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

freebyfifty

solventsoon wrote: »

Morning everyone:D

Love the comments about the inner wiggling Nora and freebyfifty:rotfl:

Here's another wiggle for you to join in with, hope this makes you smile as well

That'll be me in Mr T in about half an hour :rotfl:

cw18

And another spend day!!

Plans were to go out for milk. salad and veg very first thing tomorrow morning, then Whoopsies in the afternoon - but I have a sneaky suspicion that I won't be able to make the early trip. So I left the house a half hour early for my PT session, and hit Mr T on that complex before going to the gym.

Knitting_Nora

freebyfifty wrote: »

That'll be me in Mr T in about half an hour :rotfl:

Just remember to stop the trolly dash at the checkout, or you'll be in a different sort of place come Christmas!;)

IF

Morning all

I'm doing the Friday ~ Wiggle ~ :dance:

IF

This made me laugh!! :rotfl:

jaffacakegal

Merry Christmas Eve Eve everyone!

NSD 10 for me yesterday. Alas today has been thwarted as we ordered some flowers for someone at work. She makes food for us everyday, and yesterday she made a full Christmas dinner. As she is muslim she wasn't sure if she had made it right so we wanted to give her a big thanks as it was amazing!

Had a really nice present yesterday, my friend is becoming very MSE and has started entering loads of comps. She won travel vouchers and booked flights for the two of us to New York next October :jWe've been before but it was so cold and so hectic in December, be nice to go back in the fall Definitely time to be making cutbacks to save up now!

JCG xxx

lotti379

Oh wow jaffacakegal - New York in the autumn, how lovely! What a lovely thing to have to look forward to.

I am here to announce I have totally lost track of my NSDs, I suspect I shall have to skip my december target and hop straight to January! Starting to think about my new year's resolutions... I feel a saving/debt ridding target coming on!

EDIT - actually, just been through my spending diary and I appear to be up to 5/12... perhaps my performance can be rescued!

rising_from_the_ashes

jaffacakegal wrote: »

Merry Christmas Eve Eve everyone!

:eek: Ohhhhhhh JCG, you nearly gave me heartfailure!:D Was in a near state of panic as haven't wrapped presents yet ..... and thought I'd just got tonight to do them & get to DMs!


The "inner me" has been joining in with the wiggling

Fridge/freezer arrived:j so have been to the big Mr A on the outskirts of town - it was heaving. Ended up getting "essentials" only (which was still a lot as had no fresh stuff whatsoever) and the queues at the tills ......_pale_ - still, I'm home, the fridge is full:D and I may well just treat myself to a wee glass of wine with dinner tonight!:)

Hiddenidenity

Popping into report NSD number 21 :beer:

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!