The Mad March NSD Challenge

HeadAboveWater

Every cloud and all that

Get well soon Boss!

chrisico

Hope you feel better soon Boss. That stomach bug's a killer isn't it?

At least the shops aren't calling you!

Chris

The_Boss

Thanks guys. The odd thing is that myself and the Mrs both ate the same dinner and she is fine, so I don't get what has happened. But anyway, NSD 3 is a big bonus as I'd rather have it in the hand than two in the bush

flowerofscotland

Monday was
NSD #2

Yesterday was a night out so never part of the plan for this month's NSDs so I wrote the cheque for the new boiler as well. And I did an online grocery shop for the weekend as we are having visitors - will count this as a spend for Tuesday as well.

Today should be another NSD but don't like to declare until the day is over.

Tomorrow is car service and MOT so another spendy day. On a positive note have just sent off my RAC renewal using clubcard rewards voucher so no cost and am not counting it as a spend.

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!

cw18

Almost a full week into the month, and this is my first visit
Fortunately it's not my first NSD

Friday was 1st of the month, which meant Direct Debits. Sorted out my fee for this months gym membership before leaving there for the day which meant another spend. Also did a grocery shop, but couldn't get everything I needed for making up a specific recipe on Saturday

So Saturday was another grocery shop. Debated classing it as an NSD if I didn't buy anything that hadn't been on my list on Friday, but decided to nip into the charity shop and see if the jumper I'd spotted earlier in the week was still there..... it was, and it was my size. So another spend day.

Sunday I managed to retain as an NSD, but it was a close call. OH fancied going for a walk, and the only place he knew of local to me has a pay and display car park. As he was driving I'd have paid for that, so I had a quick think and came up with somewhere more interesting for a walk - with the added bonus it was free parking

Monday should have been an NSD, but when I left the gym (next to last PT session and a swim) the car was making a nasty noise - and half way home I realised it was the exhaust blowing. So a visit to my local friendly garage left me without an NSD and with £123 less in my bank account

Yesterday I finally managed to grab myself NSD #2. Can't say it was easy though! I went for a run in the morning, and really fancied some chocolate in the afternoon when my energy slump hit. But I went and did some weeding in the garden instead of heading off to the shops

Today gets me to NSD #3. It was a close call by my normal rules, but I'm tweaking them slightly which would have meant I could have called it an NSD anyway! In the end I changed my mind over what to make with the mince I'd pulled from the freezer, and didn't need anything I didn't already have in as a result



Now I've finished work (yippee ), and especially with big unexpected bills coming in like on Monday (boo hiss!), I need to work a lot harder on using up groceries I have in the house instead of continually buying - which is almost certainly going to end up with me having to throw out long-life stuff at some point. The main thing I need to work on first is freezer contents, but as that's mostly meat and fish I need fresh veg and other odd ingredients to go with it. However I'm not hot on meal planning - especially not when it requires me to dig through the freezers! I'd much rather be able to have a dig late evening/early morning and decide what I'm having for my next cooked meal, but that's a problem if I'm only shopping for veg on a weekly (or twice weekly) basis. I've also recently found I'm stocking up on fruit on a Friday and then not eating it all which means I'm throwing away almost as much as I eat :eek:

So I plan to stop counting some of my grocery spends when it comes to this challenge. I did think of just ignoring anything that comes out of my grocery budget (as I know at least one other person does), but I decided that made it too easy for me to buy meat (or ready meals!) rather than use the freezer contents - and also allows me to regularly pick up sweets, crisps, biscuits and desserts (all things I need to cut back on until they're special treats only).

So as a trial for this month it doesn't count as a spend if it's fresh or frozen veg that I need to complete a meal using meat/fish from the house (or where I already have most of the ingredients in if it's a vegetarian type meal), fresh fruit (I have a supply of tinned, and can stock up on tinned/frozen fruit weekly), or milk for DS (I've been able to stock up weekly while Mr T have had their filtered milk on offer, but once I'm back to buying from A!di I need to watch dates more carefully and am likely to end up shopping for that at least twice a week). This means I can nip to local shops on a daily basis for couple of carrots, some mushrooms (what I was planning to get today, but doing mince and mash instead of bolognese as I've got potatoes need using up) and a banana/apple for that day.

ladyelegance77

I'm having about 9 NSD as my payday is 15th March and I'm totally skint!! I went to Morrisons yesterday and got some extra bits which now means my food will last till payday I'm eating out of the freezers and that, and being more strict on myself...gonna be hard but I have only 2 days where I need to take a lunch in as I have a holiday day on Sunday. I've got enough meals for all the days as I plan them out. Really trying hard, and it is tough but can be done will be good for my waistline anyway!!!

charleybear

NSD 3
I'm not going to count yesterday as it was a day out paid & arranged already for us, so I wouldn't have spent anything anyway if i wasn't going.

I also never spent anything today as I stayed home and did my set chores. woop!

new_leaf_88

Another NSD for me today making my total 5 and yippeeee 5 in a row :j:j:j

Won't be one tomorrow though as I need some groceries, hopefully back on track for Friday though.

wildcherry

A very quick post to just to say that today is NSD#3 for me!!