Friday, 30 June 2017

365 Day Money Saving Challenge Update

This challenge was started at the beginning of the year and it runs right until the very last day of 2017. The idea is that you save 1p on day 1, 2p on day 2, 3p on day 3 and so on, until the last few days of the year you're up to £3.63, £3.64 and £3.65. By the end of this challenge you should have saved a total of £667.95.

I decided to do things a little different to this. I didn't want to be left with all the high amounts to save in December when there's lots of other things going on which require me to part with my cash, so instead of starting with the lowest amounts, I've tried to get the larger amounts crossed off and have also crossed off other various amounts.

Daniel's old pocket money jar was the first thing I used to save the coins in but I soon ran out of space in that, I didn't realise just how many coins this saving challenge would generate and I was soon on the lookout for something more spacious.

This tin, which once contained biscuits, is doing the job for now but I daresay I'll need something even bigger than this in time.

I must admit that Mick's the one who puts the most coins in, since I stopped working I just don't spend like I used to so I don't carry the same amount of cash around and I don't have the same amount of change kicking around in my purse.

I'm a bit surprised that we've managed to keep up with it but I'm glad we have as £667.95 will come in very handy at the end of the year.

Hello, I started off well but then got a bit forgetful. Also, depending on what change I had, I started filling in bits for later in the year - so didn't stick to any order. I eventually abandoned it and went back to my tin from the pound shop - £20 a week - and last week it hit almost £500 with the aim of a thousand up to Christmas which will come in very handy and will be used for Christmas presents, food and some left over. (We have a big family and I find this the easiest way to save apart from normal bank savings).

It sounds like your £20 a week savings is the right thing for you, and what a great amount you've saved already. I always put money aside for Christmas, it's such an expensive time and we wouldn't manage it if we had to find the total amount in December.

I opened a new bank account and whatever amount that I save on my shopping I move into there. It is working well and when the window tech went on my car I used some of that to foot the bill. Since my fabric and yarn diet I have added more to the account, this is working for me and is painless and no need to have loads of coins at the end of the year to carry to the bank.

Gosh, this year is going so fast, half way through already! Good for you in keeping up with the saving challenge :-)You may remember that I was doing something very similar, I have more or less kept up with mine too, although if I haven't got quite enough change one week i have been ticking a smaller amount off. I will be a lovely treat at the beginning of 2018 won't it :-)

It's amazing how quickly those pennies have built up, it's such a good idea. It's quite unusual for me to have cash, I tend to rely on using a card then just pay it off from the bank at the end of each month. I thought it might be a nice idea for me to start a similar plan for our new grandson, it would be a good way of saving for him, if I do it every year it'd be around £12000 by the time his 18 xx

We used to do the same and use cards, paying them off at the end of the month, but we started drawing out cash for the week instead, it really helps us keep on track with our spending. I took out savings schemes for my nieces and nephew when they were young, all I paid into them was 50p per week each and by the time they were eighteen it had grown to £1000 with interest added. It was quite some time ago now though as two of them are in their thirties and the other is twenty nine, interest rates were much better in those days.

We have a German beer bottle, years old in which we save loose change, it holds over a hundred pounds. We are using our jar money for a posh meal at the end of the month to celebrate my retirement. I aslso save two pound coins.

It's scary how quickly the amounts are getting ticked off, this year's slipping by so fast. I should think all these coins would slow any would be thief down somewhat, it takes some effort to lift the tin now.

Well done Jo & I'd also forgotten you were doing the challenge. As above I put $10 per week in a special Xmas club account, so earn interest as well. I save change from week to week, so we can either have a coffee & cake whilst out or some other treat. Maybe a lot of people do things a bit different to achieve similar goals. Have a great weekend & take care. Hope it's warm for you as it's only -1c here at the moment. Brrrr!

There's lots of ways to save and as you say, we all do it differently. I think this challenge is a bit of fun and you end up with a good amount at the end of it. It got rather cold here midweek but it's warmed up a little again now.

Being at the mid point of the year, it's a good time to start if you want to do so. Six months worth of saving would still give you a good amount at the end of the year, and then you've got a bit of extra cash for some treats.

I remember you starting this and thinking what a good idea it was to go the bigger amounts first, or at least spread them out over the year. Like you I don't often keep much cash on me and so would find it difficult to add those larger amounts in.Lisa x

When we had the farm around 40% of our customers were cash sales, I wold sort out all the loose change and store it in jars, once a month I would then pay it into the Credit Union, it was amazing how this amounted up, it paid for farm improvements.

Be prepared to wade through sixteen pages of info if you do have a go at the Fish Lips Kiss Heel. Thank you, I'm not going to tell Eleanor of all the compliments she's got, she'll get very big headed. It's quite hard to lift the tin of coins now, it's very heavy. Have a wonderful time in Norfolk, I hope the sun shines for you every day. Looking forward to hearing all about it when you get back.

I love this idea - that's wonderful that you've been able to hold the course. I think I was on a blog break when you first spoke about this back in January so went back to your original post to get the details - I'll have to mention this to my husband as it sounds like a rather fun way to save.

I love the idea of this challenge, but like you I don't really tend to have a lot of cash on my person, and what I do tends to go on parking!It's a great idea though. I'm putting any change I do have in a money box and whatever I have after a year will buy something lovely, or frivilous, or possibly sensible, either way it'll be money that 'gets lost' along the way, money that you don't notice.What will you buy with your total?

Any amount, if added to regularly, soon mounts up and it can be surprising how those dribs and drabs add together to make a good amount. I'm not sure what the money will be spent on yet, I quite fancy using it for some weekends away.

About Me

Thank you for visiting. I'm Jo, fifty and happily married with two grown up children and a dog called Archie. Take a peek Through The Keyhole into my home on the outskirts of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. Here you'll see a little of what I get up to on my crafty adventures as well as snippets of family life. I hope you enjoy reading along.