A ginormous jump into 2012 with the January NSD challenge

cw18

solventsoon wrote: »

Cheryl - Hope your breakdown cover gets sorted

Payment's gone this morning - I've never been so relieved to see money go out of my bank account :rotfl:

Another D/Debit's gone out as well.... just 2 more to go this month. 5 days left in month, potential for 2 to have D/Debits go out (they sometimes go the same day, but one's a 'floater' so I can't guarantee it), leaving 3 potential NSDs.

I'll grab milk today as that's the 1 grocery item I know I need before month end, and then once I know what chap and I are doing at the weekend (no longer tied to the house waiting on call from DD, so may go out somewhere - he's been really patient and understanding about my not wanting to be far from home this last few weeks) I'll know whether I need to get any more food in or not (should really be able to get away with what I have in, but it depends on what I feel like making for him). If I do it'll lose me an NSD on (probably) Saturday.

Means I should manage to reach target+1. But if the D/Debits go out the same day I could get to target+2, and if I don't get any food in for the weekend I could be on target+3 which is almost double my original target



Jinty - I think you did exactly the right thing. If you'd backed down yesterday you'd have been back to square one when it came to what they expected you to do 'above and beyond' !!!

jintyb

cw18 wrote: »

Jinty - I think you did exactly the right thing. If you'd backed down yesterday you'd have been back to square one when it came to what they expected you to do 'above and beyond' !!!

Thanks for that Cheryl, your post has made my day and fair cheered me up!:T
Have a lovely weekend with your chap ( who sounds like a total gem, BTW!):A

cw18

jintyb wrote: »

Have a lovely weekend with your chap ( who sounds like a total gem, BTW!):A

I think he is

9 weeks and counting, in which time we've seen each other 11 times with only 3 of them involving being away from my house (one of his visits here was a couple of hours when he brought his young niece with him - she was 1 at the end of November, and she's a gorgeous petite thing). But there's no way I could even estimate how many texts we've sent each other (has been 40+ in a day sometimes :eek: ) or hours we've spent on the phone (normally 2-3 hours at a time - hanging up and redialling every hour - at least once, but normally twice, a week).

On Tuesday morning DD asked when I was taking him up to meet Aimee (in other words she wants to meet him), and when I mentioned it to him I was told he's up for it!! Said it would mean family overload, as there's no way I could take him to her's and not 'pop round' to my parents as well (which would also mean meeting DS2 - he's already met DS1, when DS1 insisting on swinging by one weekend to 'vet' him) - and was told he's game for that as well :eek:

Going to give DD a couple of weeks to settle with Aimee before I arrange anything though, especially as all her OH's family (who live within a few miles of them) are currently descending for cuddles - plus it'd be easier on one of chap's longer weekends (when he switches from his week of nights to his week of lates, which he only does every 3 weeks and did last weekend) which also means it'd be better in a couple of weeks time

chris81418

Good morning everyone! :wave:

solventsoon wrote: »

chris - fingers crossed your back on the NSD path today

Thanks Spoon! I managed to catch NSD number 19 yesterday, which means I've met my target for the month! :j Please can I increase my target to 22 NSDs - thank you! :starmod:

butdoineedit? wrote: »

Broomstick - i worried about this when i stopped using my credit cards, (pity it didn't last :mad:) so i made up names of imaginary friends for them, & then entered them in my mobile phone contacts with the pin as the last 4 digits of a made up number, i figured a card thief would have to be super clever to guess what i'd done & even more clever to work out which of my friends were the imaginary ones!!

Loving that BDINI! I might just do that too!

Jinty - Well done for saying your say at work! :T

Have a good day everyone!

JustDave_2

Woohoo another NSD yesterday making it NSD #6 and 2 on the bounce!

Only 2 to go for target :j

Broomstick

solventsoon wrote: »

Re your comment on 6 in a row being a cheat because you do all your shopping one one day - did you do this before your joined the challenge or did you succumb to odd spends to get some more milk or loo roll (to use your two examples)? If not, then it’s not cheating because you’ve organised your spends and are probably spending less as a result of that

You're right. I was shopping regularly but doing bits here and there as well and what's happened is that I've really tightened it up. I know I'm spending less and it's also helping in terms of sorting out my food intake (allergies/intollerances and an intention gently to lose weight over a couple of years without feeling as if I'm on a diet). By focusing my shopping all on one day when I make sure that I shop on a full tummy(!) and with a list I stick to, I've stopped all casual snacks and treats buying without realising it. So I suppose my 6 in a rows do count after all.:D

This month I've been counting spend days as all food and non-food shopping, purchases on Amazon (I have a small amount of credit on my account from vouchers but never use a card online), fuel for the car, mobile top-up and bills that have been delivered by post. I think I'm going to keep it like this for next month as well. It's an achievable goal.:D

I hope I'm not speaking too soon but focusing on NSDs is clearly working for me at the moment and I think it's because it's taken the panic away from keeping to a budget, driving ever more economically, ensuring that we are all fed while on the move (endless packed lunches and suppers), getting the mobile costs down, losing weight... and put my attention on the challenge of only spending once a week. Does that make sense?

It's also given me a different kind of excuse to say to my sons that I'm not going to go shopping for more milk (or whatever) and that everyone needs to help make stuff last. They are very good about this anyway but it's given them a clearer goal too.

butdoineedit? wrote: »

Broomstick - i worried about this when i stopped using my credit cards, (pity it didn't last ) so i made up names of imaginary friends for them, & then entered them in my mobile phone contacts with the pin as the last 4 digits of a made up number, i figured a card thief would have to be super clever to guess what i'd done & even more clever to work out which of my friends were the imaginary ones!!

That's a brilliant idea - thank you so much - I can see how I might solve the problem now. :T

beanielou

Jinty~ I so agree with what you said.
Hope you got to your target.

fedupandskint

Happily NSD 14 today - 4 more to go, can I make it?

IF

solventsoon wrote: »

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

Afternoon NSD'ers :hello: