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The Awesome Amazing August NSD Challenge

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  • fedupandskint
    fedupandskint Posts: 10,358 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Off the mark today with NSD 1
    final unsecured debt to repay currently £8333
    Proud to be Dealing With my Debt
    DFW Nerd 1154 Long Haul 155
  • IF
    IF Posts: 34,349 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Hiya all and welcome to August's NSD thread :hello:
    Could we please ask you to highlight your number of NSDs in a colour and in bold so that Freeby, Spoon 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 wink2.gif
    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 sport-smiley-003.gif & have been l-o-n-g time Nsders so don't panic :p
    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 :D
    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 action-smiley-076.gif
    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 :D

    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 :D The only thing to be aware of is Hubert the donkey who is partial to anything remotely edible but is not yet house-trained :o

    And Remember;
    there are no silly questions, so don't be afraid to ask us anything!
    "If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride"
  • marmiterulesok
    marmiterulesok Posts: 7,812 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker Photogenic
    Great to see you back rising!:)
  • Great to see you back rising!:)

    Thank you :D I soooooo need this as bad habits have got errrrr really bad!:o
    Grocery Challenge £211/£455 (01/01-31/03)
    2016 Sell: £125/£250
    £1,000 Emergency Fund Challenge #78 £3.96 / £1,000
    Vet Fund: £410.93 / £1,000
    Debt free & determined to stay that way!
  • Scuff
    Scuff Posts: 522 Forumite
    #1 in the bag for me!
    September 2016 GC £21.37/£120
  • Spendy one today, i went to the dentist and the butcher nearby does lovely meat (I think I'm happier buying meat than I am clothes!!) so bbq for tea and less money in my purse!!
    2013 NSD 100. CC2014CC- £31.50/£135
    2014 NSD 86 so far - May 20/21
    2014 G/C spend £741.55 so far May £107.99/£91
    Debt Free - 30.05.13 Emergency tin - £1000
    June 23 - 9NSD
  • Suziebabe
    Suziebabe Posts: 294 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Debt-free and Proud! Combo Breaker
    Thanks for the welcome kerri - I must confess I lurked around July's thread and you all made not spending sound so much fun! Had to spend on lunch today, and away for the weekend so will be spending through til Monday - but have enough time off work this month so should be able to manage my 10 days.

    Planning to do my SOA next week - scary!!! Watch out for me on the board ...:eek::eek::eek::eek:
    LBM Dec 2013, Total Debt £31,992.06 Debt Free Date June 2022
  • lovefullshelves
    lovefullshelves Posts: 672 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Photogenic Combo Breaker
    edited 1 August 2013 at 10:09PM
    grr it told me error but it had posted after all! sorry!
    2013 NSD 100. CC2014CC- £31.50/£135
    2014 NSD 86 so far - May 20/21
    2014 G/C spend £741.55 so far May £107.99/£91
    Debt Free - 30.05.13 Emergency tin - £1000
    June 23 - 9NSD
  • freebyfifty
    freebyfifty Posts: 3,189 Forumite
    There are

    40

    of us taking part in the August NSD Challenge

    and so far we have collected

    6 NSDs

    :T:T:T:T:T
    Free by Fifty
    Debt of the Moment -
    August NSD Challenge 14/15
  • freebyfifty
    freebyfifty Posts: 3,189 Forumite
    Hello everyone :)

    I have started as I mean to go on this month and the front page is all nicely up to date up to this point.

    I bagged NSD #1 so the month is off to a great start for me.

    See you in the morning :D
    Free by Fifty
    Debt of the Moment -
    August NSD Challenge 14/15
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