NST Super September Scrimping challenge
Comments
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OK, so how did today go?
Check-in 2/30
Spends recorded. Not an NSD. Why not?
Because:
1. I had a coffee & biscotti while out....BUT I only paid £1 as I was owed money from mr f's Personal Spends.
2.Spent £12 of grocery budget to make use of vouchers which expire shortly. Food stashed in pantry/freezee for later in the month.
3.mr f bought my Christmas present. This would not normally happen in Sept but it is some gorgeous yarn I wanted which we found in a little indie shop for £4.79 a ball instead of £5.19 online.
Useful scrimps today:
*Did Mum's Waitrose shopping & picked up the free newspaper she didn't want & free coffee for mr f.
*Picked blackberries from Mum & Dad's garden as they didn't want them.
*Was treated to lovely fish & chips for lunch & told to keep the £5 change for a coffee while we are away.
*Cast on a pair of socks (using yarn from my stash) as want to make a few pairs to sell on somebody's knitting stall.
And....steps goal achieved 7350/7000.
Feeling quite focused.
F x"For each of our actions there are only consequences" (James Lovelock)"For in the true nature of things......every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold & silver" (Martin Luther King Jnr)0 -
Day 2/30 Check in
Mothernerd - Grand chillas - love it.
am knackered.
spent 1.42 on deodorant
then went to the Fish pet shop and spent 32 pounds ten pounds of which maybe wrong.
so no NSD.
Also going to need to pay for an electrician to fit the electrics for the pond
Should go to bed.............will read more tomorrow XXXXXXNevertheless she persisted.0 -
Daily check in 2/30
Still at NSD 1/18 as went shopping today.
Small grocery top up to go with cupboard/freezer supplies and some stationery items for new term next week.
Grateful for lovely weather, drying clothes outside & garden still looking green.Groceries: Personal Spend: 0 NST NSD Goals for 2024:Self: Health: Wealth :0 -
Ccl - at least you have the 'naughty chaise longue' aka your sofa to sit on!NST March lion #8; NSD ; MFW9/3/23 Whoop Whoop!!!0
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Check in 3/30
Not sure whether today will b a nsd as I don't know what to do for dinner. Haven't spent any of my food budget so may need to go shopping. I only stock a few weeks at a time so don't have things laying around in the cupboards/freezer for months.Mortgage free wannabee 2022 #820 -
Managed to miss checking in yesterday but was out all day and had visitors in the evening so didn't want to be online when they are around.
Managed to make yesterday a NSD though despite being out and about brought snacks and drinks and didn't see anything I wanted to break a NSD for. Today should be NSD as well but won't count it until this evening. Need to make my shopping list but first must see what is in the cupboards, the more I can eat down the less that I will have to pack up and move to new place. Imagine there will be some interesting food combinations eaten for next few weeks0 -
I'm so Sorry for the late start - please add me : D Last month went to pot and I had my head in the sand. Well, no more! Back on it as we really need to save as much as possible for the wedding and we only have 2 months to go! Cannot get complacent now!thriftylass wrote: »A warm and fuzzy autumnal welcome to the NST Super September Scrimping challenge, for newbies and seasoned debt busters alike.
These are the rules….. clear and simple!
*This challenge starts on the 1st September at 00:01 and closes on the 30th September at 00:00.
*Try and check in once a day with your progress !
Will try (from today) to check In once a day!
*Get a little notebook that you can fit in your bag, or a slip of paper! Write down everything you spend - good and bad!!
I really need to start doing this to keep an eye on the little spends as they add up
*You will aim for 18 SFDs!(Spend Free Days). If purchases of “yellow sticker delights” are made without full price items this is an SFD. Medication and normal monthly DD’s or CC payments are exempt and you may class these days as SFD’s also.
This is going to be tough but I will try!
*Pay you debts and bills first, budget to live off what is left!
This is done
*You must decide on a budget for food now. This must be stuck to rigidly until the last day of the month ! Consider how much you REALLY need to feed your family, make meal plans, limit snacking with the kids or tell them “when it’s gone that’s it until next week”. Mine is £350.
