Making mayhem in May with the NSD challenge

Lula-Hula

Hello,

just popping by to declare NSD 6

Well done to everyone.

IF

Good evening all :hello:

Reporting in Spoony,got my 7th NSD today thank you x :A

bellkat

Number 4 for me today. Quite unexpected, but at least they're going up!!

Kath

wouldbeqaulitymoneysaver

Hopefully in next ten minutes I can claim NSD 4 but till then... aubergine and spicy cream chickpeas to pzz up my couscous leftovers. *STRAIGHT ACCOUNTING* and drifting purposely into NSD Nirvana.

wouldbeqaulitymoneysaver

Hiya NSD *Angels*
I did it! NSD 4!!!:money::beer::D
Done through 1 hour on Stepper. good, Cooking good, Apprentice and TV Drifting good and bad as sad mood ATM, not going to Tesco's 10 mins walk away. Using Timer on Iphone 3GS to time activities. I claim no merits than grab the Accounting NSD!! but wooooha!!:A

wouldbeqaulitymoneysaver

2 more NSD to go this week?

solventsoon

Hi lovely gang:A

Well, better late than never, that's my motto and I'm sticking to it:D

Well done to everyone for the NSDs grabbed on Tuesday - I’m not going to mention numbers here or you’ll all get confused as I’m a day behind sf


Well done to:

:j:jthrifty fifty - and hope you managed to avoid the rain

:j:jjinty - eeek to the toothache, you’re certainly having some problems at the moment. Hopefully it will settle down over the next couple of days and let you enjoy your hols

:j:jif - you’re doing well after a spendy weekend, keep avoiding the chocolate

:j:jTixy -much better month for you, you’re in danger of meeting your target - go on, you can do it!!

:j:jkatenut - fingers crossed for a low spend week, you’re doing well, keep going!

:j:jpinkfluffybabe - glad you’re enjoying the challenge, it is indeed all about planning and a bit of determination, that’s about it really. You’re doing great, keep going!

:j:jThe Dragon - over halfway now, that’s brilliant, keep it up!!

:j:jsuzie wong - the NSDs are definitely getting wise and avoiding us all this month, but you’ve caught a fair few, well done!

:j:jchrisico - and you have every right to feel smug, you’re doing brilliantly for a first time, well done!! Errr....... I don’t suppose you’d like to come and clean my house, would you??

:j:jmrs motivated - yay to your first, official NSD, that’s brilliant!! Fingers crossed for Wednesday and no 2. Keep going, you can do it!

:j:jLittleMissHappy - oooh what a lovely sister preserving your NSD for you. Hope the whoopsie hunt went well (and they were a little easier to find that NSDs, I could have lent you my butterfly net if I’d known)

:j:jWee Pilsbury - hope you’re still smiling, you’re doing great on the NSD front as well

:j:jmiss_t - good news about the c/c refund. The job sounds great and right up your street, keeping my fingers crossed for you

:j:jdmb - you’re doing well, keep going!!

:j:jKeiss - great start to the month for you, keep it up!! Eek to the fuel bill, I hope it wasn’t too painful

:j:jrising from the ashes - you’re doing brilliantly and great news for your 3 in a row as well. I’ve added your next 3 in a row as well now, good luck with that. Hope your dog is OK and his skin clears up

:j:jangelflower - a third of the way there now, you can do it, keep going!

:j:jMadone13 - good news about the free lunch, surprise NSDs are definitely the best

:j:jfedupandskint - and another surprise NSD, yay!!

:j:jelfen - nearly halfway now, yay!! and very nearly at your 4 in a row as well!! Hope the move went OK?

:j:jBDINI - glad you’re feeling much better, my that was a productive and very organised day, well done!!

:j:jBlimusOreilly - now, young Blimus, what’s all this about “only” NSD no2? There’s nothing wrong with 2 NSDs, you should be proud of them or they’ll go and sulk somewhere in the corner .... Keep going, you can do it!

:j:jdonna dynamo - halfway is brilliant, well done!!! Sounds as though you have lots more coming along as well, keep going!!

:j:jbottleofred - you’re doing well, keep it up!! How’s the new car, are you pleased with it?

:j:jbeanielou - nearly halfway now, you can do it!! How’s the decluttering going?

:j:jRock_Cakes - yay!! to a third of the way through, that’s brilliant!!

:j:jBuffy - sorry work is being so horrible, hope it improves soon. Ahhhhh to the guinea pig, they are sooo cute, I’m sure it’s being spoilt rotten

:j:jwouldbequalitymoneysaver - you’re doing well, keep going!

:j:jmuffin man 7 - you really are having much more than your share of bad luck at the moment, fingers crossed things start to improve for you soon.

:j:jhannah:-) - yay to halfway, that’s fantastic, well done!! Of course you can keep the momentum going, just keep posting and we’ll keep encouraging you!!

:j:jNargle - nearly halfway now, you can do it!!

:j:jLula - you can do it, keep going and you’ll get there!!


Hello to:

shezam and fenna - don’t lose hope, there are loads of potential NSDs left in May, you can do it!!

Souk08 - nothing wrong with one NSD, it’s a heck of a lot better than none. Sometimes only chocolate will do, but there’s always next week, no excuses then

Nichelette - nothing wrong with two NSDs, you’ve got plenty of time to grab the rest, you can do it!! Hope your birthday went well, I think we may be able to rustle up some birthday cake for you

CatherineMM - oh dear, sorry about the school fees, fingers crossed for Wednesday



Off to update the front page from sf's earlier update, back in a bit to round up the stragglers:D:D


spoon xx

solventsoon

thrifty_fifty wrote: »

Ok so yesterday I was naughty in the end and spent £2. A bit of a carpy time at work at the moment with redundancies, risk of redundancies and so on, so needed a little something at lunchtime. I'll net it off with my actual no spend day tomorrow.

Well done everyone, keep going. xx

(((hugs))) tf, I'm really sorry to hear that. It's the not knowing that's the worst in my experience. Hope things sort themselves out very soon for you.

Take care
spoon xx

IF

solventsoon wrote: »

Off to update the front page from sf's earlier update, back in a bit to round up the stragglers:D:D


spoon xx

Got you this Spoon to round us stragglers up with

IF

solventsoon 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!