The Love is in the Air February NSD Challenge

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!

Candlewick

Evening :wave:

I have spent the past hour working out how to sell my unwanted Christmas presents on e-B*y.

Not sure why I was so worried about it as it was so easy. I have started with one (have a couple of others and some other stuff I can get rid of too) as it's a free listing weekend so took the plunge after reading of others successes. I will see how things go before I list the other items.

One thing I am not sure about is why I feel so nervous having done it. Did anyone else feel the same selling for the first time?

Freeby, thanks for updating.

CW

wildcherry

Having thought today was going to be a spendy day, Mum treated us to lunch so its NSD#13 for me today. I'm hoping tomorrow will be too as I'm really close to target!!

Yippee!!

Jelly_Biactol

Candlewick wrote: »

I have spent the past hour working out how to sell my unwanted Christmas presents on e-B*y. Not sure why I was so worried about it as it was so easy. One thing I am not sure about is why I feel so nervous having done it. Did anyone else feel the same selling for the first time?

I did, my first fleabay sale was two weeks ago, but like you found it easy to do (and selling a 99p item for £20+ encouraged me to sell more, too:)); I've spent a couple of hours this afternoon listing a range of items; it's mainly stuff that I looked at and thought "Well, I haven't used it in the last year so time to get rid":)

marmiterulesok

Afternoon everyone!:hello:

I didn't manage to post yesterday and didn't get an nsd after all.I had an important document to print out and ran out of printer ink.:mad:

Back on track today though,so that's #15 taken care of.:D

if what a clever pooch,very amusing!

cw18 sounds like you've made the right decision.

Jonesy88 have a great in Paris.Is this your first visit?

wildcherry good luck with the job if you decide to go for it.

bdini take care of yourself please

Hope you're all having a pleasant weekend.

PennySaving

Hi All, I have managed another NSD today by trying to keep busy! Thats 9 NSDs, thank you!

flubberyzing

Evening all!

NSD 12 is in the bag, and I'm pleased to report that I think I've turned a corner with my illness. After a week+ of lurgy, I managed to sleep most of the night without horrendous coughing fits, and not so much coughing during the day time either.

I'm definately pleased! Although my voice is still sounding very rough. I sound like a 90 year old man, which isn't good!

kerri_gt

well it's official, not a NSD here I did stop faffing about the boots and ordered them online from the store. I decided that then at least I could try them and IF they weren't right and the size I have were a better fit after all, I could return them for free and it would 'only' cost me the delivery overall.

Cheryl - sounds like you did the right thing for you handing your notice in. Bit of a shame as it was nice and convenient for you but i'm sure something more suitable will come along.

well a little bit of a nightmare for me this afternoon, I have some new gloves that DM bought me to replace some I've had for AGES - I wanted to line the new ones with thermal Thinsulate lining like the original ones. I'd previously bought a pair of lined mens gloves from primarni to do this, thinking it would be easy to take out the lining, adjust the size and put them in my new gloves...not so :mad: I've made a total hash of trying to do it, so going to look for a smaller pair of ladies gloves I can take the lining out of on fleabay and just cut off the fingers. Two hours wasted and to top it off, found my new gloves still have the security tag on them - double :mad:

Jelly_Biactol

NSD 15 today:j
And my 21st consecutive 'no food spend' day :T

Sazzie23

Evening all

Thanks IF for that clip, couldn't fail to smile.

NSD 14 for Friday please, I think..I've been soo tired I don't really recall the day at all, but I only went to work and didn't spend there so it must have been one:j

Today was defo a spendy day, went to collect prescription before pre-pay card expires, first chemist shut at lunchtime, 2nd pharmacist out to lunch so said I'd collect Monday, card will still be in date then. Continued to baker for favorite bread and succombed to a trifle too , then went to Milkos for some budgeted essentials and added a few extras plus bought copy of the BI as the lady selling is always the most friendly person I see in town (god bless you lady). Also bought some DIY supplies to hopefully mend washing machine door, which might save a few bob if I can get it sorted out, (mechanical door problem rather than electrical which I don't touch:eek:).

Think I probably need to find that big stick Freebie mentioned ready as I can see I'm starting to wilt, and I cannot afford to.

Am still enjoying fruits of last weeks very expensive shop, i.e. meat for sarnies and biccies in the fridge, so no excuses and keep the shopping bill down to micro shop this week I hope:mad:

I have bought many pairs of walking boots on fleabay, the brand I like are extortionately expensive and up to recently when I still had the dog I was getting through about 1 pair a year. The rule I use is I only buy BNIB or desc as very minimal wear, and I never pay more than half the normal as new cost since there is no warranty. This guide has served me pretty well and I have always got a bargain rather than a rip-off.

Kerri, buy the boots, we all want them :rotfl:.

I've started using the tip about turn the heating off half an hour before you go out/go to bed as OH needs to keep warm so bills are high, it does seem to work, just need to retrain OH who currently bears resemblance to BDINI's lodger:mad:, but does at least wash up:T:T.

Happy NSD week, don't think we'll hit the 1000 this month, but maybe 900..??

One final thing, anyone have good plan how to save unspent fuel budget? If I keep in shopping/fuel account it will just dissappear...if I move to the budgeted savings fund, like for car ins etc its not easily accessible, perhaps be better to keep it in cash and get a new pot/jam jar/purse?/ any thoughts:think: