The Spend Free September NSD Challenge

EverTheOptimist

Evening all

Spend day for me, had to get some bunny veg this morning, so popped to get some grass and choc drops for him this evening, and a bit of salad for me as i don't feel i have been getting enough of my 5 a day. Then i found some bubble wrap which will come in handy for when i send hubby his weekly parcels.

Plan for the weekend:
NSD - friday
Spend day - saturday
NSD - sunday.

Fingers crossed.

Nargleblast

Dropping in to report I have now reached my target of 10 NSDs - a batch of bouncing cupcakes, please, freeby!

Might squeeze one or two more in, so perhaps I should set a new target of 13 by the end of the month. Yeah, why not?

beanielou

Rising~your purchases sound just great

rising_from_the_ashes

beanielou wrote: »

Rising~your purchases sound just great

Yup really chuffed :j

Timing couldn't be worse (of course!) as have had a couple of big unexpected things this month (deposit for car:eek:, having to do car insurance now instead of Dec:eek:, cancellation fee for old insurance policy :mad: and windows due to be done next week :eek::eek:) but if you don't grab these things when you see them .......

Will def be a very quiet October!

rising_from_the_ashes

OMG (sorry thread hogging tonight ) - have been away all day and thought the house was cold when I came in (but DPs is always really toasty so thought it was that).

Anyway, I leave one radiator on all year (in the hall as it takes the worst of the chill off the whole house & great for spring/autumn when you don't want them all on) - but I set the thermostat set at a cool 14 deg so it's not on all the time and .... just walked past and it's on:eek: Brrrrrrr

Think I need to dig out the 7 tog duvet tomorrow (found it when I was decluttering the other day ).

*sprints off (well, as fast as I can with a gammy foot :rotfl:) to the preparing for winter thread*

beanielou

Oh you do make me laugh rising

bottleofred

Good evening folks:),

It's been a very busy week for me this week, with loads of things to do. It has also been noticeably cooler in NI and very very wet:eek:
Managed to get NSDs 11 & 12 for Tuesday and Wednesday and number 13 for today please:)

rising_from_the_ashes

beanielou wrote: »

A spendy today.
Had a voucher for 20% off at M & S and have bought some jeans & a cardigan in Gap & some bits n bobs for my DS as its his birthday next week.
Havent spent so much in a long long time but having lost weight I really needed to get at least some winter clothes that fit me.

Missed this when I was typing my saga earlier - yay to the new clothes:) def deserved after all you've lost & reaching your goal weight :T

(Had to go in another notch on my belt today .... )

beanielou wrote: »

Oh you do make me laugh rising

Awwwww, thanks

donna_dynamo

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Donna I'm certainly no child expert but I know this has worked for several of my pals with DD/DS around the age of your DD1 (and you may do this already).

Is there something she really likes to do & doesn't get to do often (but is affordable!) that you could give her "stars" (or similar) for if she does what she's asked & once she gets to a certain number, she gets it as a treat?

First things first NSD 10 today. Hi rising Funny you should say that as her school have put out a trip for next year the cost is 150 which i think is way to expensive but maybe this could give her the motivation to behave even if it is only long enough to pay the deposit and then we can carry on as we pay the installments. I couldn't believe it when we got the letter a school trip 150 for two nights and three days i would have thought that in the current climate when families are struggling they would have more sense. I don't know where they think you get the money from especially when they schedule a meeting about the trip at 3.30pm when i am at work and i know most of the other parents are:rotfl::rotfl:it makes me laugh.

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 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!