Avoiding the shops in April - The NSD Challenge

beanielou

No NSD's for me so far.

Friend & I had chinese yesterday & today was out for a coffee with another friend.
Life gets in the was sometimes me thinks!

beanielou

Oh hope all goes well tomorrow cw

The_Dragon

Got #1 under my belt today :j:j

jaffacakegal

Hey all,

Just reporting NSD 1 yesterday (I don't count DDs as yet, maybe next month I will be more organised!)

Today was a different story, haircut, lunch out and mothers day present mean I have spent most of what I took out of the bank to last the week

Oh well onwards and upwards...

JCG x

bottleofred

Another spend day I'm afraid. There's always tomorrow though.

Red

brummiebabe

Yay NSD #1 today!!! Took my DD to a party (free lunch for me too:T) and haven't been out since!!

IF

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!

Rock_Cakes

Evening all,

Managed NSD#1 yesterday, start as you mean to go on and all that

Totally shattered after a day of spring cleaning and Ebay listing. Gonna relax with a nice cup of tea. :coffee:

Will try and catch up properly tomorrow.

xx

loveGSDs

just realised i got number 1 yersterday!

wont be one tomo, but hopefully monday will be

xx

d3mon4ngel

Oh I'm in such a tizz... thought I'd signed up for this for April already!

Please can you sign me up for 12... I managed 10 last month and didn't quite hit my target of 15 so going for a target about halfway between this time

Today and yesterday were both spendy days, and with having to go visiting tomorrow and DD's due on Monday, it looks like it will be at least Tuesday before I can even clock up number one. Majority of DD's will be out of the way by then though so pretty much the rest of the month to get some serious NSD figures