The jubilant July NSD challenge

IF

Afternoon NSD'ers :hello:






Written by solventsoon aka Spoon our hero:-

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!

IF

jintyb wrote: »

You made I laugh Jinty :rotfl::rotfl:

kerri_gt

Oh yikes! It's raining cats, dogs and other assorted animals in this neck of the woods too today - prob my fault for planning some gardening. Still at least the plants will enjoy a good drink - oh and the frog I saw earlier hopping across the garden.

elfen

Gonna do anothjer early declare and say NSD no 13 for me please

LittleMissHappy_2

I had to take DD to football today and, honestly, I have never been so wet! Even my underwear was wet!!! Yesterday was summer dress wearing day and today I had to root out my waterproofs (which btw, did not work!)

I had the most lovely news last night...my friend has just agreed to marry her partner of several years. They are a really lovely couple and I am so happy for them

Hope you all have a lovely day today..I am expecting a phone call from my sis as I am her birth partner and she always has her children on a Saturday This one is two days late, so she should be making an appearance soon :beer:

LittleMissHappy_2

Meant to add that today is not an NSD as I bought myself a coffee at the ice rink this morning as I was freezing and needed to wake up :cool:

beanielou

A bit of help please lovely peeps.
If i want to use someones avator on another site if there an easy way to do it?
Remember I am technically challanged~ fact.

cw18

right mouse click on the avatar
select 'save image as' from the menu that appears, then figure out where on your computer to save it (so that you can find it again)
the site you want to use it on should have an 'upload from computer' options when selecting an image to use as an avatar

beanielou

You are a star Cheryl

bottleofred

Good afternoon folks from a very wet, cold and windy NI. The wine warehouse was closed today, not sure if it's because of the holidays, but the good thing is I managed to avoid spending cash on wine:eek:. There's always next week though! As I'm not going out, I'm therefore declaring NSD10:beer: