The jubilant July NSD challenge

Frodobaggins

Thanks Spoon for my reward, a nice sunny beach. Can it be in Oz please?

IF

Jinty big hugs from me too

marmiterulesok

It was touch and go for a while,and I thought that I'd have to send out for some kippers,but fortuanately I've bagged#12!

Tomorrow should be a doddle:cool:.

Hope that you are all having a lovely spendfree Saturday.

bottleofred

A spend day for me today I'm afraid, as I bought some wine and got the car washed. Solvent, can I please increase my target to 18;)
& thanks for the surfing prize:D

Frodobaggins

Spend day for me too. Eyebrows waxed, false eyelashes bought, meal out with work tonite lol!:eek:
Gonna go for NSD tomorrow.
Frodo x.

Learning2Budget

Ooh took kids to soft play, got them both in for free! Bonus, on track for NSD 9!!!! Just need to stay strong tonight.
L2B.x

Wee_Pilsbury

Hi all

Spendy day here but spent less than £20.00 for weekly shop that includes lunches for work all next week so not bad. Also washed the car the onld fashioned way with a bucket of water and a sponge - saved paying £4 for the car wash

lotti379

Ooh ooh ooh I almost forgot! I got another NSD yesterday, so I have made my target!

7/7!! Woop woop!! :j

kerri_gt

jintyb wrote: »

Well, it was very weird coming downstairs this morning, but I do feel a sense of relief for puss. (Bruce) You dont realise how much their habits and routine are involved in your life until they're not there, IYSWIM.

footie starts in Scotland today, so OH will be watching that and I'm going to chill and read my book.

Have a lovely day everyone!:)

It will seem strange for a while Jints, I can't tell you how odd it felt the fisrt night Big G didn't wake me up sometime between 4am and 6am (he used to scratch the door for his breakfast and to be let out at that time EVERY morning) I actually missed getting out of bed bleary eyed and the broken sleep.

Tell me about the footie starting, OH is beside himself with excitement for the game tomorrow

Well no NSD for me today, topped up a few bits at Mr A and Mr S - annoyingly they didn't have the shower stuff I wanted. Also got some new spuds from the market and another deo from Wilko for OH - bit of a trouting on that as I had a 50p voucher - the checkout girl called the supervisor and she took ages deciding whether or not to take it, with an ever lengthening queue behind me - was rather embarassing and she was going to call the Manager but then decided they'd just tell her to take it anyway so accepted it - all a bit

Prob did spend a bit more than planned today but generally offers on things we'll use. Did a bit of wombling but receipts a bit thin on the ground (all quite quiet as lots of peeps don't get paid til next week). One left to price check tomorrow so fingers crossed.

IF

Afternoon all, I'm being very lazy and eating chocolate!! :eek::eek:






Written by solventsoon aka Spoon our inspirational mentor:-

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!