£275 for food/house bits (cleaner). We have £50 entertainment budget but will try not to spend this.
*Try and eat everything in your cupboards and freezer BEFORE buying any more. Money spent each week will be for essentials – bread, milk and fruit & veg before buying more. Get right down to the bottom of that chest freezer, get out those nearly out of date packets of rice. Stop stock piling for Armageddon and wasting money. I don’t care if you are prepping for visitors or a “just in case” situation! (note to mainly myself: STOP SPENDING SO MUCH ON FOOD!) I need to defrost my freezer and clean my fridge so this rule will help
Challenge accepted - the cupboads need a god sort out so will aim to eat from them before new bits are stocked.
*You must bring your lunch to work every day. No coffee shops, no work canteen, no cafes, no sandwiches – NOTHING. You will waste SO many precious £££’s when something better can be created at home. If you think it doesn’t matter and I won’t find out – you are right. But you are cheating yourself.
Challenge accepted - had lunch out on a Friday but that was for friends leaving do, otherwise, packed lunch for me!
*Plot the course of your social life now before the beginning of September. Make sure you have a budget planned for meals that can’t be wormed out of and birthdays etc. Money placed aside for holidays can be classed as “no spend days” – anything over the budget will ruin that SFD!! Cancel something you really don’t want to go to –you HAVE to start making sacrifices now.
September doesn't have many birthdays etc so should be easier to keep on top of things like his month. No unplanned nights out!
*Decide on your DFD!– when do you want to start doing what you want to do???
DFD is not a massive priority now as saving for the wedding is biggest priority. Some things will inevitably go on the credit card as we pushed it forward but after the wedding I will really push at this!
*You will accomplish some sort of exercise per week, 3 sessions of 20 minutes anyway you want. Walk someone’s pooch, walk to work, walk around your block 5 times… anything!
40 minute walk done every day I'm at work - 20 mins from car to work there and back. Will try to fit more in.
*Beauty spends are not allowed to exceed £10. That includes you boys as well. Use up all that you have in the house BEFORE spending anything more on beauty bits – seriously how many body moisturisers do you need ladies?
This will be tough but challenge accepted
*Make time for yourself this month. Even if it’s only 10 minutes a day do something for yourself whether that is going for a walk, having a bath with loads of bubbles or sitting outside with a drink – we need to make the most of the evenings.
*Keep the heating off as long as possible, put a jumper on etc. We live in the north of Scotland in an 80s bungalow with metal windows. So it might be a challenge
I plan not have no heatng on until October at the earliest
That’s it… think you can keep up? I will try!
1/30
Friday was not a NSD as it was a colleagues last day at work. I went to her leaving do as she mentored me and pretty much taught me everything I know. She will be missed, so I went to her leaving party and had food/drinks. £40 withdrawn - still gave some coins in my purse do not all spent but certainly not a NSD.
2/30
Saturday was not a NSD as we went food shopping. It needed to happen as we had no food - I haven't tottered everything together but I have hunk we are at £100/£275 budget. Still need to go to the butchers - but this will last for a while and some household items in there too that will last the month too so seems more of a spend than it is.
3/30
I'm not sure if today will be a NSD - we need to buy stamps and send evening invites - I ideally need this doing as soon as possible but I have a feeling the other half will not want to venture outside. Not sure, will update later as it could go either way!
Overpayment of £100 on the credit card today - spent from overtime money I made - hopefully the card will be gone soon
EDIT: today has been a NSD so I'm at 1/18.February Grocery Budget: £190.75/£350.00
NST no. NSD 4/150 -
Morning check in for yesterday - still haven't managed a SFD. Hoping today will be the day
After thought I have to exclude milk purchases as we have to get milk every 2 or 3 days with having a young one and at present I don't have enough space in the freezer to store!
Have updated diary with purchases
planning exercise this evening on the eercise bike, weight machine and 10 mins hula hooping
Me time = Going back to the festival shortly
dinner is freezer dive clearing some of the mountain - small starts!
