And you know, people get caught up in the trap of that kind of is Instagram lifestyle, you know, it’s it’s it’s looking good on camera and looking good to your friends, and that doesn’t necessarily add up to much at the end of the day. I don’t really have that. I don’t really compare myself to other people. Like I’m not married, I don’t have kids, I live alone, I travel alone. I’m really like independent and I I love that. Like and I kind of yeah, I guess I do want people to see me as independent and not reliant on anyone, but I don’t have that thing in my mind saying she’s got that, I want, I want that. I’ve never really been like that because I don’t really care what other people have.
[7:28] Gemma: Props to you, like that’s super valuable to have. I just don’t really like I don’t have a car because I don’t care about like I always I don’t really wear pr brand things. I just don’t care what people think. And it’s I do obviously care what people think. I don’t want to become like like a scruffy or anything like that, but I don’t have that like thing where you go, oh yeah, just that comparison. Yeah, I need that new bag or that new do, you know, that’s you don’t need it. It’s strange to have that. Must be quite um must be quite hard in your mind to have that, I think. Doesn’t it? Yeah, it’s pressure at the end of the day. Yeah, pressure. You’re adding pressure to yourself and your lifestyle and the people around you to keep up with Yeah.
[8:22] Gemma: Like go to uni or get a good job, anything like that. So I didn’t feel any pressure at all through anything like that. So maybe that’s why. I don’t know. So you’ve gone from into straight into work? Yeah. And then how long did you stay in full-time work? I did I wasn’t very I haven’t been very well um in my life since I was about sixteen through different kind of things. So I’ve been in don’t know how to say this, but I’ve been in hospitals a lot, um quite a lot of my life. Um so it was kinda my work was always kind of broken up. Right. So um I never really stuck at a job for very long and I had to change jobs and I couldn’t do a lot of jobs because of my health and so I yeah, I couldn’t really get into a career mind. Because I always thought, oh well this isn’t gonna last. So it was always kind of like odd jobs that I did. And then when I was about 25, I’d start I thought, oh, I’ll do open university. Um I don’t know why, I kind of regret it now, because I’m just in debt now. Um but I did product design and engineering at uni. Do you know the the online one?
[9:34] Gemma: Right, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I did that and it was yeah, I didn’t enjoy it at all. I’m not that kind of uh I’m quite practical, so I I thought it was like the the mate, the artisty one, like design, but it was all just online and I just I don’t know how I passed it really. I I went to uni and I I’ll be honest with you, I don’t know how I passed it too, you know. I I was I was a social animal, so you know I was not like that, I don’t really. But yeah, I I guess that’s what’s good about uni, if you do the proper uni, I tried it but I didn’t like it. I couldn’t really yeah, I didn’t do very well in that bit because I only stayed for like three months, but I then I got like bad again. But I couldn’t do that the social side of it. I am social, I like I like people, but not constantly.
[10:22] Sammie Ellard-King: Yeah. You know, it’s hard, isn’t it? It’s hard work. So obviously with your illness and that kind of you know has affected the way you you approached work, that’s obviously led you into, you know, I see you’ve got your crafting business, which is amazing. The cushions. I always do that no matter what. Like with craft, that’s how I started crafting. I’ve never sewn in my life, and then when I was about 22, I got a sewing machine and I just started practicing because I had a lot of time on my hands, and then I started selling on Etsy. That’s like how it started for me, Etsy, and then because it was easy because you didn’t have to be, you could be anywhere and do Etsy. Yeah, it doesn’t matter. Um, and then um it was going all right. I mean, I’ve never been a an amazing Etsy seller, I don’t know all about SEO and keywords and stuff. I probably should like read up on that a bit more, but and then there was a new shop that opened in York called Fabrication. So I’ve got one in Leeds, it started in Leeds, and it’s like a bunch of artists um going together and selling their work in the shop. So that’s and then I’m still in there in York and it’s really good. It’s because we’re on the main street in York, so it’s really good. It’s called Fabrication.
[11:38] Sammie Ellard-King: Cheeky plug. Um what do you make?
