Jolly June's NSD Challenge!

IF

Hello and Welcome to all the New NSD'ers joining us this month :beer:

slowlyfading wrote: »

Please can you to highlight your number of NSDs in a colour and in bold and preferrably LARGE so that I can see them easily when I whizz through the posts - any colour will do, though I am personally partial to PURPLE

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!

caledonian_princess

I just about squeaked in last month so I'll go for 8 again, I don't want to set myself up for a fail.

wouldbeqaulitymoneysaver

I had better aim for 7 NSD'S even though hopefully please God I might be able to aim for a good bit of scotland as well as feet remedied and flat.*crosses fingers*.:beer: Best wishes to all.x:money:

castri09_2

hi i would love to join this month can i go for 10nsd please

mrs.butler

Hi can I please go for 15 this month. First month of trying, plus have a birthday weekend, festival, wedding and city break, so may be pushing it a bit!! xx

jintyb

Nargleblast wrote: »

Shezam - wash your mouth out with soap (MSE BOGOF recycled environmentally friendly soap of course!) No f words allowed here!

Big M - Cheryl's race on the 19th I think? (Correct me if I'm wrong, just too darn lazy to search the previous posts) I think I threatened her with having a crowd of NSD gang members surrounding you in your deckchair (I have condemned you to eternity in that deck chair) wearing various fancy dress items lining up along the home strait shouting "Yoooo Hooooo, CW! It's us! We're here!" and Igor doing some kind of barbecue thing. Any further ideas, folks?

Then the Solstice - couple of days or so later, anyone got the actual date for us? All of us dressed up in our kaftans (no, Igor, it is not a Ku Klux Klan convention) drinking dodgy mead or nettle beer, dancing around the altar stone at sunrise after a funfilled day at the fair? (Yes Igor, all you will have to do is lie still on that nice comfy stone bed with some ropes around you to keep you safe. Take no notice of the mad woman with the knife).

Are we all ready for a purplicious NSD month then?

Did we not disgrace ourselves horribly at our Midsummer bash last year? If so we def have to do it again! Plus, in addition to Cheryl's race, the 19th is my Birthday so it's back to mine after for £ambrusco and twiglets. I'll get the records(!) out!LOL!

kerri_gt

Ohhh Jints - can I bring Lambrini and cheese with pineapple on sticks to your birthday bash? PLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEE

Can you beleive i didn't 'know' you guys on the last Midsummer bash?

beanielou

kerri_gt wrote: »

Ohhh Jints - can I bring Lambrini and cheese with pineapple on sticks to your birthday bash? PLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEE

Can you beleive i didn't 'know' you guys on the last Midsummer bash?

Me neither.

Nargleblast

Cheesy pineapples ......yummy!

So that's Cheryl's race and Jinty's birthday the 19th, and solstice 20th? What a lot of celebrating we have got in store!

Spending-wise I have just fallen out with my car insurance firm for messing me around so have spent this evening getting quotes and signing up with a different firm. Nothing's ever easy, is it? Tomorrow will be a spendy day as it is the dreaded first of the month (white rabbits and all that) but I will definitely get the ball rolling towards my target of 12 before the week is over.

Counting down to 1st of June and let battle commence!

karom

Hello, just made my May target by the end of my teeth.

Can you put me down in June for 12 NSD

Thank you - Good luck all.