Marching on in March - The NSD Challenge

niccatw

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!

cw18

niccatw wrote: »

Any-one else found a slight spring in their step the last few days? It's amazing what a bit if sun does!

I think mine's more likely to be due to a week off work

(Even though I still had to scrape the car and wrap up warm today!)

My chap phoned 15 mins ago (unusually late for him!) and happened to mention the grit wagons are out in force in his area (Huddersfield way) !!! No snow showing on the sites I use for forecasts, but lots of sub-zero temperatures - and apparently the roads etc are all very wet, so looks like they may be trying to stop them icing up :eek:

butdoineedit?

Nargleblast wrote: »

Love the invisible prizes......

Aargh can you still not see them? Followed Mistress Spoony's instructions to the letter, so no idea why they are still missing:mad::mad:

cw18 wrote: »

My chap phoned 15 mins ago (unusually late for him!) and happened to mention the grit wagons are out in force in his area (Huddersfield way) !!! No snow showing on the sites I use for forecasts, but lots of sub-zero temperatures - and apparently the roads etc are all very wet, so looks like they may be trying to stop them icing up :eek:

I'm that way too Cheryl & on the walk back from the pub the roads were definitely shiny... oh what joy, roll on summer!!

cw18

butdoineedit? wrote: »

Aargh can you still not see them? Followed Mistress Spoony's instructions to the letter, so no idea why they are still missing:mad::mad:

The only one I can see (and it took an absolute age to load) is the 'target exceeded' one

solventsoon

butdoineedit? wrote: »

Aargh can you still not see them? Followed Mistress Spoony's instructions to the letter, so no idea why they are still missing:mad::mad:

cw18 wrote: »

The only one I can see (and it took an absolute age to load) is the 'target exceeded' one

Me too, BDINI, they may be too big. If they're animated, sometimes they don't load very well:(

Shout if I can help, I'm here for a while

Keiss_21

cw18 wrote: »

The only one I can see (and it took an absolute age to load) is the 'target exceeded' one

Me too..

3Dogs

Keiss_21 wrote: »

Me too..

Me three

kathy40uk wrote: »

:hello:Hi to all NSD'ers old and new ............... I have been missing in action for a few months

Welcome back Kathy, it's so lovely to see you, and Orphan's gorgeous picture, back on here again :j :j :j :j we've missed you

3Dogs reporting in for 15 NSD's for March - it is a longer month and I am at home for the whole month, so if I can get back into my normal routine for a while, I should make it easily .... cough .. cough

My next trip up North to visit my Mam is not until 2nd April but I will be up there for 6 weeks this time so I've got to get those NSD's in this month as I don't know how many I will get in when up there. Mam is still holding her own - for a light-weight she is showing great strength, bless her, though we realise things could change at any time and thus my plans have to be fairly flexible

Many thanks BDINI for this months thread - it certainly looks like the busiest one yet :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

NewlyFrugalMumof3

Hello,

Please can I join this great challenge.
I hope to make it 14 NSDs for March.

Thank you.

Good luck everyone.

kathy40uk

3Dogs wrote: »

Me three



Welcome back Kathy, it's so lovely to see you, and Orphan's gorgeous picture, back on here again :j :j :j :j we've missed you

3dogs thank you so much............hurts seeing his photo sometimes but we did have so many happy times,,,,,,,,need to remember that so thank you again xx

solventsoon

kathy40uk wrote: »

:hello:

Hi to all NSD'ers old and new

Special thanks to BDINI for doing this month :kisses:and many thanks to Spoon for all her work before :kisses3:.

I have been missing in action for a few months The tax bill followed by new battery and alternator in December really put me off my stride and things have been horrid at work so I just haven't had the energy to check in during the day and that has led to spending, only little bits here and there but enough to keep me slightly depressed.

Have been having a mass rethink over the last couple of weeks about a few ways of changing my life and feeling in control of it a little again and realised/remembered what an amazingly supportive thread this was and how much better I felt when I was taking my NSD's seriously and logging in every day.
Soooooooooo I'm back and would like to set my target for 15 days for March.

I have missed the last couple of months so :grouphug: to everyone who needs them and I promise to be in every day to keep up with everyone's news

Am off now to get petrol and baccy for the month so hopefully tomorrow will be a first on the first so to speak.

Thank you all for still being here :happyhear

See you all tomorrow

:hello:

Hi Kathy
Welcome back, we've really missed you, it's so lovely to see you here again.

Sorry you've had a bad few months hope we can cheer you up with our inane chat and banter.

We've got an outing planned for tomorrow for St David's Day, try to come along, but bring some daffodils and leeks:D:D:D I'll pick you up in the tardis as usual:D

Lovely to see you again.

Take care
spoon x