[12:29] Gemma: Um animal cushions. Should I just get one? Yeah, go on, go for it. I make yeah, animal cushions, but I mainly do sewing my sewing machines, uh those that are just listening, Jem has gone to um quickly show us an animal cushion so you can head back over to YouTube and see this. Oh wow, they’re excellent. So I just do stuff like that. Like sewing and I’ve made curtains and things, and then yeah, it’s mainly but they’re all kind of different, they’re all kind of one of one of a kind ones, because I don’t I get bored and I don’t want to do the same kind of ones all the time. Yeah, fair enough. So you do little series of them and yeah, just like I just do what, yeah, like I’ve been doing it for about eight years now, so and I do love it, but that’s how I started to like to make money like not it’s in a different way, isn’t it? Like I don’t get I do get a monthly paycheck from fabrication, but Etsy’s kind of up and down, it’s seasonal, isn’t it?
[13:36] Sammie Ellard-King: Very seasonal, yeah. Crafting businesses can be. Yeah, and I do I don’t do craft fairs anymore because I find them exhausting. Yeah, I was going to ask you, you know, do is there anywhere else you sell sell now or no, just on just there and Etsy’s gone a bit rubbish. I think it’s quite oversaturated now. When I first started, it wasn’t that bad, but now a lot of people are on Etsy and reselling on Etsy as well. So it’s not just handmade things, which is a bit like the change of the rules in and it I can’t remember when it was, but they changed it so you can actually resell. So yeah, it’s a bit different now. It’s a shame. It’s is it is similar to Pinterest. You know, Pinterest used to be amazing for this type of thing. And uh that that’s kind of been killed off a little bit. You know, they changed the algorithm and and it’s like, oh great, you know, suddenly I had all this great traffic coming from Pinterest. I hear this a lot from people, and you know, that’s that’s now you know 20% of what it once was. And yeah, Facebook used to be amazing for promoting these types of things, now not so much. You have to pay to play. It’s um yeah, I think it’s one of those things that’s when in something’s new that they kind of help you and push and and and yeah, they don’t care anymore, do they? No, it’s about the money and and advertising, unfortunately.
[14:53] Gemma: Yeah. So you moved on to um you know, online as well. I’ve just seen you know you you you’ve got your website up and running now. Are you are you planning on selling through there? Well, not my not my Gem Bob. I’m kind of keeping it separate. I did have a Gembob’s Crafts, that’s what it is, Gembob’s Crafts. I have still got my Instagram, but I haven’t posted since a year and a bit now. I kind of stopped. I found it a lot of pressure because every time I was going out, I was like, oh, I need to show what what I’m doing to my followers. I had only had about 8,000 followers, which I know is quite a lot, but it’s not but I felt it quite a lot of pressure and I didn’t know what to post. I was like, do I just post a picture of my lion? It’s not exciting. And I found it quite yeah, I found it quite exhausting doing that one. And it is a passion, but I think money’s always been like my main passion, side hustles. Like I started doing surveys when I was about 20 when I was in like hospitals and that, because it was a way to earn money where I didn’t have to do anything, just do right surveys online. And it was all didn’t have phones, like you just had I’ve always had a laptop, and then so I started doing them, and I was like, oh, that’s alright. This and then I started found out about do you know when you’re Googling um like ways to earn money on laptop?
[16:10] Sammie Ellard-King: We’ve all done it. My research, I’m a researcher, like that’s what I proper love, like market research, anything like that. If I get an idea in my mind, I will Google it to the absolute max. Um, and that’s how I teach myself how if it’s a passion, you know, if I’m obsessed with it and that. So I then I started doing mystery shopping, um, and I was like really liked it because I like shopping anyway. Um like brow, like walking around browsing, and then I was like, oh, this is good. And then when phones became good, like you know, taking photos and that, it was even easier because you could download apps and do mystery shopping on the apps, and I was like, Oh, it’s really easy, this um, you know, and it’s yeah, and it’s just like kind of grown from there and I’ve learned more. And I joined Instagram. The fact that I stopped my Jem Bobs one and I joined, I thought, oh, I’ll follow some like financey people. Um and then that was like in last December or something, and then I thought, oh I I could maybe a bit earlier than that, I could do something like this. So I set up mine and it was rubbish at the start, but I just started like doing stories on how I was making a bit of extra money and things, yeah. Then like it was kind of growing a little bit like that, and then I got Canva, and I was like trying to make my pose nice and pretty, and but mainly educational because I want to teach people, it’s not really about what I’m doing, it’s I want to teach people how to do things, and then I thought, oh, I can try and do a blog, um, which isn’t like the best. I’ve really I’m really struggling with my blog. Like I try and do it the best, but it’s just not really going well.
