October Pin Money Savings Challenge

Queenie

Pin Money Savings Challenge Details

(PMS Challenge)

This is going to be our "Pin Money Challenge" - a very old style way of money 'saving'. The old adage: "Take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves" is as true today as ever it's been and so has the old style idea of "Pin Money" (tucking away pennies to buy the odd luxury - in reality, that pin money literally saved the day when families lived payday to payday or the breadwinner was made redundant!)

Once you've set up your budgets (here's Martins article on the basics of budgeting for those who may not have done so yet) you'll know where you're at with your income/outgoings.
Some of you will already have earmarked amounts to tackle your debt problems (if you have them. Here is Martins article on Problem Debts) and some of you may even have set up regular savings.(Martins article on Starting Saving)

I have been very impressed with the responses to the Now & Then threads recently and how you all manage to pare down your spending/budgets on a regular basis. I've even impressed myself with new ideas that I'm incorporating. The danger (for me) lies with those "savings" being swallowed up elsewhere and never really benefitting from them or knowing just how beneficial those nips and tucks have been in reality. Yet, this is my pin money and I should know how much I'm accumilating; I should be able to tap into that money and benefit from it; I've earned it by making cost cutting choices!

First, we need a goal. You need to think about what you want to save for. Maybe it's something relatively small that would actually help you to save more money in the future.

For example: I used some Tesco vouchers in January which saved me £28 on my monthly shopping bill - at the till I got that £28 via cashback and then I bought a breadmaker in another shop which was on sale. The breadmaker is saving me money as I don't go to the shops as often to pick up a loaf and end up tempted into buying extra's while I'm there plus it saves on petrol through less trips.

Maybe you wish for something larger - a family holiday? A dishwasher? A newer car? These items may take longer to save up for, but they are still attainable.

Where is your pin money coming from?

A variety of ways ...

Coupons/Vouchers: You can't bank on coupons when you draw up your household budget, so view them as bonus'.
If you normally spent £50 per week on groceries and that week you have coupons which reduce your bill by x amount, that x amount becomes your pin money savings. Put the same value of the coupons into your pin money.

Bogof's: If it's on your usual shopping list and you are able to get it on bogof - put the cash value of the saving into your pin money.

Freebies: I've put some of these into my gift box store; I can't bank on freebies to provide my gift needs (gift purchases are accounted for in my budget planning already) so they are also bonus' - so, the cash equivalent can go to your pin money.

The monthly food challenge: Take a look through the Storecupboard Challenge and/or the Monthly Grocery Challenge. If you find your food bill reducing, put that extra into your pin money.

Tips from here:
Cleaning: E.g. Vinegar as a fabric softener; if you stop buying fabric softener, work out the saving (you'll need to deduct the cost of the vinegar you are replacing it with) and put that amount into your pin money.

Make it from Scratch: Look through the recipe collection and see if you can make it/bake it cheaper.

Research your purchases! - before you buy anything have a look through the Shop but Don't Drop and Quick Grabbit While You Can forums to see if you can get it cheaper (utilise the "search" facility within those forums too). If all else fails, try posting in I Wanna Buy-It, Do-It forum, someone else may know of the best deal on what you're looking for.

At the end of each month, empty out your pin money and transfer that to a savings account (this way it can now begin to earn a bit of interest = more pin money! )
The start of the next month, you will know how much you've shaved off your basic grocery bill (this applies to the food/fabric softener example, not those unbankable freebies/bogof's/coupons) so begin by putting that into your pin money.
Each month we can post what we have saved money on and added to our pin money.

What if things are soooooo tight that every saving you make each week can't be put away because it's needed elsewhere?

Not a problem, you can still keep a record but instead of cash this will be your "virtual" savings. It will be very encouraging to see how much you are "saving" by making small changes, even if you can't put away the actual cash.

Some of you have already absorbed these savings into your budget and recalculated accordingly, that's ok, this challenge still applies because any new ideas/tips that you pick up can now be utilised for your pin money.

squeaky

Since Queenie doesn't seem to be back with us full time yet I have once again used her post to start us all off for October.

Best of luck everyone

16011996

as have made over £40 this month, i'm going to go for £40 for next month.

stressedoutmumof1

I'm going to join in this month - payday was 25th Sep so starting from then I suppose!

My aim this month is £30 - I thought I'd start of gently!!

In actual fact I'd like to save £300 by 19th December (holiday spending money!!) so lets see how I go. Baby steps.....

kiwichick

It's my first month doing the challenge so not really fully into yet. Rather than set targets this month I am keeping all the receipts (on fantastic advice of other OS'ers) so I know where to start from next month.

Knowing that I am going for it next month though has already got me keeping an eye on things. Just had a HUGE shop delivered from Tesco, enoguh to last 3 weeks or so I hope and with coupons and BOGOFS I've saved £22.71 :j

Do you reckong I ought to put the money I would have spent on delivery weekly in the pin money coloumn? I normally do shop weekly but thought I could do it bigger and less often to save on delivery charges.

Good luck all,
Al.

JAMIEDODGER

aiming for £10.00 this month as the last 2 months have been dismal to say the least. starting on the 3rd oct through to the 6th nov (its a 5 week month for me!!!!!) hoping october will be the month things start to perk up a bit financially.

jaybee

I'm back in for this month. Everything went a bit haywire for a couple of months as my mother died - lots of extra expeses and not much time to get on the computer. Got to get back on track so I'm aiming to make £50 this month (starting Sat).

brummiebabe

Due to last month's success (£54.04), October's target is £50!

Good luck everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D

angelatgraceland

my aim for Oct ober is £60. I dint realy have an aim for septemer but I think I can do this!

omega_2

jaybee - so sorry to hear about your sad loss.
ahmilligan - delivery charges - I would, definitely, at least for the first couple of months.

Target aPMS is £100 + £5.25 overspend on dd’s clothing budget, so £105.25
aPMS: Saving of £10 by using a Tesco Clubcard voucher to buy a bucket of flowers for Mum as she’s looked after my tot all week. And Mum gets a much nicer bunch than I had budgeted for (offer due to end 30 Sept, so I’ve only just made it!!).
vPMS: Tescos: 4.09 multi purchases, £10.10 coupons + luncheon vouchers.

freyaluck

I am going to try £50 this month as I have a few things to sell on ebay and at the next car boot, hopefully it should be a lot more.

carlie