The "Cripes, Christmas is almost here" December NSD thread

rising_from_the_ashes

Red hope you're staying safe and all is OK - the weather over there looks awful.....

Blindtoast Happy birthday

flying_fresian wrote: »

I might use the last Sainsburys voucher I have instead to buy cat litter and save a NSD

Not sure if Fred and you ever venture to Straiton but there's a big Home Bar*gains there ....... they do various kinds of cat litter - the wood stuff is great quality. (There is also a crystal type one but not tried this).

It only comes in 5L bags which is a bit of a pain but at £1.29 works out really compared to elsewhere.

Happy birthday for tomorrow


Slowly a wee (((hug))) on your last day and fingers crossed for something soon.


Well, no NSD here ...... honestly, I have spent a FORTUNE in the last month (2 mortgage payments, huge vets bill:( followed by new house phones & now ...... a fridge /freezer) I so hope something else doesn't pack in as the emergency fund and practically everything else is wiped out:eek:.

Popped to the Fort and had a look at some fridge/freezers and found one I liked (OK, found several I liked but they were too expensive) - it was £349.99 in store and phoned my dad and he had a search online and found it for £269.99!:eek: (and cashback;) available)

Just shows ....... that's £80 difference!

Delivery not until week Friday :eek: (first available slot and it's all day .... they must be busy as it says you can book 4 hour slots if they're available!).

Should manage until then providing it stays cold.... only downside is that I'll not be able to do my "fresh" shopping until Christmas Eve when the supermarkets will be heaving!:eek:


Thought I'd better get the spending out the way & popped into the garage for a new wiper (£11 something) and booked my car service. Felt a slight palpatation when I was told it was £299:eek: (thought it would be around £200) but there's an offer on so got it for the reduced price (even if it's ended by then, they will honour the price at time of booking) so feeling a bit better as £85 saved there:D.

Small spends at Hobby*craft (pressies) and L*dl (fleecy blanket) .... phew, I will not be stepping foot out the house again today!:o

Frodobaggins

Not sure if today will be a NSD. My car has no petrol in it only fumes. If I have to pick OH up from work later I will have to fill up otherwise call out breakdown services. If however he makes his own way home I can fill up tomorrow on way to work.:o

wannabee_in_credit

elfen wrote: »

Oh, also I'm up to 200 NSDs for the year

Wow. That's fantastic... and I'm on 2. But I've only been going for a few days. Something for me to aspire to next year.
Not a nsd for me today as I'd suspected. Spent £8 in B*M tonight but got my final bit of secret santa and some biscuits for caretakers, technicians and cleaners at work. Keep them sweet and my life is much easier. Plus 3 boxes of biscuits for a fiver seemed like a good price to say thankyou for their hard work.
Plus £3 on my remaining secret santa bits and a teeny treat for me.
Tomorrow I am going for nsd. No excuse not to.

Nargleblast

3 NSDs now for the Nargle!

cw18

last reported in on Friday.....

Saturday was a spend day (general groceries, including garlic bread to go with the bolognese I made for tea and shared with a certain someone)
Sunday was another spend day (forgot to get milk on Saturday, but also picked up Whoopsied meat for a couple of days and Whoopsied cheesecake)
Monday was yet another spend day (D/debit, plus picked up some seasonal cards, batteries for the clock in the living room, a new pair of slippers and a few other bits - all locally)
Tuesday I finally managed NSD #3 :T
Today - yet another spend day. Went out to get a few bits I need for the Christmas do on Saturday (tights, bag and warpaint), plus try and finish of my seasonal present shopping. Didn't manage to cover all the presents though, as I'm struggling for ideas where people haven't made a single suggestion (mainly my boys)

bottleofred

Good evening folks,

Lots of snow here today and I hope everyone is staying warm and safe if having to venture out in it.

Hi Rising, I'm grand thanks and trying to keep warm when possible, as I've got an annoying cold:mad:.


Birthday greetings to Blindtoast and Flyingfresian:).

Declaring NSD11 for today please:beer:

TwelveStopsThenHome

Four NSDs for me out of 13.....two in a row today and yesterday.

mf0u1098

NSD number 7 for me today!!!

ms_night_ryder

NSD 2 for me today, slowly but surely, i don't know if tomorrow will be a spend day yet, picking up my god daughter and having her for the night, then meeting up with my friend and her kids on fri (deffo spend day) I want to make chocolate slabs with my gd, tomorrow evening, so i guess i will have to pick up choc and silicone cases tomorrow and something to decorate it with, £1 shop and mr t's gonna budget for £5 for everything, love having gd around, she's 5 and makes me feel like a big kid. :j

Have all of my presents, debating whether to give my 19 yo cuz money, because i can't think of a gift, havent seen anything she will like, she is hard to buy for.

IF

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!