[17:56] Sammie Ellard-King: It is hard, it’s hard, isn’t it? Yeah, it is hard. You know, I I I I’m I’m I’m more than happy to to chat with you offline about how we can how I can help there. Oh, thank you. And I’m like, I don’t know how people do it. Maybe because they haven’t put any money into it. But honestly, it is hours and hours and hours and hours of work. Like that that is one of the side hustles that can pay off big, but the effort and energy and that needs to go into it is enormous. So, you know, if you are planning on starting a blog, prepare yourself for you know 18 months of of of solidly hard work and and no social life at all. So and I don’t because I’m not do act, I’m not being like practical, I’m not doing like I like creating Canva posts. That’s really fun for me. I like doing that because it’s quite designy. But I’ve got blog writing. I’m not very good, I’m not very good at writing anyway. Like my language and stuff, I l I struggle with that a little bit. So that’s you know, but yeah, it’s just being hard. I’m gonna persevere with it, but I still it’s just hard, isn’t it?
[19:01] Sammie Ellard-King: Well, I think you know, especially when you’ve got the social channel, like we’ll move on to that now. Obviously, help save money has grown massively since you started it. Um you know, you’re up to sort of 47,000 followers I had this morning. It’s an incredible journey in such a short space of time. So obviously, people are resonating with what you’re saying. Yeah, whether that be in small ways, but having the blog is the kind of longer form of what you’re saying, I suppose, and shorts in the shorter Instagram posts. Yeah. So if you think keep it up, yeah. Yeah. It’s just our SEO, isn’t it? I don’t understand. It is another world, honestly. Um I I’ve gone deep into it for the last sort of 12 months, and thank God for podcasting. I’ll say that because I I’m not a visual learner at all. I you know, if you uh but I can have a podcast in and pick up little bits and bobs, and yeah, that’s that’s changed my life, it really has. And um, you know, Up The Gains is getting there now. Oh, you know, I’m happy with the growth of it. Um it’s still you know, got a long way to go, but that’s the journey that we go on. And uh, you know, I I I would love to have 47,000 followers on my ints on Up The Gains Instagram, so um only a couple thousand, so nothing, nothing nothing to shout about.
[20:18] Gemma: You know, it’s not it just grows and grows and grows. And I only post about twice a week, I’m proper lazy. I should post more than that, and I know I should, but um you know, it just grows over time. Don’t like set yourself, don’t be thinking, oh, how can I get followers, stuff like that. Because sometimes it is hard, but you get people messaging you every day, and I’m like, and the most common question I have is like, how do you do stuff? Like asking me how I do things, like if I do a market, if I say, Oh, I’ve got a focus group tonight, it’s 60 quid, whatever. People are like, Oh, have I been applying and I don’t get accepted. Oh, my competition I started comping last year. How I’ve applied for loads of competitions and I’ve never won. I’m like, Well, I’m not the owner of them, I don’t know why I win, I’m just lucky. But people asking me, and I feel like I do feel a lot of pressure with that. Like, yeah, people asking me how I do things, and I’m like, there’s Google, you know, you’ve got all the resources online, teach yourself, and if you don’t teach yourself, that means you’ve not got a passion about it, so you can’t do it. If you don’t have a passion about something, you’re not gonna you’re not gonna put the effort in to do it. Do you know what I mean?
[21:28] Sammie Ellard-King: You need to hit the nail on the head. Yeah. You need I’m obsessed with it, and uh, you know, my family will tell like my sister, she came up Friday, it’s all I talk about like stuff like that, and I know I’m obsessed with it, and I probably annoy people because probably I just talk rubbish all the time. No, but you’ve got 47,000 people that are interested in what you say, so I mean you know, you can’t be the only one. And it it’s the same with me, you know. I go to parties now and I just find myself talking about creating websites to people, and I could see their faces, but for me, I’m just like I just want to blurt it out and talk. I know you do feel a bit barisman, but I don’t know. But hey, that’s you, and that’s what you’re interested in, so that’s important to you. So I think it’s it, you know, if it it’s nice to talk about it to me, especially as soon as someone’s like, oh really, that’s it, I’m off. But um, so talk to us about how to save money. You’ve you is the the journey that it took to get to to the levels that you’re at now, and you know, you mentioned posting twice a week. Was that always the case? Were you heavier on posting at the beginning?