No great shakes but that's meDF as at 30/12/16
Womblng 2020:
NSD Jan 2/18 YTD: 20 -
Morning all. Sorry I have been quite I have been away for the last 2 days! Back now so ready to smash this challenge! I haven't read all the previous posts yet but I will when we get back from dinner.
Mine plan is as follows....
*Try and check in once a day with your progress ! This keeps me motivated so is def on my list to do
*Get a little notebook that you can fit in your bag, or a slip of paper! Write down everything you spend - good and bad!!Done
*You will aim for 18 SFDs!(Spend Free Days). If purchases of “yellow sticker delights” are made without full price items this is an SFD. Medication and normal monthly DD’s or CC payments are exempt and you may class these days as SFD’s also. I am not going to count my medical costs (£50 a month) or my work expenses (hope this is OK)
*Pay you debts and bills first, budget to live off what is left! Already done. Budget is £80 for EVERYTHING
*You must decide on a budget for food now. This must be stuck to rigidly until the last day of the month ! Consider how much you REALLY need to feed your family, make meal plans, limit snacking with the kids or tell them “when it’s gone that’s it until next week”. Mine is £350. My £80 covers food
*Try and eat everything in your cupboards and freezer BEFORE buying any more. Money spent each week will be for essentials – bread, milk and fruit & veg before buying more. Get right down to the bottom of that chest freezer, get out those nearly out of date packets of rice. Stop stock piling for Armageddon and wasting money. I don’t care if you are prepping for visitors or a “just in case” situation! (note to mainly myself: STOP SPENDING SO MUCH ON FOOD!) I need to defrost my freezer and clean my fridge so this rule will help Our fridge freezer and cupboards have enough to feed us until xmas.
*You must bring your lunch to work every day. No coffee shops, no work canteen, no cafes, no sandwiches – NOTHING. You will waste SO many precious £££’s when something better can be created at home. If you think it doesn’t matter and I won’t find out – you are right. But you are cheating yourself.This is my biggest downfall, so I am going to buy a few tins of beans to keep in my desk in case I leave my lunch at home
*Plot the course of your social life now before the beginning of September. Make sure you have a budget planned for meals that can’t be wormed out of and birthdays etc. Money placed aside for holidays can be classed as “no spend days” – anything over the budget will ruin that SFD!! Cancel something you really don’t want to go to –you HAVE to start making sacrifices now. Again this is another thing I really struggle with.
My £80 is going to cover this as well!
*Decide on your DFD!– when do you want to start doing what you want to do???I need to find out the exact date my bank loan is paid off and use this date
*You will accomplish some sort of exercise per week, 3 sessions of 20 minutes anyway you want. Walk someone’s pooch, walk to work, walk around your block 5 times… anything! I walk a lot anyway but am going to add a home workut in. I'm aiming for 4 times a week
*Beauty spends are not allowed to exceed £10. That includes you boys as well. Use up all that you have in the house BEFORE spending anything more on beauty bits – seriously how many body moisturisers do you need ladies? I will be buying nothing. Just like my kitchen my bathroom is bursting with items
*Make time for yourself this month. Even if it’s only 10 minutes a day do something for yourself whether that is going for a walk, having a bath with loads of bubbles or sitting outside with a drink – we need to make the most of the evenings.I love crafting so am going to make a start on my xmas cards/presents.
*Keep the heating off as long as possible, put a jumper on etc. We live in the north of Scotland in an 80s bungalow with metal windows. So it might be a challengeI need no help with this at all. Everyone else will be pleading for the heating to go on and I will trow them a blanket lol
That’s it… think you can keep up?I hope soMake £10 a day, October 2023 - £105/£3100 -
Yesterday was a spend day as got some shopping in - packed lunch bits for DS and some vegetables for home along with stock items like washing liquid, oil, squash etc.
Hoping today will be a NSD - will pay for parking at hospital as relative just been admitted but will count this as medical if that's ok with everyone.
Last time he was in I visited him every afternoon after work and it cost a fortune, I will see if I can get a weekly pass when the department is open.0
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