The Awesome August NSD Challenge

freebyfifty

Welcome to the August No Spend Day (NSD) thread!!

We are a happy (and some might say mildly insane) bunch doing battle with those retailers - and there’s plenty of temptation out there at the moment. We are seriously committed to saving money, but nobody said it can't be done with a smile on your face - so we organise riotous nights out and gatecrash any function going - all without leaving the comfort of our own imaginations or armchairs!

On a slightly more serious note, we are here to help each other avoid spending for the number of days we feel we can manage to try to take back some control over our hard-earned money. What you class as a "spend'" is entirely your choice; some people will try to shop on the days DD/SO etc are paid, whilst others will not include essentials such as rent. Have a look for a post from our sponsor (and godmother of this challenge) BigMummaF, this contains some guidelines and ideas for starting you off on the challenge.

It’s amazing how inventive you get when you’re determined NOT to spend - from weird menu ingredients to surprising DIY solutions - but you know what? 99% of the time those wacky ideas work.

Here are some threads to help keep us on the straight and narrow, if you know of others, please post.

Tinned Food Recipes.
Leftovers? Don’t Throw It..
Exciting Sandwich Fillings on a Budget.
Lunch for Work.
Laptop Lunchbox Ideas.
Packed Lunches.
Cheap Healthy Snacks
Cheap Snack Ideas to Stop Buying Crisps.
Homemade Snack Ideas…contains further links for ideas.
Sprouting Seeds to Eat.
Really Quick & Alternative Snacks.
Easy Homemade Biscuits.
Muesli & Cereal Bar Recipes.
Weetabix Cake.
HM Popcorn.
Smoothie Recipes.
Yoghurt Without a Yoghurt Maker.
Ham Economics.
Low Carb Kids Lunches...contains advice for diabetics.
Kids Lunch Box Ideas.
Back to School Lunches.
Healthy Kids Snacks.
HM Lollies.
Ice Lolly Ideas
Cheap Healthy Playground Snacks.
Homemade Fudge.
OS HM Sweets.
Forgotten Puddings.
Making chocolates or sweets

Link to last month's challenge is below so any newcomers can see what we get up to (hmmmmm... on second thoughts, that might put you off...)

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4039439

freebyfifty

As it is August and the sun is shining and we are all taking a long, well earned break from work what better way to do it without spending a penny than in our gardens and parks enjoying mother nature!!!! Well we can all dream can't we.




1st target met 2nd target met 3rd target met target exceeded




Abundant – 15/

Amyloo – 15/8 Well done

Badger – 12/10 Well done

Beanielou – 14/14 Target Reached Target increased 16/16 Target Reached Target increased 19/19 Target Reached Target Exceeded 19/20

Bdini – 18/18 Target Reached

Bottleofred – 15/15 Target Reached Target increased 18/18 Target Reached

Britabroad – 6/4 Well done

Bubble32 – 15/4

Cats – 15/

Deb4 – 12/7 Well done

Debtfree – 10/10 Target Reached Target Exceeded 10/13

Deep in 12/1

Delilahh – 16/2

Donna D – 10/1

Dragon – 10/10 Target Reached Target increased 15/15 Target Reached Target Exceeded 15/17

Emsloves- 10/10 Target Reached

Faceup – 10/1

Fae – 18/16 Well done

Firestronaut – 20/

Freeby – 20/20 Target Reached Target increased 23/23 Target Reached Target Increased 26/26 Target Reached Target Exceeded 26/28

Frodobaggins – 12/

Frugaldances – 10/

hohoKaren – 12/9 Well done

Hotspur – 7/1

Ifwishes – 17/17 Target Reached

Igamogam – 10/10 Target Reached

Jaffacakegal – 10/3

Katy_ann – 14/

Kelfen – 10/3

Kerri gt – 15/10 Well done

Kettlenic – 10/3

Learning2 – 12/11 Well done

Loobeyloop – 15/11Well done

Lotti379 – 7/7 Target Reached

Marmite – 16/16 Target reached Target increased 22/22 Target Reached Target Increased 25/25 Target Reached