[22:36] Gemma: No, I was I’ve always been um like that. Um I don’t want to be like I am obsessed with it, but I think posting is quite hard work. Like I’ve got my posts are quite educational. Like I did a side hustle series where I really researched into every single thing and tried to put loads of information in. So they take me quite a long time to do. And I’ve recently been maybe doing a little bit different where I’ve been doing more visual ones where like things I were thinking purchases that are really that I shouldn’t have made in two bars. And like stuff like that. But I’ve had it’s been quite good because like the end of last year I had a couple of like brands reach out and say, Will you work with us? Like advertise for them. Not like load, like probably some people get a lot more than me, but it’s been nice to have that.
[23:49] Sammie Ellard-King: Brilliant. Come that way. Come back. Yeah, well, like you you’ve got to that level now where that’s value to the brands to be seen to your audience. So that’s you know I wouldn’t I wouldn’t promote something that I thought was absolutely rubbish. Like I’ve had a few people come to me like and I’m like, I can’t really promote that because I just don’t like it. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? And I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to be the one of those people that just do it doing things for money. Because it’s a bit authenticity will keep your audience motivated in what you’re saying, right? And so if you suddenly come in and say, hey, buy this new loan, they’re gonna be like, uh hang on a second, this isn’t really who she is.
[24:38] Gemma: I was like, I don’t have a car, and I don’t really agree with cars. Like in my circumstance, I know if you’ve got a family, it’s completely different, but I saw me promoting a car company, it’s just not or like someone with like mortgages. I don’t have a mortgage, I don’t I’ve always rented all my life. I don’t want a mortgage, I don’t want my money to go into a house. I want my money to be investing in a bank. So stuff like I’ve I’ve recently I’m working with a guy, the the seller, um, and they’re about investing in wines, and I find like so. I’ve been researching that, and that’s really interesting, and and I love working with them. Like it’s not come out yet, but I’m gonna do a thingy on it, but that’s amazing for me. I’m like learning about it, but and it’s also something new instead of just investing in stocks and shares, it’s like got something quite cool. Do you know what I mean?
[25:28] Sammie Ellard-King: Like, yeah, 100%. Yeah, it’s gonna it’s gonna add value. Yeah. So like you yeah, you get to learn. Like, I didn’t know the wines got kept in a cellar in London. Um, so they’re actual wine, like, I don’t know, stuff like that. And I was like, God, that’s an easy name. I see the whiskey uh I get adverts for the whiskey ones all the time. I don’t know if it’s a noise. Yeah, yeah, they like buy the barrel and you get X percent back each year. But my uncle actually has one and he’s done quite well off it. Um, there you uh you buy a barrel, it sits in a warehouse in the Highlands, and it grows in value over time, and you can see live value of it and everything. It’s crazy. So yeah, uh who knew? Yeah, wine, whiskey, uh you know, it’s an and art as well, it’s another one.
[26:15] Gemma: Yeah, that’s a good one. Because it’s kind of more stable than businesses things, especially at the moment with everything you don’t know, you know, and master I’ve got Freetrade and it goes up and down like that all the time. Um I’ve got a nutmeg as well, and that’s a bit more stable, but yeah, so I’m not like an expert in investing, I don’t know about that, but that’s I’ve just found it interesting like the different ways you can do it. So so talk talk to us a little bit about that. So you’ve got a free trade account and then a nutmeg account, I imagine as well. Oh, you got Hargreaves as well. Okay, cool. I just did Trading 212 because it’s a refer I love referral programs. Yes. On it with all the referrals. And it’s really good for that, isn’t it? Trading 212. I mean, you get a really good free share.
[27:01] Gemma: Yeah, you get five free shares if you refer people. And I made about 140 quid. And I’ve put well, it takes 30 days, but I’ve sold my shares, I’m getting the money, not keeping it in. It’s amazing. She’s like, Wow.
