Marching on in March - The NSD Challenge

pinkfluffybabe

NSD No. 9 for me today

Woohoo, 9 in a row!

Nargleblast

Ah well, still ploughing through figures trying to sort out the IVA budget review stuff so I can get it posted off today - when calculating estimated spends on petrol, OH got a list of petrol prices going back to last year. Hang on to your drawers, ladies, this is a shocker.

March 2010 - unleaded 111.9 p/litre

March 2011 - unleaded in our village 132.9 p/litre

A 23% rise in a year!!!!!!!!

Needless to say the budget figures have been inflated accordingly (and there was I thinking I had a hole in me tank as £20 did not seem to go as far as usual....)

Jinty - pussums obviously needs retraining, as when he/she had cystitis then he/she would have been caught short anywhere and everywhere, so got out of the proper habit. Pretend he/she is a lickle kitty cat and start again, acting in loco parentis of Mamma Cat. I will allow you to pass on the licking its backside bit, though.....

lauzellen

I put £30 in my car the other day and it only took it to 1/2 full when it used to take it to 3/4 :eek: :mad:

On better news I am checking in today to report NSD no 10 :j Tomorrow will be a spendy day as I'm doing the put off food shopping from Friday and shall post the ebay items I sold on Sunday also. May also get the "It's a boy" card, present etc tomorrow while i'm at it as my best mate will pop any day now.. and if she doesn't in the next week they will make her.

fedupandskint

Same here with petrol - £35 used to fill it up to the brim and now £45 doesn't quite fill up to the top but I'm not putting more than £45 in one go

A spend day today on dog food - 15kg sack of food for £33.49 (2kg sacks are £7.50 each so works out £17 cheaper and should last for 3mths - I'm taking notes to see how long it lasts this time and work out the cost per week or month or day. Also topped up his bsicuits, treats and chews so thats him sorted until about June hopefully!

Aiming to get 4 NSD this week by Friday so will be leaving my purse at home for this week and see if I can do it and get to 11 by Friday and 4 in a row

IF

Afternoon all, got my 9th NSD yesterday, thank you BDINI :A


Bumping for any Newbies joining us xx

butdoineedit? wrote: »

Hi lovely NSD gang:A
As you can see there is lots of activity on this challenge 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.

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!

Byatt

NSD 3

Thank goodness it's a long month!

The_Dragon

I've got 6 and 7 under my belt, looks as though I may be upping my target in a bit!

sibles

Yesterday made number 4 for me... and I'm on track for number 5 today!

I swear, this challenge is doing wonders for me! I can't believe how good it makes me feel to say I've had a NSD at the end of the day.

boultdj

And today make's #7.
Can I make a surgeston to those who need to put liquid gold in the car/bike/van, top up in a morning, espicaly when cold, it get's you just a bit more fuel [ in my case $2.30 diffrence between morning and afternoon when I did my comparison to find out if it did work] hth.

bexs.ua

Woo hoo!! I had a NSD weekend!!!

NSD #'s 4 & 5 please for me :T:T:T

Sadly it's all gone down hill from there LOL, done online Mr T, BnM and car wash today and Wednesday is veggie box day :eek:. Hopefully tomorrow will be a NSD though