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

rising_from_the_ashes

MissExcel suggested I give this a go to try to curb my money mysteriously disappearing!

Never tried before so no idea how many is reasonable..... will try for 12 NSD in January (not counting dd's from bank account) and see how that goes!

So far, 2/4

Thanks

beanielou

Lets to remember to highlight our NSD's in red or some nice bold colour:D.Hope I remember:rotfl:
NSD no 4 today for me.

MINMOL

NSD #1 woo hoo!

donna_dynamo

Hi all nsd number 2 today. Back to work today afetr a two week holiday no heating all day so now i am back in the warm my head is thumping. Booked some holiday for the year and sorted out the childminder for february half term so feel like i acheived somthing today.

dmb_2

Can I declare NSD No. 2 please. Thanks

The_Dragon

Claiming #4 please , still on target to get 6 in a row :beer:

JES_F1

Well, today should have been my fourth NSD but I left my lunch at home :mad: so had to grab a sandwich at work.

I didn't realise until I came to eat it :doh:... and because I had a meeting to get to, I didn't have time to walk home, get it, eat it, and get back again.

On the plus side, at least that's lunch sorted for tomorrow! :)

fedupandskint

Unfortunately I'm still on 2 for this week as yesterday bought 2 cups of coffee for £2.60 on a day out to say thankyou for driving to friend and then today had to pay £5 for last lottery payment now it ends at work syndicate and £14.60 for 2 prescriptions. Now I'm back from work I should have bought milk today as mine is OOD on Thurs (should be able to eek it out for another day) and I wanted to get another 2 in this week,

Mind you I will be holed up all weekend writing my assignment due in on Monday so won't be going out food shopping - can get another 2 in

Next week is going to be expensive with 3 uni days rail travel and 1 mtg out and about incurring parking expenses which I can claim back both but not any food or drinks for uni days

I'm planning to take in my own food snacks and drinks for lunches on these 3 days but think I'll cave in for a cup of coffee

Going on the train and walking up there plus food and drinks usually to comes to more than £10 per day

New plan is train and walk as usual,limit self to 2 drinks max, take in water bottle and fill up from cooler as usual and this time take in all food and snacks for lunchtimes and carton of pop and fruit

Now I've remembered I need some more basics fruit cartons for work I think I'll pop up to Mr S for some and pick u some milk as its already been a spend day and then see if I can squeeze in a few more this week

Now what do I need? Juice cartons, reduced crisps on offer, bit of fruit, milk, check eggs for baking and bake some buns for snacks and check have something for sarnies for 3 days

IF

Just 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

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!

Nargleblast

Number 3 NSD yesterday!

Spendy day today, though.

The idea I had about setting a weekly budget for food etc has got off to a good start - today I had over £15 surplus to transfer into my savings account! This is probably because we are using up stuff from Christmas, and I had already done a shop at Sainsbugs last week where I picked up some meal bargains. Nevertheless, it is still a saving, so I intend to remain focussed and try to do the same for the next seven days!

What I did was take the amount of my salary, knock off all the DDs and standing orders due out for the month, then knock off any known expenditure items eg budgeted amount for petrol and parking fees, amount for son's martial arts classes, hairdresser money etc. What was left was my budget for food, household expenses and incidentals. I divided that by the number of days left till next payday to get a daily amount, then multiplied by 7 to get a weekly amount. This month the weeks run Wednesday to Tuesday, with an extra day in the last week as I get paid on the Thursday. (Only because I happened to start it off on a Wednesday!)

Just wonder though how much the VAT increase is going to affect my petrol budget - will have to be more careful using the car.

Oops! Better update my signature with the NSD total!