A fantastic February with the NSD challenge

Delilahh

Not doing very well this week at all.

Monday is always a spendy day because that's when I pay my rent and all other bits and pieces - so I do try to pay as much off on a Monday as I can.

However, ended up running into a friend last night after work and went for food and drinks with her. Tonight am out at the cinema!

Got 3 to go and 5 more working days to do 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

Afternoony all :hello:

jaffacakegal

Well done LMH :j

Enid Blyton books - I don't know who mentioned these (sorry) but we were talking about them at work the other day, I used to LOVE them. I named my sister after a character in Secret Seven! But I think they may be a bit outdated with their views now! Must see if I can find mine at my parents!

Spendy yesterday, put money aside for stuff as well. Have to use dads car as mine is broken again! Only had it back for 3 days and he's left me no petrol in his! Won't complain, need him to pay for repairs :cool:

Chap seems up for meeting :dance: need to set a day (although I am busy every day and evening except Saturday daytime this week so this may be an issue!)

JCG x

rising_from_the_ashes

Not dressed yet this is the third time I've tried to get up (retired back to bed both earlier attempts) and feeling totally washed out . It's so "not me" to lazy around and do nothing all day - I really feel I should get dressed and do something but .....

A couple of bits I could do with getting (as usual for a Weds) but thinking I may just stay where I am mmmmm we'll see.

beanielou

Hope you have more energy soon rising.

Not a NSD as had a slow puncture.Bah.

bottleofred

Good afternoon folks:j,

No NSDs to report for yesterday and today I'm afraid, but tomorrow could be a better day. Little Miss Happy, well done on the distinction and I'm sure well deserved:).
Igamogam, I hope you get shortlisted for the job:).
Beanie, a bad job about the spendy, but at least the puncture shouldn't cause anymore problems.
Mytimetoshine, I also read incredibly quickly and think it may be because the Enid Blyton books were so good that you just had to find out what happened:D. My Dad would have bought me a book when he had spare cash and if he didn't have the cash, I'd have borrowed them from the Library. The Famous Five and Secret Seven were fantastic books, that I simply couldn't read fast enough:)!
I hope everyone else is well, as I've yet to catch up on all the posts.:)

rising_from_the_ashes

OK ... finally dressed!:o Legs feeling a bit like jelly tho' so def not going out - No 12 please:)

Dreading going to work tomorrow if I still feel like this but I guess at least it's only 2 days to get through ....:(

On a brighter note - really enjoying the Enid Blyton "chat" I was another HUGE fan of hers when I was younger:) and my pals and I often pretended were were the Secret 7!

LittleMissHappy_2

I loved the Faraway Tree series too I might just have to root out the books and re-read them now !!!


Thanks all for your messages re my distinction, I am very proud and it is lovely of you all to share it with me xxx

solventsoon

LittleMissHappy wrote: »

Got my report results back and got a great pass Plus got my results for DSE141 (in sig!) and got a distinction :D:D So a happy LMH today! It will be

Woohoooo, congratulations LMH, that's brilliant:T:T I'm really pleased for you, you seem to put in a lot of work so it's very well-deserved.

spoon xx
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