The jubilant July NSD challenge

solventsoon

:jWELCOME TO THE JULY NSD CHALLENGE:j


Why “jubilant” - well, July is one of the hottest months of the year (hopefully), it is nearly the end of the school year and summer holidays are approaching, what more excuse do we need to be jubilant?


Some interesting dates for July:
2 July - equal voting rights were granted to women in Britain in 1928
15 July - St Swithin’s Day (no comment)
21 July - Apollo 11 landed on the moon in 1969
25 July - Whitstable Oyster Festival - an outing for us, possibly?


For anyone who hasn’t joined us before, we are a happy (and some might say mildly insane:D bunch doing battle with those retailers - and there’s plenty of temptation all around us. We are seriously committed to saving money, but nobody said it can't be done with a smile on your face - so we organise riotous nights out and gatecrash any function going - all without leaving the comfort of our own imaginations or armchairs!

On a slightly more serious note, we are here to help each other avoid spending for the number of days we feel we can manage to try to take back some control over our hard-earned money. What you class as a "spend'" is entirely your choice; some people will try to shop on the days DD/SO etc are paid, whilst others will not include essentials such as rent. Have a look for a post from our sponsor (and godmother of this thread) BigMummaF, this contains some guidelines and ideas for starting you off on the challenge.

It’s amazing how inventive you get when you’re determined NOT to spend - from weird menu ingredients to surprising DIY solutions - but you know what? 99% of the time those wacky ideas work.


The link to our June thread is below so you can see what a friendly group we are. New recruits are joining up all the time - everyone is welcome so please don’t be shy, come and join us, the more the merrier.


:)Good luck everyone, our lucky mascot is joining us again for July





Here are some threads to help keep us on the straight and narrow, if you know of others, please post. Many of the lunch box ideas are aimed toward children and are great ideas now that the school holidays are approaching.

March Grocery Challenge, with lots of recipe ideas.
Tinned Food Recipes.
Leftovers? Don’t Throw It..
Exciting Sandwich Fillings on a Budget.
Lunch for Work.
Laptop Lunchbox Ideas.
Packed Lunches.
Cheap Healthy Snacks
Cheap Snack Ideas to Stop Buying Crisps.
Homemade Snack Ideas…contains further links for ideas.
Sprouting Seeds to Eat.
Really Quick & Alternative Snacks.
Easy Homemade Biscuits.
Muesli & Cereal Bar Recipes.
Weetabix Cake.
HM Popcorn.
Smoothie Recipes.
Yoghurt Without a Yoghurt Maker.
Ham Economics.
Low Carb Kids Lunches...contains advice for diabetics.
Kids Lunch Box Ideas.
Back to School Lunches.
Healthy Kids Snacks.
HM Lollies.
Ice Lolly Ideas
Cheap Healthy Playground Snacks.
Homemade Fudge.
OS HM Sweets.
Forgotten Puddings.
Making chocolates or sweets

Link to last month's challenge is below so any newcomers can see what we get up to (hmmmmm... on second thoughts, that might put you off...;))

solventsoon

I've decided to go for a beach holiday theme for this month's prizes as I think we all need a holiday:D Hope you enjoy the seaside break

target met = target no 2 met =
target no 3 met = target no 4 met =
target exceeded =


Thanks to all the regulars and newbies who have joined up already. Hoping lots more of you will come along for the ride catching NSDs:D


Actress - 7 1
AlyBaly - 9 9 target exceeded - 10

batgirl21 - 10 2
BDINI - 10 10
beabea81 - 16
beadgirl87 - 6 6 target exceeded - 9
beanielou - 15 15 target exceeded - 19 target increased - 22 21
bellkat - 12 10
Bexterragga - 12 12 target exceeded - 16
BigMummaF - 18 15
bottleofred - 12 12 target increased - 15 15 target increased again - 18 18 target exceeded - 19
boultdj - 15 15
Butti - 8 4

ChihiroSen - 6
chris81418 - 19 19 target exceeded - 22
chrisico - 14 10
Cleosmum - 10
cuddlymarm - 16 10
cw18 - 12 10

donna dynamo - 15 10

elfen - 15 15 target increased - 18 18 target increased again - 20 20
elsiepac - 10

fedupandskint - 17 10
Frodobaggins - 8 8 target increased - 10 10

GeorgieFTB - 10 7

happydaddy01 - 15
hannah:-) - 10
hotspur_pam - 10

ifwishes... - 17 15
iwanttogoonholiday - 3

jaffacakegal - 15 13
jintyb - 15 12

karen is trying - 14 9
kathy40uk - 15 2
kdenty - 27 6
Keiss 21 - 15 9
kerri gt - 14 13

laura2481 - 8 4
Learning2Budget - 15 12
LittleMissHappy - 10 10
lotti379 - 7 7 target increased - 10
Lula-Hula - 16 8

marmiterulesok - 17 14
mrso2b - 15 11
muffinman7 - 15 12

Nargle - 12 12
Natty68 - 15 12
niccatw - 15 7

Penny pauper - 15
pinkfluffybabe - 15 11
positivelypurple - 10 10 target increased - 12
psychopathbabble - 15 5

Queen.Bess - 11 3

rdchick - 10
redapril - 10 5
rising from the ashes - 15 13
Rock_Cakes - 10 10

shezam - 8
SillyBlondie - 8 8 target increased - 12 12
slowlyfading - 18 15
spoon - 20 20 target exceeded - 22
sprozza - 12 1
Stapler - 15 13
strawberriesandcream - 10 6
Susi_Wa - 8 4
suzitiger - 5 1

The Dragon - 12 12 target increased - 16 16
Tixy - 11 9
TizerCat - 10 10 target exceeded - 11
toottifrootti - 18 11
Trinny - 17 7

Wee Pilsbury - 15 12
wouldbequalitymoneysaver - 10 6

Xandersmum - 10 1

zpr1c3 - 10

solventsoon

This is for anyone who wants to set themselves a target for a number of NSDs in a row. We had some impressive numbers on this over the past few months so if anyone would like to have a go at this, I'll add you here

chris81418 - 6 in a row - woohoooo made it
increased to 7 in a row - woohoooo made it
beanielou - 5 in a row - woohoooo made it
increased to 7 in a row - woohoooo made it
increased to 10 in a row - woohoooo made it
muffinman7 - 5 in a row
Keiss 21 - 4 in a row
Rock_Cakes - 4 in a row
beabea81 - 4 in a row
rising from the ashes - 4 in a row - woohoooo made it
rdchick - 3 in a row
The Dragon - 3 in a row - woohoooo made it
Actress - 3 in a row
Lula-Hula - 3 in a row - woohoooo made it
batgirl21 - 2 in a row
boultdj - 2 in a row
lotti379 - 2 in a row

solventsoon

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!

elsiepac

Hi spoon

I joined last month but only got 3/10 for June. I'm disgusted with myself!

I'd like to try for 10 NSDs for July please, and hope I do a lot better, there's really no excuse!!

Thanks for all your hard work

LC x

positivelypurple

Hi Spoon,

I've missed out on the last couple of NSD challenges due to my general slacking in the MSE area. I'm back on track now so can you put me down for 10 NSDs for July.

I've already got 2 :j:j So 2/10 for me.

chris81418

Good morning everyone! :wave:

Thanks for setting up this month's thread Spoon! :T

I'll pledge my ususal 19 NSDs and 6 NSDs in-a-row please. Thanks again Spoon!

Friday I caught my 1st NSD of the month, and I managed to catch one yesterday too, so I'm off to a good start this month with 2 NSDs so far! :j

Have a good rest of the weekend everyone, and good luck catching NSDs for the month - may July be a good month for all of us!

rdchick

I've got my bucket and spade Spoon!

Count me in for 10 NSDs again and 3 in a row pleaseeeeeee

Hope everyone has a fabulous July!!

Xxxxxx

cuddlymarm

Hi everyone

Well I am back off my holibobs so its time to be good again so can I please be put down for 16 NSDs please.
I hope everyone has kept well and happy while I was away.
Have a good month everyone
Cuddles:)

Wee_Pilsbury

Hi Spoon

Thanks for the shiny new July thread :T

This month I'm going for 15 - I'm really going for it after two months of not hitting target. It's looking good though cos I have ............ NSD 2 so far .

Don't think I'll get one today though but you never know.

Have a great day all

:hello:

Learning2Budget

Morning all, well I am aftet 15 NSD's for July. I joined last month and managed 12, so fingers crossed.x