The “how many paydays ‘til Xmas” November NSD challenge

solventsoon

:jWELCOME TO THE NOVEMBER NSD CHALLENGE:j



November: the clocks have gone back, dark evenings arrive and we’re all depressed at the onset of winter. No need to sit and be gloomy on your own, come and join us in the NSD challenge, we’ll make you feel at home and give you the odd laugh or two along the way.

And another reason to join us in the NSD challenge. This is the start of a very expensive time for most of us, with pressure to buy presents and all the other paraphernalia associated with Xmas, so come and join our happy (and some might say mildly insane) bunch in our battle with the retailers conspiring to tempt us to part with our hard-earned cash - and there’s plenty of temptation at the moment. We are seriously committed to saving money, but nobody said it can't be done with a smile on your face - so we organise riotous nights out and gatecrash any function going - all without leaving the comfort of our own imaginations or armchairs!



On a slightly more serious note, we are here to help each other avoid spending for the number of days we feel we can manage to try to take back some control over our hard-earned money. What you class as a "spend'" is entirely your choice; some people will try to shop on the days DD/SO etc are paid, whilst others will not include essentials such as rent. Have a look for a post from our sponsor (and godmother of this thread) BigMummaF, this contains some guidelines and ideas for starting you off on the challenge.

It’s amazing how inventive you get when you’re determined NOT to spend - from weird menu ingredients to surprising DIY solutions - but you know what? 99% of the time those wacky ideas work.



Apart from Bonfire Night there lots of other things for us to celebrate - see below:

3rd November - Nelson’s statue was hauled to the top of the column in Trafalgar Square
4th November - Tomb of King Tutankhamen was discovered
8th November - The fruit and veg market in Covent Garden closed after 300 years
21st November - First flight by man in a hot air balloon
30th November - St Andrew’s Day


The link to last month’s thread is below so you can see what a friendly group we are. New recruits are joining up all the time - everyone is welcome so please don’t be shy, come and join us, the more the merrier.


:)Good luck everyone, our lucky mascot is joining us again for November:)



Here are some threads to help keep us on the straight and narrow, if you know of others, please post. Many of the lunch box ideas are aimed toward children and are great ideas to help balance the budgets.

March Grocery Challenge, with lots of recipe ideas.
Tinned Food Recipes.
Leftovers? Don’t Throw It..
Exciting Sandwich Fillings on a Budget.
Lunch for Work.
Laptop Lunchbox Ideas.
Packed Lunches.
Cheap Healthy Snacks
Cheap Snack Ideas to Stop Buying Crisps.
Homemade Snack Ideas…contains further links for ideas.
Sprouting Seeds to Eat.
Really Quick & Alternative Snacks.
Easy Homemade Biscuits.
Muesli & Cereal Bar Recipes.
Weetabix Cake.
HM Popcorn.
Smoothie Recipes.
Yoghurt Without a Yoghurt Maker.
Ham Economics.
Low Carb Kids Lunches...contains advice for diabetics.
Kids Lunch Box Ideas.
Back to School Lunches.
Healthy Kids Snacks.
HM Lollies.
Ice Lolly Ideas
Cheap Healthy Playground Snacks.
Homemade Fudge.
OS HM Sweets.
Forgotten Puddings.
Making chocolates or sweets

Link to last month's challenge is below so any newcomers can see what we get up to (hmmmmm... on second thoughts, that might put you off...)



[threadbanner]box[/threadbanner]

solventsoon

Hope you like the prizes this month, they're in honour of the anniversary of Covent Garden closing

target met =target no 2 met = target no 3 met = target no 4 met = target exceeded =

Thanks to all the regulars and newbies who have joined up already.



