Shiny New Year, Shiny New Start. The January NSD Challenge

IF · 29 December 2012 at 10:04AM

freebyfifty wrote: »

Hi lovely NSD gang:A
As you can see there is lots of activity on this challenge at the moment and it's difficult sometimes to see how many NSDs you're all declaring on posts.
Could I ask you to highlight your number of NSDs in a colour and in bold so that I can see them easily when I whizz through the posts - red would be best but I don't really mind as long as I can see the numbers easily.

Some helpful suggestions and ideas to follow below from our sponsor and godmother, BigMummaF :A

NO SPEND CHALLENGE.

1. Have a good, long think about what YOU want to include in your Spend & Excluded categories.
Some of us count everything from Direct Debits & school expenses, while others do not include things like essential Bills or emergency medical costs. If you plan what is or is not a Spend for you now, it will help you decide on a realistic Target.
2. It is NOT a race!
We all have very different demands on our time & bank balance, so please do not think you have to buy everything on 1st January & make it last till 31st December! A few of us have been following this Challenge for a long...long...LONG time so have developed plans & ploys to help us along the way

3. Most important of all, WE..DO..NOT..FAIL!
Sometimes we can't quite reach our Target, but that is fine

Everyone knows how Life will try to trip us up, & that is when you will find us here to help you back on to your feet.

OK, an idea of how some of us do things.
1. What you will or will not include as a 'Spend'.
Some people are doing other challenges too, & don't include the money spent on those for this one.
Some will try to shop for other bits on the days their direct debits etc go out of their bank accounts; they're the real hard core of the bunch

& have been l-o-n-g time Nsders so don't panic

Some won't count those annoying last minute demands from school & collections as you can't plan for them in advance, likewise emergency prescriptions or visits to the vet

Personally speaking & providing I don't buy anything else, I don't count parking for hospital appointments.(..but then I usually do my shopping because I'm already out :whistle:)
General thoughts on €bay sales is the buyer has paid P&P so no cost to you

2. It takes Time to reach mega-numbers!
The First suggestion is the first, because a bit of planning will work wonders on your road to your Target. Have a look at thefirst posts each month for a hefty list of other threads that may be of help. For example, there's a few giving ideas for packed lunches so you can avoid standing in the queue at the bakers for 45mins of your lunch hour! A good incentive to tweak your healthy eating & the pounds you save will show in your bank balance AND your waistline

It helps to have various 'money pots' for the different costs that happen like Scouts, dinner money, yoga, window cleaner etc etc. The idea is you "spend" all that money in one hit by..:think:..let's say **putting the week's bus fares into the pretty coffee jar, Jo's tumble tots SIZE=2]Weds mornings[/SIZE in the cracked teapot & Ben's £1 coin for the gym locker SIZE=2]Friday lunch[/SIZE in the pocket of the changing bag, on Tuesdays every week when you've got some change from doing the food shop, so an already spendy day. At least four 'spending days' condensed into one

(**mine's jam jars for windows, milkman & a bit towards the bills!)
3. Any day the money stays in your pocket is a bonus!
If you look at it as a day you beat the system, you can't help but :j so don't fret it--ENJOY! If nothing else in here, we do manage find something to make us smile

We have virtual outings to wonderful places that never cost us a bean :rotfl:New York, Edinburgh & Brighton have been a couple & Spoon usually pilots the Tardis but you can use your own transport; my personal favourite has been a sit-on lawn mower borrowed from the cricket club

The only thing to be aware of is Hubert the donkey who is partial to anything remotely edible but is not yet house-trained

And Remember;
there are no silly questions, so don't be afraid to ask us anything!

moneypenny2k · 29 December 2012 at 11:49AM

OutofDebt-NOT-OutofDanger wrote: »

:wave: Hi All,

My rules for 2013:
Small change (20p coins or smaller) goes into a "squander money" jar for those occasional treats;

Larger change (50p, £1, £2) goes into a "big treat" fund - not sure yet what this will buy, but will see how much this accumulates - certainly stopped me from buying the odd chocolate bar/newspaper when I only had a fiver/tenner plenty of times last year!;

Any money left in the main jars at the end of the month gets split between savings account and "big treat" fund.

.

I love that idea of 2 separate jars, do you do coins at the end of the day each day or certain days of the week? I think I may have to steal your idea, do you mind? BTW I hope you didn't hurt yourself when you fell of the wagon, I do it all the time, usually only my ego bruised :rotfl:

It's lovely to see names I remember from when I was here ages ago, BigMummaF, Spoony, IWWH...You guys still make me smile.

CommitedToChange · 29 December 2012 at 12:14PM

Morning all

I'd like to join in please - I've totally let myself slip this year and while not increasing my debts and remaining on track on the DMP I have spent all my emergency money as well as my tax money :mad: Such an idiot.

So I need to get myself back in order and would like to put a brave 15 NSD please.

Should be fun with my grandmas 80th this month.

Thanks :beer:

CTC

solventsoon · 29 December 2012 at 12:58PM

moneypenny2k wrote: »

I was a regular on here some time back but life took over...

Hi moneypenny and welcome back :wave:
Good to see you again and good luck with your target this month
spoon x

cw18 wrote: »

*** peeks sheepishly around door ***

having fallen off every wagon last year, I'd like to come back if you'll let me please?

Hi Cheryl and welcome back :wave:
Lovely to see you again, we've missed you. Hope everything's OK?
spoon x

freebyfifty wrote: »

Spoony - even us Scots need an interpreter for some of Burns' poems. Who knows what the man is going on about :rotfl:

Well I'm glad it's not just the English who have problems understanding him :rotfl:

kerri_gt · 29 December 2012 at 1:13PM

CW18 - yeah! lovely to see you back (notice the mention of OH - do we need hats this year?

