The jubilant July NSD challenge

Nargleblast

ifwisheswerehorses... wrote: »

:A




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!

And some wise words from BigMumma, Spoon and Ifwishes.....

slowlyfading

Number 5 for me today

muffin_man_7

niccatw wrote: »

Crikey, where are you muffin man? We just had thunder and lightening and sheet rain that would have knocked me right over if we'd gone ahead with our walking marathon training - but we decided we'd find something better to do - like stay in work until it passed!

No NSD again today; forgot to take my lunch in so spent £1 on that. And still never made it to the post office. So tomorrow isn't looking good either...

Just setting myself up for a challenge later in the month!


Just checked on google maps and it says i'm 237 miles away from you rain stopped now hope its stopped where you are

eta 237 should be minute and 185 miles good job i don't drive lol

fedupandskint

I'm on 3 NSD so far

beanielou

NSD no 7 & 7 in a row.

marmiterulesok

Nargleblast wrote: »

Stapler - peanut butter sarnies....now you're talking! Protein, fat, carbohydrate - add a banana for the minerals and fibre and you have all your daily requirements in one tasty lunch. Better than a soggy limp sarnie from the sarnieshop!

Goodness me ,what good taste you have!

That's a great sarnie combo,though my personal preference is peanut butter,banana and honey-for me an instant pick-me-up.

Also known as the 'self pity special'!:D

niccatw

muffin_man_7 wrote: »

Just checked on google maps and it says i'm 237 miles away from you rain stopped now hope its stopped where you are

eta 237 should be minute and 185 miles good job i don't drive lol

Yup, it's been sunny (relatively speaking) since. But I appear to have forgotten to go for my walk! Oops!

beanielou

Im hungry.
This loosing weight is hard :rotfl:

LittleMissHappy_2

marmiterulesok wrote: »

That's a great sarnie combo,though my personal preference is peanut butter,banana and honey-for me an instant pick-me-up.

Also known as the 'self pity special'!:D

I love nutella, peanut butter and banana toastie They taste a bit like a snickers bar, but healthier (well, healthier than a snickers bar!) Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm:T

Anyway, no NSD for me today as went to see Transformers at the cinema with my DH, but we can't tell the children :rotfl: (they will kill us!)

Hope you all enjoy the rest of your evening, I'm off to bed xxx

strawberriesandcream

Hi everyone, I've been away for a few days, I had a tooth taken out so I've been feeling a bit sorry for myself! So there was a bit of spending to make myself feel better.... oops

On a brighter note,NSD number 2 today

Hope you're all enjoying your evening!