The Spend Free September NSD Challenge

beanielou

So no 3 today.

bottleofred

Good evening folks,

It's been a long day and I went to spin, so haven't been home long. Declaring NSD2 for today please:beer:
Congratulations wannabe, hope you had a great day:T

debtbegone

Resisted the crazy urge for a fizzy juice fix today so I could make it to NSD 3

Need some cheering up so might not have a NSD tomorrow as I'm going to arrange a meet up with a friend & we'll probably go for a coffee. I will keep it as cheap & cheerful as possible though

LMac

None for me today We ran out of milk. Since I was spending anyway, I went ahead and used a voucher I was saving for Fridays shop (was a heavy item, so less to cart home on Fri. )

Annoying though as I had resisted temptation all morning...

IF

freebyfifty 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

Evening all :hello:

Got my 3rd NSD thank you :A

ChopinonaBudget

Going to try for NSD 1 on Thursday, having managed to screw up Monday's attempt by forgetting i needed rabbit food, and spending £123 yesterday on Vets bills for said bunny (ouch for bunny more than ouch for me, poor thing was still off her gourd on sedation till an hour ago). Tomorrow is coffee with friends in the evening (will keep it down to £1.20 for the night) so Thursday here I come: first official NSd day, with luck!

solventsoon

Hi lovely people :wave:

Here comes Tuesday’s update, maybe not quite as ginormous as yesterday’s, but still a biggie. Loads of NSDs pouring in at the moment, well done everyone:j:j

Off the starting blocks with NSD no 1:

:j:j:jIgamogam - well done, you’re on the way now. Keep going!

:j:j:jthriftylass - and well done to you, you’re on your way as well. Keep going!
Hope the new energy provider is much cheaper. Re electricity bills, do you switch everything off at the wall, it’s surprising how much electricity things use even when they’re switched off

:j:j:jhoneypooh1980 - and well done to you, you’re on your way as well. Keep going!
Fingers crossed for no 2 today

:j:j:jBritAbroad - and another well done to you, keep going now!
Fingers crossed for today, you never know when an NSD may sneak up and surprise you

:j:j:jHeffi1 - and another well done, woohoo indeed to your first NSD, hopefully the first of many

:j:j:jMunchin - and another well done to you, keep going now!


Round the first bend with NSD no 2:

:j:j:jLMac - you’re doing great, keep going!
Oh dear, sorry about today, but well done for beng organised with your spends

:j:j:jFae - and you’re doing great as well, keep going!

:j:j:jL2B - well done for resisting chocolate and gaining another NSD instead of extra ponds.
Hope you enjoy your breakfast out tomorrow

:j:j:jkerri - you’re doing great, keep going! I think Freud would probably say you’re stressed............ Take care x

:j:j:jbrokemedic - you’re doing great, keep going!

:j:j:jRed - you’re doing great, keep going!
Hope you’ve recovered from the hangover now


Over the first hurdle with NSD no 3:

:j:j:jfreeby - you’re definitely leading by example this month. Well done you for putting money in the bank yesterday, you’ll have to change your user name to “freebyfortynine” at this rate of going:rotfl:

:j:j:jmarmite - and you’re also leading by example, well done. Fingers crossed for some more this week.
Thank you :A It was a bit of a mega-update......

:j:j:joptimistic-mummy - well done, I think it’s number 3 for you looking at your signature, that’s great going
It would really help all us updaters if you could put the number of NSDs in your post so we don’t have to go looking for numbers - thank you

:j:j:jOodNood - a run of three for you, well done for NSDs 1, 2 and 3, that’s brilliant, keep going

:j:j:jflubberyzing - you’re doing brilliantly, keep going.
Hope the eye check up goes OK tomorrow and well done for being organised with your spends

:j:j:jbeanie - and you’re also leading by example, well done you

:j:j:jdebtbegone - you’re doing brilliantly, keep going.
Well done for resisting the urge for the fizzy drink, you should be proud of yourself. Enjoy your meet up with your friend tomorrow

:j:j:jIf - and you’re also leading by example, well done you.
I presume you’re still resisting chocolate to get so many NSDs so early in the month;)


Hello to:

optimistic-mummy - well done to DP indeed, and it’s good that LO realises ice creams are a treat. Fingers crossed for an NSD today:)

Hiddenidentity - good thinking about the fridge/freezer, hope you managed to find one today x :A

flukeas - fingers crossed for lots of NSDs for the rest of the week:)

nat21luv - oh dear, sorry about the parking, that is indeed a bummer:( Fingers crossed for tomorrow.
Wow.... you got some real bargains for LO today, well done you:T

If - I love today’s cartoon, brilliant.........:rotfl:

rubyinamountain...... - fingers crossed, hope you made the NSD:)

xKazi - well done on the foundation today, that’s definitely a bargain too good to resist:T

Giggles86 - you can’t not buy baby things for your oldest friend’s new baby so don’t beat yourself up too much. There are plenty of potential NSDs left in September, you can do it!:A

ChopinonaBudget - fingers crossed for your first official NSD on Thursday.:)
Ouch, poor bunny, hope she’s OK


Sorry, bit of a long update again tonight

'night everyone x

solventsoon

Sorry, me again

And NSD no 3 for me on Monday, yipppeeeeeeeeeee :j:j:j:j

No NSD today though, my halo slipped but hopefully it will be back on straight again tomorrow

'night everyone

spoon x

flukeas

nsd 3 I resisted the maccas call lol this arvo I'm going to do some baking so I don't need to buy any snacks on the weekend for the kids and save some more cash hoping to do some meal plans to
I hope every one had a good day its finally sunny and hot here !