July Pin Money Savings Challenge

apprentice_tycoon

So - today is august 1st so I've totted up my savings.

In the supermarket there were bogoffs and coupons totalling £54.72. The garden produce savings (beans, turnips, carrots, strawberries, cherries, plums etc) I've estimated to £10.00. Our kettle died, I didn't go rushing into Argos to spend around £10.00, I found a brand new car boot one for £2.00 I think that I should be counting in the saving of £8.00 there.

Total savings of £72.72 for the month

Very pleased

squeaky

Mine came to £19.98. My overall spend was quite low so I'm quite pleased with that.

Ready to start again for August now

kscour

Feeling quite smug today
Just spent ages tying up my spreadsheet - it was the first month though so I think it'll get easier.
So I've have had to give up putting my pin in a jar from my loose change - can't afford to! - and have made a new column on my spreadsheet because PIN (from vouchers) amounted to £25.93 :T :T
Considering when I started I was hoping for between £5 - £10 I can't believe it. :j
Virtual PIN (cashback/goods from crd/loyalty cards, excess on Tesco online money off/delivery) £41.51 :T :T

I haven't included BOGOF because I've always used them to stock up and also I'm very easily confused

So PIN £25.93 - £9 subscription to Zing (speculate to accumulate!) = £16.93
Virtual PIN £41.51 - £29.50 climbing frame from B&Q sale = £12.01 & 2 very happy kids

Great to see that I can treat myself and still be saving money
Hope Queenie is back soon to see what a difference this has made to so many of us

FairyElephant_2

PIN money savings: (coupons) £15.24, plus 'shopping savings' of (the amount that I came in 'under budget') £19.39, giving a total to go into my 'holiday savings' of £34.63.
Yippee!!!!!
On to August now......holding about £9.00 in coupons at the moment......

jaybee

Really blew it this month! Thanks to OH volunteering me to do all the cooking (incl. wine) for 16 people over 2 days + 2 adults and a baby who stayed for a week, I am way over budget. Oh well, better luck in August hopefully. Apart from that my PIN money (BOGOFs & vouchers mainly) came to £34.24.

squeaky

And your OH is still alive? Walking without a limp??

jaybee

Welllllll . . . . . He did leave the house rather swiftly this morning. . . . . and he did do a lot in the garden yesterday. Maybe, when he realises what we'll be eating (or not!) for the rest of the week. . . .

kiwichick

Hiya,

Am REALLY interested in trying out the challenges but as a newbiw I am confused and want to get it right. Any advice on how much I should be aiming ot spend/save? I also dont really understand pin money, sorry for being such a dunce! There are 5 in my house, 2 adults and 3 under 3, 2 of whom are still in nappies. I dont know what a realistic budget is but need to try and sort one out as we are having to move soon and the new mortgage is going to more the cripple the overdraft! When is the best time to start the challenge? OH gets paid on the 25th but doesn't pay into joint (house) acc till about the 30th once the banks have cleared the transfer. cw21

All help very greatly appreciated.
Al.

squeaky

Right, well we have two challenges, one is Pin Money (which is just a version of pocket money you keep for yourself if you buy something cheaper than the usual price so you get to keep the difference) and the other is the Grocery Challenge which is all about budgeting for your grocery spend.

Some people do set themselves targets for Pin Money but most just add up as they go along and count themselves lucky

As for the Grocery (budget) Challenge - it's usually a good idea to keep your receipts for a month beofre actually starting so that you have some idea of what you spend and maybe identify areas where you might cut down a little. Then reduce your target budget in small amounts. Taking advantage of special offers, often helps and there are lots more ideas.

As for starting...

..whenever you like, really, to suit the way your paydays go.

The new Challenges are posted (PM) on the 25th and (GC) on the 28th.

If you look at the Blue bar at the top of this page and click on "Monthly Challenges" you'll be able to read/join the current ones ready for your start and the first post in each one gives you a good idea of how they work

The blue bar looks a bit like this:-

kiwichick

Oops, forgot to ask, I know it can be cheaper to shop online, having done it for 3 weeks in a row I've stopped impulse buying and saved a bit. My question is though, am I better off doing it weekly, fortnightly or monthly? Any advice for the new girl???