Have an adventure in August with the NSD challenge

fakeplastictwee

Morning all. Today will be an unexpected spend day as the cats have run out of biscuits (heaven forbid!), so bf has instructed me to pick some up when I leave work. On the plus side, he has volunteered to do this months big food shop to help me get out of my overdraft before they start smacking interest on it. We're also going to swap bank cards to help us both fight the temptation of spending, we know each others PIN so wouldn't be stuck in an emergency.

SpendSpendSpend

Not a happy bunny today! Yesterday should have been a NSD but I stupidly forgot to take a drink with for when I played tennis so I had to buy one.

Having the new MSE mindset I did use my brain & went to Home Bargains and got a 1.5l bottle of water for 29p rather than paying £1.40 for a 500ml bottle at the tennis centre.:p

As I'd broken a NSD for something as stupid as a bottle of water I decided I may aswell visit Mr T to get a few bits of fresh fruit & veg. I went just at the right time as there was a load of whoopsied stuff. I got 4 boxes of the small prepared fruit for 12p each, 4 bags of mixed veg for 10p each, a packet of 8 bananas (still a bit green) for 14p and a few other bits. When I got to the till it came to £2.42 and I had a clubcard voucher for £2.50 (I found out online that I had an unused voucher from 2009 that was due to expire at the end of this month so I re-printed it) but was told that I couldn't use it unless the total of my goods came to £2.50 or above. At this point I'd got all I wanted and was determined I wasn't going to spend any money so I went back to the reduced section to get another 10p pack of veg (decided I'd allow myself to spend 2p!!) but found a small turnip reduced to 8p which brought my total to exactly £2.50.:T

I was so happy walking out of the store having got what I wanted but not having to hand over any cash. It's amazing that now I'm so focused on moneysaving/reducing my debt how something so small & daft can make me so happy!

Anyway, I must get back on the NSD trail again today although somebody's asked me to play tennis again tonight. I've remembered my drink but I'm not sure if I'll have to pay to play tonight. Fingers crossed I don't as I don't want to ruin another NSD.

shezam

Hello! Yesterday was #2 for me as was spent in bed ill, much better today though back at work and todays already a spend as £1 bus to work, also need to get stuff for stir fry for tea, nom nom nom!

Hope everyone has a good day, the weather up here is horrible!
Sx

Lily_The_Legend

Well we didn't go out last night, but as it was a spend day anyway, we had dinner from the fish and chip shop

Today will be another spend day! :eek: Don't know when I'm going to fit the final 15 in! :rotfl:

Learning2budget, hope you had a good birthday! _party_

Get well soon to anyone who's under the weather.

Igamogam

Morning - when will the rain stop please??? Anyway NSD number 6 for me please - wont be any today........grocery delivery later

Keiss_21

Morning all...good to see so many NSDs being collected this month, well done everyone :T

Declaring today as NSD no 7 ... crafting and tidying all day, so going nowhere. :Dy crafting and DIY.

Have a great day all x

jintyb

Good morning all!
Big thanks to LittleMissHappy for the roundup!


Have been busy this morning. Been to A$da and got a massive shop, so I'm well stocked up. I stuck to my list and came in bang on budget! ( Albeit a little higher budget than usual!)
Have been to my weigh-in and I lost another 2lbs this week! I'm delighted!:j I also won the raffle, so I got the cookbook I've had my eye on. Lots of yummylicious recipes to try!:j

I am now in for the day as it is monsoon-style rain here today! Think I'll be getting my card-making gear out, it's just the weather for it!

Spend, spend spend, and Kerri - I am in awe of your bargains and frugalness ( is that a word? If not it should be!) Wonderful!

BDINI - glad you're on the road to recovery!

Have a lovely day everyone - stay dry and stay safe!:)

beanielou

Great loss Jinty.
Im lost 1 1/2 this week.
Nearly into next stone!

IF

Morning all :hello:

Wiggle your ears and smile its Thursday!! :dance:





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!

cw18

fakeplastictwee wrote: »

I'm really hoping today will be another NSD, there's no reason why not, I'm only at work for 4 hours and I've got petrol and don't need anything else! The difficulty is that I work in a supermarket part time, and the temptation of walking across the shop floor as I leave work! I'm getting much better though. Will report back later to confirm.

I'm in the same situation - supermarket job for 9 hrs on a Monday, 8 on a Tuesday, and 4 each on Wed, Thur & Fri....... with all my shifts (apart from Tue) ending at 5pm as the decent reductions get underway