A fantastic February with the NSD challenge

elfen

Does it count if I bought lunch but earnt 30? Hope not....so this is NSD no 5

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!

solventsoon

elfen wrote: »

Does it count if I bought lunch but earnt 30? Hope not....so this is NSD no 5

I think we can let you have no 5 elfen, and well done for earning £30, go you!!!!:T:T

LittleMissHappy_2

solventsoon wrote: »

Love the wellies, LMH, what colour are they?

They are black with big pink splodges on I love them! I'll add some wiggles

Allie_Ballie_Bee

NSD yesterday and today so have reached 5 NSD's. :j
Hoping tomorrow will be one too so I can get my 3 in a row.

Broomstick

Botheration.

I discovered that the bracket holding the back part of the exhaust on my car had rusted through and everything was hanging on by a thread so rather than get caught out in a crisis (or another snow storm) with only part of the exhaust left on the car I decided to get it fixed. However, apparently the bracket (skinny little bit of metal) only comes welded to the whole back third of the exhaust and so I am now £130 :eek: poorer. I hope its an NSD well sacrificed and actually has saved me money in the long run.

B x

mytimetoshine2012

G'evening all,

Hope you are all ok. NO NSD for me yesterday as we had to get some food in , but I am really pleased with what we got with some Savvy shopping.:)

We went to Mr M first which I usually dread because we always used to leave about £20-30 lighter in pocket and not much to show for it but we only spent £4.20 and got custard powder, 1 bottle of diet pepsi, 2x mayonnaise and 1kg of apples and something else that escapes me. Then to a local greengrocers for two punnets of strawberries £1, and broccili 39p.

Then to Al*i to get 6millks, rice, aborio rice, washing up liquid, gravy grannules, tuna, 2 bottles of lemonade, a carton of fruit juice, icecream, leeks, lettuce and eggs for £10.58 :j I ran the things we bought through money supermarket and Waitrose was £23.56 :eek::eek: and ASDA came out at £15.76 so I am really pleased :T.

Total shopping for the week and beyond is £16.17.

Anyway that's quite enough of that! Well today has been an NSD which takes my total up to 5. I am planning on having one tomorrow as well becasue I have loads of work to do

Have a lovely weekend all
MTTS

ps I'm not really this sad in real life .....ok maybe a bit!;)
Oh no Broomstick so sorry about the additional expense - it is better to have a safe car though!

niksyg

REALLY finding it tough this month! NSDs now atand at 3...but blimey, it's hard!

iwanttogoonholiday

im on 5nsd's - yay

marmiterulesok

Great to be back online!

I've had two very productive days off.
Yesterday was a spend day,just some groceries and the 'tache seen to.
I had a massive clearout and tidy up in the kitchen.

Today is nsd #6! I'm trying for my 4-in-a-row now,could maybe even make it 5-in-a-row.

I've sorted a load of paperwork today,tidied and hoovered the flat and even managed my 10 000 steps.:D.There's a bitter wind;it was -10°c but a lot colder than that,I would say.I'm so well wrapped up when going,all you see are my eyes!

Thanks chris81418 you made me laugh!Thanks also spoon,Knitting Nora and Jinty re 'shouty man in the park',but it turns out he is right.:o.I walked through the park today using a different route,where I came a huge poster by the Parks Authority expressly forbidding the feeding of pigeons and crows in the park.Hm.....I don't entirely agree with their point of view.

ps broomstick a wise spend I think.

Hope you all have a good evening!