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

niccatw

I had secretly hoped to get 5 in a row yesterday but friend's were over from Barcelona with their wee one so a bunch of us met up for a chinese takeaway. (Remind me next time - I don't eat chinese as it makes my face all itchy!!!)

I was contemplating declaring it an NSD as I used money Dad paid me back for mum's christmas pressie's. But caught myself and gave myself a good talking too!

I bought the pressie's to help Dad out and wouldn't have spent the money otherwise. If ever there is a time to be self-disciplined with my NSDs, it is when I have cash there that can (not should!)be spent!

However, I have decided that if I spend £1 at lunch in the canteen at work and nothing else, I will count it as an NSD. I've noticed I've been skipping lunches for NSDs which is not healthy! And it's only a £1 for a baked potato, soup, 2 pieces of fruit and a drink at work! (You get sick of baked potatoes everyy day though! And the rest of the food isn't usually veggie friendly).

So on that note, declaring number 5

Mistress SF, Apprentice Guardian of the NSD Thread, you are a star!

Trinny

NSD 3 declared for yesterday Spoon

Best Wishes

Trin

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!

solventsoon

Tropicalmoments wrote: »

Woo hoo!! :jMy first NSD - 1 down, 14 to go!!

I think NSD's might get a bit easier as I've not got very much money to last to the end of the month:o

Yay Tropicalmoments, the first one is always the best:j:j:j

Keep going, you can do it!!

butdoineedit? wrote: »

Furious with myself today as ruined a NSD for a pack of profiteroles :mad: & this made me realise i need to rethink my rules. I had it in my head that it was "cheating" if i didn't declare every spend i made on the day i did it, so having to pick up a prescription (for which i already had the money) today i fell into the local supermarket & ended up with the said offending item.
If i had just accepted that it was fine to put the prescription money to one side, i may have avoided the supermarket & been £1.79 better off :mad::mad:

That's it now, rant over, off to compile a new list of my rules & stick them somewhere i can't miss them!!!

Oh dear, BDINI, hope your new rules work better for you:A

SarahNeedle1872 wrote: »

No NSD today... forgot to take my lunch
Sx

No worries SN, we all have blonde moments, you're doing brilliantly, keep going:D

solventsoon

Hi lovely NSD gang :A
I’ve updated all the totals on the front page from sf’s unexpected update today and added all the night owls as well now so we’re up to date again as of tonight - such efficiency.:j

Welcome to:

:hello:plzhelpmesave! - well done for 2 NSDs so far. I’ll add them to the front page and any more that you get in January - good luck with getting lots more

Well done to:

kerri - for no 3, yay!! but grrrr to the pjs. Definitely ready for a wiggle tomorrow:j:j:j

buddiebabe - for no 4, you’re doing great:j:j

hannah:-) - for no 3. You’re sounding very organised - well done!:j:j:j

ifwishes - yay to no 4, you’re doing brilliantly!!:j:j:j

janeawej - for no 2, that’s brilliant.. but hope you make it to the garage tomorrow. Glad the challenge is helping you :j:j:j

nicca - for no 5, you’re doing great. No, skipping lunches is not a good way of getting NSDs, but how about allocating the money at the start of the week so you can have lunch and an NSD?:j:j:j

Trinny - for no 3, well done you’re doing brilliantly:j:j:j

And I got no 5 today:D

'night everyone, see you all tomorrow

spoon xx

niccatw

Good idea Spoony. And I can get me a sealed pot for any I don't spend

solventsoon

niccatw wrote: »

Good idea Spoony. And I can get me a sealed pot for any I don't spend

You can indeed, nicca, so two birds with one stone:D

jintyb

Good morning all!

Up early this morning as my skin is killing me ( psoriasis) so I thought a nice cuppa and a blether on here was in order!
Managed to get the DD and overdrawn postion sorted. The bank were brilliant BTW. I emailed $imply Be but got a totally unsatisfactory reply, so I ended up phoning them (on a 0870# if you please:mad:) and giving them a piece of my mind. I would have been better off talking to the wall for all the good it did.:wall: The chap was sympathetic but no apology or reason for why they cannot give youa precise date when payments are to be taken. I like the clothes from this company but their customer services are totally CARP:mad:

Anyhoo, we got on ok with the insurance inspector - he agreed that our sofa is beyond repair after the dog chewing it, so he has put us down for total replacement.We just need to wait for the company to get in touch, then we can go looking for a new one:j
Good result for the dog- from zero to hero in a short space of time;)

No NSD for me today, off to Costco to stock up, but I have a budget ( famous last words:rotfl::rotfl:)

Have a lovely day everyone:)

elf06

JINTY sorry your up early because of your skin. I sympathise to a certain extent (as in I dont suffer myself but DS had terrible exzema as a baby and I used to watch him scratch himself until he bled from months old ) and YAY to the sofa result!!
I sadly am up early as its work today and if I am honest I really CBA!!
Wont be a NSD for me as I still need to get DS's mag that he was promised - what is it with the price of those thankfully he only gets about one a month, if that.
Hope everyone else is ok and I will no doubt be back to catch up this evening.

jintyb

elf06 wrote: »

JINTY sorry your up early because of your skin. I sympathise to a certain extent (as in I dont suffer myself but DS had terrible exzema as a baby and I used to watch him scratch himself until he bled from months old ) and YAY to the sofa result!!
I sadly am up early as its work today and if I am honest I really CBA!!
Wont be a NSD for me as I still need to get DS's mag that he was promised - what is it with the price of those thankfully he only gets about one a month, if that.
Hope everyone else is ok and I will no doubt be back to catch up this evening.

Hope work isnt too bad E, you've got your night out to look forward too!;) Maybe you could class DS's mag as a planned spend? I agree, though, re mags, they seem to have got really pricy!