ModestyB – 10/10 Target Reached Target Exceeded 10/13

Muffin man – 10/5 Target Reached Target Exceeded 10/21

Nat21 – 13/13 Target Reached Target Exceeded 13/17

Newleaf – 8/

Oodnood – 20/20 Target Reached Target Exceeded 20/27

Phoenix – 10/4

Poohbear – 12/12 Target reached Target exceeded 12/17

Pinkpenguin – 15/

Pip’s mum – 12/12 Target Reached Target Exceeded 12/13

Rising – 16/1

Ruby – 12/

Sara77 – 11/11 Target Reached

Shezam – 5/5 Target Reached

Silvasava – 15/12 Well done

Slowlyfading – 16/15 Well done

Spoony – 20/20 Target Reached Target Increased 24/24 Target Reached Target Exceeded 24/25

Stripeygirl – 15/15 Target Reached Target Exceeded 15/17

Suzitiger – 10/

Tata – 8/1

Tiggy – 10/6 Well done

Thriftylass – 15/10 Well done

freebyfifty

This is for anyone who wants to set themselves a target for a number of NSDs in a row. We had some impressive numbers on this over the past few months so if anyone would like to have a go at this, I'll add you here



Badger - 4-in-a-row

Delilahh - 4-in-a-row
Dragon - 3-in-a-row Target Reached

Fae - 7-in-a-row

Freeby - 5-in-a-row Target Reached 6-in-a-row 7-in-a-row

Frodo - 4-in-a-row

Loobeyloop - 4-in-a-row
Marmite - 4-in-a-row Target Reached

Muffin man - 5-in-a-row
oodnood - 5-in-a-row Target Reached 6-in-a-row

poohbear - 4-in-a-row

Ruby - 4-in-a-row

Suzitiger - 4-in-a-row

freebyfifty

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 thefirst 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!

freebyfifty

As I am here, I'll go first

I have changed my budgets and have spent a happy couple of hours messing around with my spreadsheets - I love my spreadsheets so I have changed my rules slightly If it is budgeted for then it I'm not counting it as a spend and if it isn't - bad, bad freeby

So my target for August is 20 NSDs and 5-in-row at first but I am hoping to be very good :A and get more.

stripeyjumpergirl

Yay, I love a shiny new thread! It's looking like August is going to be a spendy one with birthdays and weddings and car things due, but can I go for 15 NSDs, please? Thank you! x

marmiterulesok

I'm sure I've said this before but I can't believe it's nearly August.A bit closer to having cooler weather.:D

Thanks for setting it up freeby.:A

So,I think I'll start off with 16 please and my usual 4 in a row.

Pips_Mum

Thanks for new Thread Freeby!

Can I have a target of 12 NSDs please.

Grossly over aimed and under achieved in July so hoping this is a bit more realistic for me to achieve!

rising_from_the_ashes

freebyfifty wrote: »

I have changed my budgets and have spent a happy couple of hours messing around with my spreadsheets - I love my spreadsheets so I have changed my rules slightly If it is budgeted for then it I'm not counting it as a spend and if it isn't - bad, bad freeby

Ohhhhh I love my spreadsheets too Freeby (as I'm sure you may have noticed from my diary:o).

I did something similar a couple of months ago - with the aim of achieving huge figures in NSDs and errrrr, well ...... I do it for some things (eg window cleaner & dog walker as take money out for the whole month on payday) but have never quite managed to get the full hang of it IYKWIM:o

Really must try harder - will start off with 16 NSDs in August but secretly :shhh: hoping it'll be a lot more than that!

Have lost the plot a little the past couple of months & some bad habits have been reappearing:eek: so need to rein these in & put a stop to it now!:)

marmiterulesok wrote: »

I'm sure I've said this before but I can't believe it's nearly August

Me too Marmite - this year is just flying by :eek:

:T to Freeby, LMH, BDINI, Spoon, Marmite, Lottie (& everyone else I'll have missed who's been helping with the updates:o) and to If for the fantastic pics that make me smile every day:A

Good luck everyone!:D

kelfen

Going to try for 10 next month, am starting on the e-cig so that'll knock my spends right down

The_Dragon

can I start with my usual 10 and three in a row please freeby?