Bridge the gap with the February NSD challenge

runnerbean17

Hoping today could be my NO.11 got a trip to the Library planned but nothing else. It is a really miserable day here today so thinking about getting all those crafty/presents from Xmas that haven't been played with yet open and played with

chris81418

Good morning everyone! :wave:

Checking in to report a successful weekend - 2 more NSD collected over Sat and Sun, so I'm up to 17 NSDs! Woo hoo!

A food shop, however, is on the cards, so will have to do that at some point + I have a few more bits n bobs to sort out, so hope to combine that with my food shop day.

jintyb wrote: »

Chris, I can understand your frustration. When you're chucking everything at your debts, you get into the habit of not treating yourself at all. I would suggest choosing a couple of smallish things that you could treat yourself to to keep your morale up.
You are doing SO well - it's an old cliche, but remember " it's not how far you've got to go, it's how far you've come" HTH
BTW - love that kipper smilie, your smilies always make me giggle!

solventsoon wrote: »

:j:j:jchris81418 - for no 15, nearly there now, keep going. I know what you mean about not wanting to spend.. I’m getting the same and I never thought I’d be like that in a million years... Love the kipper smiley - where do you get your smileys, they’re brilliant:D

Thanks for the words of encouragment and advice Jinty and Spoon! That's what is so great about this thread - everyone is always so encouraging! BTW - I just pick up smilies as I surf the web.

beanielou wrote: »

DS has got a conditional :j :j :j :j :j

Well done to your son Beanie! :T

suzie_wong wrote: »

Might be wrong, and don't want to jump the gun, but I think I might just be feeling a tiny bit better :j.

Glad you're finally starting to feel better Suzie - it sounded like the lurgies were starting to make themselves at home with you!

slowlyfading wrote: »

I'm doing so badly this month

ebayqueen wrote: »

Been an awful month as you can see from my pathetic sig but hope to have an nsd tomorrow. Onwards and upwards

Chins up SF and ebayqueen! You've both clocked up NSDs this month - which is better than no NSDs at all! I remember a time when I had no idea what a NSD was - at least we're all wiser now and we're not burying our heads in the sand! Ignorance may be bliss, but I prefer to be closer to my debt free date!

Well done everyone with all the NSDs that have been collected this month! Good luck collecting more NSDs today and have a good day!

IF

Good Afternoon all :hello:

solventsoon wrote: »

ifwishes - a big, and overdue, thanks for keeping BigMumma’s post in view. There are lots of people viewing this post and it helps to give them an idea of what we do and why - hence lots of new recruits over the past couple of months. Thank you, really appreciate your help. :A


And no 16 for me today, only 2 more to get now... yay!!!! :j


Front page all updated now, see you all tomorrow.

‘night everyone
spoon xx

Awww thanks Spoon :A

Well done on your 16th NSD too :dance:



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!

BigMummaF

Hello Folks..not much to report.....other than I've reached my target of 14 nsds

Muvva is still oblivious to any sort of noise unfortunately (she was stood right by the phone earlier & not a flicker )& her next appt for syringing isn't for a couple of weeks yet, so I probably will have a few more nsds but I'll not put a figure on it.

Had a very quick scan to see what's going on with you all but not as good at speed reading as I'd like What's the betting that by the time I can get some mobile tintaweb sorted, muvva will be fighting fit & I won't need it :doh:Of course I want Mum 100% well, but boy! I do miss you guys

katenut

Number 9 on Friday. Not good progress - got to go grocery shopping today, so if I want to meet my target I can't spend anything else all month!! xx

jaffacakegal

Hey all,

Got my car back was informed by dad that "you don't want to know how much it cost to repair" so I take that to mean he isn't expecting the money back off me!

Now I am not taking unplanned bus trips I have managed to get a (rather sneaky) NSD yesterday! Now total at 7 NSDs so target still doable!

A bit gutted that I had an NSD yesterday, was meant to be using a fishy feet voucher (£9 instead of £30) that I had already paid for, and lunch out - but checked voucher and it went out of date 10th Feb gutted I wasted the money for nothing.

Was a bit sneaky yesterday cos I put aside £5 for any after-band drinks for the week, but added it to my Saturday spend as it was first thing Sunday, and I had intended to do it Saturday, honest! :shhh:

JCG x

Trinny

Hi Spoon

Dont think i am going to make target this month

but will battle on!

NSD 9 today please

Thanks

Trin

tattooed_lady

Hi everyone :hello:,

NSD #5 for me today, I did book some cinema tickets online for Weds but my mum is paying for me to take the kids so not costing me anything :j. Tomorrow we are visiting friends and eating lunch there so hopefully no spending! xx

Bexterragga

Hey everyone, I'm just checking in with 13th NSD.

I had a quiet weekend, it was my weekend off at work. Kept Saturday as my spendy day, popping into town and then treating myself to a Domino's pizza - great!

SOT2011

Hi All,

2 more NSDs to declare, yesterday and today, bringing me to 15 so far this month. Hopefully still on track for target of 20 by the end of the month, but will be close, I will need to do a food shop next Saturday or Sunday, which just leaves one extra day in the month for being spendy if I need it and I want to stick to the target.

This challenge is definitely helping to reduce my spends, though I still have a way to go to keep control when I do spend, and haven't quite worked out how to balance trying to make myself wait to decide if I really want something, and getting it bought/ordered on an already spendy day so I don't have another spendy day later in the week. Guess the answer is to wait longer than a day or two before going ahead, but haven't managed that as yet.