The jubilant July NSD challenge

IF

Morning all :hello:






Written by solventsoon aka Spoon our inspiration:-

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!

beanielou

Jinty~I love all your pics :j
Hope WW went ok.
Im doing Sc slimmers and trying to do the booster plan for a month.

cw18

Picked up my car this morning - so had to pay the bill, meaning no NSD for me today.

Went down to the Traff0rd Centre, as I decided to check out JL for bedding (and the big Orange DIY store is also down there to check out paper and paint). Stopped at the orange store first, and came away with 3 papers samples - but neither of the 2 I'd been looking at as the colours were wrong for the curtains (took the tie backs with me for matching up purposes)

Then into JL - parked at that side of the centre, went directly into JL and came out again to the car park avoiding all other stores which is a huuuuuuge thing for me Found 3 possibles in JL, and after taking one of each (in packet) to more natural light source to check against tie-backs and the papers I narrowed it to 2 immediately, Another lady who was shopping spotted me looking at things very quizzical as she passed, so stopped for a quick chat and to pass her judgement on them - which came down on the side of the one I was favouring. A huge ouch! on cost compared to the ones I'd picked up at Arg0s, but if they last as long as the ones I have now (9 years, and nothing wrong with them other than wanting a colour change) it doesn't work out tooooo bad on an annual basis.

Then back to the orange store to pick up the paper that went best with the bedding, and get some paint. Even that involved spreading things out on the floor (the paint was in clear tubs, so if I turned them upside down I could get a pretty good check of the paint against bedding, tie-back and paper)

Now home, the paper sample taped to my wall, some paint up next to it (also got a sample pot just in case it didn't look right in the light my room gets, as that would mean I could take full rolls/paint pots back), and a plain pillow case and a tie back draped over my headboard.

So far so good - apart from the fact I've discovered I'm going to have to go back to JL :mad: When I was getting the bedding (with the help of a member of staff who found the opened sample of the cover I was looking at, and draped that over a display bed close to the natural light along with a plain pillow case available as an additional extra so I could check the colour of those and the sheets against them) I said I'd need two of the covers, two fitted sheets and 4 additional pillowcases..... but she clearly didn't pick up on the 'additional', and she failed to point out that the pricey quilt covers don't actually come with any pillowcases at all !!! So it's going to cost me another £40 (:eek: :eek:) to get the patterned ones to go with them :mad: Did quickly debate just getting another 4 plain ones (which would be bad enough at another £12), but I really do think I need the patterned ones on top. I could get free delivery on them (saving petrol), but they're out of stock on-line

So this is the bedding I've gone for (in the blue option if the link doesn't take you directly to that)
And this is the paper
And this is the paint

What doesn't show clearly on the picture of the bedding is that in the pattern strips there are thin elements the same colour of the darkest 'beige' in the paper, and whilst the bedding is paler than the curtains it's the same colour as the paler blue in the flowers on the paper - while the curtains are the darker shade. So a couple of pics to come next - one of the bedding strip, and one of everything as I have it in the room at the moment to check colours - the fabric pieces being draped over my headboard which can be seen to the right of them.

beanielou

Looks just fabarooni Cheryl

positivelypurple

Colour scheme looks fabulous Cheryl.

Well we're over half way through the day and I haven't left the house. Looks like today will be a NSD for me but waiting for some relatives to turn up and may go out with them a little later on.

Hope everyone's enjoying the weather - we are :rotfl:

laura2481

NSD no 3 complete... 5 more to go

mrso2b

I'm here just so busy! I'm up to 10 NSDs

muffin_man_7

kerri_gt wrote: »

Ohhh...sounds like I could've done with your DS round yesterday when I was laying turf on the front garden

I'm not speaking from experience but I understand waterproofs that runners/joggers use can be breathable (Cheryl can prob add more info on that) Not sure about prices but I imagine somewhere like Sports D1rect or Decathl0n should have something at a reasonable price.

Kerri sorry for delay in reply not had my laptop for over a week
thanks for the tip about sportdirect we've got one in town and i've just looked on website in sales bit prices look good so will be planning to call in there as soon as funds allow


I have been keeping track of my nsd and since 12 july i've managed
ANOTHER 6 SO TOTAL SO FAR I MAKE IT 12 hoping to catch up on posts soon as long as my lappy behaves

Stapler_2

marmiterulesok wrote: »

Nnnnoooooooooooooo!!!!

'Look into my eyes,look into my eyes!

You have the power to resist!':cool:


#11 for me please (at last)...:D

Im sorry, I didnt get an NSD yesterday. Had to buy a couple things from supermarket last night so went for a chicken sandwhich during the day seen as I wasnt going to get an NSD But I have resisted to get one today.

I am declaring today as NSD number 14!!!

Im going away over the next few days so will be away from here, put will try to pop on to update I will either get 0 or loads of NSD's see how it goes.

marmiterulesok

Stapler wrote: »

Im sorry, I didnt get an NSD yesterday. Had to buy a couple things from supermarket last night so went for a chicken sandwhich during the day seen as I wasnt going to get an NSD But I have resisted to get one today.

I am declaring today as NSD number 14!!!

Im going away over the next few days so will be away from here, put will try to pop on to update I will either get 0 or loads of NSD's see how it goes.

Well done Stapler!

I've had to spend a considerable sum of money on prescriptions again,but will get back 90% from the insurance company.

I also bought some nippy sweeties to cheer myself up.

Still at#11.


Belated Happy Birthday jaffacakegirl!