A fantastic February with the NSD challenge

[Deleted User]

Morning,

NSD #4 achieved yesterday and today will be one.

Have a good day everyone x

mooomin

Not sure if today will be a NSD or not....there's a craft magazine I have to have out today. If I can get someone in WH Smith to let me pay with a book token then it will be a NSD, if not it won't!

I'm still pleased that out of 14 possible spend days so far this month (not including today obviously!) that I've managed 10 NSDs. I don't include food shopping though which helps. It is showing me how much I was frittering away before!

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:

Spoony, BDINI, LMH and freeby got my 9th NSD thank you all xxxx :A:A:A:A

No caption just thought this pic was cute

jaffacakegal

Wow we must have some romantics on here, not much activity since I was last on!

Monday was an erm unexpected spendy. Car decided to break AGAIN on Sunday, so I got a lift to band Monday night. Had a drink out of my bag of money whilst I didn't have the car. Had another using the money. Erm had another, had to break into normal money cos didn't have enough left. So thought ah well I've spent now so had another :rotfl:was feeling a bit squiffy to say the least!

And cos I was drinking I forgot my plan to download a game next time I spent - D'oh!

Anyway, yesterday was NSD 7 so back on track.

Hoping I get my car back later, hate relying on people, and I need to do a big shop.

JCG x

purpleorchid

hi all, hope everyone can get their cars sorted out, it seems that loads of people on here are having trouble at the moment.

NSD 11

but wont be tomorrow as i have to pay some debts and hoping to do shopping the same time so i can hopefully go for 5 in a row after that because the next bill out is on the 23rd.

Luv P
xx

beanielou

No 11 for me today.

iwanttogoonholiday

8nsd's - yay!

pinkfluffybabe

Not had a lot of time online this week buy can report:

NSDs Nos 7, 8, 9 and 10

sirish1979

NSD no 5 today