The Mad March NSD Challenge

if_at_first...

Wow you lot are amazing :T:T:T

Well done - will be signing myself up for this challenge in april

IF

April's NSD thread - Click here

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, Marmite, Cheryl and Sazzie 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!

IF

Afternoon all




Got my 15th NSD

Thank you Freeby, Spoon, Marmite, Cheryl and Sazzie
IF…x

MrsCautious

NSD #15 for me today - bit unexpected but I'll take it!

Hoping for at least one more before end of month.

I am pleased at how I have done, though hit by £350 of car repairs. But I have shown myself what's possible -- realistically some more days would have been NSD if it hadn't been for essential/important things like vet, hospital parking and car repairs. Life gets in the way for all of us, I'm sure.

I don't know how April will pan out with two weeks of school holidays but I will have a think about what should be a realistic target.

Thanks to all here who support, inspire and encourage xx

beanielou

So NSD no 23 today I think.
& target exceeded I think.
Soooo cold here.

The_Dragon

and yes #19 snatched and hid in Nargles cauldron of doom :rotfl:

cw18

Spend day for me

Ended up looking after elder 2 GDs for 3 hours, so spent some of that time working on a shopping list with them based on what they have (and/or like) for breakfasts and lunch ready for the 5 days I've got them the week after next.

Bounced the list off DD before leaving (and after GDs had gone out to play, so they don't know Mum's had a hand in it - sneaky or what ) and she took off 1 item I'd told them I probably wouldn't get, 1 other item I was iffy about, and added on 1 item she said they probably didn't think of 'cos it's always on hand. Other than that she couldn't fault them though

So I stopped off at a large Mr T on the way home to get the bulk of the long-life stuff from the list, as well as veg to make a soup for next week while I'm busy decorating the girls bedroom (and a few other bits I fancied, plus a half price top and issue 1 of a new crafting mag) which enabled me to use a £5 off £40 spend voucher that was only valid until Sunday (as well as a few money off vouchers they'd sent me - at least one of which was also set to expire on Sunday).

MissE001

Yay, # 14/15 bagged today.....definite spendy day tomorrow so I'm depending on Sunday to bring me my target. Cutting it a bit close since Sunday is the last day of March - oh and Easter egg time too :easter_ba

Need to work out finances for April and sign up for next month.

Thanks to all our lovely updaters and to everyone else on the thread for all the motivation :A

Candlewick

Evening fellow NSDers :wave:

March has been an absolute rubbish month for me and I will fail to reach my target of 15 days as it's been spend days all week. Work related expenses, birthday contribution, new bedding which was a need not a want and M&S had 20% off (that's my excuse anyway ), food shopping, coffee out, a sneaky bottle of wine or two and tomorrow will be another spend day so I may manage one more on Sunday to round the month off. My credit card is going up not down! :eek:

Well done to everyone that has reached or passed their targets.

Hopefully April will be a better month.

I hope everyone is enjoying Easter and a break from work if you are having one.

CW

beanielou

Candlewick~We dont fail on this thread
We just dont always meet our targets.