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

his_missus

Hello all!

I'm just popping on to anounce 13NSDs for December, not quite my target of 15 but still pleased with it.

See you all on the January NSDs thread xxx

kezlou

Well peeps i'm pleased to say that we in the mad hosue racked up a total of 18 NSD's :T. These including free swimming, spa and half price for a carvery!

Hope you all had a good christmas

elfen

Should get my last NSd tomorrow....I hope so anyway!

mf0u1098

Hiya everyone :wave::wave::wave:, just popping in to say that I got NSD #12 and #13 on Christmas Day and Boxing Day then got #14 yesterday so hoping to get #15 (and hit my target!) today. Not declaring yet though as there are still 11 hours to go... So pleased with my total for December and going to try to make January a little harder I think as I managed my first NSD month in November with 15, will hit my 2nd month in December with 15 again so may try to up it in January now I know the pitfalls and can prepare for them.

Well done everyone and hope 2012 is a fantastic year for you all!!! xxx

kerri_gt

marmiterulesok wrote: »

I learnt to ski in my twenties when I first moved to Switzerland.I enjoyed it but was never very good or very confident.I tried snowboarding once which very challenging.Apparently it's easier to learn to snowboard if you've never skied.The last time I skied,I did a week's cross country which I really enjoyed.That was nearly ten years ago.

I gave up because I was always the last one,struggling to keep up with the others.Once I got tired,everything went to pot.It seemed more of an effort than a pleasure.

I tried wind surfing once briefly.It was great but such an effort.I don't have the nerve to try ice skating....I know I'd just fall all over the place.

It's a shame that your husband can't try skiing.You're right,it's too risky.

I've really got to go to bed,it's quite late.

I know what you mean about getting tired and it going to pot, had a few of those experiences too but on the whole I enjoyed whooshing down the slopes. Well done on the cross country skiing, I would have thought that a lot harder physically than pointing the skis down the slopes and hoping not to fall over between top and bottom :rotfl: Ice skating is a little like riding a bike, I've not done it for ages and it does take a little while to get the balance back again but things do click back into place (and we all land on our bums at ome time or another, even Torvill and Dean )

Is it very :money: to want to catch a flight up for the NY MSE meet? Perhaps I'll see if OH fancies a trip to see his family and I'll swing across

I've just realised what the date is, so no chance of me hitting my target this month, in fact it's the first time I've not managed to hit double figures since starting this challenge (May not counting as I was on hols for a week then) I'm a very very bad MSE and I shall prob have one of my stars docked for my behaviour this month Still, overall (although i haven't dared look at my cc statment after yesterday) it's not been too bad. Saved a load on xmas presents using vouchers, codes and offers, have already got two b'day presents for 2012 sorted and even the xmas food shop was helped by wombling. Just need to make sure I don't get complacent and unravel all my hard work in 2012.

IF

January's NSD thread - Click here

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!

IF

Hi BDINI and LMH declaring early my 17th NSD thank you both xx :A:A


Hope your all doing the friday ~ Wiggle ~ too :dance:

rising_from_the_ashes

Hi all, back from Straiton and ... didn't get a table (not sure if it should be a for not getting one, or a at not spending the money:o) - none in Dun*elm & sure the A*gos one will be reduced again at some point so will hang off.

Did get a couple of fleecy throws reduced right down which will be made into cat bed covers (I use old pillows for the insides) for the cat shelter .... when I get a table to use my sewing machine on!:o

Had a lovely coffee & chat with Fresian - great to be able to put a face to a name IYKWIM .... and there was a *sigh* from both of us as we both got 4 x £2 coins back in our change - my "normal" friends just wouldn't get that!;)

Still .... the Shed fund will be well fed today!:T

Jinty, we're def up for an "Edinburgh NSD Club" coffee in the New Year - maybe after payday in Jan as it's a loooooooong way away yet..... and anyone else nearby - you're more than welcome:)

Pretty wiped out now (why does Lurgi do that!) so heading off for a snooze......

jaffacakegal

Hey everyone!

Anyone still got this horrible cold, can't wait to shift mine!

Yesterday was NSD 13, I think, I must say I've been a bit bad with writing in my book! Will check later, but I don't think I spent between Christmas Eve and today!

Bought breakfast at work today, hopefully the last for a while as the dreaded diet NEEDS to start next week! And this will not include bacon sausage and egg rolls as part of it :rotfl:

JCG xx

cw18

and my slicer is here :T


went to the gym, then nipped into the bank to pay in the cheque I got from my parents (a necessary job seeing as I've already spent it!), paid a quick visit to H0me Bargains (would be rude not to when I walk past one as it's the first time in months I've had chance to browse in one properly - picked up a pack of 0reo cookies as my chap happened to mention a couple of weeks ago he's never tried them, an exercise hoop, some magnetic shopping lists so I can make sure I buy what I need - and only what I need - next year, some toothpaste, some hair dye, a box of washing tablets, some flavoured 'straws' to see if they can get me drinking more milk as I know I don't have enough calcium in my diet, some biros as almost every pen I own has stopped working, a sea salt grinder and a couple of hair clips), and then had a wander around Mr T. Picked up a roll of reduced Christmas wrap (a novelty one I think my lads and DD's OH will appreciate next year, so worth the money even if not as cheap as I'm sure they could have made it), a couple of bits I knew I needed including some fruit, and some magazines (tut, tut!! but don't have much in next years budget for them, so even though I've not had many this year I'm going to have to cut back even further - or go cold turkey - from next week... one's a diet mag, one's a fitnness mag and the other is a recipe one. The J.0liver one seemed a bargain at £3.99 as the mag came with another thicker one which has 365 of the 'most popular recipes from the last year' - which I suspect means that people who've bought the mag every month will have already seen them, but it's the first copy I've bought - and a calendar which is one thing I don't havve for next year). I also 'splurged' on a corn fed chicken to cook for me and chap (he's coming over tomorrow to see the New Year in with me ), as we both love these. I adore the taste but hate the price - but decided to go mad just this once as a treat to us both - and then decided to pick up some of the white choc chip cookies we both adore as they were on a special offer !!! I also picked up a couple of Christmas puds - one of which came in a reusable pudding bowl, a couple of sponge puddings, a stollen and the make your own Christmas cake 'kit in a bag' - now reduced to £1 - which I'll make as my birthday cake next month. This lot was all reduced in the seasonal aisle.

Topped up with liquid gold while I was there as well - don't think I'll be out in the car again before New Year, so it means I'll be starting with a full tank which makes it easier to figure out what I've spent on it in a calendar year.

Got home about 12:40 and checked my mailbox - no card to say I'd missed a delivery. About 1:15 there was a knock at the door, and there was the delivery chap. I think my excited reaction stunned him more than a little as he looked lost for words.... and he almost forgot to get me to confirm my surname (did it after passing me the box instead of before :rotfl: )

Just one more grocery item to get for when I'm entertaining - but not sure what it'll be yet. Promised him I'd pick up a white choc bombe if Mr M still have any, but if they don't I'm going to try and make enough freezer space for a small tub of a fancy vanilla ice cream which I'll serve with Christmas Pud 'cos he doesn't like custard (or any milk puddings :eek: ). Going to wander down and try to get a bombe later, but if I end up having to get ice-cream that'll be done tomorrow due to needing time to rejig freezer contents - in which case I'll put the money aside today so that I should be able to claim a final NSD tomorrow :T