Have an adventure in August with the NSD challenge

toottifrootti

hi everyone - hope you have all been doing better than me - I have had a poor start to this month!

anyway I am trying to get back on track and had a NSD on saturday and sunday so I now have 3/20

dannie

Okay thanks LittleMissHappy.

Learning2Budget

Another nsd acheived over the weekend taking me to NSD 3 should have been a 4th, but had major car trouble, so didn't manage it. Plus side the car didn't blow up although it did smoke an awful lot!! :@

fakeplastictwee

LittleMissHappy wrote: »

fakeplastictwee - :j for number 2 How is your Mums poor Siamese today?

Thanks Cat seems a bit better in himself, been back to the vet today, she definitely thinks it's not an infection and it's more along the lines of heart trouble, but he is on low dose heart medication at the moment so if that can control it then it's hopeful. Will have to wait and see what the next x-ray shows on Wednesday.

Today will be a spend day... I'm about to go and get my mop chopped so that'll be the best part of £40 gone :eek:

shezam

Hi all,

I'm gonna join in a bit late this month you don't mind adding me? I've spent eveyday this month since I got paid (29th July) shocking!!!

I keep joining challenges then not returning when I haven't succeeded I guess i'm maybe a bit embarressed. Anyways, please put me down for 8 NSD's and good luck to all who have have gained loads already.

Have to get bread, milk & banana's tonight but thats it as went for a major shop at weekend. Also need to get my eyebrows done at some point this week but not booked anything yet so might not be untill Fri and hopefully I can rack up some NSD's.

Right i'm rambling, thanks & good luck xxx

SpendSpendSpend

I was too tired to login yesterday but it was a NSD so that takes me to 5 for the month.

I'm going to declare today's NSD now as I'm feeling really fed up and want some chocolate but I refuse to have a spend day so by declaring now it means I won't buy anything.

With today that takes me to 6. I'm really pleased as that means I've reached my first target. (If the window cleaner turns up tonight he's a dead man!)

I thought with it being my first time doing a challenge like this I'd find it quite hard but I suppose not having much money this month is actually making it easy.

I'm going to increase my target to 15 now as I'm determined to keep this going.

I'm sorry I haven't properly read through everyone's posts so I'm not sure what I've missed but happy birthday, congratulations, commisserations, get well soon and good luck to anybody and everybody that needs it!:)

dannie

7NSD this month so far. Today I've been doing other moneysaving tasks but also "plotting" to avoid buying milk. Going to see if my own "milk" ingredients at home will be suitable.

However, have been checking prices of milk and online Tesco have an offer until 9/8/11 for the Aria Lactofree milk (fresh or UHT 1 litre at 2 for £2). Don't know whether this will be at your local store rising from the ashes. Wondering whether to try some myself!

lotti379

OOPS. :whistle:

Well after my positive thinking this morning, things have gone a bit to pot! Took all my uniform and kit back to TA (well, OTC, same thing but different) today and said goodbye to the place, really strange feeling. I joined in my 2nd year of uni when everything else was falling apart, and so the military routine has been a bit of a lifesaver... some stability in the face of everything else crumbling (makes the latest round of spending cuts/changes personally irritating as well as strategically questionable!). I may be going to Sandhurst, doing the regular officer thing, but not sure at the moment as haven't taken the final assessment as yet. So it may be goodbye to the army for me... Weird. :cool:

Anyway, back to the point - I was feeling really fed up, about some uni stuff too, and had an absolute a******e in a VW driving rather dangerously as I came off the motorway on the way home... gesticulated at me for having the temerity to slow down on the way up to a roundabout... how foolish of me. (I know slow drivers are a real pain but I came off the motorway at 70 and it isn't a very long sliproad, so I wasn't continuing to accelerate... i didn't think that was inappropriate. But then, I seem to attract trouble from VW drivers. I don't mind someone being a prat as much if they're driving a maserati or a lambo or something, but a VW Passat, really? Humph.)

So, I took myself to Nando's for lunch, spoiling my NSD! ( )Was delish though, and I ate sooo much. Must have been hungry! But I think the powers that be did not approve of me wasting my potential NSD in Nando's, as I left the place to encounter a light drizzle, which turned into torrential rain in a matter of minutes! I got totally soaked to the skin, and was wearing suede boots of all things ( :eek: ). So back home, and the heating is on (in AUGUST!!) to try and dry out my soaking garments before a long drive tomorrow...

IF

Afternoon all :hello:


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!

Lily_The_Legend

Aw Lotti, sounds like you're having one of those days! Don't beat yourself up for not having a NSD!