Out with the old, in with the new: the January NSD challenge

IF

LFV So sorry to hear about your dog Dobey and know just how you feel, filling up just writing this and thinking of you

IF

Bumping BigMamma’s and Spoon’s posts x

solventsoon wrote: »

Hi lovely NSD gang:A
As you can see there is lots of activity on this thread 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.

Thanks everyone:A
spoon xx

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 Solvent's (aka Spoon:rotfl:) first 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!

tazmac25

LFV
Sorry to read of your loss
Hugs to you xxx

Nym_Mcfroglet

No 6!!!! Amazingly, I don't know quite how it happened. From today and not yesterday as I was very bad. But I'm over halfway to my goal now and it's still only the 12th... very good (I think) for my first challenge

Well done to all and I hope we are all keeping well

solventsoon

LfV, I'm so sorry to hear your news. As kate said it is the hardest thing for you to do but the kindest thing for your much loved pet, at least she isn't suffering or in pain any more.

((((((hugs)))))) to you all, thinking about you.

spoon xx

solventsoon

kerri_gt wrote: »

Forgive me Spoony (and SF) for I have sinned...

...I went out at lunchtime with money from the change pot for bread and full intention of obtaining a NSD....however I went into Mr WH Whiffs to buy a calendar (reimbursable) and purchased 5 boxes of Xmas cards for 99p per pack (barely any left so didn't want to wait til tomorrow), then 4 tins of my fav beans for £1 in Mr T.....

However, the cards will save me money at Xmas time, and the beans were a good offer...so I don't feel too bad, the point of me doing this challenge was to make me really define want/need when spending.

Don't feel bad, kerri, you should see what I bought today:eek::eek::eek::eek:

I'm going to be banned from my own thread if this keeps up:D:D

solventsoon

BigMummaF wrote: »

OK Gang..when's our next shindig?
Mefinx we've got at least a Burn's Night--unless I've missed it already --& possibly Chinese New Year? That'ud be a good'un We could go to Beijing via Shanghai & pop in to see the Terracotta Army & Jackie Ch4n

I-i-i-l-l-l-l h-h-a-a-a-a-v-v-v-ve a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a....No 32 with a side of 7 & a bit of 81 please ooh-ooh-ooh-no! Wait! I'll have a 46 with a 3...no! Had that last time...:think:...bother! Can't decide, but we've time haven't we? All I can smell is the laz-ag-oh-knee I've made for dinner & it's putting me orf

Great idea, BM, was thinking about an outing as well - Nargle mentioned Burns Night - Chinese New Year sounds good as well, I've always wanted to see the Great Wall, will be even better in the Tardis.

kerri_gt wrote: »

Was just thinking the same thing myself last night, Burns night is 25th Jan and Chinese New Year celebrations are 1st - 7th Feb (I think) We could also go to the night markets and have some stinky Tofu...no I'm not making that one up either - g**gle it

I'm not eating stinky tofu, kerri.:eek:

Nargleblast wrote: »

Burns Night, eh? Better polish me sporran, then. And moisturise the old kneecaps ready for the old kilt made out of genuine Nargle tartan. Complete with ancient kipper stains....gorgeous!

Chinese New Year sounds interesting, anyone know which year it will be? Just so Igor can have a think about main course menues - hope it's not Year of the Rat, though, I dread to think what he would try and serve us... (fast forward to the NSD gang Chinese New Year dinner....."Igor, it's supposed to be Chop Suey, not Chop Sewer...")

Nor am I eating rat, Nargle:eek:

solventsoon

catslovelycats wrote: »

:j:j:j AT LAST! :j:j:j

My 1st NSD

NSD 1

FIRST NO SPEND DAY

... just in case you missed it first time ...:D

Well done, clc,:j:j:j thought your first NSD deserved a second outing:D

solventsoon

donna_dynamo wrote: »

Hi all nsd number 8 today. Had some good news yesterday i won a thousand pounds worth of tickets from the ticket factory to any event i want to attend. Waiting for them to send me the details.

That's brilliant, donna, well done:j:j

23rdspiral wrote: »

hello :wave:

i just thought i should say hello, as after hearing about the NSD challenge on the Frugal Challenge thread, i added that to my aims and sig and then thought i should seek out the origins of it!

i work in a town centre so spending in my lunch hour is a big issue. sometimes its needed groceries, but other times it's yet another moisturiser or notepad from poundland. naughty.

i'm almost certainly being made redundant at the end of march... not good... but at least i wouldnt be in town so much! :rotfl:

i'm going to try for 14 NSDs in Jan.

if you dont mind, i'm proably going to be a lurker here, i chat way too much in Frugal and the Cross Stitch Cafe :coffee: already!

thanks everyone.

:hello:Hi and welcome 23rdspiral
No problem at all about you being a lurker, you are more than welcome to join us any way that suits you. We'll add you to the front page with you target and if you want to pop along and update us every so often we can put your NSDs there and hopefully award you a prize when you make your target.

If you need any advice, encouragement or a general kick up the bum, please feel free to pop in and say hello.

Good luck with your January target.

spoon xx

PS: Sorry to hear about your possible redundancy, fingers crossed something good comes along soon

solventsoon

BigMummaF wrote: »

Rodents & door furniture Nargle..RAT-a-TAT-Two-wee :rotfl:

Groan .......:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

kerri_gt wrote: »

Oh lordy! that's truly terrible....but very funny :rotfl::rotfl:

Its year of the Rabbit this year btw.....so we should be ok ...actually if Igor is cooking that could still be up for debate :rotfl::rotfl:

butdoineedit? wrote: »

Well just couldn't resist checking chinese new year & this year it's the rabbit.... not quite as wrong as rats but Nargle you might need to have a word with Igor or we'll end up feasting on roast pet bunnies :eek:

Arrggghhhh... it's getting worse... bunnies now:eek::eek::eek::eek: