We Are Decking the Halls with NSDs December Challenge

slowlyfading

Freeby - congratulations :j :j

NSD 9 for me today

lurvlyloz

NSD 12 today :j

Sazzie23

:jFab news Freeby...the power of positive thought strikes again, although I'm sure it must have something to do with your skills and abilities too. Gives me hope though :-):T

Thursday was another unexpected NSD 6 for me. Had planned to do a little shop on the way home from a meeting but had such a headache I went home instead. Thank goodness for baked beans & ryvita LOL.

Like a few others only briefly skimmed messages as the weekend has been mad with 4 meals out in 3 days, its that time of year - but hoping for another NSD tomorrow as working night shift tonight.

Cheers all and goodluck next week for more of those precious NSD.:A

fedupandskint

Quite a spendy week last week - hmm just one NSD since the last update - today making it NSD 6

Will be more of a NSD week this coming week I am sure as I hope to claim back a spend tomorrow from work - fingers crossed they go for it!

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!

marmiterulesok

Hi folks,just rushing in to announce nsds for today and yesterday.So that's me at #12!!:j

I'll try and catch up with your posts tomorrow.Hope you've all had an excellent weekend and lots of lovely nsds!:money:

EverTheOptimist

Just caught up on 7 pages... havent popped in recently as had nothing to declare, but hadnt thought about the fact that it would still have moved so far ahead. Doh!!!

Anyway 1 NSD to declare for last thurs. Have unfortunately been spending like it's going out of fashion.

Currently on 4 NSDs

Should be able to nab another tomorrow. Fingers Crossed.

Congrats on the promotion freeby - and happy with whatever updates suit you, it is Xmas after all.

Hope everyone is well.

bottleofred

kerri_gt wrote: »

OMG I can't believe it's been a week since I was on here :eek: Apologies I've had to skim the last 10 pages but Congratulations on the Promo Freeby :j:j:j



I have a tradition of watching The Snowman every year - luckily have it on DVD as i always miss it on TV - OH thinks I'm bonkers :rotfl:

Well quick rundown from me

Mon - took DM xmas shopping, don't know why but really wasn't in the shopping mood. Did however still manage to come out of Primarni with two dresses for moi still need to be tried on so we'll see about those still

Tues - absolute day from hell, topped off with our Sky box giving up the ghost. They wanted to charge us a £65 engineer visit as our box was defunct and they wouldn't send us a replacement as we don't have an HD TV...until I uttered the magic word (V-I-R-G-I-N...and i don't mean Mary :rotfl:) Not a NSD as posted nieces b'day present at the PO

Wed - slightly better day, and NSD #4 :j

Thurs - succumbed to M&S dine in deal, and then £4.99 on some crab :eek: Thought it was £3.49 so gonna have to recheck that. Stupid me didn't think to say '£4.99? That's more than I thought...I'll leave it then' However, did get tooth fixed :j not the most pleseant 40mins of my life, but no injections needed and you can't tell a thing (unless you look really closely and know what you're looking for)

Fri - thankfully a day off - went to a very soggy and muddy boot camp but was feeling very guilty for not going for a week :A Blimy, NSD #5 too :A:A

Sat - food shopping yesterday (hadn't been for a couple of weeks) trying not to get tons of snacky food in for xmas - the shops are only closed for a day after all, but did get the obligatury can of Pringles. Stuck within budget though so NSD # 6 :j

Sun - just had a day at home chilling, feel last week has taken it out of me somewhat. Did order an xmas card from M00npig for my friend - wouldn't normally but this was just perfect. However I'm going to take that from my xmas budget so NSD # 7 :beer:

Got the filling for a steak and kidney pud cooking in the oven (actually had better get pud off my lap and turn it off soon) cooking it slow and low and then gonna let it cool before turning it into a pie so I can skim any fat off to top first.

Still not complete my xmas shopping after such a sprint start - wasn't sure whether I was going to get bruv a gift, or if we were going to go out. Decided on gift...and both items OOS :eek: OH wants a jacket but I'm not keen on the one he picked out, seen lots of others but like Goldilocks, none quite right except one I saw which would be perfect but not currently in his size, and £165 :eek::eek::eek: I think rather than trying to get something in a rush I might just tell him we'll go out after xmas and get him one. I've got a few other bits for him and sure he won't mind.

Sorry for the super long post.

Hi Kerri,

I am so LTM at the super long post, but particularly the way you dealt with sky tv, as they can be idiots of the money grabbing variety. You appear to have had quite a week though! I hope you're well:)

bottleofred

Good evening folks,

Went to visit my parents and Mum is still on the mend, so all good. Declaring NSD10 for today please:)

VickyV

Hi all,

Just dropping in to declare NSD #10! I think I'd like to up my target to 15 please as I reckon 12 will be done by the end of the week:A!

x