Make extra money as a mum with matched betting

Jodie is former Whitehall civil servant who is now a stay-at-home mum to daughter Lily and son Oliver. Jodie has so far made more than £4,000 using matched betting and runs a dedicated blog to spread the word. Here, she discusses juggling matched betting with being a full-time parent

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about how matched betting was ideal for anyone with a little spare time, especially other mums. This got me thinking about how I manage to do matched betting whilst also looking after two young children. Were there any tips I could offer other mums to help them get started?

So this is basically how I manage to squeeze in time for matched betting while juggling life with a five-year-old and a one-year-old.

Everyone is different. So while this works for me, it may not work for you. But, hopefully, you can take something from this if you’re worried about how you can fit it in or are just starting out.

And if you want more tips and advice about matched betting, check out my website. I’m also on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. So if you have any questions or simply want some moral support feel free to get in touch.

Take It Slowly At First

• Work through all of the initial offers slowly. You need to allow yourself about an hour for the first few offers when you start. Allow all of the bets to settle and track your money before moving on to the next offer. This will help you understand how matched betting works. The more bets you place, the easier it will be to understand. And the quicker the whole process will become.

I’ve made more than £5,000 in nine months, so this is definitely achievable.

• Place your first few bets when you know you’ll have a chunk of time away from the children. I completed most of the sign up offers in the evenings. If this is difficult, can your partner or a family member look after them for an hour or so?
• It can feel like a right slog when you first start out. There are endless forms to complete, lots of time spent finding bets and then double checking everything you’re doing. But persevere! Believe me, it now takes me next to no time to find and place my bets and it’s easier to squeeze in around the children than it ever has been.

Free Time is Matched Betting Time

Before I started matched betting, any spare time I had tended to be used doing the housework or looking at my phone for the latest Facebook updates. Now I squeeze in time for matched betting whenever I can. The result is that I do struggle to keep on top of the cleaning. But I’ve never really needed an excuse to avoid that if I’m being honest!

I found the initial sign-up offers more time-consuming than the reload offers. So I tended to place these bets in the evenings or on an odd day when a grandparent might have had the children.

I’m lucky that my son likes his sleep, so I’ll often have an hour or so most lunchtimes to check the current reload offers available. I’ll have a good browse of all the offers and place any relevant bets then.

Many casino offers have large amounts of wagering attached to them. I’ll normally complete these whilst I’m doing the ironing or cooking dinner. That way, I’m available to activate bonus rounds without having to spend hours sitting in front of a computer. It also has the added advantage of making these chores much more interesting!

Plan your time carefully. There tend to be fewer offers available earlier in the week. As it’s unlikely I’ll complete any offers then I’m more likely to arrange trips out for the day at these times. If I’m short on time but see offers available for a future date I’ll often put them in my diary to remind me to come back to them at a later point.

Related: Matched betting customer testimonials

Weekends can be the most profitable for matched betting. But I struggle with this because that’s our family time. The family will always take precedence. That’s not to say I’ll never place any bets at the weekend; I simply have to manage it quite carefully:

Most of the available offers will be advertised a day or so before. Therefore, I’ll often place any qualifying bets on a Friday evening.

I’ll take advantage of in-play and accumulator offers if I know I’ll be around the house.

If I know I’m going to be away I might still do some matched betting & will maybe lay the subsequent stages of an accumulator. But I’ll only do this if I know this won’t disrupt the weekend’s plans and I’m likely to be somewhere with a good wifi connection.

If the time you have available for matched betting is limited, it’s important to accept you won’t always be able to get involved in all of the offers available. Instead, set yourself a realistic target for the amount of money you would like to make which correlates to the amount of free time you’re likely to have.

I have about six hours per week available for matched betting and I aim to make about £500 per month. I’ve made more than £5,000 in nine months, so this is definitely achievable.

Enjoy the time you’re not matched betting. It’s easy to get swept up in completing as many offers as possible whenever they become available. Take advantage of the quiet times and enjoy being away from the computer.

Be Prepared for Mistakes

As simple as matched betting is, it is easy to make mistakes. Experience tells me that this is more likely to happen if you have little children vying for your attention at the same time as you’re placing bets. So I now avoid this!

This guide about the most common types of mistakes you can make matched betting will help you avoid mistakes and limit their impact.

Use Technology to Your Advantage

When time is short, it’s essential you use technology to help you manage. I find the following helpful:

• Using autofill on your computer makes light work of all the forms you need to complete when signing up for new bookmakers accounts.
• Use your calendar and set reminders on your phone to keep track of your bets. I find this particularly useful when I have accumulators running or need to place some bets in-play.

Keep Track of Your Money

Finally, don’t forget to keep track of all your bets and the money you’re making! This blog post tells you what information you’ll find it helpful to record. I’m an old fashioned girl and love any excuse to buy a new notebook. So I use the traditional pen and paper method. But there are plenty of spreadsheets to help, too.