The Love is in the Air February NSD Challenge

beanielou

Bah kerri, that is not so good.

NSD no 4 today.
Very cold here.
Twas snowing earlier.

IF

Hiya my No Spendy chums :hello:
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 we ask you to highlight your number of NSDs in a colour and in bold so that Freeby, Spoon, ModestyB and Marmite can see them easily when they whizz through the posts - red would be best but they don't really mind as long as they 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!

Giggles86

I Wish this weather would make it's mind up! There's been snow, hail, sleet, rain and gale force winds since lunchtime here. People on FB have also been reporting thunder, but I appear to have snoozed through that!
I'd like to claim NSD #1 & #2 for today and yesterday. I did make up for them by going to a much larger craft shop than usual! BUT I did put back one or 2 things I decided were unnecessary so was quite proud of myself!

solventsoon

Evening everyone :wave:

Well done Giggles, you should be proud of yourself for putting stuff back in a craft shop... I'd have to be seriously ill to do that:D:D

We've had the same weather here, including the thunder, it's really not nice out there atm:eek:

Yay to NSD no 4 katholicos... avoiding the kick up the bum is the name of the game at the moment:D

marmite - thanks for the update:T and :mad: to losing your post halfway through. I don't trust MSE, it's lost too many of my posts, so I do the update on word and copy it over


Well done for all the NSDs nabbed today, the total is creeping up already :j:j:j:j


Reporting NSD no 4 here as well... that's a bloomin' miracle:rotfl: I may well get no 5 tomorrow if the threatened snow arrives as I was going to go shopping:eek:

BigMummaF

kerri_gt wrote: »

....found out the foundation brand I use is being delisted in Boots and Superdrug (the only high street stores it was in) come March, and my local store is carp at restocking so I'm going to a) look in every boots I go to between now and then
b) either find someone who might be willing to pick me some up in the few places it will be stocked / find an alternative that is about the same price point (just looking at Avon actually but not keen as I can't see the colour in real life and I had a nasty reaction to some shower gel I got from there before)

Could you try the manufacturer to see if they'll have a list of distributors close to home, or may sell direct to you (that may mean a bulk order tho) if you can sweet-talk them? It is damned annoying when you really like something & TPTB either fiddle with the recipe to "improve" something you already like, or decide no-one wants it anymore so stops altogether :mad:

No 4 please; they're playing bridge & it's all getting a bit heated so I'm going to pack up the scaffolding & hide the hard hats, before one of 'em ends up in the pier supports holding it up :eek:

BritAbroad

NSD no. 3 claimed today!

freebyfifty

Good Morning

I only have one thing to say..........SNOW :eek:

I wish it would warm up a bit, spring has to be lurking out there somewhere.

Front pages are all done

I hope everyone is safe and warm. Have a lovely Tuesday

freebyfifty

There are

87

of us taking part in the February NSD Challenge

and so far we have collected

108 NSDs

:T:T:T:T:T

couldsavemore_2

morning everyone

yesterday was NSD. 2/20 Sunday we did all the grocery shopping so we should now not need to spend any until Saturday.

have a good day and hope the weather dosent get to bad for anyone. spring is just round the corner.

MummyRivett

Morning all, yesterday was 4 NSD Im going for my 5 in a row straight this week. All parcelled up and ready for the post office today. One big bag to commute with, wish me luck with those Queues at the Post Office :eek: