May the NSD Force Be With You - May NSD Challenge

freebyfifty

There are

50

of us taking part in the May NSD Challenge

and so far we have collected

68 NSDs

:T:T:T:T:T

charleybear

NSD 3 for yesterday

getting-there-slowly

NSD number 2 yesterday Bit the bullet yesterday, kitchen is on its last legs was when we bought the house 7 years ago took advantage of the h0mebase sale 50% off with extra 20% if ordered before tuesday. Nectar points will go to the christmas fund. Money hasnt left the account yet;) probably wont until Tuesday

IF

Hiya my No Spendy chums :hello:
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

Morning all :hello:

I have my 4th NSD

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

fedupandskint

Too true - another day between Saturday and Sunday would be great!

Another NSD making it NSD 6 today

Candlewick

Afternoon my fellow NSDs friends :wave:

Our plans for a drive out and a pub lunch are off as I think I over did it yesterday and the weather, despite being warm, is quite overcast and not sunny as predicted.

I am as per my budget spreadsheet and declaring NSD 3 today. I am still down financially due to the poor start of unexpected spends at the beginning of the month although I used the balance of my gift card to reduce the spend. Nonetheless, I am going to try and make up for some of it by eating out of my freezer, fridge and cupboards again. I will need to buy milk and a few veggies tomorrow which is a d / d day anyway but will see what's on offer and spend about a fiver. I don't need any toiletries or household items and my cat has plenty of food and treats so it's doable.

I am deciding whether to rid myself of my Virgin package which is currently costing me about £40 per month. I haven't been in contract for years but I can't seem to get a better deal and I don't appear to get much more than the channels on Freeview which my TV has. I need broadband though although not too bothered about landline as I get 600 minutes (which I never use anywhere near) with my mobile which I am still under contract for until early next year. I will be changing this too as soon as I am able as that's costing me £36.80 a month :eek: and will no doubt go up again in November. :think:

CW

kerri_gt

Afternoon all - and what a lovely sunny afternoon it is too - and a bank holiday to boot (sorry, not rubbing it in for anyone who is working today)

Well I managed to get my ar*e out of bed this morning and make it back to boot camp, needed to get back into some kind of routine before going back to work tomorrow so though I may as well do it bell and whistles and all - was good to be back though could feel I've had nearly two weeks off...think I'll ache tomorrow :eek:

Today has deff not been a NSD, popped to Sainsbobs to get a few bits - :eek::eek: to the bill of nearly £50. Then through to tacto to get cat food as it was on a better off - also wen to pick up a few other bits there as i had coupons...only to find the coupons expired yesterday :doh: Had to pop into Roberto Dyas too for a cake tin (making a Hairy Bikers pie this week and needed the tin for that...well a pie they made on one of their shows...I'm not actually cooking the Hairy Bikers as a) i'm not Sweeny Todd, b) I'd need a much bigger tin :rotfl:) Also topped up a few bits at the 99p store - including two mahusive jars of jalapenos for OH (he goes through them like you wouldn't believe) - had a panic the other week as they had none left at all, next best place was A$da but that was still 0.04p per 100g more expense (well every little helps ) Anyway, today the 99p store had a different brand in (as well as a few of the old brand i used to buy) AND the new jar was BIGGER :eek: Now you don't see that happen much these days

After that treated kit to a new collar from Pets@Home (though its one of those snap fastening ones and last time she had one of those it lasted precisely one outing) however, she's not had a new collar in at least 4yrs so is about due one.

Final (large) bill was some fence stain, brushes and marigolds from H0mebase where the world and his wife seemed to have descended on today. I didn't even pick up the stain I'd reserved yesterday (naughty I know ) as the queue at CS has HUGE (and full of very fed up looking people) so I just got one off the shelf. Plus two brushes (one big and one for the trellice work). So, fingers crossed it's nice next weekend please. Marigolds are to plant by our elder tree which had AWFUL blackfly last year (I don't actually like marigolds much but I'm going to see how the companion planting goes with them). Even with 20% off the bill was still close to £40 :eek:

CW - regarding Virgin, I'd make a list of all the channels you watch in the week and see how many of those are on Freeview, and then think of any you'd really miss if you didn't have them. If it's just for a one off show / series, see how much it might be to download the series on iTunes - it could be cheaper even if the series is £30 or so considering a whole series can run 2 - 4 months - esp if its a US show. 4 months would be £160 for just one show :eek:

You can also sign up to SkyGo without having Sky TV to watch things on your laptop or a smart TV etc. I think you can do a monthly ongoing subscription or a one of payment for a month if there was something you were desperate to see.

Although I must admit we do have the full Sky package but OH (and me) watches tons of the football so it does get used.

slowlyfading

Saturday was NSD 3 and today is NSD 4

heyjude2013

NSD #2 today.

Had a very very spendy day yesterday :mad: had that post pay day thing where you forget that the money has to last the month. I'm going to return some things tomorrow to claw back a little bit at least!