Avoiding the shops in April - The NSD Challenge

elfen

NSD no 11 for me please

IF

Hello NSD'ers :hello:

Had a lovely break and will catch up soon with the posts :A

Got 3 more NSD's while away so I now have 12 NSD's thank you BDINI :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!

slowlyfading

solventsoon wrote: »

Now come on, sf, you'll have BDINI after you with the sledgehammer and me with my bum kicking smiley if you keep that up.

You've got 9 of the little darlings, that's pretty good going by anyone's standards.:T:T

((((((hugs))))))
spoon xx

Thanks spoon

Finally got Number 10 today as I'm not going anywhere now. Only another 8 to find... :eek: :eek:

skaps

I'm up to 11 now, been painting so no time to spend money.

suzie_wong

NSD#9 for me today!

It's going to be a challenge to reach my target now- it will mean 6 in 9 days :eek:

marmiterulesok

cw18 wrote: »

If the race was tomorrow I'd be lucky to get half way round.... but with 368 days to go I stand a reasonable chance of getting fit enough to make it round before then

Next Tuesday will just be a case of putting my name into the ballot in the hope I get a place. Then 6 months or so until I know whether I was lucky or not - during which time I'll have to train on the assumption I get one, even though I'm told the normal success rate is about 1 in 6 !!!

But I may have a second chance if I'm not lucky to get one in the general draw My running club were 'given' a few places for club members for the one that's just taken place (the members who got the spots still had to pay their own entry fee), so the club ran their own ballot for those. The only condition was that, in order to be able to put your name into the draw, you had to be able to produce the letter saying your ballot application had been unsuccessful. I can't remember whether we had 3 or 5 places, but I did hear there were only 2 more names in the 'hat' than they had places - so a much higher chance of getting one that way if the organisers give us some for 2012 as well

My longest run to date is the 8.12 miles I did last Sunday. So I need to pick up another 18.08 miles in 368 days - which equates to increasing my long run by around 0,34 miles a week. As I have a half marathon in 8 weeks and 4 days, I'm looking at an increase of almost twice that rate until then.

That then leaves me 44 weeks to increase by a further 13.1 miles (or just under 0.3 miles a week) - and as the recommendation is to not increase mileage by more than 10%/week it's more than safe to constantly take it up by that much :T

Hi cw18

From a fellow runner,good luck with the ballot!I am in awe of anyone who decides to run a marathon.Hope you get a place.

Another NSD today.

Whether you're working or off (I 'm working Fri/Mon),Happy Easter!

fedupandskint

Its another NSD for me making it a fabulous 5, yes 5, say it again 5 for the first time ever in a row! :j

NSD 11

Tomorrow may be a spend day and if not Sat will be. Not sure if I can get to 6 in a row!

LittleMissHappy_2

:wave:

Hi everyone

TGIF I haven't had another NSD, just thought I would check in I have been DTD-ing again I just can't resist a bargain! I might have to get my DH to buy a chest freezer for the garage!


cw18 - I am going to see if I can get a place in VLM 2012 as well, so might see you there Hopefully we can spur each other on x

ETA - How embarrassing Feels like a Friday because I've had a few vinos in the garden with one of my besties and DH is off tomorrow

cw18

LittleMissHappy wrote: »

TGIF

Ummmmm - hate to tell you this, but it's actually only Thursday

cw18 - I am going to see if I can get a place in VLM 2012 as well, so might see you there Hopefully we can spur each other on x

Ooooooo...... fingers crossed we both hit lucky then

I'm not looking forward to the financial implications (entry fee, travel, accomodation for at least 3 nights as I'd plan to travel down on the Friday and not come home until at least the Monday, food etc), but I have an endowment which is no longer used as security against a mortgage due to mature next March - so even if I don't manage to save up quite enough, at least lack of funds shouldn't cause me to have to cancel

butdoineedit?

solventsoon wrote: »

Now come on, sf, you'll have BDINI after you with the sledgehammer and me with my bum kicking smiley if you keep that up.

You've got 9 of the little darlings, that's pretty good going by anyone's standards.:T:T

((((((hugs))))))
spoon xx

Absolutely SF, what Spoon says, 9 is great!!!
Now where is that sledgehammer..... *starts rummaging in the understairs cupboard, muttering "it has to be here somewhere!!*