Avoiding the shops in April - The NSD Challenge

The_Dragon

and #7 here! At this rate I will be hitting my first target by the end of the weekend

brummiebabe

Have had 2 low spend days, but unfortunately not NSDs!!! There's always tomorrow......:D

destroyerofdebt2011

NSD 4 & 5 conquered... think this lil fella has been shouting orders at me since sunday... 3 in a row under the belt...lets hope he dont abondon my sorry a## just yet!

slowlyfading

Another spend day for me - April isn't going well!

Butti

No. 3 please. Did spend today - bottle of wine and some half price plums BUT on a £5 Morrison's gift voucher.

Right...back to Housing Management.....zzzzzz

B

pinkfluffybabe

NSD No.10 today

jaffacakegal

NSD 9 today!

muffin_man_7

BigMummaF wrote: »

No need to wait..just pull up a pew & stay awhile, we don't worry about insignificant things like 'time scale' or 'calendar'

Had a spendy yesterday--bit more than I was expecting too but hey-ho--but Sunday & today are nsds; I fancy an early night with my sudoku book. Sweet little 7 for me, with a goodly batch of cheese straws, flapjack & fairy cakes with black icing to keep us going for an hour or two just DON'T tell the Offspring 85% of the ingredients were out of date :shhh:

same here BigMama nice to know i'm not the only one with this issue i am the only one who will chance something past the bbd kids go mad at me but i hate waste and it wouldn't be out of date if they ate things as i get them so iam now going to avoid restocking until everything used up before it's out of date will put funds aside to refill cupboard at some point, i'm hoping by running things down we will avoid the out of date issue and only buy the items that get used this might save us some money too

postingalwaysposting

NSD Monday, number 7 for me :j

IF

Good evening all. BDINI got my 7th and 8th NSD's thank you :A

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!