September Pin Money Savings Challenge

squeaky

Hi all,

I am unsticking the Challenge now that it is off to a good start. If, later in the month, it falls off the first page please remember that you can find it again in our "Challenges" sticky at the top of the forum listing, or you can follow the clue in my signature any time you see it or...

..you can use the Monthly Challenges link in the Blue Bar at the top of every page which looks something like this:-

Louisa_2

Hello all other Pinners

Need your opinions please

If you sell any random bits and pieces on ebay etc do you calculate this as pin money? (Minus fees etc of course) In the most part the things I have sold are things I've bought but never used/worn (as I am now trying v. v. hard to be a proper OS Moneysaver I thought I had best have a good clear out rather than have them sit around doing nowt)
So not sure if its real pin money or not because I had to pay in the first place! But as this was mostly 1yr+ ago, is it worth calculating this way?

Don't want to make up complex calculations for this! But at the same time want to acknowledge that I wouldn't have had the benefit of the money if items were still sat in my cupboards gathering dust. How would you approach this?

P.S. It may be rather telling that I am a buyer in my day job and that 50% of my time is spent calculating cost savings on the projects I am running

kscour

Hi Loiusa
I'ld count it as pin money because it's an extra bonus - if you bought something specifically to sell on then I'ld count it less the purchase cost. The great thing about this challenge is that you pick what works for you and what you want to include - I don't include bogof's because I've always used them and it'ld get more fiddly to calculate but it is a saving and plenty of other people do include them.

Louisa_2

Thanks for that kscour, I was hoping I could include my ebay profits as I've just made £200+ from my listings done on the last 5p listing day! Hurrah! And it couldn't have come at a more timely moment, we have had to make an emergency purchase of a...wait for it...NEW FRONT DOOR! Yes a bizarre emergency item I know but old one was only being held together by flaking paint :eek:

So even though I might calcluate the ebay stuff as pin money it's only going to be of the virtual kind, cash going straight into joint account to cover spangly new door. (It's red by the way :):))

Murtle

hmmm and I still think Queenie is back when these posts start up each month where are you hun???!

angelatgraceland

Hi, Ive only just joined but without knowing it Im well on my way. I did an online grocery shop and saved £10 + bogofs to value of £7 then I did local shopping using voucher(didnt buy all of the goods tho) saved £6. Sold a few things on ebay, earned £10. Got some bogofs and cheap items at work (Iceland) probably about £12 worth-refilled 2 handwash dispensers for less than 50p(baby bath) that saved at least £1.50. Well as they say-every little helps! So far then, about £46.50-I think thats more than the norm for me as I dont normally have the online voucher. Only buy if its on offer, bogof,damaged,at end fo date,free, or U NEED it.Ordered some mags for the next 3 months-not sure I will count those tho-they are luxuries-just £1 for 3 issues of Prima, Cosmopolitan,Computer shopper and Computer World(I think thats the titles). Just rem :beer: ember I have to cancel the DDs in 3 months.

nicki_2

I'm looking pretty good this month with the help of OH!

We've been shopping for school stuff for DD and managed to save money there. While we were at the shopping centre I bought groceries and saved there as well but I don't know the savings on all of it as it was eaten that night so I didn't get a chance to price it!

DD and I went to town and saved money there on groceries (Lidl half-price fruit & veg), crafts (stickers were reduced in a summer special as they were Christmas peeloffs) and I got a book at £10 below the RRP. I also bought a reduced rucksack but I don't know how much it should have been so I don't know the saving there.

OH has done a bit of saving in a way too. Instead of borrowing even more money to pay for a new-to-us car (our current one is unlikely to last the winter and the repairs it needs will finally tip the total repairs over the price we actually paid for it!) from a friend (who has dropped the price by £300 as we're friends) he's using his inheritence money to pay for it in cash, plus the tax & trainfare to go and pick the car up. Better still, this new car is a W reg (current one is an N) in much better condition and will cost us about £200 a year LESS in insurance so we're getting a £13 refund to our credit card for this term and it will cost us about £600 at the end of November when we come to renew :j Also we're selling our current car to a dealer (hopefully as we want rid ASAP) and the money from that will go to paying some of the credit card off :j So how does all that saving count? Actual (£13) is already counted below.

Actual =£ 16.40
Virtual = £25.53

monkeylugs

monkeylugs wrote:

Oooh am STEAMING along so far!!

