The Love is in the Air February NSD Challenge

Sazzie23

Hi everyone

NSD 10 & 11 for Thursday & Friday, making 11/15 please:j
That also makes my second in 3 in a row, and I thought I'd never make 3 in a row;)

Saturday was a different story :eek: worked planned overtme (lucky me, I have a job, it pays ok & I am able to work some overtime:o). They asked me stay later....but I was sooo tired. I stayed anyway cos they might not ask next time:).

Saturday shopping day after work....better as not so busy being later than planned, spent **! with a voucher....but :eek::eek:. Twice my weekly budget :eek: Some of it was restocking with luxury 'essentials', decaff tea bags, dark choc digestives which should last til end of month, so will have to cut next 2 weeks budget by at least 25% to pay for it. Some of it was really not necessary, bought a joint of beef and some chocolate bars:mad:, even worse a shop bought chilli which I had for tea...it tasted so good:rotfl:.

Better than splashing on a takeaway which had been option 2 and I add vegetables so it last 2 meals . Pudding too!!

I didn't put the price in cos I know we are all on different steps of the budget scale, and what seems a lot to me might be either nothing to someone else or worse, 10 times what they have to spend - but the ** indicates it was massively overspent for me:o. Don't want to offend anyone as we're all here for the purpose of NSD whatever our reasons.

Had a zonked nap after tea, therefore awake now:):)
Thought I'd do something useful, planning NSD 12 & 13 for Sun & Mon, might make a jelly to make those shop bought puds last longer. Didn't buy bread, as the don't stock the brand we prefer and we just waste it otherwise, but have a couple of slices in the freezer so should make it to next weeks budgeted mini spend (and it had better really be a mini one now) .

Hope you have all slept well and enjoyed what looked like was a lovely day yesterday.

BritAbroad

Another one in the bag - up to NSD no. 12 today!

freebyfifty

Good Morning

Another little update from me

Lots of NSDs being captured. Really well done.

Armchair – NSD #8 has been captured. :T That’s great. :T Being in the house with the kids all day used to drive me nuts too, hope you manage to get out today.:)

Beanielou – NSD #13:T and a big ((((hug)))) for you.:A

Bigmumma – Sounds like you have had quite a time of it just recently.:eek: Well done on being up to NSD #12. :T That is great going.:T

BritAbroad – That bag is getting very full with NSD #12 added.:T Really well done.:T

Candlewick – Hope you are feeling a bit better, it is horrible being stressed at work. Well done on capturing NSD #12.:T

Couldsave – Lots of hot drinks and rest for you. I hope you start to feel better soon.:) Being poorly has bagged you NSD #11 though so every cloud and all that.:T

Emloves – Another one collected :T and you are up to NSD #13. Well done. :T

Fedup – NSD #7 all safely locked away.:T Very well done.:T

Ifwishes – :rotfl:at your cartoon. Well done on NSD #8:T

Jaxsmar – A brilliant NSD #9 for you. :T That is excellent.:T

Jelly biactol – NSD #12 captured and bagged.:T Well done.:T

Jonesy88 – You are on a roll at the moment. :T NSD #12 in the bag and another ebay sale.:T Really well done.

Marmite – You seem very focused at the moment,:T I am jealous. Well done on NSD #10 :T

Sazzie – You sound like you had the same kind of day that I had yesterday. :eek: We will both have to make that one shop last a very long time to catch up with the budget. :eek: Well done on being up to NSD #11:T

Spoony – Another 2 captured by your marvellous self and you are up to NSD #14. :T I did laugh at 12a.:rotfl: I’m not superstitious and have been known to walk under a ladder :eek:

Wildcherry – Well done on battling on and get that NSD #8. :T You should be pleased with yourself, that’s excellent.:T

Wouldbe – You are on the front page with 5 NSDs,:T welcome to February’s NSD challenge

freebyfifty

There is

90

of us taking part in the February NSD Challenge

and together we have collected

462 NSDs

:T:T:T:T:T

couldsavemore_2

thanks freebyfifty drinking tea in bed at moment (dh told me stay here and has brought up the tea )so not sure if im any better yet have headach and sneezing a little still and feel achy all over, may be better once im up and moving about.

need to go shopping later before we run out of things, plenty of time though as they dont open until later

have a good day

BigMummaF

Aww thanks Guys...luckily I have a pretty high pain threshold & I'm used to my veins going into hiding when there's a needle with a nurse on the end close by

I must bo off to do a round of spud bashing. The Offspring (& Pup :j ) are coming over for a long overdue roast today, so I'm cooking for 6. I quite enjoy all the chopping & stuff but sometimes wish I could stab a few holes in a bit of plastic, when I'm running out of saucepans to cook properly

But enough of that...Baker's Dozen safely gathered yesterday please

Candlewick

Morning

I had a very lazy day yesterday catching up on sleep and don’t feel guilty in the slightest.

I did do one useful thing though and that was to cancel my £12.95 monthly Ancestry subscription as I have not had time to use it so far this year so it's been a waste of £25. I will restart when things have calmed down at work and I have more time on my hands.

I also pay for my Y*hoo e-mail to allow me to hook it up with Outlook and remove the dreaded ads and have decided to cancel this when it's due for renewal on March 11. This was useful so I could check my home e-mails at work (access denied through work computer) but I can check these on my phone. Am not sure why I didn't think of it sooner.

My b/f and I have decided to go out this afternoon so it will most likely be a spend day because I like to pay my share.

I received an e-mail from the National Lottery earlier so logged in to find I've won £10

Freeby, thanks for updating.

Couldsavemore, hope you feel better soon.

Enjoy your Sunday.


CW

Jonesy88

Today will be a lazy Sunday, nothing planned except a trip to see my parents so NSD 13 and 5 in-a-row! Yay in-a-row target reached! :j

IF

Morning all :hello:

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, BDINI 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!