Marching on in March - The NSD Challenge

IF

Good evening all. BDINI got my 13th NSD today, thank you :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!

BigMummaF

Baker's Dozen today; no 13 thanks Guys.

You are NOT going to believe me but I will swear on a publishing company's warehouse full of pristine religious publications, that me muvva & I were only talking about The Batchelors on Wednesday ..& Frank Ifield All this talk of gentle crooners reminds me of Sunday Night at the London Palladium & Norman Vaughn with his "do--gee" catch-phrase & having to gaze in wonder at the Lime Barrel in the box of Milk Tray, cuz I was "too young to have that one" so my sister ALWAYS got it Ever since I got big enough, they don't put them in there any more

And also, I hope you know that I am cheering & booing, aaahh-ing & sighing as I read along with your news even if I don't say anything only with limited poota time, I have to be 'minimal' in my replies. ((HUGS)) then, for everyone x

cw18

BigMummaF wrote: »

& having to gaze in wonder at the Lime Barrel in the box of Milk Tray

That's one I don't recall ever having seen......

But I do miss coffee creams, as they seem to have disappeared from just about everywhere DH didn't have much of a sweet tooth, but did enjoy plain chocolate coffee creams - and I used to pick him up a (rather pricey, even when I had a huuuge disposable income) bag of them from Th0rnt0ns for his birthday and/or our wedding anniversary (5 days apart), and at Easter & Christmas. Went to get some some for one such event only to discover they'd stopped doing them - and he sulked for days 'cos he thought I'd just forgotten!! The next time we were out together in the vicinity of one of their stores I dragged him in to prove that I'd been telling the truth....

Keiss_21

Ooooh, coffee ceams...my favourite! We always used to fight over them at home. I don't like drinking coffee though :rotfl:

We used to get mum a pack of c-creams whenever we wanted to give her something nice, but not too expensive..they always went down well!!

DH got a box of Thorntons for his birthday...and there were c-creams in there....loads of them :j:j

Going back to favourite crooners...my absolute fav was (and still is) Nat King Cole...I go weak at the knees and get shivers down my back when I hear him sing...bliss!!! As for females...it's got to be Billie Holliday...a sad life though.

Right, enough reminiscing, got to get to bed...hope to pick up another NSD tomorrow (or today rather!)..a bit too early to declare thought...you never know what might happen!

muffin_man_7

REPORTING NSD FOR THURS,FRI AND SAT THAT TAKES ME UP TO 15 MADE IT:jCAN GO FOR 18 PLZ
There are definate advantages of being skint one of them lots of nsd before i found this site i would of gone into a panic and bought too much usually it ended up being the wrong items the stuff we ended up needing wasn't the stuff i got now i take my time and try to plan i'm not able to batch cook due to my sons food phobia so i just work around it now by getting things he usually has and if we run out now i don't panic buy i just get a few 4 no more unless a really good price like tin toms we use quite a lot and at 25p i'm not going to blow the budget if i get 2 everytime i'm in h a b am i now still need to cut down on some stuff still got loads but forget sometimes back to lists everywhere for now i reckon if it works on the freezer it should work on the cupboards

Hannah_10

Since some little scroat stole my wallet I haven't been able to spend anything. :mad:

A small silver lining is that it puts me on 2/4 NSD's. Not how I would've wanted to achieve one, but achieve one I did, so I might as well claim it.

jintyb

Hannah_10 wrote: »

Since some little scroat stole my wallet I haven't been able to spend anything. :mad:

A small silver lining is that it puts me on 2/4 NSD's. Not how I would've wanted to achieve one, but achieve one I did, so I might as well claim it.

:mad::mad::mad::mad: That's totally carp!

jintyb

Good morning folks!
Up early, but I dont mind as it is currently a lovely morning. Just been out with doglet so enjoying a bit of peace with my cuppa.
No plans to spend today, I have a bit of cleaning and ironing to do and then I will pop to the library this afternoon to pick up my reservations.
Hoping to make it into double figures today!

Have a lovely day everyone:)

boultdj

Finaly got in to double didget's as I'm claiming #10
Damm to the wallet Hannah.

katenut

I'm up to 14 now thanks BDINI and helpers! xx