Virtual savings, due to supermarket multisaves = £ 4.45

Actual Pin Money = £ 21.54 made up of:
1) linen deposit refund given when I returned caravan keys, which I didn't know you got so that was a nice surprise!!
2) 3p interest in my (then) empty savings account
3) £10.47 mystery shopping wage received on Friday but moved to savings account this morning.
4) 58p in the pocket of a pair of jeans in the dirty washing basket
5) 46p made up of 5s, 2s and pennies in my purse

Today is the end of week 1.

Virtual savings:

£22.12 made up of:
03/09/05 - £4.45 - multisaves/money off products at supermarket
04/09/05 - £10.00 - did a mystery shopping job at a children's shoe shop. Had to buy shoes and could either keep or return. I decided to keep so as the shoes were £25 and the fee for the job was £10, I am therefore classing it as a virtual saving.
05/09/05 - £0.66 - multisave
06/09/05 - £4.50 - I was going to buy a Thomas the Tank Engine book to put away for Christmas for my 2-yr-old. It was £7.99 at Mothercare but I didn't have enough money on me at the time. Anyway I saw it a couple of days later in Wilkinson's for £3.49!
07/09/05 - £2.18 - multisaves
08/09/05 - £0.33 - reduced price product at supermarket.

Actual Savings:

£ 54.96 made up of:
03/09/05 - £10 - Linen Deposit Refund from Haven
03/09/05 - £0.46 - small change in purse
04/09/05 - 0.58 - loose change found around house
04/09/05 - £10.47 - mystery shopping paid into bank less expenses
04/09/05 - £0.03 - when I moved above into savings account, I discovered 3p interest!
04/09/05 - £0.01 - pavement money (I am such a scuffer!)
05/09/05 - £3.00 - forced myself to make a packed lunch for work.(i'd normally buy a Boots meal deal. I am classing it as actual rather than virtual because I have put the money in my cash-stash)
05/09/05 - £0.20 - by forgoing my usual hot chocolate from the machine.
05/09/05 - £1.20 - bus fare saved by walking home (2 miles)
05/09/05 - £0.20 - loose change found in a different handbag
06/09/05 - £1.20 - bus fare saved by walking home
06/09/05 - £0.06 - loose change in purse at end of day
06/09/05 - £3.00 - again by making myself a packed lunch
07/09/05 - £1.00 - by not buying NOW magazine. I have a habit of buying all the weekly magazines, closer, heat etc.. but NOW is the one I buy every single week whether I buy the others or not and I notice the new copy is in the shop but I haven't bought it!
07/09/05 - £23.00 Interest paid into my A&L phonesave account, which is now empty except for £1.00 keeping it open.
08/09/05 - £0.08 - loose change in purse at end of day.
09/09/05 - £0.47 underspend from 'personal allowance'. I have decided to give myself £20 per week "spend it on what you want and don't feel guilty money". As I would normally buy lunches for work and magazines which have already been accounted for above, I was left with £13.00. The rest went on £1.50 on two sparkly notebooks (a stationary fetish), £2.30 on Rosemary Conley magazine, £0.78 on two packets of crisps, £3.00 for the works bonus ball lottery (I wont be around for the next two weeks so paid in advance) and then £4.95 for my Weight Watchers class.

Freebies:

04/09/05 - Free meal at Brewsters' pub for my husband and I. Although I exceeded the spend allowance, the fee covered the overspend so I did the job for nothing but got a free meal worth £37.00 and a couple of hours child-free time.

08/09/05 - subscribed for the 3 issues of Maxim for £1 for my husband and got a free gift "Fish Barnet Box" worth £14.99 which I am going to put away as a Christmas present for someone.

Next week I am aiming for £10.00 actual pin money because I am on a full-time course so can't see where I will be able to make any savings. But I have to say I am very impressed at my first week's effort!

squeaky

Just a few pennies here and there for me (my Co-op divvie), since I haven't done a main shop yet, until this morning.

Out of the blue I got a disturbance allowance cheque from my local council towards the cost of redecorating my kitchen after they fitted my new boiler LAST YEAR!

Very kind of them - so that's £13.65 for the pot.

Of course - all the walls in the kitchen were ripped down in all the damp proofing work that's just been done and while they "made good" there's still plenty of work for me to do - so maybe I can expect another cheque in a year or so...

omega_2

Just a "quickie": target aPMS: £100.

aPMS: £22.00 (2nd income & making 4 cards)
vPMS: £1.95 coupons.