)

Welcome back all the other regulars and all newbies as well. :wave:

Hmmm, am pondering my target for the month - technically I don't have a great deal planned, although it is OHs b'day at the end of the month - a blessing and a curse as I can take advantage of the sales, but it's still more spends right after xmas.

However, we're pretty well stocked with food and dry stuff which is good (need to start using some of my bargains, as they're only bargains if they're used) and really want to make some inroads into sorting out some lingering bits esp with the CT break coming up after Jan.

Sooo....Freeby, can you put me down for 16 NSD please. Might be a bit of a struggle but I need to get back to making lists again, plus I need to be back on the exercise wagon (fewer days in town should = fewer spends) although I do know my DM wants to head out in the sales...:eek:

cw18 · 29 December 2012 at 1:20PM

solventsoon wrote: »

Hi Cheryl and welcome back :wave:
Lovely to see you again, we've missed you. Hope everything's OK?
spoon x

It's been a year of ups and downs

On a definite upside, I've not yet managed to chase off the chap I started seeing 13 months ago - and believe me, I've put him through the wringer a few times

On a partial upside (only partial as it reduces my free time

), I'm working again. Currently 24 hours a week (3x8hr days) as a cleaner at the gym I've been a member of for over 2 years. Means I no longer have to pay for membership, and that more than covers the cost of running the car to/from work. But I'm spending half my salary on 2 Personal Trainer sessions a week (increased from 1 when I got the job) and a swimming lesson every week (get staff discount on this, but it's still quite pricey - but while I'm still seeing signs of improvement I'll carry on paying). One PT session and the swimming lesson are after work, so no extra travel costs for those

At the moment I see these as essentials because of the following.....

On the downside, I've been having health problems all year

A chest infection in Feb (3rd in 6 months) didn't seem to clear up with anti-biotics, although the GP said my chest was clear. She decided it was exercise induced asthma, but an inhaler didn't help and the asthma nurse didn't agree. So the diagnosis was then early signs of heart failure! One chest x-ray, 2 ECGs, 1 echocardiogram and a fitness test later the cardiologist told her she was wrong. She's now harping on about lung function problems, but hasn't run any tests to prove/disprove that. As part of this I've given up smoking (an upside) which has been surprisingly easy this time around (especially considering my OH smokes).

In the meantime my OH and I have been doing our own 'research', and it's looking like I've actually become lactose intolerant. GP says I show all the classic signs, but 8 months after agreeing that's the case she still won't approve testing (but could justify the cost of the ECGs etc since then). Given a couple of episodes I've had in the last few weeks I'm starting to suspect I may also have an issue with nuts, and it's been suggested I may need to be careful around egg whites as well (apparently very common alongside dairy problems)

As this is all showing as major breathing problems for me it means I've more or less had to give up my running, and I had to drop out of every race I'd entered for this year. The reduction in exercise means I've put back on all the weight I'd lost in 2 years - and then some!! - but my OH didn't seem to notice (looked totally shell-shocked when it came up in conversation a month or so back). I'm now the heaviest I've been in about 6 years, but the PT sessions mean I'm still more toned so not in the same sized clothes as I was even 4 years ago. So as of next Wednesday I'm back to strict calorie counting as well as working on total elimination diets (not been as good about dropping dairy as I could have been, although I have switched milk and yoghurt to soya on a full-time basis) so that I can have a real go at my GP before too long.

kerri_gt wrote: »

CW18 - yeah! lovely to see you back (notice the mention of OH - do we need hats this year? )

I doubt it very much

We seem quite settled in the 'weekends, plus odd special weekdays and trips away' routine

I normally see him from late Saturday afternoon until some time Sunday (depending on which shift he's about to start it's between midday and 9pm), and he came over for the night on 13th Feb (so we could see each other on morning of 14th - he was on 2pm-10pm shifts that week) and for tea a couple of times before work (including his birthday last month). We've had a week in the Lakes (just the two of us), a weekend camping (with friends from another forum I'm on), a long weekend in the Lakes (with his niece who wasn't quite 2), and a couple of weekends ago we were away for his works Christmas shin-dig. Next year we're up in the Lakes for 5 days with my 3 grand-daughters (that's already booked), and we're trying to work out when we want a week for us and a weekend with his niece, plus he's talking of a weekend in London (gets free use of a company owned property at weekends).

kerri_gt · 29 December 2012 at 2:02PM

Wow, Cheryl, it has deff been a year of ups and downs for you. Congratulations on the new job (and it's perks) and giving up smoking, and glad things are going well with OH (I can't believe it's been that long already). Sorry to hear health hasn't been playing ball this year but the PT sessions seem to be paying dividends. I have been doing a boot camp since April (only signed up for 6 weeks :rotfl:) and have lost in terms of inches, but actually have never been heavier in terms of weight so it's deff muscle. I've never had a gym membership but do this as it makes a big diff having someone there telling you what to do (and it's much harder to slack off :rotfl:)

coolcats · 29 December 2012 at 2:34PM

Can I be put down for 15 NSD I'm sure I can do that easy. I need to stay focused and cut the spending down.

WantToBeSE · 29 December 2012 at 3:45PM

Can you please put me down for 25NSDs in January

I was waitingfor NSKs January Challenge to start!

karenann76 · 29 December 2012 at 3:56PM

Hi,

Can I join in please?? I need to kick some serious debt !!! this year and what better way to start than NOT spending money!!

I will start with 10 NSD for Jan please with 4 in a row!

Thanks

Karen

Shiny New Year, Shiny New Start. The January NSD Challenge

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