The Solvent September NSD Challenge

IF

Afternoony all :hello:





Hi NSD'ers Could I ask you please to highlight your number of NSDs in a colour and in bold so that BDINI can see them easily, thank you :A



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!

money_honey

Another NSD for me, bringing my total to 5/10 NSD's. Half way there now! I really hope I can manage the full 10!

slowlyfading

Not one for me today either, needed to pick up a prescription.

debbiedeejay

NSD #8 please for me BDINI

Was very good at the meeting today at lunch time - we never went to A$da as I thought we would but popped round to colleagues daughter who lives nearby instead to eat our packed lunches and a free cup of coffee - plus we picked a huge bag of apples each too !

So no spends,free food and a NSD too! :j

rising_from_the_ashes

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

However, new cat food to try which will be a lot cheaper (if the "darlings" will eat it)

Not off to a good start:mad: boy cat wouldn't touch his (gravy) and is currently wandering around yeowling at me in disgust ..... girl cat wouldn't eat hers either (pate), licked the sauce off boy cat's food but wouldn't touch the chunks which is useless....

I give up - honestly, trying to find something cheaper is a nightmare as you've got to buy stuff in packs and if they don't eat it, the rest is useless (although the shelter does benefit).

I waste so much money doing this and don't know why I don't learn to stick to what they will eat (probably as it works out about a £1/day each):(.

Maybe I should stick them in the shelter for a couple of weeks so they appreciate me a bit more ...... (joking of course).

Lewby

Managed to achieve NSD No 7 today. Hitched a ride to work with a friend and made soup for lunch. Had a spendy few days this week as DS needed new shoes and DD needed a few bits for Uni. Hoping for a NDS tomorrow and will save buying milk and other bits til Friday. May have to water milk down a little to make it last but I'm sure no one else will notice!!!

Sorry to hear your news Elfen .... fingers crossed for your little Sis. xx

bottleofred

A spend day for today due to having to purchase liquid gold:mad:. The brut took £79 to fill:eek:
I hope everyone is well and had a good day though, as I havn't got a chance to read the posts yet.

SillyBlondie

NSD no 16 today please BDINI. I have a lot of spend days coming up, so I'm not sure when I will get my next one.

ModestyB

Hi Elfen, I hope everything goes ok for your lil' sis. and that you feel better soon too.

Monday was NSD No. 9 for me so I'll up the ante if I can and try for 15.

Hugs to all.

kerri_gt

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Not off to a good start:mad: boy cat wouldn't touch his (gravy) and is currently wandering around yeowling at me in disgust ..... girl cat wouldn't eat hers either (pate), licked the sauce off boy cat's food but wouldn't touch the chunks which is useless....

I give up - honestly, trying to find something cheaper is a nightmare as you've got to buy stuff in packs and if they don't eat it, the rest is useless (although the shelter does benefit).

I waste so much money doing this and don't know why I don't learn to stick to what they will eat (probably as it works out about a £1/day each):(.

Maybe I should stick them in the shelter for a couple of weeks so they appreciate me a bit more ...... (joking of course).

I totally sympathise with you, ours is exactly the same. she's currently turning her nose up at the 'W' brand in favour of the 'F' one - sadly for here there are two boxes of W in the cupboard which she'll get fed whether she likes it or not (I'm a bad bad furr mummy )

Well, took the jar of curry sauce back to Mr S today (19p refund...same thing is 9p in Mr M..I know it's 'only' 10p diff but every little matters) and resisted spending a thing so NSD #11 for me please :j Need to work on a couple of lists now, going past Mr M tomorrow where I need to make a pit stop, then need to work out if I need to visit Mr T on Sat or just Mr A after cross referencing offers/coupons and end dates on both. Seriously, this coupon malarky is like planning some military operation. :cool: