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

solventsoon

twistedhazel wrote: »

Hi everyone, first day back at work today and another little NSD blighter in the bag taking me to 3 for three so it's a good start I reckon.

On another note I realised today that I don't need or even want new clothes at the minute. I did a full year last year without buying a single item of clothing (not even a pair of knickers!) and was going to treat myself to something from the sales as a reward for being so restrained. But didn't even have a look at lunchtime so I've decided to aim for a year and a half (although I might have to give in and buy underwear at some point for decency's sake....). Wish me luck.

Well done TH, on the NSDs and the no clothes buying. If you need some encouragement to keep going, try the crazy clothes challenge on the DFW diaries board, it's run by Lula Hula and there are some great people on there and some brilliant ideas:D

Hope that helps.
spoon x

solventsoon

romylou wrote: »

OMG I thought I had posted on this already today, but can't find it. This thread is speeding on.

I am only still at 1 NSD for the new year. It'll all change tomorrow, back to work

Hi romylou
You did post earlier, I have you down for 1 NSD already. If you want to find your posts, click on the "search this thread" at the top of each page, then click on "advanced search" and type in your user name, then "search", all your posts are then displayed and you can check back on what you've already posted.

Hope that helps.
spoon x

PS: Hope your first day back at work goes OK

solventsoon

Hi lovely NSD gang :A:A
Oooh.. lots more posts since yesterday, you’re all keeping me out of mischief and away from the chocolate.:D Great start to the month from everyone, well done:T:T

A warm welcome to all our newbies joining up this month - and there are lots of you. It’s great to have you on board, if you’re not sure about anything please ask, we’re very friendly and there’s usually someone around to help. BigMumma has put some draft guidlines on one of the pages and I’ve copied this onto the front page. Have a look at it and if something’s unclear put it on a post and we’ll have a look at it. Good luck with your first NSD challenge.:D

Newbies joining up today are:

:hello:CommitedToChange - hi and welcome, good luck with sorting out your life wagon
:hello:welshkaz - hi, it’s never to late to join us, you’re very welcome. Hope you feel better soon
:hello:dobs - hi, yes of course you can join in, good luck with your target. If you need any help or advice, please just ask away, we’re a friendly bunch

A big welcome back to more of our regulars and those rejoining after a time away - great to see you all:

:hello:savingcaz - good to have your company again
:hello:Diana Prince - all signed up now, welcome back
:hello:Trinny - and glad to have you back, we’ve missed you
:hello:Tixy - it’s never too late to join in, so no need to apologise, welcome back

Well done to the following for NSD no 1, off the mark now:

:jcastri09 - great start, keep going
:jTixy - good luck with your target, you can do it
:jlotti379 - if you’re feeling bad about the tip, maybe give the money to charity on your next spend day - just a thought?

Well done to the following for 2 NSDs, great start, keep going:

:jbuddiebabe - hope you feel better soon
:jCommitedToChange - good luck with sorting out the wagon
:jchris81418 - hope you feel better soon - and thanks
:jmumofjusttwo - liking the positive thinking
:jmoneypenny2k - car washing, today? You must be mad, it’s freezing!!
:jBlissfullydebtfreewannabe - you’re sounding very organised, I’m impressed!
:jkezlou - fingers crossed for today as well
:jTrinny - great start, keep it up!
:jredcoltraine - hope you avoided the temptation.. ahhh... I see it didn’t quite work out as planned.. fingers crossed for your five in a row though
:jLittleMissHappy - thanks, much appreciated and thanks for updating your signature
:jSarahNeedle1872 - great start and good luck for the rest of the week
:jHopeless Case - yep, make sure you get organised with lunches, a forgotten lunch has been the ruin of many an NSD
:jKeiss 21 - glad today went OK... tomorrow sounds as though it’s going to be a mega-spendy one, good luck
:jlily288 - doing well, keep going
:jkarom - yes, there is a real buzz around now, good to see, DFW was a bit too quiet in December really
:jDansMum - well done on the delegating.. me too re the NCD (except my “C” would be chocolate
:jLemon Tree - yay indeed, well done!
:jloveGSDs - woop woop indeed, well done. You’re on the way to beating your 6 last month!

