Moneyspinners
Synopsis
The basic premise of this show was that a family would need money for a specific thing – say a holiday for instance - and over a 4 week period, by 'Moneyspinning', they would try to get that money together, .
The total they needed would obviously vary, but if it was for instance £2000, it would be divided by 4 so they would have a weekly target of £500. At the start of each week, Lorne Spicer would sit the family down around the dining table and encourage them to 'Moneyspin' to get their weekly total. They could do this in three ways – Earn, Save, or Sell.
Earn
The adults in the family would be encouraged to ask for more hours at their jobs. In this case, any over-time earned would be added to the total for that week. If they didn't have a job, they would be encouraged to get one – with the cameras even following them on their interview and first day. Students would be encouraged to take a part-time job to do around their studies. Younger members of the family would be encouraged to earn money by doing a paper-route or perhaps washing friends and neighbours cars. In these cases, all the money they earned would be expected to go towards that week’s total.
Save
A regular feature of the show would see Lorne Spicer going to the supermarket with whoever normally did the weekly shop. She would watch whatever was put in the trolley and try to convince them to buy cheaper brands, or perhaps to substitute an expensive item for something else that would do a similar job. Sometimes if the item was merely a luxury, not a necessity, she would convince them not to buy it at all. This didn't always go down well with the family who found their favourite foods replaced by cheaper versions, or sometimes not replaced by anything at all. If the normal weekly spend was say £70, but the at the till the total was only £40, then the £30 saved would go towards that week's total.
Sell
As the title suggests, this is where the family where encouraged to sell unwanted items to make money. This could include all members of the family with say a garage sale, or a car-boot sale. In one episode, a man was convinced to sell his car (to his ex-wife no less) to make money.
At the end of the week, the family would be sat down around the dining table again, and a brief discussion would take place regarding how their first week of 'Moneyspinning' had gone. If someone had done well, Lorne Spicer would praise them. However if someone hadn't pulled their weight – say by not going out and looking for a job, or by spending money on unnecessary items, they would be told off. After this, the week’s total would be revealed. This total would directly affect the next week's target. If for example the target was £500, but they only achieved £320, then next week's target would be £500 + £180 = £680. Similarly if they exceeded their target, the following week's target could be less than £500, or whatever their weekly target was.
Repeat all of the above for another three weeks.
At the end of the fourth and final week, the family would be sat down one last time. After a discussion of how they felt the month had gone, and whether they intended to continue with some of their 'Moneyspinning' activities, the final total of money raised was revealed. Often this would be a surprise, however on other occasions, if they had been particularly bad at it, and entered the final week needing hundreds of pounds over their target, or if they had been particularly good and entered the last week needing next to nothing, the outcome was already obvious, which took away from the final reveal of the total a little bit.
If the target was achieved, the show might end with a clip of the family heading off to the travel agents to book their holiday, and a few snapshots of their break. Otherwise it would end with Lorne Spicer saying something along the lines of the family now being closer to achieving whatever they wanted.
Key Moments
Lorne Spicer managing to getting the word 'Moneyspinning' into virtually every sentence.
The teenagers/young adults, thinking that the 'Moneyspinning' was a ridiculous idea, always left the house to go on holiday.
Inventor
Unknown
