Bridge the gap with the February NSD challenge

IF

Good evening all.


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 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!

kerri_gt

Evening all. And its *drumroll* NSD #9 for me today :j Went out to watch the football with OH but he paid for my blackcurrent and soda as I am playing taxi. My target is in sight...

Dress saga still ongoing (right now I am again kicking myself for not being more decisive when I saw it in the store :mad:) - girl has asked me to send her photos now. I did think she had another one ending tonight which I was going to suggest I would buy and send the other back, but upon looking, it's the wrong size :mad: and for some reason the photos aren't attaching to my email, despite them being well under the 25MB limit!

Jinty - how annonying you were let down with the sideboard yesterday, glad the kitchen floor looks good though.

beanielou

kerri~Hope you get the dress saga sorted.

jintyb

beanielou wrote: »

Jinty~What a busy day for you today.
Hope it all goes to plan.
Off to Mussleburgh in a wee while so pondering a Mr Lucca.

Hi there Beanie - if you indulged in a Mr L, I hope you enjoyed it!:) Havent had one myself for ages, despite living about 10 mins drive away!

Well, yes, everything went to plan. Got our stuff away to the dump, got the sideboard from sis and OH finished the floor tiles - just the grouting to do tomorrow.
I must say, it's all looking lovely, but it's been a bit of an upheaval but worth it!:T
By the time we finished, neither of us could be bothered cooking, so OH sprung for a takeaway!
So......drumroll........ # 11 in the bag for me today. I did pay sis for tkts, but that was a planned spend as I mentioned earlier. Going for five in a row this week as I'm working Mon- Wed and will be car-less on Thurs as Bertha goes in for MOT.
See you all in tomorrow:)

Tropicalmoments

No more NSD's for me since Thursday. Bought more shopping yesterday and I bought a new cinema sound system today. Never mind I'm happy - well I'll be ecstatic once I can find out how to get the sound system working through the tv!!!

butdoineedit?

Well as planned not a NSD today, but was very grateful for the large plastic box that allowed me to have a shower of sorts in the kitchen tonight, it's lovely to feel clean!!

Think i'm going to have to watch myself this week, i've been a little worried about money as the bathroom costs are adding up & i had to pay for the holiday i'm taking my mum on (i've always paid cos of my previous "oh it's only money" attitude, my mum gets me some spending money to take but it never really covers the full cost & i always ending up paying for more of the food & drink out there... my lightbulb moment means that i don't really want to do it any more but she's had so much bad stuff happen recently that i couldn't do it to her this year, but this really will be the last time!)
Anyway, knowing that i'm skint all i wanted to do today was spend :eek: it's so funny, when i'm doing well & have money i don't really want any tat, when i'm skint i want to spend, but i have to make sure i don't!!

So i've played around with my SOA tonight & should be ok if i limit my grocery spend to almost nothing, perfectly do-able as my cupboards are full to bursting
Have put pub money to one side, i think it will help as if i know thats the only money i have there will be no tat bought & i'm hoping i can get 4 in a row again this week (if not more!)

butdoineedit?

jintyb wrote: »

Well, yes, everything went to plan. Got our stuff away to the dump, got the sideboard from sis and OH finished the floor tiles - just the grouting to do tomorrow.
I must say, it's all looking lovely, but it's been a bit of an upheaval but worth it!:T
By the time we finished, neither of us could be bothered cooking, so OH sprung for a takeaway!

Glad you got everything done Jinty, & definitely glad it looks lovely, i think thats what makes all the upheaval worthwhile!!

butdoineedit?

oooh aren't i chatty tonight, forgot to say have signed up online for a gym membership (as i was spending anyway), gym doesn't open till April, which is perfect as when i start my new job i will get off the bus right outside & the best bit is it only costs £10 a month!! Am quite excited, haven't been to a gym for ages as the cost always put me off!

Oh & tried out an oriental pork recipie that was on a TV advert recently & it was seriously yummy :j (& cheap as i used belly pork, which is pennies in the value range) & have 3 more portions to put in the freezer

Right bed with a cuppa & some chocolate, best get it eaten as the pre holiday diet starts tomorrow!!

Decluttering

NSD #10 today I didn't go anywhere today so I didn't have an excuse to spend. So my target has been met with 8 days to spare, maybe I was too generous on myself! So I'm going to set myself a second target of 12 NSDs.

runnerbean17

# 10 :j :j

Can't believe how well I've done for my first time too.
Just 2 more left to reach my target but it is the schools holidays so may be a bit trickier this week but I'll have a good go :rotfl: