Avoiding the shops in April - The NSD Challenge

IF

Evening all :hello: No NSD for me, bought chocolate :whistle:

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!

Rachel021967

2nd NSD for me. I'm quite proud of myself. I left my bag behind when I went to the doctors so no spending for me.:j

solventsoon

ifwisheswerehorses... wrote: »

Evening all :hello: No NSD for me, bought chocolate :whistle:

Oooh, you devil, If...:D hope you enjoyed it:D:D




BDINI, I am being soooo good at the moment you'll be proud of me. No 4 for me today, please, yippeeeee!!!!!!

That's what I call a flying start to the month.. no NSD tomorrow though:( or Thursday,:( or Friday,:( so the paintbrush may well still be heading my way:D:D

spoon x

IF

solventsoon wrote: »

Oooh, you devil, If...:D hope you enjoyed it:D:D

3Dogs

A 'can't sleep as I've got cramp in my legs' post

Sorry I couldn't get on here much for March but I did in the end make my 15 out of 15 for March - just :eek:

I think that I will set a target of 12 for April and see how it goes as I came up to Newcastle on Saturday and I am here for 6 weeks as my sister is away on holiday for 3 weeks later in the month so extra cover for visiting Mam in Continuing Care is needed Mam has had mostly fairly good days, but some very bad days, one of which was the day I arrived and she didn't ackowledge who anyone was But she has perked up and is smiling again, and knows who is visiting now (she actually said my name today) and she is still eating like a horse They got her out of the bed she has been in since the beginning of November about a week ago, for the first time - they have to use a hoist as she is too weak to move, which she didn't like, but once she was in the chair she loved it and she could sit by the window and chat, and she was more comforatable eating there too. However the third time they had her in the chair, which they only did for an hour or two when my brother or sister were visiting, she had a very bad pain in her side, so they gave her morphine and they haven't tried the chair since

Anyway, I will keep trying for NSD's as I need them very badly at the moment, and will keep a tally of them - I don't think I will have time to keep up with the thread so I hope everyone is OK - and I will post my NSD'd when I get the chance

Good luck to everyone with their NSD's, a big hiya to Spoony, and a big thank you to BDINI for running the April thread :A :A

thrifty_fifty

Hi

This NSD thing gets really addictive. I actually felt a rush of relief last night when going to the pub quiz was cancelled, just so I wouldn't spend-eek!!

So number 3 for me today please :cool:

jintyb

Good morning everyone!

#3 for me please!
I seem to have got off to a good start this month for some reason!
Lots of NSD's rolling in already I see, brilliant!
Had a good day yesterday where I managed to start at 9 and finish at 5, so that was rather nice!

Have a lovely day everyone:)

bexs.ua

I got my first one on Sunday!!! :j:j:T

But so cross with myself as could actually have got 2 over the weekend if I hadn't transferred a payment to Severn Trent on Saturday :mad::mad:!! It wasn't even due :eek:

Direct debits on Friday and Monday so no more yet......

chris81418

Good morning everyone! :wave:

I'm back on the wagon with NSD number 3 for me yesterday! Woo hoo!

Unfortunately, my anticipated run of NSDs may come to an abrupt end ... I've been puting off booking a summer holiday for some time now (the longer the money stays in my pocket the better!), however, OH needs a light at the end of the tunnel to aim for, so I'll probably have to book it within the next couple of days ... at least it'll be something to look forward to!

Looking forward to tomorrow, when hopefully it should really start to feel like summer

Have a good day everyone and good luck catching more NSDs!

shezam

Hi all,

Can I join please? It tried March's but failed so gonna go for a lower figure of 6 NSD's this month.

I have been spending like crazy since payday last Thursday and I have challenged myself to have some money left in account by next payday. So hopefully this challenge will help.

Thank you
Shezam xxx