*** This is Sparta ***

NinjaSavingKat

"Batten Down the Hatches and Tune Into June"

(Oxford English Dictionary; - SPARTAN = suggestive of the ancient Spartans; sternly disciplined and rigorously simple, frugal , or austere).

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence.

Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent.

Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.

Education will not; the world is full of educated failures.

Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent”

This is my favorite quote. Right now my life centers on own determination. It’s the only thing that keeps me focused - the desire not to fail. The determination to be debt free, the determination to own my own house and especially the determination to hit my DFD are the biggest influences on how I live right now.

I have £50 for food this month and have been meal planning for the last two weeks. It will be hard but I have decided that after all my bills are paif I want to send an extra £400 to my loan. I only have one loan left!!!

This determination I speak of is what has enabled me to reduce my debt from £16600 to £7345 in the space of 7 pay days. It has enabled me to keep working instead of taking a day off to “relax”. I don’t want to relax - I want to be debt free. I will relax on the 01st January 2014.

Determination has also enabled me to stop shopping completely. No shoes, bags, no Primark trips, no work clothing, or unnecessary accessories, no Starbucks / Costa or Nero, no expensive supermarket brand names, and I have even stopped buying chocolate / cheese and any sort of junk food as it’s an “unnecessary need” and I can live without it. Can you live with just what you NEED and not what you WANT?

You may think this is foolish - that a person must “live a little”. But can one live a little whilst paying off thousands of £££ in debt? Do you have the right since you owe other people a lot of money? Is it not best to start on a clean slate? You may wish to take your repayments easy, you many not be in a position to add much more to your DMP but I do not wish to take it easy….

.... this is NOT is a place to be rude, unhelpful, unkind or patronising. Everyone has a different battle, differing circumstances and differing lifestyles. We are here to help each other. If this is too tough for you please move on, don’t leave negative comments. If this seems too much of a “competition” for you then you don’t understand what we are doing - please move on and find something that suits you better.

Come with me. Try the challenge of Frugal Living…..just once..

The rules…

• This challenge will commence on the 1st June 2013 at Midnight and Close on the 30th June 2013 at Midnight.
• You will aim, through whatever means possible for 20 SFD’s. (Spend Free Days). That gives you ten days to plan around...as per usual emergency petrol is excluded along with medication and emergency travel funds - train tickets etc. (Again if you manage your entire food purchase on yellow stickers this is an SFD)
• You will stop bulk buying food. I include this in every challenge and still people can’t stop stocking up to feed the 5000. We are not preparing for an apocalypse. You will not starve to death if you don’t buy 3 ton of food. Finish everything in your cupboards / fridge and freezer through some amazingly fantastic food combinations THEN buy more.
• Decide what your food expenditure is for the month. You are NOT allowed to go over it. You are to down-shift between 5-10 products that you use on a regular basis. (I am on £50 [minus £30] for the entire month with £10 emergency money).

1. Minus £20 if your expenditure is up to £99
2. Minus £30 if your expenditure is between £100 and £200 a month.
3. Minus £40 if your expenditure is between £201 and £300 a month
4. Minus £50 if your expenditure is between £301 and upwards.

• Decide NOW how much you want to pay towards debts this month and pay it on the 1st - waiting until the end of the month to "see what’s left" will never work.
• You will create a spreadsheet of expenditure for the month. Including bills / rent or mortgage / vehicle spends including petrol / public transport etc. Then include emergency money for "unexpected bills" - Be realistic though! YOU MUST stick to this spreadsheet throughout June!
• Decide now if you wish to have a planned excursion - which generally means something you can't get out of….a birthday, a promised child's outing etc. Otherwise I expect for THIS MONTH ONLY that you are a hermit! Anyone who wants to have a day out with you after the beginning of the month will need to be be politely refused!
• Put £10 aside for a treat. You decide how you spend it and what you spend it on. £2.50 per week or all at once at the end?
• You must declare your debt amount and DFD (debt free day). None of us know you, there is no judgment and we will encourage you even more when we know what day you would like rid of your debt by. If you are NOT new to this challenge just put your DFD and amount totals in your signature - newbie’s I want it declared loud and proud in a message.

And finally..

***Please add your name on a post only. Comments and budgeting chat will start on the first of the month. Please DO NOT re-post the entire initial thread indicating what you can and can't do - please just leave your name for now to prevent this thread getting to long unnecessarily ***

Now bring it on!

NinjaSavingKat

1 - NSK
2 - KarmaChiLoveThing
3 - Jonesy88
4 - ThriftyLass
5 - Siouxsie32
6 - Mayfair198
7 - Lotti379
8 - Buffythedebtslayer
9 - AuntyRuby
10 - Nearlytherenow
11 - Angelpye
12 - Wannabe_In_Credit
13 - Living A Good Life
14 - Kickuptheasstime
15 - KrustyLouise
16 - FlyingEmber
17 - NannyGladys
18 - RosieCheeksBlossom
19 - Shinner
20 - StationarySpender
21 - MoneyMash
22 - LionHeartedGirl
23 - His_Missus
24 - Short_Bird
25 - Doris65
26 - MrsToast
27 - Sarah147
28 - Everhopeful09
29 - LearningToBudget
30 - Lovaadove
31 - Crazycatlady1
32 - 32b3in2013
33 - Lotti379
34 - Emzilla
35 - Mr.Cobes
36 - Abundant1972
37 - Jody2
38 - Yorkshirelass
29 - Sqeeeek

karmachilovething

Ooh, exciting I am the first one here! Super keen KarmaChi Ready to go!

I'm going to stick with my £20 food budget (if I take £20 off it I won't have anything and that's just a little too spartan!), and I'm going to pay £400 off the debt, adjusted slightly because I'm expecting another quarterly bill for my storage unit this month.

Ready and raring to go!
KC

Jonesy88

I'm in! Bring it on!

thriftylass

I AM IN, LET TGHE BATTLE COMMENCE.....will post numbers on the 1st or Friday

Siouxsie32

Haven't read the rules yet, but count me in!

mayfair1985

I'm in this month please!! I Missed you all last month

LAGL!!!!! WELL DONE!!!!!! xxxxx

lotti379

Deep breath... I'm in!

DFD Number 1: I want rid of the CC by 31/10/13

Will organise budgets over the next few days and post by end of play Friday... thinking of having a month off the sauce to save pennies and lbs :A

Buffythedebtslayer

I am in, total mare last month but will make it clear to the Man that there will be no surprise weekends away!

AuntyRuby

Can you count me in please Kat?
AuntyRuby

nearlytherenow

Could I join please? It would be my first month. I know I have a total of £300 to spend for the month and planning on £10 per day but will aim for the /20 NSDs too.

Total debt = £3,860
DFD = 01/12/2013 (will require dedication!)

Food: £150
Travel: £50
Spends: £100 (including 1 birthday, 1 wedding and 1 book club)
NSDs = /20

I hope I've included everything I'm supposed to.