[28:24] Sammie Ellard-King: Yeah, and also Freetrade do the same as well. You refer a friend, you both get a free share, and it’s it’s a great, it’s a great little way of getting into the market, you know, free share. It’s free money at the end of the day. You have to keep it for 30 days and you can sell it, as you said, and you know, if you want, you can just withdraw the money. Do you know with your like they say that about service as well? What do people do with your data? I went, they can have all my data if they want. I’m not I’m not doing anything private. I’m just the person, you know. If they want all my data, they can have it. I I I completely agree with you there. I’m not one of these data privacy people. It’s just like, you know, I’m just a I’m just a guy, a normal guy doing my thing. If you want to know my name and where I live, here’s my name and my address. I’m really not fussed about that.
[29:11] Gemma: If Google wants to hear me speak on my phone, it can hear me speak. I’m not that interested. I’m not doing anything illegal. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m just talking about football and and guy stuff and and dogs. That’s it, you know. Yeah. But um your accounts, um, Gemma, your nutmeg account. Is that a stocks and shares ISA? Yeah, it’s it’s um managed for me. Yeah. Managed for me. Because I’d rather do that. I’ve had that for quite a while now, actually. I’ve got a LISA and a a normal one. So you’ve got a lifetime ISA and then a stocks and shares ISA. Yeah, I don’t know why I’ve got a lifetime one, but everyone was saying, oh, you should open one, and I saw I did. But I don’t think I’ll ever buy a house, so I don’t really see. I know it goes on your pension though, doesn’t it?
[30:00] Sammie Ellard-King: It does, it goes towards retirement if you don’t want to use it for a house, but you get that £1,000 government. Um, if you pay in £4,000 a year, you get £1,000 given to you by the government or £25% of the equivalent amount. Yeah. It’s a it’s a good thing, you know. If you get to later life and the government are giving you 30 grand for free, happy days. Yeah, I know exactly, yeah. It is good that one. It just didn’t really machine. You just can’t touch it, which is annoying. So I know it isn’t me, isn’t it? But I don’t know what I’d want to buy it anyway. I don’t think and you so you you mentioned the expert managed, so you you felt like that that was the best for you because you know the experts do it for you, and that gives you access to the stock market without necessarily being and uh having to check the charts 24-7 and yeah, well they do it for a living, don’t they?
[30:50] Gemma: The experts thought I would trust them, you know, if if they want to do it, and it’s a little bit a little you’ve got to pay like a little bit of a fee, but I don’t think it’s that much. I’m not actually actually maybe it is. Nutmeg is really reasonable in terms of their fees and setup, you know. They’re they’re a JP Morgan company um and and very respectable actually, and and really good funds. Um you’ve made a good choice there. I like Nutmeg a lot. I can’t remember where I found it, but but yeah, that one’s a good. And then I do also I do my market research and focus groups. I used to do that a lot more, but I kind of got I got caught and they said I was doing too much. You’re in everyone. Oh, I’ve seen this face before.
[31:39] Gemma: I’ve had to stop applying, which I really I was really upset by that because I did a lot last year, probably too much, but I was applying every day, like on obsessed, every single email I’d apply for it, I’d apply, I’d apply. And I was becoming an obsession. And then but yeah, I got a call and said, you know, I shouldn’t really be doing that much. So I’ve had to like slow down a little bit. I’ll still do it, but just not, it’s not like you know, as big as it was. Yeah. No, yeah, I get it. Yeah, so I did I did, and then I I created some ebooks, a mystery shopping one, and then a market research one as well. Um, so they’ve they’ve done they’re just like passive now, which I really like. Which you can download, by the way, from your website, right?
[32:25] Gemma: It’s on my website now. It was only on Etsy, but it’s on my website now. I’ve f I’ve finally managed to do it, and it’s cheaper on my website. So but yeah, they that was good because I loved I created them. They’re like 40 pages or whatever, full of companies you can sign up to or um mystery shopping companies and things like that. So people don’t have to go from the start, they’ve got a list there, and like tips and things like that. So people can’t amazing. Yeah, just so because there is a lot out there, but and I’ve been doing it for years, so I know who it is, who’s good and who’s not, kind of thing. Well, we highly recommend people to go and get that if you’re interested in making a bit of extra cash on the side, market research, then check out Gemma’s book because it does save you hours of Googling. You know, I’ve I from writing articles on this and trying to research who is actually good. I’ll be honest with you, it’s a minefield.
[33:17] Gemma: And you’re not it’s American. Exactly. When you search side hustles, it’s quite an American thing still. And you get American places and you’re like, oh well, it doesn’t it doesn’t equate to England, does it? So yeah. Some of them do, but not all of them. And it and and you know, you don’t know whether are there any good or trustworthy as well. There are scams out there. Yeah, there is it’s difficult to to cut through. So yeah, check out Gemma’s book if you’re interested in making a bit of extra cash. So talk to us about freelancing then, because you you you know you you’re 100% into that right now. And I I had a look back through some of the posts, and there’s some very interesting things about how um you know I saw the tax allowances that you can claim back. So are you a limited company or are you uh sole trader?
[34:09] Gemma: Sole trader, yes, I’ve employed sole trader. So I just do I work with tax now, it’s called Tax2K, and it’s like an app and well not an app, it’s like a but it’s like a mobile kind of one. And they kind of do it all via the you just it was really easy to do that. I worked with them and they helped me a lot because I’ve always struggled with like that kind of side of things, because it’s quite hard, isn’t it? Yeah. So they do all that kind of thing now. Because my income’s so busy, I find it a little bit overwhelming to do. Um I don’t like spreadsheets, I’m not doing a spreadsheet. Yeah. Well you’re a creative, you know, then you’re then expected to be your own Yeah. Yeah, you know you’re expected to be your own personal finance manager, and that’s not but so that that’s been alright.
[34:55] Gemma: But I do so the main things I do is with freelance, my crafts, um market research, mystery shopping, um online testing for websites, um surveys, um animal thing. Um yeah, quite a lot of different things really. And do you get those paid into uh your personal bank account or is it a business bank account that you have for a soul trader? You’ve got a business bank account, okay, that’s interesting. And then that keeps your life separate and you pay yourself out of the business bank after the tax, right? Because I’ve got a few different banks because I do that bank switching. Yeah. Um so I’ve got a few on at the moment and I need to close some of them really. I’m getting a bit overwhelmed in your channel.
[35:40] Sammie Ellard-King: I’ve just seen uh a deal out at the moment. I hope this is still going when um when this podcast comes out. But there’s a £175 first direct current account transfer, and I was like, that’s insane. A lot of money going into it. Yeah, you’ve got to pay a thousand pounds in the first 90 days. Um it could be one paycheck for someone and then you get £175 quid, you get it seven days after as well. I just didn’t Halifax one, I got £175, and then I did the I did an HSB, no, nationwide, and I got £200 for that. It’s amazing. Yeah, you know, you over the year you could make nearly a thousand quid if you were smart about it. Um and then you have to wait two, two, sometimes three years, and then you can go again.
[36:28] Gemma: Yeah, yeah. It’s a good deal, aren’t they? Yeah, brilliant. And you know, uh actually, if you think about it logically, you could pay for say all of Christmas or the family holiday or something like that. It just takes a few minutes to do as well, because actually a lot of the banks take care of it for you, so they move all your direct debits over in payments. It’s amazing. Yeah, you just apply it, you have to make sure you’ve got a few different banks because I switch a bank, I switched one of my Starling accounts, which didn’t have much going in and out, and it wasn’t like on because I’m on loads of companies like mystery shopping companies and that. Sometimes I don’t know the what bank details I’ve inputted. So you’ve got to be a bit, you know, make sure you’re doing it as a process. So do one and then you know that’s gone alright, so then do the other one with that bank. So you do know what I mean, so you know it’s going smoothly. Yeah, so you because it is a bit, oh, what if I’ve got something set up with that and it’s not gonna go out, kind of thing. So yeah, it’s but once you get into it, it’s quite alright. It’s just taking that time to do it, isn’t it?