ashleighsalem - 7 6

beanielou - 14 14 target increased - 17 16 target increased again - 21 18
Betsie2010 - 10 5
blindtoast - 10 9
bottleofred - 17 17 target increased - 21 21target exceeded - 22
butdoineedit? - 15 15 target increased - 18 18 target increased again - 20 20 target exceeded - 21
Butti - 8 7

chezabelle - 10 6
chris81418 - 19 19 target exceeded - 21
cuddlymarm - 14 14target exceeded - 16

debtfree future - 7 4
debtfreeju - 15 15
Decluttering - 7 7 target exceeded - 10
donna dynamo - 15 10

ebayqueen - 10 8
elfen - 14 14
emiesq - 10 4
emmalet - 10 10 target increased - 15

fedupandskint - 15 11
flying_fresian - 10 10 target exceeded - 11
freebyfifty - 15 15 target increased - 18 18 target increased again - 20 20 target exceeded - 21
freshair - 15 15
Frodobaggins - 12 12 target increased - 16 16

greenanne - 15 12

his missus - 16 14
honey - 12 7

ifwishes - 17 13
Igamogam - 10 10 target increased - 15 13
iwanttogoonholiday - 10 7

jaffacakegal - 16 16
jintyb - 15 15
jodie114 - 10 5

Keiss21 - 18 16
kerri gt - 12 12 target exceeded - 14
Knitting Nora - 10 10 target exceeded - 11

Learning2Budget - 12 9
LittleMissHappy - 10 10
LondonGirl252 - 10 10 target exceeded - 11
lotti379 - 12 12
Lula-Hula - 15 1
lvm - 15 1
lynnette78 - 10

marmiterulesok - 16 16 target exceeded - 17
mfu1098 - 15 15
milann - 15 1
ModestyB - 10 10
ms_night_ryder - 10 8
muffin man 7 - 10 10 target exceeded - 18
myteeduck - 16 16

Nargleblast - 15 14

ollieandme - 10 3

Palmarosa - 15 2
pipersky - 15 12
positivelypurple - 10 5

QueenB. - 10 5

RhiBi - 10
rising from the ashes - 15 10

Sarahlou51 - 15 15
shezam - 8 8
ShrinkingSavingKaren - 10
SillyBlondie - 15 14
slowlyfading - 15 15 target increased - 18 18 target exceeded - 20
Smoosh - 10 1
solventsoon - 20 20 target increased - 24 24 target exceeded - 25
SpendSpendSpend - 18
steerpiker - 16 13
suzitiger - 10 10 target increased - 11 11

The Dragon - 10 10 target increased - 15 15 target exceeded - 16
toottifrootti - 14 14
TwelveStopsThenHome - 11 9

Vickyb1903 -

wannabehermit - 10 6
wouldbequalitymoneysaver - 15 7

YORKSHIRELASS - 15 10

zafiro1984 - 12 12 target exceeded - 16

solventsoon

This is for anyone who wants to set themselves a target for a number of NSDs in a row. We had some impressive numbers on this over the past few months so if anyone would like to have a go at this, I'll add you here:D


chris81418 - 6 in a row

muffin man 7 - 6 in a row
The Dragon - 5 in a row - woohoo, made it


greenanne - 5 in a row

lynnette - 5 in a row

Keiss21 - 4 in a row

Frodobaggins - 4 in a row - woohoo, made it

debtfreeju - 4 in a row

QueenB. - 4 in a row

wannabehermit - 3 in a row
steerpiker - 3 in a row - woohoo, made it

solventsoon

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!

jintyb

Wow! I'm the first post!!

Thanks Spoon for setting us up for the penultimate push of the year!

Can you please put me down for 15 this month?

freebyfifty

Hi there,

Please can I join in? I have been challenging myself for the last couple of weeks but have been waiting until the November challenge to really motivate me.


I would like to try for 15 this month.

Thank you

Learning2Budget

Would like to have another try at12nsdplease this month please.x

TwelveStopsThenHome

11 this month

bottleofred

Hi Solvent and fellow NSDers,

I'd like to go for 15NSDs this month please:D

shezam

Hi all,

Didn't do too great last month, fell by the wayside at about 5. going for 8 again though this month, I've done myself a projection and turns out I only have £7 a day untill next payday!

Argh! So defo need a few NSD's this month! Good luck everyone i'll defo be reporting in!

Suzi x

marmiterulesok

Hi fellow NSDers!

I'm feeling very motivated (not usual for a Monday or for November),so would like to put myself down for 16 NSDs please.

Thanks!