Well done to the following for 3 NSDs, you’re all on a roll:

:jteenyweenyspender - yippee indeed and glad you like the prizes
:jJES_F1 - yippeeeeeee indeed - great start
:jboultdj - and for you as well, brilliant!
:jbeanie - you’re aiming for 4 prizes again this month, I can see. Sorry about DS’s lessons, what a pain
:jAmethyst68 - and another great start, well done
:jkdenty - oh dear to the shopping, I thought all the crowds had started to disappear a bit
:jdetermined new ms - liking the tactics, it’s certainly getting you some results, well done
:jsteerpiker - and your tactics of not going out seem to be working as well
:jilovetea - and ditto for you
:jgot-it-spend-it - well done for resisting the Body Shop sale, brilliant!
:jtwistedhazel - definitely a good start, in fact, a great start!
:jsavingcaz - well done, you’re doing brilliantly
:jehallett - and good luck for today as well - and you made it!!
:jmonks - don’t worry, no 4 will come along in it’s own good time



And I've managed NSD no 3 today as well, so very pleased with myself:j


Off to update the front page now with all the new totals.:D

'night everyone
spoon x

solventsoon

Bumping up BigMumma's guidelines for anyone needing some inspiration:D

BigMummaF wrote: »

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!

solventsoon

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

kerri_gt

Evening all - just popping in briefly before heading off to bed. Just back from a lovely afternoon/evening seeing my brother and his GF - doing late xmas and some b'day prezzies (we don't get together as often as we should) - I got super excited at a lovely Marco Pierre hamper they bought us - food AND storage all in one - what more could a girl want?! They also treated me and mum to a lovely dinner (saddle of lamb and sticky toffee pudding - YUM!)

AND, I can declare NSD 1 - WHOOO!!!! I'm off and running. Thought tomorrow would be one too but I do need to get OH b'day presents sorted before it's too late so we'll see.

Nite all xx

kalojac

NSD 2 for me today, tomorrow will be a spending day as I need pasta sauce for supper.

3Dogs

kerri_gt wrote: »

4AM :eek: and I thought you were one of the sensible ones amongst us :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

You can tell a popular thread by how long it takes you to catch up - by that reckoning, this thread must be the most popular on the site :T

Anyay, I'm reporting in with NSD NUMBERS 2 & 3 - 2 as on Sunday which is normally a spend day as I buy my fruit an veg at market/car bot but the 'fruity lady' was not there so I didn't get any - no 3 was today (Monday) as only been to slimming class and I set money aside on Friday for our class fees - having put weight on over christmas week, was very pleased to have lost 3 lbs this week :T :T

Spoon - another suggestion to add to the list - what about if you update the first page only when people reach their targets and new targets? That would cut down a lot of work - especially if everyone kept a running tally in the signature - as others have said, we need to look after you and you need to look after yourself, so surely the less work for you the better - and the numbers posting on this thread just keep going up and up all the time :eek:

Amethyst68

A spend day for me today,need petrol and two DD's have gone out of bank.
Have a good day everyone.

moneypenny2k

3Dogs wrote: »

You can tell a popular thread by how long it takes you to catch up - by that reckoning, this thread must be the most popular on the site :T

And deservedly so methinks.

I am finding it hard to keep up with the tread whilst not at work, God knows what I'll be like when I'm back :eek::eek: So apologies in advance if I miss your postings at all and don't comment on something you say.

No NSD for me today. Back to work, then Tuesday meeting a mate and off to salsa for me today. Not expecting spendy days on Wed or Thur at all so fingers crossed. Still 2/10 for me