[37:31] Sammie Ellard-King: Yeah, 100%. Yeah. I mean, this is this is my second one, and uh I um uh after how easy the first went and and this one, it’s like right, well, what’s next? And I know um Andy from um Be Clever With Your Cash. Oh yeah, he’s uh he’s got a great part of his website where he lists the latest deals, so definitely go and check that out. Yeah, well, I like him. I like because he’s on that um Facebook group, that money bloggers one, isn’t he? He is, he’s and he listens a lot of podcasts now, um like finance ones, like The Frugal Spender, um All Things Money, people like that. There’s they’re really good, aren’t they? Oh Ola, yeah, from All Things Money, yeah. That’s that’s yeah, she’s coming on the show actually in a couple of weeks. Oh well, I don’t know her, but she’s even really nice.
[38:18] Sammie Ellard-King: So right, so Gemma, this has been a great chat. So I I’ve got one last question. Um, for those interested who don’t know where to start, because often you can get overwhelmed because you know you go on these websites and it’s like you know, yeah a hundred side hustles that you can do, and it’s very difficult for people to understand which ones to pick that are right for them. So what would you suggest for people like just thinking about starting a side hustle? I’d probably start evaluating what you’re good at. Like you’ve got to have, like I said before, like a passion. So if you’re if you really like shopping and being out and about, being active, I’d say mystery shopping. But if you like being at home, um you’re quite good on the computer, you could sell digital products, or you could do market research, like focus groups on Zoom, like we’re doing Zoom. Um or there’s like surveys on your phone if you’re out if you like traveling a lot and you can do surveys on apps on your phone. That’s not amazing money, but there’s website testing, which I didn’t have a clue about what to do, but I’ve just learned so there’s user testing where you can test little websites for like five minutes and you get ten dollars. Um that one’s quite a good one. I’ve made about two grand with that. Um, but there’s there’s quite a lot, but what I’d say first of all is follow people on Instagram so you get ideas. There’s loads of content creators on Instagram, um, money ones, like not finance really related, but people who do side hustles and the teacher look, and that’s how I’ve learned. Like it’s an amazing resource. Um, just scrolling through, you don’t even have to have an active account, just you don’t have to post on there if you don’t want to. Just look teaching yourself, you know, instead of being on social media to just look at celebrities, like learn from it. That’s why I I don’t follow any celebrities, I’d hate celebrities.
[40:12] Sammie Ellard-King: I completely agree. It’s an educational source for me, and I might I might as well utilize it while I can. So I’ve done something different now, like with Up The Gains. That’s my only account that I’m logged in as. I’ve got a competition one. Yeah, you’ve got a competition one. Yeah, it’s like that keeps it separate for me. So I keep Facebook now off my phone, I keep just Up The Gains as my Instagram there. And if I want to check Facebook, I have to go onto the computer and think about it, and that stops the scroll wasting 20 minutes, and you don’t know why it’s gone. You could have been learning something, and I’m I’m big on that these days, trying to try to maximize time. Like I don’t have another one, except my comp on, but help save money. And then when I’m bored and I am scrolling, what I do is normally if you see a good idea, screenshot it. So I’ve just on my phone camera, it’s just screenshots of like ideas and what I can do, what I can research. Um these like people who are really savvy and do like life hacks and that like on the internet, like AI and stuff, and I’ve been just screenshots.
[41:17] Sammie Ellard-King: It’s great. No, I’m exactly the same as you. I’ve got a little folder and it just gets bigger and bigger, and then when I’m stuck for ideas, I start going through it all and then go, Oh yeah, amazing. I write I write about something like that because you know I find it was super interesting and clearly hot right now. Okay, great. So, Gemma, it’s been a really good conversation. I’ve really enjoyed this. It’s um where can people find you? Um I’ve got my Instagram is called at and then help save money, um just like one word, and then my website’s helpsavemoney.net, because come get.com, which is a bit annoying, so it’s dot net. So um, but that’s not amazing, but it’s obviously I’m still updated quite a lot and things like that. Um little resource. So definitely if they’re you know you’re not in socials, then check out the website.
[42:07] Gemma: Yeah, yeah, and then that’s it really. But yeah, so it’s my first podcast I’ve done. Thank you. Oh, it’s been great. That’s been really enjoyable. And yeah, we’ll we’ll have to catch up in a couple of years’ time, get you back on and see where help save money’s grown to be a website that dominates the the Google search, right? Oh yeah, I don’t think so. All right, thanks, Gemma. Really appreciate this. Take care. Bye bye.
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